[Aina Jarvine]

Example show: Hijack

“What I learned doing this assignment…” 1) What pressure?! Every shot in the pilot is there for a reason, for introduction, for set-up, for development – not one second is wasted! How the heck will I write something like this? I must let go and just keep going – forget that perfection. 2) With multiple main characters and storylines it’s best to follow the big story and what audience needs to know to get hooked. 3) Every character that is showed to us more than in passing has a question attached to them. 4) I go into crazy details. Must try and see a bigger picture – details will bog me down!

1. Big Picture hook – A plane from Dubai to London is hijacked by a crew armed with guns and a hard-core negotiator for billion dollar companies takes on to keeping passengers calm so that the plane can arrive without casualties at the destination.

2. Intriguing Character – SAM: we are not told who he is, we see he is calm and capable, he keeps an eye on his surroundings, he notices things, he can help people, he has a wife he loves and wants back but who is with another man – and then we are told he is a hard-core negotiator, not any negotiator but the best there is at calming people down after huge companies get dissolved. MAIN HIJACKER: we do not know anything about him, and we don’t even know if he would be capable of killing anyone. But he has a gun and a plan we do not know about yet. SECURITY WOMAN AT DUBAI AIRPORT: her family is in danger – but why? What does she know about the hijacking – why did she let the running man through security – loads of questions. CONTROLLER AT DUBAI TOWER: a nice guy who just had a birthday – cannot understand jokes but sees that something is wrong. Is he just attentive or is there something else to him?

3. Empathy/Distress – 1) Sam wants to get home but his wife has another man – we have a negotiator who has not been able to negotiate his own life from falling apart – how can he negotiate the plane down safely? Feel for his home situation. BUT I am absolutely convinced he will be able to negotiate his way out of this situation. So, I do not have much fear for him, but I am interested how he is going to do it and how well he will be able to do it. Not 100% bingeable for me yet. After the pilot show I like him, I do not yet empathise with him! 2) Sam is in a distressful situation but he keeps calm and thus he does not feel in jeopardy to me! But others around him are. I must admit I almost feel more for them. So for me the distress is created through other characters.

4. Open Loops – a. Will Sam be clever enough to get the plane land safely with no one hurt in London and what is his hidden agenda? b. What will happen to all of the passengers individually – who will lose it, who will be brave, will the pilot/stewardess relationship survive, will they turn on one another, what allegiances will be made etc? c. What do the hijackers want? And who is behind it? d. What’s the thing with families – we see so many family photos and one family on the plane too. e. What’s going on with the Security woman and her family? How is she connected to it all? f. Will Dubai Tower Controller be an ally or a foe to Sam?

5. Inviting Obsession – Will Sam be able to keep the people calm on the plane? There are all kinds of characters, one worse off and more explosive than the other – how will he control them? Will he lose his calm? IS he able to bring the plane down without any casualties – I highly doubt it.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by  Aina Jarvine.

[Aina Jarvine]

Hi, I
am Aina Järvine, a director of animated films and TV-series from Estonia. I
have written around dozen feature scripts and some shorts so far. I am looking
forward to learning how to use Ai in my development process, having fun writing
a story for grown-up audience this time and getting over a fear of writing a
complex story for serial TV. I am hard to miss in a crowd thanks to my hot-pink
hair and I hope to develop my scriptwriting skills to write just as unmissable
scripts :-).

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina Järvine

“I agree to the terms of this release form.”

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

[Aina Jarvine]

Hi, I am Aina Järvine, a director of animated films and TV and an aspiring screenwriter – neo noir/horror writer, joining this class from Estonia.

I have completed few feature scripts, one of which (animated film) has been produced (released in 2020) and many shorts, several of which (animation again) have been produced.

My plan for this upcoming summer was to rewrite my next feature script and I have been treading this procedure, so Hal’s call for the Rewrite class came on cue and I am hoping to use it to have a draft 3 of my animated feature ready for more pitching by the end of this summer.

Something unusual about me: I have hot-pink hair, it’s been part of me for the past decade so it kind of feels as if I was born with it :-).

Looking forward of sharing this new fun journey with you all.

[Aina Jarvine]

I, Aina Järvine, agree to the terms of this release form.

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’a Turning Point 1 Scenes

What I learned doing this assignment is I must think of action and turn the “talking scenes” preferably into action scenes.

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – NIGHT/DAY

NOTE: where could it be? And how could it look like? He should be able to make do with bare necessities?

BEGINNING: Urr sets his home in order – makes it more invisible.

MIDDLE: EXT/INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – Urr sees something that makes him determined he must get the family away from here. What could it be? Something to do with the baby or Mia? Continue the saving of baby theme – part 2? FEAR of the unknown – the Shadows.

END: Urr decides he must get the family away from here as fast as he can.

EXT. FARM HOUSE/COURTYARD – DAY

TURNING POINT:

BEGINNING: Urr and Velbas shake hands. Makes a deal with Velbas, they will work together to make the family hate the farm and move back to the city.

MIDDLE: Kippen and Tunne happen upon it – Velbas lies to them. Urr a bit flustered, not sure how to co-operate, how to go about it. He breaks something by accident “first accident” – Mother is present. She is not happy – this place is falling apart, why are we here?

END: Velbas gets an idea. Urr enthusiastic. Believes he will get away from here with his family.

[Aina Jarvine]

Sorry, pasted a wrong lesson here and am not sure how to delete the reply 🙁

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Inciting Incident

What I learned doing this assignment is to make sure the theme does not get lost as I outline the scenes. Also keeping the theme in mind helps with developing scenes which are not fleshed out yet.

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

BEGINNING: Urr lost among towers of boxes, but sticks to his cleaning routine.

