Adam Revesz
Forum Replies Created
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Adam’s Act 3 REACTION TO MIDPOINT
What I learned is that keeping the old ways moving to the new ways in mind all the time helps make story decisions easier.
INT. KITCHEN – MORNING
Beginning: Les and has kids sit silently eating their breakfast. They listen to the news which reports that 4.3 Billion people have died. All the soul has been drained from them. The news anchor, which has to speak the propaganda, says how all housed will be visited, eventually, for reassessment. We all have to do our part to get back to the new normal.
Middle: Les calls Jen. They’re going to be coming around, searching for dissenters, we need to come together. We can’t go into this future. She says she knows of an underground network of people who have been preparing for something like this for a while.
End: Les and the kids pack their things and leave.
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Adam has completed Act 2 Draft/outline 1 (sort of)
What I learned is I have to keep practicing at going fast!
ACT 2
EXT. PARLIAMENT – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth says they’ll be going into another full lockdown – if you’re seen outside you will be questioned. But the experimental vaccines to save all are here! They’re being rolled out. Oh what’s that behind me? Is that the vax party bus?
A bus drives up covered in ‘vaccinate now’ decals and music blaring. It’s had the roof removed like a parade float and men and women dance scantily dressed in nursing and doctor uniforms like you’d see at Halloween. They hold oversized syringes and squirt water at each other.
Slogan: Vax or you’ll pay more tax! Blares from the speakers.
Mayor dances awkwardly with the music. Like zero rhythm.
EXT. PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS – DAY
There is a large anti-everything protest which now just stares in shock at what they’re seeing.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Les sits down in his office – he has a blank white-board nearby and his computer. He starts to research.
Middle: Les has started to fill out the board as a diagram with Billionaire’s names, WHO/CDC, Trilateral commission and then arrows leading to $$ and Public Health. It looks super confusing at this point.
End: He sits staring at his board – no one could make sense of it at this point. In a burst of anger he wipes everything out. Thinks. “I need more space”. Then he looks at his wall.
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Camera crew and a nurse surround the Mayor. She smiles to the camera. ‘In an effort to combat vaccine hesitancy I’m going to show you just how safe it is. I’m going to take five shots of the stuff! I want you to know you can trust us.’
Middle: The nurse holds up 5 syringes and small vaccine bottles. She plunges them into the Mayor’s arm in succession all the while holding a cringed smile on her face. It hurts.
End: The camera crew packs up and Mayor goes to the nurse to make sure it was all 100% placebo. Nurse ‘oh ya! That would kill you’. Mayor: ‘You’re sure? My arm feels like a dead racoon.’
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
Beginning: Les enters the class with a gusto and proceeds to stare at all the kids. They stare back. Then Les takes off his PPE. The kids GASP like he’s the devil incarnate.
Middle: He walks around the class, the kids look terrified. Les talks, ‘Do you all feel this is right?… To be masked? To be gagged? To breathe in your own bacteria all day? Take off your masks! All of you! Go ahead, you’ll all be fine.’
The kids hesitate, but eventually do, they seem happy to. ‘Now everyone get up and walk around, high five, hug… I don’t want you to learn to be afraid of each other. They say ‘we’re in this together’… well then let’s BE together!’ The kids cheer! They run around hugging and high fiving. A couple of jocks try to even kiss a couple of girls who slap them.
End: INT. PRINCIPLE’S OFFICE
Principle sits in front of Les shaking his head.
Les pleads his case: ‘I don’t understand how you can’t see what’s happening to the kids. The only thing they’re learning right now is how to fear their friends, neighbours… heck even themselves. All for what? A virus that has a 99% plus death rate?
Principle – you can’t do that. Now I have to quarantine the whole class and you all have to get tested. Parents will be furious and so will the up abovers, but I can persuade them to keep you. We need all the help we can get, but this isn’t going to go very well for you.
ScreenwritingU – 30 Day Script – Assignment #14
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: As Donna cleans up the house she comes into Les’s office – and stops in her tracks. On the wall in front of her is the wall covered in printed papers, lines drawn in marker, notes of conspiracies, strings linking events, etc. She drops her cleaning supplies.
Middle: Donna walks up, studying closely all the notes.
End: She backs out, closes the door.
INT. LES’S HOUSE – LATER
Beginning: Les walks in and drops a bunch of stuff. Deflated. He stands a moment unsure what to do with himself. The future seeming bleak.
INT. KITCHEN – MOMENTS LATER
Middle: Les grabs a beer, leans and sips. He looks at the beer then goes and gets the scotch.
End: Donna walks in says she’s worried about him. He says he’s in quarantine. They need to talk. I saw your wall. Les – I’m terrified and I can explain everything – give me an hour.
INT. OFFICE – 1 HOUR LATER
Beginning: Les brings her into the office. Sits her down in front of the wall. Says her mind is about to be blown and she needs to be sitting. He begins in the 1960s…
Middle: Les is passionately acting out scenarios, talking emotionally about deep state connections, corruption – Montage with sound bytes. Donna sits staring – trying to keep it all straight.
End: Les finishes up talking about the vaccine and its’ potential dangers. Les: ‘So what do think? Crazy right? Living this lie for so long, all this going on behind our backs…’ Donna: ‘I think you forgot the alien connection and how they read our minds through satellites. Let’s order out tonight, I’m exhausted. And you need to get your head straight. You sound kinda nuts.’
INT. OFFICE – NEXT DAY
Les’s son sits shaking his head as Les does the same spiel for him.
INT. OFFICE – NEXT DAY
Les’s daughter sits, flipping on her phone as he goes at it again. Les says he’s going to start a YouTube channel or something to tell the world the truth.
INT. KITCHEN – DAY
Donna sits on her computer – she’s booking her vaccine time.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – NIGHT
He talks on the phone with Jen. They talk in depth about the issues. Les ‘At least I have one ally’.
NEWS: Middle class getting dismantled; Billionaire wealth exploding; police arresting protesters, Mayor speaking to masses (looks eerily Nazi like) with passion from the vax party bus – she says all our vaxxing efforts are paying off. Hopefully soon you’ll be free! Just get that vaccine everybody.
INT. VACCINATION CENTRE – DAY
Beginning: Donna stands in line at a busy centre where booths are set up with loads of people getting vaccinated. It’s her turn…
Middle: She sits by a nurse who’s covered in PPE. Inhumanely she speaks: ‘roll up your sleeve’. As Donna does this she tries to have a conversation with the nurse about her pregnant belly. Nurse is cold back.
End: Just before she plunges Donna asks if the nurse is supposed to get her consent and tell her the risks. Nurse: ‘Consent implied. Some small risks but you’ll be fine. The Mayor said so – don’t you listen to the Mayor?’ Donna: ‘The Mayor isn’t a doctor or virologist’. Nurse – ‘So? You’ll be fine…’. She plunges her arm.
EXT. BACKYARD – DAY
Les barbecues. The Principal calls and tells him he’s been fired.
INT. KITCHEN – EVENING
Les walks in, Donna is there. It’s awkward. He says they can’t keep this up. He doesn’t understand how she can’t see it when it’s right in front of her.
She tells him she got the vaccine today. Les is in shock – can’t believe it! He feels he’s completely failed her. He can’t even save his own wife. Says she’s going to go to her parents for a while – for a break. They both need to straighten out a bit.
MIDPOINT SCENES
INT. MAYOR’S HOME – NIGHT
The Mayor enters her home late. She lies on the couch for a moment to rest and suddenly a voice speaks in the dark. She jumps. ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘We need to move the next stage of the plan forward.’
Mayor: ‘But you can’t yet, we’re still doing the roll out – what about all the kids?
Voice: We need the kids. They won’t fight back and they’re easily brainwashed.
Mayor: Ya sorry, I know we need the kids for the future, but we need more adults vaccinated so it goes according to plan right?
Voice: We need to go tomorrow. There’s too much growing dissent and some of the governments have been messing up the vaccine rollout – bunch of imbeciles. But that’s what you get when we need dumb ‘yes’ people running things for us on that level. No offense.
