Week 1 Day 2: Living Into Their Future – THE TERMINATOR

[Ron Berti]

We see two characters, a male and a female, on the lam with a concurrent radio news announcement that there’s a giant manhunt under way. Are these two the subject of the manhunt? Seems like it. It’s reminiscent of the story of Mary being told by the Archangel Gabriel that she’s going to find herself mysteriously pregnant with the Savior. Just like Mary, Sarah rejects the idea, can’t imagine what this guy “from the future” is talking about. “Do I look like the mother of the future”?

Sarah’s traits are that she’s unsure of herself, confused by what she’s been told but now, in the aftermath of some prior action, beginning to contemplate that maybe this IS real. “Are you sure you have the right person?”

Kyle’s traits are that he’s focused and determined, “I’d die for John Connor”. He wants to ignore his wound but Sarah patches him up (must be a small wound). He’s considerate too, when he sees Sarah shivering he comes over to put his arm around her for warmth. Altogether an admirable traveling companion.

The drama comes from Sarah learning that while “the future is not set”, the future from which Kyle came is a dystopia in which her unborn son, John Connor, is leading a resistance, apparently quite successfully; that part of the legend about her is that she taught John Connor to fight and to organize from his being a small child; that John Connor, at least among this bunch of brigands, is highly regarded and seen as a salvation for a world gone mad. And that’s against a background of the world having generally descended into a repressive state with 24/7 surveillance and a way of life that is the antithesis of the American way.

Of course, Kyle is delivering a shocking message that, for him, is not all that shocking. He knows John Connor well enough to say “he has your eyes”. Remember we’re talking about someone (John Connor) who’s close to both of these characters but he doesn’t exist yet. A mind-bending concept that’s tough to get your head around.

But the character building is clear – Sarah is accepting now of a hard-to-imagine idea that this guy is from the future and her unborn son is going to lead a revolution. And she’s adjusting as fast as it is possible for a human to adjust.

[ATAUR BACCHUS]

TRAITS

WILL

Highly intelligent, of course

BUT ANGRY at the way unearned privilege works in the world. Out of kilter anger ?

Will couldn’t stop at just winning.

(Reminds us of Miranda in the earlier video who needed to drag out Andy’s humiliation, to keep hitting when Andy was already down – this excess is good for capturing eyes and ears of audience, but not for making the character sympathetic).

Will didn’t have to extend the humiliation of the graduate student with the “want to settle outside?” bit. Some audience members may like the guy getting what’s coming.

Future – arc: expect Will to moderate his anger. Will Will ever manage more equal relationships may- with Skylar maybe? As with writer, so with character: beyond validation to breakthrough.

SKYLAR

A sense of fair play

CHUCKIE

is Will’s champion. Gives unconditional loyalty.

Looking into the future – will he be a good enough friend to point out Will’s excess anger, inability to join in relationships not based on relative power?

IN WILL’S EXCHANGE WITH GRADUATE STUDENT

TRIGGER – Grad student’s smugness

ATTACK ON IDENTITY : Two, first graduate student doles it out, then is on the receiving end.

HISTORY – Will never got anything easy, his intelligence notwithstanding

WHAT I LEARNED

New templates. In time I’ll apply it more instinctively, less by rote.

[Joseph McGloin]

Watch 1^st time for:

What future is Sarah
Connor living into?

Preparing herself to give birth and train the future savior of humankind

What future is Kyle Reese
living into?

Keeping Sarah alive and training her to become a soldier capable of stopping a terminator

What is Sarah’s
transformation that is implied by this scene?

She will change from a clueless person with no future to become the mother and trainer of humanity’s savior.

Watch 2^nd time for:

What drama was this
scene built around?

Running from a terminator and the entire police force.

What traits showed up in
these two character’s words and actions?

Sarah – trust, compassion, fear, strength to overcome her inadequacies, curiosity, superhuman strength of will and desire to learn what she needs to know despite her inadequacies, lack of confidence, disorganization, initial desire to refuse the “honor”

Kyle – stamina, focus on staying alive and keeping Sarah safe, love, adventuresome, admiration for John and his mother, fearlessness, ability to withstand pain

Daily Focus – Searching for Breakthroughs:

Please watch this scene
and provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character
great from a writing perspective.