MIDDLE: Talk of moving, and excitement about the house. Let Urr physically trip over something – action!!! Urr puzzled – moving, moving where? Listens in. FEAR: what will happen to me when they leave? They cannot leave without me? Dramatic: life will never be the same again – but when it ever is? PLACEHOLDER: Urr frets about, takes things out of boxes, this causes arguments among family members, and they pack faster than he can take things out.

END: Beaten, Urr realises he must go with the change. Begins to pack packing must be all about holding onto the old. They cannot go without me, without me they will loose all their luck, and without them I don’t know what will happen to me. OR is it better if he is still in denial?

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SUMMER

INCITING INCIDENT:

BEGINNING: Movers move out furniture and boxes – family dog going bonkers.

MIDDLE: Urr flaps about, does not know what to take along. He does not want to go. But must. Box with his things is taken out. What now? FEAR: physically afraid now. Daughter asks if Family Elf comes along. Mother says yes. But what if there is an house elf already there. Mom: they will have to get along then. Urr shivers just at the thought of it. How to catch the ride? Almost falls behind.

END: pulls himself together and climbs into one of the other boxes or takes a ride with the Dog – he must be in such a place that he can have a conversation with himself and also see out when we get to the farm – lamp shade? Mia’s doll box – he does not want company, so arranges dolls not to look at him? But then do bring the dolls in earlier or later, too.

INT. BOX – DAY – CONTINUOUS

BEGINNING: Urr in the box – freaking out. Fear – refusal.

MIDDLE: clears the corner for himself from toys – give me some space!

END: I hope the new place is nice and quiet and small – it will be fine – but he does not believe in it himself?

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Act 1: Opening Scene

Since I am fairly behind I have decided to get through the lessons and do only scene outlines. I will try to catch up with writing or fleshing the scenes out as I go along.

What I learned doing this assignment is that doing scenes in outlines using beginning, middle and end helps to create new action needed.

OPENING: Montage of Urr’s life

INT. APARTMENT – DAY/NIGHT – WINTER

BEGINNING: Urr adjusts glass baubles on the Xmas tree – moving delicate ones higher and bringing tougher ones lower – he is wiry and athletic, easily moving from slim branch to another. Dog finds it funny and tries to grab Urr.

MIDDLE: Urr throws something for the dog, dog off. A baby reaches for a glass bauble on a lower branch, Urr drops Mia’s doll down for it and removes the bauble. Mother picks up baby. Looks at the tree in wonder – has someone changed the decorations. Daughter, Mia, with biscuits and cream, takes her doll – jealous of the baby. Fear it will take away all that’s hers.

END: Urr eats a biscuit, pushes a piece to the dog – no other contact between them, Urr happy

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – WINTER

BEGINNING: Urr cleanses the apartment with his “something”, Toys lie around.

MIDDLE: Dad in, heads for the toys – does not see. Urr urges Dog for gallop, rides up, removes the toy in time, as father pats the dog.

END: Resumes the cleansing – it is rehearsed and always done the same – but what could be the change-twist?

INT. APARTMENT – URR’S HIDEOUT – DAY

BEGINNING: Urr staggers into his home, collapses.

MIDDLE: ticks things off in his note book – things he must do.

END: Happy, all tasks are done. Note: no shadows for 20 days.

NOTE: the space – where and what it’s like – it must be hidden. Would he have a comfy home or not?

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

BEGINNING: Mother/Father in an argument

MIDDLE: Urr’s ritual for the argument. No help. Sees shadows – dark shadows grow in a corner of the room – Urr does his ritual.

END: Shadows retreat – fight stops

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

BEGINNING: Urr cleans apartment – same ritual as before, boxes on his way.

MIDDLE: FEAR: every move is well set-up and rehearsed, Urr is curious – wonders about the boxes, looks at the Dog but fears to ask or wonder about it

END: decides it’s better to ignore it, then it will go away – does the vanquishing ritual just in case, boxes don’t go anywhere, he moves on.

ANTAGONIST

EXT. FARM – STABLES – DAY – SUMMER

BEGINNING: Moving trucks in the courtyard, men take boxes and furniture into an old farm house. Urr peeks out from his box. Show the farm.

MIDDLE: Farm elves witness the family move in to the farm – Velbas is clearly the leader, grumpy and unfair, cheeky but respected. (Velbas and farm elves 1). FEAR: excited fear of the newcomers, hope for a salvation of the farm. Urr panics. Velbas – introduce conflict – he leads and takes over. And is not trustworthy. How to put him in action?

END: Urr hides back in his box and it is carried inside.

INT. BOX – DAY – SUMMER

BEGINNING: Urr, clearly upset, shuffles his things, talks to himself

MIDDLE: .. No idea who they were, but they must be from the outside, he will never have to go outside, he is indoors elf.

END: Decides: It’s better to ignore them. And he is poured out with all his things from the box. OR box is put down and he dares to peek out again OR is lifted out with linen by Mother – Urr hides between linen. NOTE: stuff in the box must be such that one can hide himself and his things among it without raisin human suspicion.

INT. FARM HOUSE KITCHEN – DAY

BEGINNING: Urr rushes in and bumps into Velbas and his daughter Kippen (sneaked up on Urr, keeping an eye on him). “What are you doing inside, you’re outdoors elves?” FEAR:

MIDDLE: Velbas is hostile. Kippen is nice. Velbas tells Urr immediately he wants him out. Urr is fine with that, he wants to get away from here as well, but with his family. Reveal Urr’s fear: what will become of him if family isn’t there? Plus Velbas realises Urr knows nothing of elves – or maybe this in ACt 2.

END: Velbas pretends he is okay with that. I could help you. Kippen is suspicious, Urr falls for it.