Mayor: Uh, no, none taken.
Voice: So tomorrow, we’ll pull the trigger… so to speak.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Les is on his computer building out talking points for his argument and setting up his YouTube Channel to disseminate truth.
Jen calls in a panic – asks if he took the vaccine, which he didn’t. she says she thinks it’s connected, but just go turn the news on.
Middle: Les turns on the TV – it looks like chaos, people are dying in the streets. News anchor doesn’t know what it is, but the speculation so far is that the virus is going crazy all of a sudden. And it seems to be people who were vaccinated.
He runs out to the car and starts driving fast. It is chaos. People lay in the streets. He finally pulls up to a house and runs in. The parents are dead on the couch, Donna is laying in the kitchen on the floor. She’s blue but alive. ‘What’s happening’.
End: Les puts her in the car to take her to the hospital. She apologizes for not believing him. Then dies as he pulls out.
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Adam’s midpoint scene (outline)
What I learned is that I like the concept of same journey, but it’s like a bend in the road.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Les is on his computer building out talking points for his argument and setting up his YouTube Channel to disseminate truth.
Middle: Jen calls in a panic – asks if he took the vaccine, which he didn’t. she says she thinks it’s connected, but just go turn the news on.
End: Les turns on the TV – it looks like chaos, people are dying in the streets. News anchor doesn’t know what it is, but the speculation so far is that the virus is going crazy all of a sudden. And it seems to be people who were vaccinated.
He runs into the kitchen and finds Donna writhing on the ground, turning blue. He runs her to the car and as he’s backing out she dies.
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Adam’s act 2 middle scenes
What I learned – I may need to go back as make sure this isn’t just another reaction scene to TP 1. The process is making things more clear about what should happen when.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: As Donna cleans up the house she comes into Les’s office – and stops in her tracks. On the wall in front of her is the wall covered in printed papers, lines drawn in marker, notes of conspiracies, strings linking events, etc. She drops her cleaning supplies.
Middle: Donna walks up, studying closely all the notes.
End: She backs out, closes the door.
INT. LES’S HOUSE – LATER
Beginning: Les walks in and drops a bunch of stuff. Deflated. He stands a moment unsure what to do with himself. The future seeming bleak.
INT. KITCHEN – MOMENTS LATER
Middle: Les grabs a beer, leans and sips. He looks at the beer then goes and gets the scotch.
End: Donna walks in says she’s worried about him. He says he’s in quarantine. They need to talk. I saw your wall. Les – I’m terrified and I can explain everything – give me an hour.
INT. OFFICE – 1 HOUR LATER
Beginning: Les brings her into the office. Sits her down in front of the wall. Says her mind is about to be blown and she needs to be sitting. He begins in the 1960s…
Middle: Les is passionately acting out scenarios, talking emotionally about deep state connections, corruption – Montage with sound bytes. Donna sits staring – trying to keep it all straight.
End: Les finishes up talking about the vaccine and its’ potential dangers. Les: ‘So what do think? Crazy right? Living this lie for so long, all this going on behind our backs…’ Donna: ‘I think you forgot the alien connection and how they read our minds through satellites. Let’s order out tonight, I’m exhausted. And you need to get your head straight. You sound kinda nuts.’
INT. OFFICE – NEXT DAY
Les’s son sits shaking his head as Les does the same spiel for him.
INT. OFFICE – NEXT DAY
Les’s daughter sits, flipping on her phone as he goes at it again.
INT. KITCHEN – DAY
Donna sits on her computer – she’s booking her vaccine time.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – NIGHT
He talks on the phone with Jen. They talk in depth about the issues. Les ‘At least I have one ally’.
NEWS: Middle class getting dismantled; Billionaire wealth exploding; police arresting protesters, Mayor speaking to masses (looks eerily Nazi like) with passion from the vax party bus – she says all our vaxxing efforts are paying off
INT. KITCHEN – EVENING
Les walks in, Donna is there. It’s awkward. He says they can’t keep this up. He doesn’t understand how she can’t see it when it’s right in front of her.
She tells him she got the vaccine today. Les is in shock – can’t believe it! He feels he’s completely failed her. He can’t even save his own wife. Says she’s going to go to her parents for a while – for a break. They both need to straighten out a bit.
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Adam’s act 2 reaction to TP1
ACT 2
EXT. PARLIAMENT – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth says they’ll be going into another full lockdown – if you’re seen outside you will be questioned. But the experimental vaccines to save all are here! They’re being rolled out. Oh what’s that behind me? Is that the vax party bus?
A bus drives up covered in ‘vaccinate now’ decals and music blaring. It’s had the roof removed like a parade float and men and women dance scantily dressed in nursing and doctor uniforms like you’d see at Halloween. They hold oversized syringes and squirt water at each other.
Slogan: Vax or you’ll get hit with more tax! Blares from the speakers.
Mayor dances awkwardly with the music. Like zero rhythm.
EXT. PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS – DAY
There is a large anti-everything protest which now just stares in shock at what they’re seeing.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Les sits down in his office – he has a blank white-board nearby and his computer. He starts to research.
Middle: Les has started to fill out the board as a diagram with Billionaire’s names, WHO/CDC, Trilateral commission and then arrows leading to $$ and Public Health. It looks super confusing at this point.
End: He sits staring at his board – no one could make sense of it at this point. In a burst of anger he wipes everything out. Thinks. “I need more space”. Then he looks at his wall.
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Camera crew and a nurse surround the Mayor. She smiles to the camera. ‘In an effort to combat vaccine hesitancy I’m going to show you just how safe it is. I’m going to take five shots of the stuff! I want you to know you can trust us.’
Middle: The nurse holds up 5 syringes and small vaccine bottles. She plunges them into the Mayor’s arm in succession all the while holding a cringed smile on her face. It hurts.
End: The camera crew packs up and Mayor goes to the nurse to make sure it was all 100% placebo. Nurse ‘oh ya! That would kill you’. Mayor: ‘You’re sure? My arm feels like a dead racoon.’
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
Beginning: Les enters the class with a gusto and proceeds to stare at all the kids. They stare back. Then Les takes of his PPE. The kids GASP like he’s the devil incarnate.
Middle: He walks around the class, the kids look terrified. Les talks, ‘Do you all feel this is right?… To be masked? To be gagged? The breathe in your own bacteria all day? Take off your masks! All of you! Go ahead, you’ll all be fine.’
The kids hesitate, but eventually do, they seem happy to. ‘Now everyone get up and walk around, high five, hug… I don’t want you to learn to be afraid of each other. They say ‘we’re in this together’… well then let’s BE together!’ The kids cheer! They run around hugging and high fiving. A couple of jocks try to even kiss a couple of girls who slap them.
End: INT. PRINCIPLE’S OFFICE
Principal sits in front of Les shaking his head – Les pleads his case.
Principal – you can’t do that. Now I have to quarantine the whole class and you all have to get tested. Parents will be furious and so will the up abovers, but I can persuade them to keep you. We need all the help we can get.
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Adam’s finishing of act 1
I’ve learned I don’t like to write dialogue yet – that turns me into perfectionist writer. So I’m still keeping it as outline, but with more detail. Helps me go through and see it easier as well.
ScreenwritingU – 30 Day Script – Assignment #12
ACT 1
TEASER: News Footage with credits of pandemic hitting hard – shit going down
INT. SCHOOL – DAY
LES sits at the front of the classroom. He wears triple masks, plexi face shield, glasses and continually disinfects his hands. The KIDS all have masks loosely placed on their faces like they don’t really mean it or care. They’re doing a test.
Les spots a CHEATING KID, who’s looking over another kids shoulder. He rolls his eyes, squirts his hands and stands.
Les sneaks up behind the cheating kid…
LES
BOO!
The kid jumps half way to the ceiling, his stuff flying everywhere. Les laughs, the rest of the class laughs along.
INT. CLASSROOM – LATER
As the class files out in a single file, socially distanced with Les scrutinizing their spacing the cheating kid stands by the desk waiting.