Sarah starts out as “every woman,” unsure, lacking self=confidence, in a dead-end job of a dead-end life. Her true character is revealed in future-hindsight. She rises from an unknown with no real goal in life to the most important human being and mother of her time. She changes from an average person to a superhero of sorts by overcoming her own inadequacies, and every obstacle life and future cyborgs throw at her to see that her son survives to be the savior. She is a kind of Mary mother of Jesus in Western culture.

[Liz]

What future is Sarah Connor living into? <div>

In this scene she is only beginning to believe that Kyle is for real, even after everyone is shot up at police station. Her future is up in the air, maybe she doesn’t see a future at this point, except what is happening in the moment.

What future is Kyle Reese living into? He is living to meet the mother of the future. He is enamored of Sarah and John. He can see John’s eyes in hers, Kyle is emotionally involved and that is where his compassion comes from to keep her warm as she is shivering. He is on a mission for his hero ‘John’ and heroin ‘Sarah’. Kyle is honored and dedicated to his mission to save Sarah. He would “die” for both John and Sarah. Unknowingly he is the father of John Connor sent by John so that John will exist in the future. We don’t know this yet, the story Kyle tells Sarah (is cut off) that John’s father dies before the war. Speaking of his own unknown future in the past.

What is Sarah’s transformation that is implied by this scene? She instinctively dresses Kyle’s wound without really knowing anything about it, she has the compassion and instinct to know what needs to be done in that moment. She insists on dressing Kyle’s wound. Sarah is ambivalent, scared, unprepared, non believer… but as she learns about Kyle, John and her future, she is angered by this potential future. She stands up to deliver the lines with anger (she is a fighter), “I didn’t ask for this honor and I don’t want it!! Any of it!” (The reluctant heroine). At the end of the scene Sarah goes back to sit with Kyle and asks him to tell her another story. She is all in at this point.

Watch 2nd time for:

What drama was this scene built around?

Convincing the reluctant heroine to believe she has a future.

What traits showed up in these two character’s words and actions?

She is a fighter before she even really realizes it. Sarah is ambivalent, but the possibilities of what she has witnessed are starting to sink in. She stands up for herself to declare – “I didn’t ask for this honor and I don’t want it!! Any of it!”
Kyle on the other hand feels honored to be in her presence. He is enamored by her and of John.
Kyle is sent to convince her to live for the future he presents to her – which is not that great. A time after a big war that she survives to be the mother of the future.
For Sarah, this is not the future she would choose for herself. She is conflicted and does not want to accept the future.

Daily Focus – Searching for Breakthroughs:

Please watch this scene and provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character great from a writing perspective.

– What makes Sarah Connor’s character great, is that she transforms from a meek and mild waitress. In this scene, Sarah finds her voice and says I don’t want this, any of it. Unknowingly she is a true fighter. You can see it in her demeanor too as she declares that she will not accept this.

I only saw one other person that commented at this point and do have very similar takes on this. This film is one of my all time favorites as I saw it when it first came out in the 80’s. I was in the military and living overseas, so the ‘cold war’ really had an impact on us. So a very significant movie for me. It’s hard to look at this film with fresh eyes, I have re-watched it so many times.</div>

The character I have build based on Sarah Connor, in my own post apocalyptic drama is very different. My work days don’t allow much time to take a scene, I will read the script tonight and re-look at the transformation that occurs in my character.

[cara star]

Sarah Connor’s Future: She’ll be a legend and Mom of the Future, fighter and some kind of warrior, difficult days ahead, will go into hiding, can’t balance a checkbook, and doesn’t want any part of this.

Kyle Reese’s Future: He’s a man from the future and part of a group of warriors/survivors, a volunteer-type, nocturnal, has to battle and outsmart “Terminators,” he’ll die for John Connor.