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Beat Sheet Draft 2

What I learned doing this assignment is if fear of facing my work is huge, trust the process and my whiteboard, it always brings me out of sticky development situations. Now regarding the subject of the lesson: looking at antagonist’s story in simple beats does help a lot even if I know my Act 3 still needs a lot more. And I never fancied that adding theme to scenes at this stage can help the action and scenes become much clearer.

ACT 1 – SET UP AND SEE OLD WAYS

OPENING: Montage of Urr’s life

INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT – WINTER

Urr eats cookies and cream under a Christmas tree – family dog near by, waits, Urr gives him a piece.

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – WINTER

Urr pushes toys out of the way – father’s foot steps directly to the place the toy had been before

Urr uses his magic to cleanse the apartment as he rides on the dog – FEAR: every move is well set-up and rehearsed

INT. APARTMENT – URR’S HIDEOUT – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: show Urr’s corner in the city – similar or different to the farm?

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

Mother/Father in an argument – dark shadows grow in a corner of the room – Urr does his ritual – shadows retreat – fight stops

Urr cleans apartment, boxes on his way – FEAR: every move is well set-up and rehearsed, Urr is curious but fears to ask or wonder about it – better to ignore it, then it will go away

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

TE 1: More boxes and less things as Urr cleanses the apartment – talk of moving, and excitement about the house. Urr puzzled – moving, moving where? Listens in. FEAR: what will happen to me when they leave? They cannot leave without me? Dramatic: life will never be the same again – but when it ever is? PLACEHOLDER: Urr frets about, takes things out of boxes, this causes arguments among family members, and they pack faster than he can take things out.

Beaten, Urr realises he must go with the change. Begins to pack packing must be all about holding onto the old. They cannot go without me, without me they will loose all their luck, and without them I don’t know what will happen to me.

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SUMMER

INCITING INCIDENT: Movers move out furniture and boxes – family dog going bonkers – Urr in one of the boxes – FEAR: physically afraid now. Daughter asks if Family Elf comes along. Mother says yes. But what if there is an house elf already there. Mom: they will have to get along then.

EXT. FARM – STABLES – DAY – SUMMER

Farm elves witness the family move in to the farm – Velbas is clearly the leader, grumpy and unfair, cheeky but respected. (Velbas and farm elves 1). FEAR: excited fear of the newcomers, hope for a salvation of the farm. Urr hides himself from them and does not want to believe what his eyes have just seen (a bunch of elves like him). Better to ignore them, maybe they will go away.

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – DAY – SUMMER

PLACEHOLDER: Urr settles in – what could happen here? Chat with dog? Mice come to check up on him? Also, place must be hidden. FEAR: trying to set up everything as in the city.

INT. FARM HOUSE – KITCHEN/BEDROOM/HALLWAY – SUMMER

TE2: Urr explores his new home – an old farm house, which needs a lot of work. Urr figures it’s too big for him to be able to do his job properly – plus family goes outside a lot. FEAR: he is literally scared to venture out.

EXT. FARM HOUSE COURTYARD – DAY

TE 3: Urr follows Daughter out – it’s a large farm, with a stable and barn, an old well in the middle of the courtyard. Daughter has a sandbox near the house. FEAR: Urr freaked – this is too much – how will he look after all of them? Rushes back in:

INT. FARM HOUSE KITCHEN – DAY

TE4: Urr bumps into Velbas and his daughter Kippen (sneaked up on Urr, keeping an eye on him). FEAR: Velbas is hostile. Kippen is nice. Velbas tells Urr immediately he wants him out. Urr is fine with that, he wants to get away from here as well, but with his family. Velbas pretends he is okay with that.

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – NIGHT

PLACEHOLDER: Urr thinking of a plan at night. His plan/way is a subtle manipulation. What could it be?

EXT/INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Urr sees something that makes him determined he must get the family away from here. What could it be? Shadows? And farm elves not knowing what to do with it? Family loving the farm? FEAR of the unknown – the Shadows.

EXT. FARM HOUSE/COURTYARD – DAY

TURNING POINT: Urr makes a deal with Velbas, they will work together to make the family hate the farm and move back to the city. During this Urr breaks something by accident “first accident” – Mother not happy – this place is falling apart, why are we here? Velbas gets an idea.

ACT 2 – CHALLENGE THE OLD WAYS

INT. FARM HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

THE PLAN – Velbas talks reluctant Urr into his plan to leave an impression that the house is falling apart, it does not want new people in it – if there’s one thing the father hates most, it’s things not going to plan, and they plan to use this as a way to get them to move out. Urr’s secret FEAR: what damage will this plan bring along?

INT. FARMHOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

TE5-PLACEHOLDER: “Second accident” – Velbas and Urr do the first crashing of an item together – Velbas lets Urr lead but pulls strings himself. Urr is not comfortable, but goes along out of respect for the elder. Family clears up the mess. It hurts Urr to do negative things – he is all about positive.

EXT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

TE6: Upset Urr hurries outside away from Velbas. MEETING THE FARM ELVES. He is surrounded by farm elves. Many loud creatures, all want to ask questions, touch him, consider him odd. FEAR: farm elves – fear of a stranger

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

TE7: “Third accident” – Velbas hijacks their project and begins to create chaos. Urr tries to go along, but he is not sure how to co-operate – it is difficult for him. FEAR: Velbas is fearless, but his own fear of loosing the future drives it.

INT. FARM HOUSE – BY/OR IN URR’S HIDEOUT – EVENING

TE8: Urr by himself, feeling odd and different – he has never had that feeling FEAR of what it is/means – he always belonged in his lone world, now lonely feels wrong. Kippen approaches, listens, they form a friendship. She shares her FEAR of dark corners. Background: shadows

INT. FARM HOUSE DAY/NIGHT

PLACEHOLDER: MONTAGE Velbas breaking things – Urr pulling away, Urr even (FEAR) pretends to be ill to get out of it, refuses to go out (social anxiety) – Father fixing things – shadows become larger

INT. FARM – STABLES – DAY

Farm elves have gathered – Velbas leads the meeting (Velbas and farm elves 2) – farm elves worried about shadows (FEAR of the unknown), Velbas tells them there are none – elves don’t believe him – respect fading + think of another development.