After the rest of the class is gone, Les, strolls over dramatically, shaking his head. The guilty kid begins to well up. Les acts like he’s coming down hard on the kid, but the kid still pleads for forgiveness and says he won’t be able to attend his bike race on the weekend. Can he just do a make up test? Les makes a joke of it and says of course! He was just playing with him. Awkwardly tries to do fun fist pump trying to be one of the guys.
INT. PARLIAMENT – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth speaks before the press telling people to hang on just a little longer, we’ll get through this and be on the other side in no time. Just keep your distance, wear your mask, don’t go outside, stay away from loved ones, hold your breath when you have to pass a person even when wearing a mask…
A question comes in who says the information is confusing and why can’t they make a decision. The Mayor blinks twice and suddenly the line goes quiet ‘I think we lost ya’.
INT. PARLIAMENT BACK ROOM – LATER
Mayor tells her subordinate, who she calls ‘subordinate’ to fire the person who let the call through, fire the reporter from the paper and find another one to fire, just to keep the fear alive.
INT. LES’S HOME – EVENING
Les and DONNA, his wife, sit watching the news. He talks about how he hates the fact that he has trouble discipling or being a heavy. She says she loves that about him, so she can walk all over him. More wine please – he goes and gets it. Notices a broken vase – who did that? Donna says who do you think? He was acting like a puts, throwing the ball around the house again and SMASH! At that moment JORDAN, 14, his son walks in. ‘Oh ya, oops’. Les ‘Oh it’s okay, love ya buddy. It’s just a vase’. Donna, ‘that was 150 years old and given to you on your great grandmother’s death bed. It did once hold flowers from the soon to be president of the time before she broke it off and ran off with your great grandfather’. ‘Ya, it’s okay’.
EXT. SCHOOLYARD – DAY (TE 1)
BEGINNING: Les speaks with another teacher in the schoolyard. He jokes about trying to drink out of a fountain with a mask on. The other teacher leaves and Les notices some commotion between students in the yard.
MIDDLE: He wanders and finds a GROUP OF KIDS surrounding a kid, CURTIS. They yell things like ‘anti-masker’, ‘conspiracy douche-arist’, ‘grandma killer’.
END: Les breaks it up and the group of kids run off. Curtis is left, defeated, sitting on the ground. Les asks if he can tell him who the kids are. He says ‘they were my friends’, ‘but now my parents have made me see what’s really going on and when I say anything to them they won’t listen’.
INT. LES’S HOME – EVENING
Placeholder scene – Les talks to his family about their school and kids bullying about the pandemic.
INCITING INCIDENT
EXT. SCHOOLYARD – MORNING
Beginning: Les has Curtis bring his mom, JEN, over to tell her about the bullying.
Middle: She says she expected that to happen, but she’s just trying to teach her kids critical thinking and through their research they’ve discovered a lot is wrong with the pandemic. She says thanks for his help and that she knows some of the bullying kids parents so she’ll talk to them about it.
As she’s about to walk away, Les asks her what sort of information? She talks about faulty testing, conditioning, erosion of democracy, etc.
‘Isn’t that all just crazy conspiracy stuff?’
Jen says, ‘I have three questions for you: Has a governing body, or a person or group of people in power ever abused that power?’
Les, ‘Well, yes of course, countless times… and well continually as we speak’.
Jen, ‘Okay, and has a anyone in power ever colluded and conspired behind closed doors to advance their own agendas and garner more power?’
Les, ‘Yes.’
Jen, ‘So why is it then, we don’t question these same authorities and their decisions in this time of crisis? Why do we believe everything they’re saying, especially when the message is so convoluted, confusing and forceful?’
Les, ‘I, uh, don’t know… it’s a good question. I didn’t really think about it.’
Jen, ‘Well I hope you start’.
End: She begins to walk away. Les stops her again – he gives her his email for her to send some more info about it.
Jen, ‘Okay, but I’ll warn you… it’s terrifying’.
INT. LES’S HOME OFFICE – NIGHT
Beginning: Les sits on his computer and looks at an email from Jen. There are links to articles, videos, etc.
Middle: Les watches and reads. He pauses, thinks. He sits with his head between his legs. Donna comes in to see if he’s coming to bed, he lies and says he’s got lots of papers to greade.
End: Dawn. He’s been up all night. He can barely stand – the information has blindsided him. Knocked him to his knees. He throws up in the washroom.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Les tosses and turns. Can’t sleep.
INT. LES’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS
Les opens his laptop. He goes through graphs, prints things off. Gets info and prints more of it.
INT. PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE – DAY
Les knocks and enters. He shows the principal what he printed, explaining some concerns. Principal says he wouldn’t expect this from Les. ‘Why not?’. ‘You’re usually very in-line and compliant. Even if this were true, which I don’t think it is. My hands are tied. I get my orders from public health.’
Les asks him to just think about it. Look deeper. These kids’ lives are at stake. They dropping out, falling behind, etc.
Principal says, ‘I don’t want to get fired. I have a family to feed, you know how it is. You don’t want to get fired either, Les.’
INT. PARLIAMENT PRESS CONFERENCE – DAY
Mayor announces their fight against misinformation. All these conspiracists trying to hurt us with their lies. We’ve created a task force to shut down as much as possible – same as all the other countries, etc.
TURNING POINT 1 (sequence)…
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Les goes to his computer, flicks it on and looks at all his open tabs – Videos & articles of alternative news. He hesitates.
Middle: He starts closing all the tabs, one by one, but he moves faster and faster almost elated to go back into a knowing state of denial.
End: When he’s done he closes his laptop and takes a deep breath – unsure if it’s the right move.
INT. HOUSE – CONTINUOUS
Les comes out and tells the kids they’re going for ice cream.
INT. ICE CREAM SHOP – LATER
They have fun together, happy. It almost feels normal despite the distancing, masks, questions…
EXT. DOWNTOWN – LATER
Beginning: They walk with their ice creams and in the distance hear noise and people. Down the street is a protest moving along the road.
Middle: Les suggests they hang out and see what it’s about. The kids are nervous but decide it’s fine. The protest is peaceful – it’s an anti-lockdown protest. They give out flyers and one gets handed to Les’s daughter. She reads it, saying these people are nuts. Les asks her why? She says they’re all conspiracy freaks, etc. Les starts to defend them a bit although he hold back, almost stopping himself from ‘going down the rabbit hole’.
End: Suddenly sirens wail and chaos starts up. Armed police in riot gear start marching and causing trouble. People start to run and police chase and club and pepper people. They all sit in silent protest, but the police start to haul people away – they start running. In the chaos a cop sees his daughter with a pamphlet. He runs over and grabs her, Les tries to stop him but he smashes her with a club. She falls unconscious.
INT. HOSPITAL – NIGHT
Beginning: Les and his family sit around his daughter in the hospital room. They’ve obviously been there a while and she seems okay. They do their own things in the room and Les drifts off.
Middle: Dream sequence – Les’s daughter and son are lined up at their school with full hazmat suits on. At the front door police and medical staff screen each child who holds their wrist up and has the embedded chip scanned. On the screen it shows not only their vitals, but their credit score, bank accounts, recent places visited.
Inside the school they sit in plexiglass cubicles with little air vents. They have screens in front of them and still have to wear the hazmat suits. The teacher at the front has more freedom to move and wears less gear. On the screen a face talks and a video shows cleaning and distancing measures as well warnings of punishment if protocols aren’t adhered to. Suddenly a major siren goes off and a loud voice goes off ‘contamination breach!’. The door seals shut on its’ own.
End: Les wakes up with a start – in complete terror of the future he believes will happen if he doesn’t fight it.
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Adam’s turning point 1
What I learned is that the thought of putting my character in a state that he absolutely can’t turn back really had me change what exactly happened and even created a scene prior where he does try to ignore all the new information he has, but with the turning point scene it can’t be denied.
ACT 1
TURNING POINT 1 (sequence)…
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Beginning: Les goes to his computer, flicks it on and looks at all his open tabs – Videos & articles of alternative news. He hesitates.
Middle: He starts closing all the tabs, one by one, but he moves faster and faster almost elated to go back into a knowing state of denial.
