Week 2 Day 1: Belonging Together – SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

[Joseph McGloin]

Watch 1st time for:

What causes you to believe these
two belong together?

It is as if the radio host is talking to Annie as well as Sam. Sam’s comments affect Annie emotionally.

Notice any similar emotions, words,
and actions.

Both say, “Dr. Marsha, and they say “Yes, you do” (invade his privacy) together. She responds with nearly teary emotion to his description of his deceased (? )wife. You need someone just as much as Jonah does, and Annie says to the radio, Yes. Both Same Annie appear lonely, and are able to admit it.

Watch 2nd time for:

· What drama is this scene built around?

Mutual loneliness. A captivating conversation that is painfully public. The deep need for good old romantic love. Public admission of private feelings. Pain it’s difficult to put into words, a pain we have all felt and have difficulty dealing with due to its depth.

· What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?

Sam: He is lonely and not very good at expressing feelings but tries, is genuine, has a sense of humor, willingness to put himself “out there” and very publicly; is lonely and has little self-confidence; needs a partner for his son, and for himself, and has an unstated goal of getting a mother for his son and a wife for himself.

Annie: engaged with Sam and his son so is right for them, is warm, lonely, looking for love, has probably been rejected in love more than once, wants a relationship.

Daily Focus – Searching for Breakthroughs:

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

Sam is looking for love, knows what it is as he has experienced it and a good partner; has aspirations for his son and secondarily apparently, for himself; has a nature that implies he is going to be successful at finding what he needs. We are willing to go on that journey with him, as he is a kind of everyman – likeable, intelligent, a sense of humor, knows what he wants.

[cara star]

What causes you to believe that these two belong together? You know that he needs someone to make things beautiful and she seems like a sweet lady. They are both being cute, mellow and seemingly nice people. Sam has a warm sense of humor, but we know that he’s “under a cloud.”

Notice any similar emotions, words, and actions? They have very similar reactions to Marcia. They have the same calm and sensitive faces. We really don’t learn much about her… except that she’s the type of woman who listens to these types of shows on the radio and is likely also longing for love.

What drama is this scene built around? It’s Christmas and both adults are without partners. Sam has lost his wife, who makes the holidays special, and to make it worse, his son not only misses her but is worried about his dad not sleeping.

What I learned rewriting my scene is more about the characters that are NOT right for each other… and that the characters need to understand this to move on.

[Liz]

What causes you to believe these two belong together?

They make the same response to comments of radio host
Sarcastic attitude towards the show

Notice any similar emotions, words, and actions.

Same reactions, sarcastic comments

What drama is this scene built around?

A romantic comedy of the Widower and the single woman looking for love
Potential relationships after the loss of a loved one
Son is missing his mom, and knows dad is not happy. Son wants his dad to move forward.
Idealistic love and romance

What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?

Sarcasm (both are very cynical with the doctor)
Interested in possibilities of love (admitted or not)
Wound of the death of his wife and getting past the pain, loss and missing his wife at Christmas
Future: realizing possibilities. She responds “Yes” (answering for him), to comment of …”maybe you need someone too…”

Daily Focus – Searching for Breakthroughs:

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

Tom Hank’s character is a bit of a lost soul after the loss of his wife. He is not very happy with life, but he needs to be there (body and soul) for his son.

His son seems to understand that his dad needs someone in his life again. It wouldn’t be too bad if dad was happy and a woman that could also love a step son.<div>

2. Read the other writers comments and make notes of any insights/breakthroughs you like.

I like Cara’s comment: What I learned rewriting my scene is more about the characters that are NOT right for each other… and that the characters need to understand this to move on. BELONGING TOGETHER

In thinking about Cara’s comment – I think that my story is about a big family that can’t get along even when trying to save lives. How a power struggle between siblings becomes tragic. This is the ultimate of ‘not belonging’ together. I will give this more thought and break down the traits of these individuals.
The love relationship between boyfriend and son have solid belonging together traits, but will also give more thought about what those traits mean.