EXT. FARM YARD BY THE STABLES – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Mother and Father arguing by the stables.

TE9: Shadows are big and emerge from behind the stables – Velbas freaked – Urr stands up against them and wins, fight dissolves, Mother/Father make up – Urr feels good about himself – Velbas thinks (he cannot do what Urr has just done) – fighting one’s FEAR

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Urr and Kippen do something together – they work well as a team. Maybe include the dog? Both ignore their FEAR and prejudice

INT. FARM HOUSE – EVENING – AUTUMN

MIDPOINT TURNING POINT: Urr sees Velbas destroying things by himself, laughing, Dad picks up, laughs as well, old things, who needs them, throws away. Thank you, whoever you are. Urr realises that Velbas has been working against him all the time. Velbas wants Urr out but for the family to remain – in order to prosper a house needs people.

ACT 3 – PROFOUND MOMENTS THAT GIVE US NEW WAYS

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – NIGHT

TE10: PLACEHOLDER – beaten, Urr is exhausted from going against his nature and creating chaos instead of harmony. On top of that the shadows have returned and although family loves the new house, there are more disagreements than ever before. His FEAR of what will happen to me will change for what will happen to the family?

TE11: PLACEHOLDER – Urr speaks with Kippen and realises:

Respect for elders nor being polite is not helping him

He must stand up for himself and his family

He must get wiser and stronger to fight the shadows – saving the family becomes main goal

Kippen asks him not to leave – he has brought this house alive and her father, although a bitch to Urr, is so much more fun to live with. Used to brood and was miserable.

INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Velbas asks Urr to teach him how to fight shadows, promises knowledge of elves and friendship, apologizes for all he has done. I’ll help you make sure family and you will be fine here, and you will teach me how to get rid of the shadows. Urr agrees.

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: something should happen – what? Something that makes Urr face his FEAR of loosing the family, something bad happening to the family – to help Urr make up his mind

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

NEW PLAN: PLACEHOLDER: save the family from themselves and the shadows first and then figure out a way of getting them away from the farm and back to the city – add someone ho doubts in his plan FEAR wants to hold Urr back, he refuses to go along this time. At the same time Velbas’ goal to learn as much as he can from Urr by giving as little as he can back.

INT/EXT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – AUTUMN

PLACEHOLDER: mending and fixing the house, doing his rituals – but using other elves and Kippen and Dog to help him + training to be stronger to fight the shadows – NOTE: opposition must grow here, a lot! What can Velbas do for it + shadows?

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – WINTER

PLACEHOLDER:

the house is good, the family is happy, Urr has done his job.

Dilemma: does he stay and Velbas will make life for his family hell or does he leave (fear of leaving the family because he does not know what will happen to him) and family will get to live in peace? What event makes him face this dilemma? Development of his FEAR?

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – WINTER

PLACEHOLDER: what happens for Urr to decide to leave? Remember Xmas is coming. What does Velbas do in the end of Act 3 to cause Urr wanting to leave? It must be something big and devastating – Urr must believe Velbas really is his friend and Velbas must prove he really is not!

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – XMAS EVE – WINTER

TURNING POINT: Urr decides to leave the family and call himself defeated, Velbas has won, he gets his house and his family. His biggest FEAR of having to leave his family has come true, and he has chosen it himself.

ACT 4 – THE CHANGE IN URR. PROVE NEW WAYS.

EXT. SNOWY FIELDS – DAY – XMAS EVE

TE12: Urr walks off into the night day before Xmas Eve. Fights for his life in the snowstorm – FEAR of what will happen to him will return?, almost dies, but finds his strength, yet now he’s lost. He realises he does not have FEAR anymore and decides he cannot leave his family like this, he must stand up for what is his. He turns to go back but gets lost in the snowstorm.

EXT. SNOWY FOREST EDGE – DAY – XMAS EVE

TE13: Farm elves find him and help him get back. Farm needs him, elves scared. The shadows are family shadows and house elf (Velbas) has no chance against them. Elves need Urr.

EXT. FARM HOUSE – EVENING – XMAS EVE

TE14: the shadows have emerged larger than before and are now destroying the farm physically, Velbas cannot handle them by himself.

EXT/INT. FARM HOUSE – EVENING – STABLE

CLIMAX: Urr leads the farm elves, and Velbas in the battle of banishing the shadows from the farm – FEAR isn’t half as bad if you know what you’re doing and you have a support system to fight it.

INT. FARM HOUSE – KITCHEN – NIGHT – XMAS EVE

RESOLUTION: cookies and milk under Xmas tree, Urr and farm elves celebrate the victory.

EXT. STABLE – DAY – XMAS

TE15: Velbas moves to stables

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

END: Urr and Kippen in the house together.

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s High Speed Beat Sheet

What I learned doing this assignment is that it makes the process of mapping out the story far more easier to have done the previous steps. But I found it difficult to stay on the general path and not start adding too many details in Beat Sheet.

ACT 1 – SET UP AND SEE OLD WAYS

OPENING: Montage of Urr’s life

INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT – WINTER

Urr eats cookies and cream under a Christmas tree – family dog near by, waits, Urr gives him a piece.

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – WINTER

Urr pushes toys out of the way – father’s foot steps directly to the place the toy had been before

Urr uses his magic to cleanse the apartment as he rides on the dog

INT. APARTMENT – URR’S HIDEOUT – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: show Urr’s corner in the city – similar or different to the farm?