End: When he’s done he closes his laptop and takes a deep breath – unsure if it’s the right move.
INT. HOUSE – CONTINUOUS
Les comes out and tells the kids they’re going for ice cream.
INT. ICE CREAM SHOP – LATER
They have fun together, happy. It almost feels normal despite the distancing, masks, questions…
EXT. DOWNTOWN – LATER
Beginning: They walk with their ice creams and in the distance hear noise and people. Down the street is a protest moving along the road.
Middle: Les suggests they hang out and see what it’s about. The kids are nervous but decide it’s fine. The protest is peaceful – it’s an anti-lockdown protest. They give out flyers and one gets handed to Les’s daughter. She reads it, saying these people are nuts. Les asks her why? She says they’re all conspiracy freaks, etc. Les starts to defend them a bit although he hold back, almost stopping himself from ‘going down the rabbit hole’.
End: Suddenly sirens wail and chaos starts up. Armed police in riot gear start marching and causing trouble. People start to run and police chase and club and pepper people. They all sit in silent protest, but the police start to haul people away – they start running. In the chaos a cop sees his daughter with a pamphlet. He runs over and grabs her, Les tries to stop him but he smashes her with a club. She falls unconscious.
INT. HOSPITAL – NIGHT
Beginning: Les and his family sit around his daughter in the hospital room. They’ve obviously been there a while and she seems okay. They do their own things in the room and Les drifts off.
Middle: Dream sequence – Les’s daughter and son are lined up at their school with full hazmat suits on. At the front door police and medical staff screen each child who holds their wrist up and has the embedded chip scanned. On the screen it shows not only their vitals, but their credit score, bank accounts, recent places visited.
Inside the school they sit in plexiglass cubicles with little air vents. They have screens in front of them and still have to wear the hazmat suits. The teacher at the front has more freedom to move and wears less gear. On the screen a face talks and a video shows cleaning and distancing measures as well warnings of punishment if protocols aren’t adhered to. Suddenly a major siren goes off and a loud voice goes off ‘contamination breach!’. The door seals shut on its’ own.
End: Les wakes up with a start – in complete terror of the future he believes will happen if he doesn’t fight it.
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Adam’s Inciting Incident
What I learned – I like the Beg/Mid/End for each scene to start. It really helps the arc of each scene in an easy way and I can see the purpose of the scene quickly – if there’s no arc and no change in character or plot in the scene then there’s no need for the scene (or find a way to make work)
ACT 1
KEY SCENE 1
EXT. SCHOOLYARD – DAY
BEGINNING: Les speaks with another teacher in the schoolyard. He jokes about trying to drink out of a fountain with a mask on. The other teacher leaves and Les notices some commotion between students in the yard.
MIDDLE: He wanders and finds a GROUP OF KIDS surrounding a kid, CURTIS. They yell things like ‘anti-masker’, ‘conspiracy douche-arist’, ‘grandma killer’.
END: Les breaks it up and the group of kids run off. Curtis is left, defeated, sitting on the ground. Les asks if he can tell him who the kids are. He says ‘they were my friends’, ‘but now my parents have made me see what’s really going on and when I say anything to them they won’t listen’.
INT. LES’S HOME – EVENING
Placeholder scene – Les talks to his family about their school and kids bullying about the pandemic.
INCITING INCIDENT
EXT. SCHOOLYARD – MORNING
Beginning: Les has Curtis bring his mom, JEN, over to tell her about the bullying.
Middle: She says she expected that to happen, but she’s just trying to teach her kids critical thinking and through their research they’ve discovered a lot is wrong with the pandemic. She says thanks for his help and that she knows some of the bullying kids parents so she’ll talk to them about it.
As she’s about to walk away, Les asks her what sort of information? She talks about faulty testing, conditioning, erosion of democracy, etc.
‘Isn’t that all just crazy conspiracy stuff?’
Jen says, ‘I have three questions for you: Has a governing body, or a person or group of people in power ever abused that power?’
Les, ‘Well, yes of course, countless times… and well continually as we speak’.
Jen, ‘Okay, and has a anyone in power ever colluded and conspired behind closed doors to advance their own agendas and garner more power?’
Les, ‘Yes.’
Jen, ‘So why is it then, we don’t question these same authorities and their decisions in this time of crisis? Why do we believe everything they’re saying, especially when the message is so convoluted, confusing and forceful?’
Les, ‘I, uh, don’t know… it’s a good question. I didn’t really think about it.’
Jen, ‘Well I hope you start’.
End: She begins to walk away. Les stops her again – he gives her his email for her to send some more info about it.
Jen, ‘Okay, but I’ll warn you… it’s terrifying’.
INT. LES’S HOME OFFICE – NIGHT
Beginning: Les sits on his computer and looks at an email from Jen. There are links to articles, videos, etc.
Middle: Les watches and reads. He pauses, thinks. He sits with his head between his legs. Donna comes in to see if he’s coming to bed, he lies and says he’s got lots of papers to greade.
End: Dawn. He’s been up all night. He can barely stand – the information has blindsided him. Knocked him to his knees. He throws up in the washroom.
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Adam’s opening scenes
What I learned – it’s hard for me to move on when I know I’m going to be changing a lot
ACT 1
News footage with credits of pandemic hitting – shit going down
INT. SCHOOL – DAY (Protagonist Intro & opening scene)
Beginning: Les sits at the front of the classroom. He wears a double mask and face shield. The kids all have masks loosely on their faces – they do a test. Les sees one of the kids cheating, looking over the shoulder of a classmate.
Middle: Les goes up behind the cheating kid quietly. Then scares his by yelling ‘boo’!
End: Les talks to the kid after class, seems like he’s coming down hard on him. The kid pleads to Les that if he fails he won’t be able to attend his bike race on the weekend. Les makes a joke of it and lets it go. He was just bugging him. Les wants to be liked.
INT. PARLIAMENT – DAY (Antagonist Intro)
Beginning: MAYOR ELIZABETH speaks before the press telling people to hand on just a little longer, we’ll get through this, keep your distance, etc. Gonna crush this pandemic.
Middle: A question phoned in by a reporter questioning her decisions. They ‘lose’ the call.
End: She tells them to fire the person who let the call through, and also never let that reporter call again. Call the editor and try and get them removed or they’ll remove the ads. We can’t have any misinformation spreading around.
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Adam’s beat sheet draft 2
What I learned: that his process is making so fast. Almost like plug and play.
Theme: Truth – Deny it or face it head on, it will always come out eventually.
Antagonist journey:
Mayor Elizabeth
1. Mayor says she is here to help the people – but she’s actually leading them into the abyss of a massive human experiment and population control
2. Mayor takes dictator control over public health – behind the scenes she has the head doctor intimidated
3. Mayor announces more lockdowns for good of health – but touts the new vaccine that will save everyone
4. Mayor gets the call – it’s going to happen now – she says isn’t it sooner than they wanted, but the answer is that too much vax dissent is happening now, so it’s time
5. She makes a big announcement about why the plan happened that way – the new world order
6. Mayor needs to find out why the plan isn’t working fully – who’s rising up? Who created this alternate internet that is all democratic? She’s losing her control. Gets the call if she can’t find out who it is… she’s done.
7. Mayor discovers who Les is – she meets him personally to squish him – her evilness is out as instead of killing him, she wants to see him suffer
8. She is found and killed by Les and his insurgents
ACT 1
TEASER:
News footage with credits of pandemic hitting – shit going down
INT. PARLIAMENT – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth speaks at a press conference – we’re here to help, please keep distance, wear your mask and don’t hug anybody! Together we’ll crush this virus.
INT. SCHOOL – DAY
Opening: LES IS FUN TEACHER WITH NO BACK BONE
Les is a funny computer science teacher who doesn’t have much control over his students. He jokes off his lack of control and influence. Hiding his feelings of defeat with jokes. Same goes at home.