Sarah is immediately transformed into a mother, a warrior, a leader and a very important person with an important son, who will face major obstacles for which she must prepare… BUT that the future is not set in stone.

Built-in Drama: Car is out of gas and they are either stranded or hiding, or both. It’s dark and cold and they are unprepared, Kyle travels through time and it’s painful, Kyle is shot and Sarah has to wrap her first wound and she’s queasy about it… but she learns she’ll be a mother and that the father will die before the war. She gets a message from her unborn son, who is the leader in outsmarting the “infiltrators.”

Character Traits: Sarah feels wholly unprepared for this “future” she is hearing about… thinks she might be the wrong person.

Kyle: Is a volunteer who feels curiosity about Sarah and respect for John Connor.

What I learned rewriting my scene was that you can add a lot more into each scene to build bigger characters… and that you can put them in situations that show their individual traits… as well as some of their future.

[ATAUR BACCHUS]

A. Future Sarah Connors living into – Two answers

a. Knowing what we, conditioned audiences, expect from our movies, we want her- and the writers (friendly puppeteers) will surely want her, to “accept her destiny”. If she doesn’t, the story ends!

b. She is not as sure as audience and writers; but the scene has a bit of arc whereby she moves from refusal, to warming to some emotions around her “destiny” , if not explicitly the destiny itself. These emotions are enclosed in the key phrase, “Tell me about my son” . The mother-instinct feels natural, comes out also in the way she tends Kyle’s wound.

There is suspense in watching her move along this arc.

B. Future Kyle Reese living into –

For Kyle Reese there is no ambivalence; he buys into the John Connor legend (?). In addition he has a sweet, innocent, kind, air about him (“traits”?) .

(I have a small voice nagging me – isn’t that a little like the sweet angelic Hare Krishna folks who used to sing, sway and believe their own destiny stories hanging around subways?)

Drama –

External – Running from bad guys

Internal – The shifts in Sarah’s take on her destiny

[Michael Williamsen]

Michael Williamsen

What future is Sarah Connor
living into?

A future of war, being a leader.

What future is Kyle Reese
living into?

Guiding Sarah into her future. His inevitable death.

What is Sarah’s transformation
that is implied by this scene?

She goes from fearful to caring and helpful, to realizing her future will be of leadership, organization, fighting and hiding, destruction and death,

Watch 2^nd time for:

What drama was this scene built
around?

Sarah takes care of Kyle’s wound

Kyle tells her of her future and current responsibility to get there.

What traits showed up in these
two character’s words and actions?

Kyle: the Traveling Hero character, brave, self-sacrificing, no stranger to pain, adventurous,

Sarah: afraid, denial, begins to accept her fate

[James Hernandez]

Watch 1st time for:

· What future is Sarah Connor living into?

· What future is Kyle Reese living into?

· What is Sarah’s transformation that is implied by this scene?

Sarah Connor is living into a future where it requires her to become basically a warrior to raise and protect her son John.

Kyle Reese is living into a future where he must protect Sarah even if his life is threatened; he has committed to being essentially a martyr for his cause (mission).

Sarah’s implied transformation by this scene is that she will transition from an everyday woman with a “normal” uneventful life into a fighter who must protect her son from the terminator.

Watch 2nd time for:

· What drama was this scene built around?

· What traits showed up in these two character’s words and actions?

The drama this scene was built around includes Sarah and Kyle hiding out and trying to stay undetected knowing if discovered could mean their deaths. They shelter in a cave-like dwelling where no one can see them. As they hide, Sarah becomes more curious about her son John and their future. They are essentially on the run to fulfill a most desperate mission.

Sarah’s traits: caring, paramedic (first aide), curious, unaware (of consequential future)

Kyle’s traits: courageous, knowledgeable, protective, withholding (of grave consequences if he fails his mission)

Insights/Breakthroughs:

The characters in my stories are constantly transforming into a future self that is full of knowledge which they will use to reach the goal the story sets. The character is gaining the tools needed to accomplish the goal.

The story is a voyage for my characters until their goal is achieved. During the voyage, they will work towards the goal (the future) gaining as much knowledge and skills to become successful.