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

Mother/Father in an argument – dark shadows grow in a corner of the room – Urr does his ritual – shadows retreat – fight stops

Urr cleans apartment, boxes on his way

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SPRING

TE 1: More boxes and less things as Urr cleanses the apartment – talk of moving, and excitement about the house. Urr puzzled – moving, moving where? Listens in. Begins to pack. They cannot go without me, without me they will loose all their luck, and without them I don’t know what will happen to me.

INT. APARTMENT – DAY – SUMMER

INCITING INCIDENT: Movers move out furniture and boxes – family dog going bonkers – Urr in one of the boxes. Daughter asks if Family Elf comes along. Mother says yes. But what if there is an house elf already there. Mom: they will have to get along then.

EXT. FARM – STABLES – DAY – SUMMER

Farm elves look at family moving in – excitement – Velbas leads the troops – respect (Velbs and farm elves 1).

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – DAY – SUMMER

PLACEHOLDER: Urr settles in – what could happen here? Chat with dog? Mice come to check up on him? Also, place must be hidden

INT. FARM HOUSE – KITCHEN/BEDROOM/HALLWAY – SUMMER

TE2: Urr explores his new home – an old farm house, which needs a lot of work. Urr figures it’s too big for him to be able to do his job properly – plus family goes outside a lot.

EXT. FARM HOUSE COURTYARD – DAY

TE 3: Urr follows Daughter out – it’s a large farm, with a stable and barn, an old well in the middle of the courtyard. Daughter has a sandbox near the house. Urr freaked – this is too much – how will he look after all of them? Rushes back in:

INT. FARM HOUSE KITCHEN – DAY

TE4: Urr bumps into Velbas and his daughter Kippen (sneaked up on Urr, keeping an eye on him). Velbas is hostile. Kippen is nice. Velbas tells Urr immediately he wants him out. Urr is fine with that, he wants to get away from here as well.

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – NIGHT

PLACEHOLDER: Urr thinking of a plan at night. His plan/way is a subtle manipulation. What could it be?

EXT/INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Urr sees something that makes him determined he must get the family away from here. What could it be? Shadows and farm elves not knowing what to do with it? Family loving the farm?

EXT. FARM HOUSE/COURTYARD – DAY

TURNING POINT: Urr makes a deal with Velbas, they will work together to make the family hate the farm and move back to the city. Leaving Urr breaks something by accident “first accident” – Mother not happy – this place is falling apart, why are we here?

ACT 2 – CHALLENGE THE OLD WAYS

INT. FARM HOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

THE PLAN – Velbas talks reluctant Urr into his plan to leave an impression that the house is falling apart, it does not want new people in it – if there’s one thing the father hates most, it’s things not going to plan, and Urr plans to use his as a way to get them to move out.

INT. FARMHOUSE – KITCHEN – DAY

TE5-PLACEHOLDER: “Second accident” – Velbas and Urr do the first crashing of an item together. Urr is not comfortable, but goes along out of respect for the elder. Family clears up the mess. It hurts Urr to do negative things – he is all about positive.

EXT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

TE6: Upset Urr hurries outside away from Velbas. MEETING THE FARM ELVES. He is surrounded by farm elves. Many loud creatures, all want to ask questions, touch him, consider him odd.

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

TE7: “Third accident” – Velbas hijacks their project and begins to create chaos. Urr tries to go along, but he is not sure how to co-operate – it is difficult for him.

INT. FARM HOUSE – BY/OR IN URR’S HIDEOUT – EVENING

TE8: Urr by himself, feeling odd and different – he has never had that feeling – he always belonged in his lone world, now lonely feels wrong. Kippen approaches, listens, they form a friendship. Background: shadows

INT. FARM HOUSE DAY/NIGHT

PLACEHOLDER: MONTAGE Velbas breaking things – Urr pulling away – Father fixing things – shadows become larger

EXT. FARM YARD BY THE STABLES – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Mother and Father arguing by the stables.

TE9: Shadows are big and emerge from behind the stables – Velbas freaked – Urr stands up against them and wins, fight dissolves, Mother/Father make up – Urr feels good about himself – Velbas thinks (he cannot do what Urr has just done)

INT. FARM – STABLES – DAY

Farm elves have gathered – Velbas leads the meeting (Velbas and farm elves 2) – farm elves worried about shadows, Velbas tells them there are none – elves don’t believ him – respect fading + think of another development.

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: Urr and Kippen do something together – they work well as a team. Maybe include the dog?

INT. FARM HOUSE – EVENING – AUTUMN

MIDPOINT TURNING POINT: Urr see Velbas destroying things by himself, laughing, Dad picks up, laughs as well, old things, who needs them, throws away. Thank you, whoever you are. Urr realises that Velbas has been working against him all the time. Velbas wants Urr out but for the family to remain – in order to prosper a house needs people.

ACT 3 – PROFOUND MOMENTS THAT GIVE US NEW WAYS

INT. FARM HOUSE – URR’S HIDEOUT – NIGHT

TE10: PLACEHOLDER – beaten, Urr is exhausted from going against his nature and creating chaos instead of harmony. On top of that the shadows have returned and although family loves the new house, there are more disagreements than ever before.

TE11: PLACEHOLDER – Urr speaks with Kippen and realises:

Respect for elders nor being polite is not helping him

He must stand up for himself and his family

He must get wiser and stronger to fight the shadows – saving the family becomes main goal

Kippen asks him not to leave – he has brought this house alive and her father, although a bitch to Urr, is so much more fun to live with. Used to brood and was miserable.

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

PLACEHOLDER: something should happen – what? – to help Urr make up his mind

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

NEW PLAN: PLACEHOLDER: save the family from themselves and the shadows first and then figure out a way of getting them away from the farm and back to the city

INT/EXT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – AUTUMN

PLACEHOLDER: mending and fixing the house, doing his rituals – but using other elves and Kippen and Dog to help him + training to be stronger to fight the shadows – NOTE: opposition must grow here, a lot! What can Velbas do for it + shadows?