EXT. SCHOOLYARD – DAY
TE 1: Les sees kid getting bullied and called ‘anti-masker’ – he breaks it up
INT. LES’S HOME – DAY
Les talks to his own kids to find out what’s happening
Inciting Incident: LES talks to kid’s mom about his kid being bullied and then anti-mask and freedom
INT. LES’S HOME OFFICE – DAY
Les gets info from NEW FRIEND (kid’s mom) – goes down the rabbit hole of truth
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth intimidates Public Health Doctor when he starts to question her.
INT. PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE – DAY
TE 2: He speaks up to the Principal of school about how he thinks they should look deeper into it critically– Principal says to leave it alone, don’t go there, these decisions come from the top – no matter what they say/we have to live with it/hands are tied
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY – ON COMPUTER
TE 3: Les witnesses 2 things that were considered a conspiracy by mainstream become reality: the idea of mass vaccinations with an experimental drug pushed through by FDA & people shot/taken away at an anti-lockdown peaceful protest.
Turning Point 1: CONSIRACY BECOMES REALITY: LES CAN’T TURN A BLIND EYE ANYMORE
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Les can’t remove images of his own kids, in rows with masks and plexiglass – iron fist coming down on them from Nazi-like teacher – a la ‘1984’.
ACT 2
INT. PARLIAMENT – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth says they’ll be going into another full lockdown – if you’re seen outside you will be questioned. But the vaccines to save all are almost here!
There is a large protest outside.
New Plan: FIND THE TRUTH
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Les does research, gets confused about the different messaging, he starts to let it leak to students who even say he’s being irresponsible
INT. PARLIAMENT – DAY
Mayor getting vax on camera – she whispers to the nurse giving it – ‘100% that’s placebo right?’.
INT. LES’S KITCHEN – DAY
TE 4: Les comes clean to Donna about what he’s been learning. She can’t even bare to hear it. It’s the truth! She denies it.
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth pushing vaccine rollout hard – everyone should be vaxxed with experimental vaccine ASAP
Plan in Action – DISSEMINATE TRUTH
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
He’s trying to sneak in some critical thinking to his students. He has an open debate with them in class about what’s happening.
INT. BEDROOM – DAY
Donna drops off a business call. She cries, packs a bag… then stops and unpacks.
INT. LES’S HOME – DAY
He feels he’s living a lie and sees his own children withdrawing, getting angry and losing hope for the future.
INT. LES’S HOME – NIGHt
Les’s kid says one of his classmates committed suicide.
NEWS: Middle class is getting dismantled.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Les and Donna have a big blowout fight – she says he’s crazy and he says she’s blind, etc.
INT. DOCTOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Donna gets the shot, is a bit nervous, but Doctor says it’s all good – you’ll be fine.
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
TE 5: Les gets close to a student who is having psych problems – the kid is very distraught so he breaks protocol and gives the kid a hug – another student sees this and reports him. HE IS FIRED and CHARGED. He’s publicly pegged as a dissenter
NEWS REEL
People are vaxxing – things are looking better for society
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Les is researching more, talking with Friend, wife got vaxxed and moved to parents for a while.
INT. MAYOR’S – OFFICE
She’s on a call, angry that ‘it’s’ happening too soon, need more people vaxxed. But she’s not really the boss. There’s too much vax hesitancy and they have to go ASAP.
Midpoint Turning Point: TRUTH IS WORSE THAN THOUGHT
NEWS REEL: Suddenly everyone who was vaxxed dies or gets severely ill and then dies.
INT. FUNERAL HOME – DAY
Les and kids at his wife’s funeral
ACT 3
EXT. PARLIEMENT BUILDINGS – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth announcement:
It was all on purpose – to shrink the population and weed out the followers – they wanted the best and brightest to survive. ‘Natural selection’ fast forwarded with a helping hand. Those that survive will share in the riches of the earth. A new earth with plenty for everyone, proper farming, clean air, etc. There’s just a few rules: You won’t own anything, you will be given monthly allowance for survival. You will be given a job that suits your aptitude, you will have a social scorecard, you are not allowed more than 1 child…
Rethink everything: Goes into hiding from NWO
INT. NEW FRIEND’S BASEMENT – DAY
Les goes into hiding with his new friend – the mom. With his kids and hers.
EXT. SCHOOL – DAY
Mayor plays nice as terrified kids are lined up and questioned about their aptitude. A new school system is being put in place to have the kids learn their life long vocation and be upstanding citizens.
New plan
INT. FRIEND’S BASEMENT – DAY
TE 6: Create a new internet that is democratic, money that can’t be hidden, build on what’s there – blockchain, coins, etc.
Find lots of ‘cells’ of people who want to fight back
INT. MAYOR’S HOUSE – NIGHT
Mayor is visited and threatened by ‘major’ player – told to find out who it is that’s thwarting their plans
INT. FRIEND’S BASEMENT – NIGHT
Les Tells his kids how they’ll get through this – they’ll building a strong resistance
Les and Friend make love – have fallen for each other
INT. MAYORS’S HOUSE – NIGHT
Mayor meets a strange man to infiltrate the resistance
INT. ANOTHER BASEMENT – NIGHT
A meeting – Behind the scenes Les and friend build a strong group worldwide on the alt web
NEWS:
Elite stranglehold starts failing because people have stopped buying from them and refusing to take their drugs, don’t use their social media – they’ve created another one that isn’t controlled by anyone
INT. ANOTHER BASEMENT – NIGHT
Les and people have gathered – a person introduces him to the Strange Man.
Turning point: Strange man reports Les’s name to they Mayor
TE 7: Les captured and put into labour camp. Mayor Elizabeth discovers who he is – how he’s the leader – and has him found and arrested along with many others in these cells.
Friend and kids escape.
EXT. MINE – DAY
Les does back breaking work, shackled
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Mayor makes a call – they should be back on track…
INT. LABOUR CAMP – NIGHT
Les talks with other prisoners. They need a true revolution. No longer can work only in the shadows.
ACT 4
Climax/Ultimate expression of conflict
INT. LABOUR CAMP – NIGHT
TE 8: Les leads a break out. They plan a take-over/escape of the camp with everyone in the jail. The guards lay down their weapons in solidarity.
Get weapons and head to the Mayor’s Home
INT. MAYOR’S HOME – NIGHT
Les confronts the Mayor and takes her hostage and executes (hangs) her publicly saying we’re moving to the top.
We’re done with corporate elites and their corruption – the people are finally taking back their freedom
Time for the real Truth – power and money corrupt, period.
Resolution
INT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT
Les and his ‘army’ are set up, it’s a live/work area with bunks, cots, etc. and computers/weapons, etc.
News footage shows the world descending into revolution and chaos as the oppressed finally rise up against the elites and power that has run the world for so long.
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Adam’s (not so) high speed Beat Sheet
What I learned doing this assignment is the ease at which I can go back and fix a few little things. Due to being very busy with work I wasn’t able to complete a bunch – but now I’m back at it and having the assignment half done I was able to just jump in easily and finish it off as I could go over the plot points super fast and get my brain back into it quickly.
ACT 1
TEASER:
News footage with credits of pandemic hitting – shit going down
INT. SCHOOL – DAY
Opening: LES IS FUN TEACHER WITH NO BACK BONE
Les is a funny computer science teacher who doesn’t have much control over his students. He jokes off his lack of control and influence. Hiding his feelings of defeat with jokes. Same goes at home.
EXT. SCHOOLYARD – DAY
TE 1: Les sees kid getting bullied and called ‘anti-masker’ – he breaks it up
INT. LES’S HOME – DAY
Les talks to his own kids to find out what’s happening
Inciting Incident: LES talks to kid’s mom about his kid being bullied and then anti-mask and freedom
INT. LES’S HOME OFFICE – DAY
Les gets info from NEW FRIEND (kid’s mom) – goes down the rabbit hole
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth says we’ll crush this plague
INT. PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE – DAY
TE 2: He speaks up to the Principal of school about how he thinks they should look deeper into it critically– Principal says to leave it alone, don’t go there, these decisions come from the top – no matter what they say/we have to live with it/hands are tied
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY – ON COMPUTER
TE 3: Les witnesses 2 things that were considered a conspiracy by mainstream become reality: the idea of mass vaccinations with an experimental drug pushed through by FDA & people shot/taken away at an anti-lockdown peaceful protest.