3. Rethink or create a scene for your script using your new insights and rewrite that scene/character.

One of my scripts does have two young people that fall in love. The written one scene of physical love and then they talk about their son and how excited they are he is turning 5 years old.

This script is not about their love, but that love does have an impact on her future life.

More about extended family dynamic and the tragedy of loss. How main character must survive on her own in a desisted world.

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• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by  Liz Dwyer.

[Michael Williamsen]

Both Annie and Sam express respect (for the doctor yet still sarcasm in facial expressions. Both are experiencing online dating. Both are missing love. Both

Sam has been living his drama so I wouldn’t really call the phone call drama. The drama is best in Annie’s expression: the loss of Sam’s wife and her making everything special. Her expression of hope Sam will accept his loneliness and acknowledge he needs more than a mother for his son, a woman in his life.

[Ronald Neustrom]

What causes you to believe these two belong together? Notice any similar emotions, words, and actions.

Both characters are single adults who seem to connect on some of his answers. She is being emotionally supportive of his answers by her responses and they might have a common enemy in Dr. Marsha. She supports him emotionally and has not even met him yet. They both answer together “Sure you do.” His answers seem to touch her heart strings because when she hangs up she lets out audidible “Sighhhhhhhhhhh.”

What drama is this scene built around?

The drama is built around a son’s phone call to a radio psychologist because he wants to help dad find a new wife. It’s really a wonderful scene the way we can see her reactions to his answers. His voice alone connects with her and we can tell two things already. First, she is already supporting him emotionally. Through her phone, through her replies, through their common enemy and distrust of Dr. Marsha. Second, he is a great guy with a gaping emotional wound.

What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?

I think it’s interesting in opening a character relationship’s section and seeing one relationship here with no questions. I think the relationship between Tom Hanks and his son is not to be overlooked. It really gets us on board with him. He is a wonderful, great father with a young son who is sensitive to other people. We love this guy already. We want this guy to win. We are on his side because he is a great dad and has tried to navigate a troubled young man through the biggest tragedy in his young life. I think with this scene it kind of gets us on board with Tom and anyone who is a friend of Tom’s is a friend of ours. This scene does many things. Creates empathy for Hanks and his son. We hope for their future. Also, Meg might be someone he can connect with because she is connecting with him on a small level in her car through her “Sure you do!” answers together. Already we have begun to think about and predict their future together.

[James Hernandez]

Watch 1st time for:

· What causes you to believe these two belong together?

· Notice any similar emotions, words, and actions.

The belief these two belong together is caused by which they long to be accompanied during the holiday season and feel the need to fulfill a child’s wish for his parent. Both characters consider being alone as a low point in life.

Both characters show care as they don’t want another to feel sorrow and/or despair. In a sense they both feel helpless in that they are initially unable to ease another’s desperate concern; a father for his child and a radio listener for a show’s caller. Ultimately, both decide that they must improve their lives not only for themselves, but also for those close to them.

Watch 2nd time for:

· What drama is this scene built around?

· What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?

The drama this scene is built around includes a child wanting love and companionship for his father. The child has even gone to great lengths by calling a radio talk show to see if someone can fulfill his father’s needs. Adding more drama is a listener who has compassion for the father and wishes him well to say the least.

The father and listener are the right characters because they complement each other; he has a void in his life and she develops compassion for him. They share the same humor trait and they are both caring. Perhaps a secret they both have is indeed a longing to be in a loving relationship leading to possibly marriage. In this scene his wound is clear in that the loss of his wife is something he’s still dealing with; her wound is not that clear, but her compassion may originate from a loss she had in her life. Given the scene dynamics with the want, compassion and complement of the characters one can see a future among them with follow up calls and maybe an in-person meeting.

Insights/Breakthroughs:

The characters in my stories have to complement each other to fulfill the story puzzle. This is where the drama is born through eventual conflict, rapport, and competing agendas.