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – WINTER

PLACEHOLDER:

the house is good, the family is happy, Urr has done his job.

Dilemma: does he stay and Velbas will make life for his family hell or does he leave (fear of leaving the family because he does not know what will happen to him) and family will get to live in peace?

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – WINTER

PLACEHOLDER: what happens for Urr to decide to leave? Remember Xmas is coming.

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY – XMAS EVE – WINTER

TURNING POINT: Urr decides to leave the family and call himself defeated, Velbas has won.

ACT 4 – THE CHANGE IN URR. PROVE NEW WAYS.

EXT. SNOWY FIELDS – DAY – XMAS EVE

TE12: Urr walks off into the night day before Xmas Eve. Fights for his life in the snowstorm, almost dies, but finds his strength, yet now he’s lost. He realises he does not have fear anymore and decides he cannot leave his family like this, he must stand up for what is his. He turns to go back but gets lost in the snowstorm.

EXT. SNOWY FOREST EDGE – DAY – XMAS EVE

TE13: Farm elves find him and help him get back. Farm needs him

EXT. FARM HOUSE – EVENING – XMAS EVE

TE14: the shadows have emerged larger than before and are now destroying the farm physically, Velbas cannot handle them by himself.

EXT/INT. FARM HOUSE – EVENING – STABLE

CLIMAX: Urr leads the farm elves, and Velbas in the battle of banishing the shadows from the farm.

INT. FARM HOUSE – KITCHEN – NIGHT – XMAS EVE

RESOLUTION: cookies and milk under Xmas tree, Urr and farm elves celebrate the victory.

EXT. STABLE – DAY – XMAS

TE15: Velbas moves to stables

INT. FARM HOUSE – DAY

END: Urr and Kippen in the house together.

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Transformational Events

What I learned doing this assignment is that I’s good to think about character journey in the form of list of changes/steps that need to take place inside the character and then try and find events for each of them. It’s exciting to see the story come together this way.

1. CHARACTER ARC

Urr starts as an inexperienced, anxious but spirited loner city elf and ends up being a merry, mischievous farm elf who reunites all the farm elves in his new home.

2. OLD WAYS

Quiet loner – stays away from everyone – prefers his own company

Ignorant of other mystical beings & his own history

Snobbish – false belief in his own greatness

Fear of conflict keeps him indoors

Rigidly set in his ways – rituals to look after the family – superstitious

Fear of unknown – His biggest fear is not knowing what would happen to him if the family were to break up – so he is ready to do whatever he can to keep them together

NEW WAYS

Fun leader who says very little

Aware of old myths and his part in the elf-lore

Dares to look out and have friends, and enemies

Still prefers his own company but is happy to have others to turn to around him

Knows change cannot be avoided

Braver than before

Accepts his nature as a mischievous elf

3. LIST OF CHANGES/STEPS

Trust his curiosity and let it lead him outside

Open up and learn to communicate it others

Dare to have friends and enemies

Learn about the history/roots of elves

Loosen up, learn to do things on the go as problems arise and not worry ahead

Embrace the unknown – tackle his own fear of it

Trust his own judgment and skills

Become the fearless leader he can/must be

4. DRAMATIC EVENTS

He is forced to go outside when all family does it and he realises that part of family life will from now on take place outside the house.

First trip outside – swarmed by farm elves – Meeting the farm elves – many loud creatures, all want to ask questions, touch him, consider him odd

Feeling odd and different – he has never had that feeling – he always belonged in his lone world, now lonely feels wrong

Velbas’ daughter approaches Urr when he is down – they form a friendship.

Velbas tells him about elves history as they go about trying to scare the family back to the city

Shadows appear again – Urr has been too busy to worry about them, he is not prepared and now must fight them spontaneously

Dilemma: does he stay and Velbas will make life for his family hell or does he leave (fear of leaving the family because he does not know what will happen to him) and family will get to live in peace?

Fights for his life in the snowstorm, almost dies, but finds his strength, yet now he’s lost

Leads the farm elves, and Velbas in the battle of banishing the shadows from the farm.

UPDATED STRUCTURE

1. Act 1 – Set up and see Old Ways

Opening: Montage of Urr’s life: Xmas – Urr is left cookies and cream under Xmas tree, Urr doing his rituals, connected with family, shadows in the corner of a room, family argument, Urr fends shadows off, all good. Family collects boxes, talk of moving. Excitement.

Inciting Incident: as the family is leaving, daughter asks if their family elf comes along, parents say yes. At the last minute Urr packs his things and moves with the family.

Urr explores his new home – an old farm house, needs a lot of work. It’s all too big to keep an eye on the whole family.

He is forced to go outside when all family does it and he realises that part of family life will from now on take place outside the house. Escapes back to the house.

And bumps into Velbas and his daughter. Velbas wants the intruder out. And Urr wants to get away from this place.

Turing Point: Urr makes a deal with Velbas, together they will do all they can to get the family to move back to the city.

2. Act 2 – Challenge the Old Ways

The Plan: Urr and Velbas come up with a plan to leave an impression that the house is falling apart – if there’s one thing the father hates most, it’s things not going to plan, and Urr plans to use his as a way to get them to move out.

Reaction: Urr finds Velbas rather unpleasant. Urr does not like the idea of creating hardship for his family but he listens to the old elf out of respect, and pushes his own ideas to the background. He is not sure how to co-operate – it is difficult for him.

First trip outside – swarmed by farm elves – Meeting the farm elves – many loud creatures, all want to ask questions, touch him, consider him odd

Feeling odd and different – he has never had that feeling – he always belonged in his lone world, now lonely feels wrong

Velbas’ daughter approaches Urr when he is down – they form a friendship.