Turning Point 1: CONSPIRACY BECOMES REALITY: LES CAN’T TURN A BLIND EYE ANYMORE
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Les can’t remove images of his own kids, in rows with masks and plexiglass – iron fist coming down on them from Nazi-like teacher – a la ‘1984’.
ACT 2
New Plan: FIND THE TRUTH
INT. LES’S OFFICE – DAY
Les does research, gets confused about the different messaging, he starts to let it leak to students who even say he’s being irresponsible
INT. LES’S KITCHEN – DAY
TE 4: Les comes clean to Donna about what he’s been learning. She can’t even bare to hear it.
INT. MAYOR’S OFFICE – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth pushing vaccine rollout hard – everyone should be vaxxed with experimental vaccine
Plan in Action – DISSEMINATE TRUTH
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
He’s trying to sneak in some critical thinking to his students.
INT. LES’S HOME – DAY
He feels he’s living a lie and sees his own children withdrawing, getting angry and losing hope for the future
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Les and Donna have a big blowout fight – she says he’s crazy and he says she’s blind, etc.
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
TE 5: Les gets close to a student who is having psych problems – the kid is very distraught so he breaks protocol and gives the kid a hug – another student sees this and reports him. HE IS FIRED and CHARGED. He’s publicly pegged as a dissenter
NEWS REEL
People are vaxxing – things are looking better for society
Midpoint Turning Point: TRUTH IS WORSE THAN THOUGHT
NEWS REEL: Suddenly everyone who was vaxxed dies or gets severely ill and then dies.
INT. FUNERAL HOME – DAY
Les and kids at his wife’s funeral
ACT 3
EXT. PARLIEMENT BUILDINGS – DAY
Mayor Elizabeth announcement:
It was all on purpose – to shrink the population and weed out the followers – they wanted the best and brightest to survive. ‘Natural selection’ fast forwarded with a helping hand. Those that survive will share in the riches of the earth. A new earth with plenty for everyone, proper farming, clean air, etc. There’s just a few rules: You won’t own anything, you will be given monthly allowance for survival. You will be given a job that suits your aptitude, you will have a social scorecard, you are not allowed more than 1 child…
Rethink everything: Goes into hiding from NWO
INT. NEW FRIEND’S BASEMENT – DAY
Les goes into hiding with his new friend – the mom. With his kids and hers.
New plan
INT. FRIEND’S BASEMENT – DAY
TE 6: Create a new internet that is democratic, money that can’t be hidden, build on what’s there – blockchain, coins, etc.
Find lots of ‘cells’ of people who want to fight back
Behind the scenes Les and friend build a strong group worldwide on the alt web
Elite stranglehold starts failing because people have stopped buying from them and refusing to take their drugs, don’t use their social media – they’ve created another one that isn’t controlled by anyone
‘
Turning point: Huge Failure/Major shift
TE 7: Les put into labour camp. Mayor Elizabeth discovers who he is – how he’s the leader – and has him found and arrested along with many others in these cells.
INT. LABOUR CAMP – NIGHT
Les talks with other prisoners. They need a true revolution. No longer can work only in the shadows.
ACT 4
Climax/Ultimate expression of conflict
INT. LABOUR CAMP – NIGHT
TE 8: Les leads a break out. They plan a take-over/escape of the campwith everyone in the jail. The guards lay down their weapons in solidarity.
Get weapons and head to the Mayor’s office
INT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT
Les confronts the Mayor and takes her hostage and executes her publicly saying we’re moving to the top
Resolution
INT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT
News footage shows the world descending into revolution and chaos as the oppressed finally rise up against the elites and power that has run the world for so long.
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Adam’s Transformational Events
What I learned – turning the journey into hard decisions in steps makes the journey so straightforward and easy to place, manipulate and change
Character Arc: Les starts as a man afraid to speak up to a man leading a revolution.
Old Ways:
· Did as he was told
· Just tried to be the fun and liked guy
· Insecure
· Let his wife make the decisions
· Let his kids run over him (own kids and students)
· Kept his head down, avoids conflict
New Ways:
· Makes up his own mind
· Doesn’t care what other think
· Confident
· Debates/doesn’t back down
· Leads others
· Faces conflict head on
Transformational Events:
1. A friend shows him what’s happening behind the scenes
2. Les tries to tell the principal that he thinks they should do something different – gets shut down
3. He witnesses something that was considered a conspiracy become a reality
4. Les is fired for getting too close to a student with masks off
5. Les and Donna are at odds over vaccinating and the kids – she leaves
6. Les builds a new internet with friend
7. Les is arrested and put into a labour camp
8. Les breaks out and begins a world revolution
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Adam’s 4 Act Transformational Journey
What I learned: That I have trouble keeping it simple, but simple is better to see the arc clearly.
1.
Concept: When a spineless school teacher discovers the truth behind a new plague threatening humanity, he must redefine himself and find a strength he never had to save his family and the world from impending slavery.
Main Conflict: Once Les starts to uncover the truth of what’s going on with this new plague he must battle his own insecurities, his wife and a powerful government and corporate system to get the truth out.
Old Ways:
· Did as he was told
· Just tried to be the fun and liked guy
· Insecure
· Let his wife make the decisions
· Let his kids run over him (own kids and students)
· Kept his head down, avoids conflict
New Ways:
· Makes up his own mind
· Doesn’t care what other think
· Confident
· Debates/doesn’t back down
· Leads others
· Faces conflict head on
2.
ACT 1
Opening:
Les is a funny teacher who doesn’t have much control over his students. He jokes off his lack of control and influence. Hiding his feelings of defeat with jokes. Same goes at home.
People watch news items about a plague spreading around the world.
Inciting Incident:
Plague has arrived worldwide. Strict martial law put into place with lockdowns and government saying it’s for us, to protect us. But elites and other move freely. Les goes along with the fear to start.
Les discovers some ulterior news items through his FRIEND – a ‘mad conspiracy theorist’ – goes down the rabbit hole and his earth is shaken. Confused by all the different messaging. Major fear of the future and globalization. Conspiracy theories and truth abound and are hard to decipher.
Mayor Elizabeth says we’ll crush this plague
Turning Point 1:
He speaks up to the Principal of school about how he thinks they should look deeper into it – Principal says to leave it alone, don’t go there, these decisions come from the top – no matter what they say/we have to live with it/hands are tied
But he can’t – when a ‘conspiracy’ item becomes reality – he can’t turn away. A peaceful protest is surrounded by unmarked armed men – people shot/taken away.
ACT 2
New Plan: FIND THE TRUTH
Les does research, gets confused about the different messaging, he starts to let it leak to students who even say he’s being irresponsible
Mayor Elizabeth pushing vaccine rollout hard – everyone should be vaxxed with experimental vaccine
Plan in Action – DISSEMINATE TRUTH
He’s trying to sneak in some critical thinking to his students.
When he hints at what he thinks with his wife she shuts him down.
He feels he’s living a lie and sees his own children withdrawing, getting angry and losing hope for the future
Les has his kids take off their triple layered masks and walk about the school. HE IS FIRED and CHARGED. He’s publicly pegged as a dissenter
People are vaxxing – things are looking better for society
Midpoint Turning Point: TRUTH IS WORSE THAN THOUGHT
Suddenly everyone who was vaxxed dies or gets severely ill and then dies.
ACT 3
It was all on purpose – to shrink the population and weed out the followers – they wanted the best and brightest to survive. ‘Natural selection’ fast forwarded with a helping hand. Those that survive will share in the riches of the earth. A new earth with plenty for everyone, proper farming, clean air, etc. There’s just a few rules: You won’t own anything, you will be given monthly allowance for survival. You will be given a job that suits your aptitude, you will have a social scorecard, you are not allowed more than 1 child…
Rethink everything: Goes into hiding from NWO
Les goes into hiding with his friend. (His wife and kids have died because she made them get vaxxed)
New plan
Create a new internet that is democratic, money that can’t be hidden, build on what’s there – blockchain, coins, etc.
