Week 2 Day 1: What did you learn?

[Steven Delisi]

What I learned rewriting my scene / character ?

A breakthrough for me was to witness how seamlessly or nonchalantly Sam could project his neediness onto his son while on the phone with Dr. Marsha. It was done so matter of factly, so when she counters him with his own feelings at stake, that it gives this part of the scene even more depth.

My protagonist Darby is a bit cynical as she’s a narcotics cop, while her father Kurtis … who is streetwise enough to evade a drug gang and dirty cops, is hunted by both. But he’s somehow more open and available to her, and even tries to help her when she’s made an outsider on the police force. They are both out of touch with their deeper feelings though. I’m brainstorming scene ideas where they have to confront their individual loneliness or neediness.

Just like Dr. Marsha, another character, is manipulating them into confessional or a betrayal of their own beliefs or morals, etc.

[Pat Fitzgerald]

What I learned by rethinking my scene is that secrets, in order to be useful in a script, need to be revealed, not kept secret. My character needs to open up more, even if it’s done reluctantly.

[Judith Resell]

Parallelism is a useful technique. In a series of scenes leading up to the meet of my two main characters, parallel actions, behaviors and emotions can propel the story forward more strongly to a meet that we understand as meant to be.

[Neil Werenskjold]

CM Week 2 Day 1: Belonging Together – Sleepless In Seattle

What I learned is to keep my rewrites up until all my scenes are linked together with “almosts” and near misses. Not bringing the desired outcome until the last scenes. Keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

[A J Ferrara]

I learned that there are many ways to manipulate character relationships. In the script I’m using for this lesson, we have to ask, Do these two belong together or are horrific circumstances creating an illusion. Do either of them realize what happening or is a wave of emotion blinding them to what reality is. Creating tension and plot subtext through a two person relationship can drive the plot to an either happy or heartbreaking ending.