Plan in action: Velbas helps Urr to create havoc in the house, but in fact Velbas only lets to crash/trash things that are already broken. The Father is annoyed, but keeps fixing things and this ties the family even stronger to the house.

Velbas tells him about elves history as they go about trying to scare the family back to the city

Shadows appear again – Urr has been too busy to worry about them, he is not prepared and now must fight them spontaneously but he wins, feels good about himself.

Midpoint Turning Point: Urr finds out that Velbas has been working against him, he wants only Urr out and to keep the family in order to help his house to prosper again.

3. Act 3 – Profound moments that give us new ways

Urr is exhausted from going against his nature and creating chaos instead of harmony. On top of that the shadows have returned and although family loves the new house, there are more disagreements than ever before.

Urr sits down with his only friend, Velbas’ young daughter and realises:

Respect for elders nor being polite is not helping him

He must stand up for himself and his family

He must get wiser and stronger to fight the shadows – saving the family becomes main goal

New plan: save the family from themselves and the shadows first and then figure out a way of getting them away from the farm and back to the city

Begins mending and fixing the house, leading farm elves to help along (everyone finds their purpose again) and training to be stronger to fight the shadows.

Turning point: the house is good, the family is happy, Urr has done his job.

Dilemma: does he stay and Velbas will make life for his family hell or does he leave (fear of leaving the family because he does not know what will happen to him) and family will get to live in peace?

He decides to leave the family and call himself defeated, Velbas has won.

4. Act 4 – The change in Urr. Prove New Ways.

Urr walks off into the night day before Xmas Eve. Fights for his life in the snowstorm, almost dies, but finds his strength, yet now he’s lost. He realises he does not have fear anymore and decides he cannot leave his family like this, he must stand up for what is his. He turns to go back but gets lost in the snowstorm.

Farm elves find him and help him get back. Farm needs him – the shadows have emerged larger than before and Velbas cannot handle them by himself.

Climax: Leads the farm elves, and Velbas in the battle of banishing the shadows from the farm.

Resolution: cookies and milk under Xmas tree, Urr and farm elves celebrate the victory. Velbas moves to stables, leaving house to his daughter and Urr.

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s 4-act Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment is that the first time round the structure can be main beats only, and this makes it far more easier to approach the whole building of the story.

1.

Concept: when city family elf Urr’s family moves to the country, Urr is ready to do anything to get them to move back to the city, where it’s easier to protect the family from dark shadows and themselves.

Main Conflict: farm house elf Velbas wants Urr out of his house but to keep the family – Urr refuses to go because the family is his life line.

Old Ways:

Quiet loner – stays away from everyone – prefers his own company

Ignorant of other mystical beings & his own history

Snobbish – false belief in his own greatness

Fear of conflict keeps him indoors

Rigidly set in his ways – rituals to look after the family – superstitious

New Ways:

Fun leader who says very little

Aware of old myths and his part in the elf-lore

Dares to look out and have friends, and enemies

Still prefers his own company but is happy to have others to turn to around him

Knows change cannot be avoided

Braver than before

Accepts his nature as a mischievous elf

2. Act 1 – Set up and see Old Ways

Opening: Montage of Urr’s life: Xmas – Urr is left cookies and cream under Xmas tree, Urr doing his rituals, connected with family, shadows in the corner of a room, family argument, Urr fends shadows off, all good. Family collects boxes, talk of moving. Excitement.

Inciting Incident: as the family is leaving, daughter asks if their family elf comes along, parents say yes. At the last minute Urr packs his things and moves with the family.

Urr explores his new home – an old farm house, needs a lot of work. And bumps into Velbas and his daughter. Velbas wants the intruder out. And Urr wants to get away from this place – too big to keep an eye on the whole family.

Turing Point: Urr makes a deal with Velbas, together they will do all they can to get the family to move back to the city.

3. Act 2 – Challenge the Old Ways

The Plan: Urr and Velbas come up with a plan to leave an impression that the house is falling apart – if there’s one thing the father hates most, it’s things not going to plan, and Urr plans to use his as a way to get them to move out.

Reaction: Urr finds Velbas rather unpleasant. Urr does not like the idea of creating hardship for his family but he listens to the old elf out of respect, and pushes his own ideas to the background. He is not sure how to co-operate – it is difficult for him.

Plan in action: Velbas helps Urr to create havoc in the house, but in fact Velbas only lets to crash/trash things that are already broken. The Father is annoyed, but keeps fixing things and this ties the family even stronger to the house.

Threat: the shadows begin to creep in through the cracks in the relationship

Midpoint Turning Point: Urr finds out that Velbas has been working against him, he wants only Urr out and to keep the family in order to help his house to prosper again.

4. Act 3 – Profound moments that give us new ways

Urr is exhausted from going against his nature and creating chaos instead of harmony. On top of that the shadows have returned and although family loves the new house, there are more disagreements than ever before.

Urr sits down with his only friend, Velbas’ young daughter and realises:

Respect for elders nor being polite is not helping him

He must stand up for himself and his family

He must get wiser and stronger to fight the shadows – saving the family becomes main goal

New plan: save the family from themselves and the shadows first and then figure out a way of getting them away from the farm and back to the city

Begins mending and fixing the house, leading farm elves to help along (everyone finds their purpose again) and training to be stronger to fight the shadows.

Turning point: the house is good, the family is happy, Urr has done his job, he decides to leave the family and call himself defeated, Velbas has won.

5. Act 4 – The change in Urr. Prove New Ways.

Urr walks off into the night day before Xmas Eve, but decides he cannot leave his family like this, he must stand up for what is his. He turns to go back but gets lost in the snowstorm.