Find lots of ‘cells’ of people who want to fight back
Behind the scenes Les and friend build a strong group worldwide on the alt web
Elite stranglehold starts failing because people have stopped buying from them and refusing to take their drugs, don’t use their social media – they’ve created another one that isn’t controlled by anyone
Turning point: Huge Failure/Major shift
Mayor Elizabeth discovers who he is – how he’s the leader – and has him found and arrested along with many others in these cells.
They need a true revolution. No longer can work only in the shadows.
ACT 4
Climax/Ultimate expression of conflict
They plan a take-over/escape of the jail with everyone in the jail
They breakout (friend hacks the system), take-over the guards, get weapons and head to the Mayor’s office
Les confronts the Mayor and takes her hostage and executes her publicly saying we’re moving to the top
Resolution
News footage shows the world descending into revolution and chaos as the oppressed finally rise up against the elites and power that has run the world for so long.
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Adam’s character interviews
What I learned: Letting the mind go while answering the questions was really fun and insightful. While trying to write the answers in the character’s voice I discovered new things about them, even their thought process and how they talk started to take shape. Also, past events came to light.
Protagonist: Les Beamington
1. Tell me about yourself.
Well, I’m a teacher… married with two children, 6 and 14, yea that happened. We meant to have one, but things happen… a little vino and pop! You’re one kid richer. He’s a real firecracker though, so it’s okay… I mean, it would be okay anyway. So I teach middle school grade 7 kids. They’re a strange lot, hitting the whole puberty thing, puts a twist on things in the hormonal soup of the classroom. Not much to say really, I really like teaching the kids, helping them to learn and hopefully turn into upstanding citizens. I grew up not too far from where we live now, haven’t traveled too much. I like traveling, but just never quite got around to doing a lot of it. I mean, we vacation a bit, but real travel you know… My parents are well and kicking. Quite active really, with social groups, light sports activities, you know. My mom’s only semi-retired. You know, sometimes I do dream of other things, being an adventurer in the amazon, fighting tigers… do they have tigers there? Shoot, I can’t remember, my subject is math… anyway, I think that would be neat. I guess it would make me feel manly. I don’t feel very manly at the moment. I should take up camping or something.
Why do you
think you were called to this journey? Why you?Well that’s a tough one, why me? For this? I guess it’s ironic as I’m in a bad position to say anything against authority. I have a lot at stake… loss of job, shunned from society… but I also have a deep love and concern for my kids… I get nightmares thinking of what their future could be.. but I don’t know, what if I’m wrong? It’s hard to decipher all the potential motivations of the others. Maybe I could inspire others like me, maybe that’s it, maybe if I do it… you know stand up and speak out… then maybe that will give others courage to do the same. People like me, you know… or they’ll just think I’m a lunatic.
You are up
against . What is it about them that makes this journey even more
difficult for you?Well, I’m basically up against a whole system. Yea it’s one person controlling it, but it goes way deeper than that… it’s like going against the whole of society… and it really make you question yourself, your thoughts, even your sanity at points. So I almost feel like I’m going up against myself on one level, then a prominent, powerful person in control on another. And it feels very lonely and scary. It’s very seductive to just hide like everyone else… but the thoughts never go away and eat you inside. You can unsee what you’ve uncovered.
In order to
survive or accomplish this, you are going to have to step way outside of
your box. What changes do you expect to make and which of them will be the
most difficult?I think I’m going to lose my job probably… maybe even lose my wife, ya, she doesn’t see it yet like I do. It’s crazy, the cognitive dissonance that occurs… and not being able to connect the dots that are in plain sight. I’m going to risk being ridiculed, persecuted… I don’t, jailed? Will it go that far? I hope not, obviously. I really hope that I find support, I know it’s out there, we just have to find each other somehow. But essentially I could lose my life as I know it, but that’s gone now anyway.
What habits
or ways of thinking do you think will be the most difficult to let go of?Hmm, ya, I’ll have to trust myself more. I’ve really realized that I have a lot of self doubt… and fear of speaking out, of being ridiculed.
What fears,
insecurities and wounds have held you back?Well as I just said, self-doubt for sure and that fear of being ridiculed and exposed. I guess that’s why I have that self-deprecating humour going. Knock myself down before anyone else. I guess that comes from when I was younger… I got picked on as a kid a bit… well more than that. It stopped after a while, once I figured out how to navigate the social waters in high school, but before that I would stammer in front of the class from nerves and it would just.. well be awful. So I really tried hard to fit in after that.
What skills,
background or expertise makes you well-suited to face this conflict or
antagonist?I honestly don’t know, I am pretty smart – I know that, and I’ve always been good about putting two seemingly unconnected things together. I think if I can do that and somehow get others to see it that will help. I also love research and history. I can spend hours going into researching things that no one else even wants to touch.
What are you
hiding from the other characters? What don’t you want them to know?Well, I’m hiding what I know from my wife and kids. I’m afraid to tell them and not only disrupt their world more than it already is, but I don’t think my wife is going to see it the same way. I’ll have to tell her at some point, but… well, we’ll see how that goes. I just want my kids to feel as normal as possible. Nothing’s normal now though, so I don’t know.
What do you
think of ?I flip between horrible atrocities and a better world for the future.
Tell me your
side of this whole conflict / story.Well in a nutshell, I think the people who are running this city are corrupt and using a public emergency to push their backroom dealings and agendas to make more money, take more control and gain more power.
What does it
do for your life is you succeed here?Freedom.
Ask any
other questions about their character profile that will help you.Antagonist: Mayor Elizabeth Donaldson
Tell me
about yourself.From an early age I was always very ambitious. Top of my class in almost every subject… my parents would fume if I wasn’t winning everything. I didn’t have too many relationships at a young age. I found personal relationships… difficult. Not until later, when I learned that having ‘friends’ was a valuable tool did I start practicing in the art of persuasion. I graduated top of my class in high school, had sex for the first time at the prom and went off to an Ivy League school. It was there that I was chosen to be groomed. They were specifically looking for women… who had certain qualities. Leadership I guess it was… or strength and power. Anyway, I’m now the Mayor of the biggest city in the country and I have long way up to go, but I’ve been assured as long as I follow the rules and do the right thing for my supporters, I’ll see the top one day. I don’t have a family, I have others endeavours to focus on at the moment. Although, I’m told I should get a family as it would make me look more trustworthy.
Why do you
think you were called to this journey? Why you?I’m very loyal and trustworthy to those that support me. I think that’s why.
You are up
against . What is it about them that makes this journey even more
difficult for you?Well I’m not really worried about the varmin that try to spread the truth and try to thwart our plans. The problem is that they don’t know what’s good for them. They don’t understand the we do this for them, to give those that follow blindly a really good life. Really, they won’t have to think about a thing. So yes, these truth spreaders will make it more difficult, but we’ll take care of it.
In order to
survive or accomplish this, you are going to have to step way outside of
your box. What changes do you expect to make and which of them will be the
most difficult?I’m sure as this gets more difficult, I might start having more challenges. I might even start to get emotional… and no one wants that. I might have to start making some examples of people to keep the rest in line. I mean, I don’t want to do that, but I will if I have to. It won’t be pretty, but fear is the best weapon we have.
What habits
or ways of thinking do you think will be the most difficult to let go of?I really like order and sticking to a plan. If I’m forced off that plan it’s really going to piss me off. The trick will be to not get over emotional about going out of my way to do things I don’t want to do – if I get emotional or angry I could get sloppy. That can lead to mistakes and getting exposed.
What fears,
insecurities and wounds have held you back?If I had to pick something – I would say I’m afraid to lose. I can’t lose. As some say, that can be a fault – I don’t see it, but I’ll take their word for it.
What skills,
background or expertise makes you well-suited to face this conflict or
antagonist?My whole life has been a battle to stay on top and in control. That makes me the perfect person to lead this.
What are you
hiding from the other characters? What don’t you want them to know?I’m secretly very afraid of people knowing who I really am. That I don’t have any feelings and I’m a freak.
What do you
think of ?I think of when I can finally have full control and then relax.
Tell me your
side of this whole conflict / story.I’ve been groomed to lead this battle to control the world. To be a part of a great thing where we the leader will take care of everyone. We’ll make the world a better place for everyone to live happily and not worry about anything. We’ll make all the decisions for you. Yes, we’ll have more freedoms and wealth. But isn’t that a just balance? We’re taking care of you and anyone who stops that is a denier and must be removed for the good of all. So that’s what I do. I remove those that stops us from achieving a sort of heaven on earth.
What does it
do for your life is you succeed here?Endless riches and power.
Ask any
other questions about their character profile that will help you. -
Adam’s character profile part 2
What I learned: Having all these key character values on hand and in short form should make it easy reference to make sure I’m on track with character authenticity and arc.
Protagonist: Victim/Fighter
Antagonist: Authority (sort of?)
Supporting Characters: Wife, kids, best friend
Minor roles: neighbours, students, politicians
Background characters: news/media, Youtube creators, alt news sources, oppressed population
Genre: Comedy/Thriller… Comedy/sci-fi?
Protagonist: Les Beamington
Role in the Story: Self-conscious school teacher who comes out of denial to realize what’s really happening during a world threat only to realize he can’t not do anything.
Age range and description: mid 40s, decent looking, guarded, funny, fit
Internal Journey: From being fearful and living in denial/under a veil to brave and eyes wide open.
External Journey: From living a comfortable, quiet and ‘safe’ life to a freedom fighter trying to save humanity.
Motivation: to protect his children
Wound: humiliated as a child when he spoke up
Mission/agenda: to uncover the truth and save his kids/family from population control agenda
Secret: that he’s learning the truth, that goes against norms
What makes him special: his true empathy and desire to do good ends up making him very resourceful
Antagonist: Mayor Elizabeth Donaldson (representative of ‘the system’)
Role in the Story: Tightly wound politician who speaks out of both sides of her mouth. She ‘speaks for the people’, but caters to her constituents and uses the bad situation to further her own agendas and make more money. Not really knowing what she’s paving the way for. She is known as ‘the people’s politico’.
Age range and description: mid 50s, very fit and attractive, kind and open face, well put together
Internal Journey: From rationalizing her self-centred decisions to realizing she doesn’t care
External journey: From attempting to keep chaos under control to hammering down the iron fist with impunity
Motivation: Power and money
Wound: neglected and unloved as a child
Mission/agenda: to steer the focus away from her dirty dealings and backroom deals to make more money
Secret: Make it secrets, but she really loves rocky road ice cream and crushing people who are weak
What makes her special: Her ability to lie without breaking a sweat
What I learned from this assignment: ‘wound’ and ‘secret’ are great to keep top of mind when thinking of how the character might react in certain situations, plus if aligned with an external obstacle – how does that play out?
LES BEAMINGTON Cont’d
What draws us to Les?
He is that person we either are or we know. Sort of the Everyman that is nice, and usually does what he says and wants a quite somewhat easy existence. We understand his situation, when it comes under stress and he discovers that he’s not totally free to speak his mind because of the consequences – either loss of job, public humiliation, etc.
Traits: funny/self-deprecating, carries self-doubt, caring, loyal
Subtext: Deflects difficult conversations with jokes; doesn’t speak his mind fully/what he’s really feeling; maybe lost who he really is by always saying ‘yes’ to others
Flaw: self-doubt & concerned about others opinions of him
Values: helping others; being dependable;
Irony: He wants to be helpful and protect his kids, but he’s afraid to speak up. When he discovers the truth he HAS to speak up or he can’t protect his kids – he has to change his values of being loyal to a system that is flawed to be loyal to his family.
What makes this character right for the role?
He’s already in a bad position for what he has to decide, when the truth is revealed. Also, the truth is elusive, so at some point he has to trust himself to make the right decision and gamble everything on that decision.
Mayor Elizabeth Donaldson cont’d
What draws us to Elizabeth?
Her balance of beaty, charm and power. Also, how she can obviously lie with impunity, with a smile on her face. We’re drawn in by intrigue of her sociopothy and trying to figure what she says is real or not real.
Traits: Hyper-confident, witty/charming, commanding, manipulative
Subtext: says what she needs to say to get what she wants, could always be lying
Flaw: sociopath
Values: Power, money,
Irony: Her blind and unwavering confidence that she will ‘win’ could be her undoing. It gives her blind spots.
What makes her character right for the role:
Her traits represent a whole corrupt system personified.
What I learned: Having all these key character values on hand and in short form should make it easy reference to make sure I’m on track with character authenticity and arc.
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Adam’s character profile 1
What I learned from this assignment: ‘wound’ and ‘secret’ are great to keep top of mind when thinking of how the character might react in certain situations, plus if aligned with an external obstacle – how does that play out?
Protagonist: Victim/Fighter
Antagonist: Authority
Supporting Characters: Wife, kids, best friend
Minor roles: neighbours, students, politicians
Background characters: news/media, Youtube creators, alt news sources, oppressed population
Genre: Comedy/Thriller… Comedy/sci-fi?
Protagonist: Les Beamington
Role in the Story: Self-conscious school teacher who comes out of denial to realize what’s really happening during a world threat only to realize he can’t not do anything.
Age range and description: mid 40s, decent looking, guarded, funny, fit
Internal Journey: From being fearful and living in denial/under a veil to brave and eyes wide open.
External Journey: From living a comfortable, quiet and ‘safe’ life to a freedom fighter trying to save humanity.
Motivation: to protect his children
Wound: humiliated as a child when he spoke up
Mission/agenda: to uncover the truth and save his kids/family from population control agenda
Secret: that he’s learning the truth, that goes against norms
What makes him special: his true empathy and desire to do good ends up making him very resourceful
Antagonist: Mayor Elizabeth Donaldson (representative of ‘the system’)
Role in the Story: Tightly wound politician who speaks out of both sides of her mouth. She ‘speaks for the people’, but caters to her constituents and uses the bad situation to further her own agendas and make more money. Not really knowing what she’s paving the way for. She is known as ‘the people’s politico’.
Age range and description: mid 50s, very fit and attractive, kind and open face, well put together
Internal Journey: From rationalizing her self-centred decisions to realizing she doesn’t care
External journey: From attempting to keep chaos under control to hammering down the iron fist with impunity
Motivation: Power and money
Wound: neglected and unloved as a child
Mission/agenda: to steer the focus away from her dirty dealings and backroom deals to make more money
Secret: Make it secrets, but she really loves rocky road ice cream and crushing people who are weak
What makes her special: Her ability to lie without breaking a sweat
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Hi!
1. Adam Revesz
2. 7 screenplays and 2 plays
3. Able to write faster and hone my process to be more repeatable. Also just learn new techniques in general. Oh and rewriting better.
4. Hmmm… everything?
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Adam’s transformational journey.
What I learned from this assignment:
A good strategy for an overall look at the character journey and change. I like the breakdown like this because I can almost see the scenes, one by one, that you could write throughout the movie to reflect each change, bringing depth to character, action moving forward and raising stakes. Plus how you can build the old ways and the new way into the both the internal and external journeys. Was also very fast!
Hero: Martin, mid-40s, a mild mannered, fun high school teacher, who goes about his quiet life with his nuclear family until a global threat questions his reality and pits human against human.
Internal Journey: From being fearful and living in denial/under a veil to brave and eyes wide open.
External Journey: From living a comfortable, quiet and ‘safe’ life to a freedom fighter trying to save humanity.
Old Ways:
· Did as he was told
· Just tried to be the fun and liked guy
· Insecure
· Let his wife make the decisions
· Let his kids run over him (own kids and students)
· Kept his head down, avoids conflict
New Ways:
· Makes up his own mind
· Doesn’t care what other think
· Confident
· Debates/doesn’t back down
· Leads others
· Faces conflict head on
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I just posted and scrolled up a bit and it looks like I almost copied you. haha. I didn’t!