Farm elves find him and help him get back. Farm needs him – the shadows have emerged larger than before and Velbas cannot handle them by himself.

Climax: Urr and Velbas and all farm elves fight off the shadows.

Resolution: cookies and milk under Xmas tree, Urr and farm elves celebrate the victory. Velbas moves to stables, leaving house to his daughter and Urr.

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Character Interviews

What I learned doing this assignment is that Empowerment before writing helps so much to get things I really do not like doing done. I really dislike Character Interviews. But I made myself do it this time, and Empowerment was the only way I could bring myself round to it.

URR – the modern family-elf –

What came out of the interview: All Urr wants is to keep his family together. The farmhouse is too big for him to be able to keep an eye on all members at all time, and he yearns for his loneliness he had in the city. His biggest fear is not knowing what would happen to him if the family were to break up – so he is ready to do whatever he can to keep them together. He really does not like talking, he thinks it’s a waste of breath.

Updated character profile:

Role in the story: Dreamer/Fighter – well groomed, set in his ways, loner family elf, happy with his life in the city – naive to the world outside his apartment. When thrust into the rough world of a farm needs to find the fighter inside in order to survive.

Age range and Description: Male, young elf – 7 years old (since this is how long the family has existed), wiry but tough

Internal Journey: from a inexperienced, anxious but spirited loner to merry and easygoing, mischievous elf – it’s okay to open up

External Journey: from a loner city elf to the, albeit reluctantly, adventurous one who reunites all the farm elves at his new home

Motivation: to make sure his family does not break up

Wound: He is lonely, has been from day one he came into existence – lesson learned: loneliness is a choice + he is so scared that his family will break up and he does not know what will then happen to him.

Mission/Agenda: after his family moves from city to a farmhouse in the country, Urr’s agenda is to manipulate his family to move back to the city where the family is in confined space and easier to look after and make sure they stay together

Secret: he knows nothing about elves, where they come from, what kind there are etc – he is terrified of not knowing what would happen to him I the family were to fall apart – he actually likes it in the country

What makes them special? His ability to come out of his shell and inspire warring sides to work together – behind a loner shell is a creative natural leader.

What draws us to this character? A naive, spirited loner unaware of his kin and history, his best intentions get used and abused by everyone around him.

Traits: spirited, slightly gullible, curious, quick learner, vulnerable

Subtext: says as little as he can get away with to guard his character and space from others (taken as impolite by others), uses politeness to disarm opposition.

Flaw: considers himself a loner, not to have any friends ever

Values: autonomy, creativity, compassion, politeness, optimism

Irony: His positive, spirited character is what draws others to him, while he himself wants to be left alone.

What makes this the right character for this role? He has no idea where he comes from and who-what family-elves are, all he knows is what he must do – we go on the journey of discovering his roots with him.

VELBAS – ancient house elf

What came out of the interview: He’s a bit hot and rather big headed. But there’s also reason for it, because he has seen a lot and fought creatures small and large in his life.

He cares deeply for his house and having people live in it after 20 years of house being empty is a blessing for Velbas and all the other elves looking after the farm, most of whom, including Velbas, had been already making plans of leaving.

He lives with his young daughter and feels blessed to be able to pass a farmhouse with a family on to her. Thus, Urr’s plan to get family move away from the farm does not suit Velbas at all.

Updated character profile:

Role in the Story: Authority – proud of his house and unwilling to share it with anybody.

Age range and Description: Male ancient house-elf, 156 years old – same age as the farm house, mischievous boy hidden inside a grumpy old man

Internal Journey: from grumpy, entitled authority man to a humbled old teacher

External Journey: from locked away lonely house to always open and busy stables

Motivation: every house in order to survive needs people to live in and Velbas will not let this family move away, Urr’s family is the lifeline for his house and legacy for his daughter

Wound: when he was young, he wanted to be a stable elf but his father would have none of it and Velbas had to follow family traditions and take over the farm house.

Mission/Agenda: to get rid of Urr but keep his family, and find out all he can about dark shadows from Urr.

Secret: his infatuation with Tunne (she/her) the stable-elf, he knows about dark shadows and their destructive influence on families, but he tells the farm elves that dark shadows do not exist (not to frighten the elves)

What makes them special? He is a great manipulator

What draws us to this character? A grumpy old wise man, who has hidden his soft-kind side away – how long will he last when faced with a spirited opposition?

Traits: grumpy, wise, sincere, proud

Subtext: always tries to stand taller than what he is (ready to climb the highest rock for that) to stress his importance and keep distance from others at the same time; constantly squinting eyes look through everyone around him – he scrutinizes and judges everything and everybody.

Flaw: he likes putting others down

Values: authority, determination, knowledge, peace, fairness

Irony: he tries to distance himself from others while he is dying to share his knowledge and wisdom – he really does not want to be a house elf but does it with pride because this is his duty

What makes this the right character for this role? With his age and wisdom he is the best opposition for Urr, one that can outsmart Urr easily but has admiration for young elf’s desire to learn and get better, while keeping his loner status (Velbas can relate to deciding to create distance)

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Character Profile Part 2

What I learned doing this assignment is that creating character profiles does not have to be a daunting exercise and it’s good to keep character elements separate – helps a lot.

URR – the modern family-elf –
Role in the story: Dreamer/Fighter – well groomed, set in his ways, loner family elf, happy with his life in the city – naive to the world outside his apartment. When thrust into the rough world of a farm needs to find the fighter inside in order to survive.
Age range and Description: Male, young elf – 7 years old (since this is how long the family has existed), wiry but tough
Internal Journey: from an inexperienced, anxious but spirited loner to merry and mischievous elf – it’s okay to open up
External Journey: from a loner city elf to the, albeit reluctantly, adventurous one who reunites all the farm elves at his new home
Motivation: to have the happiest family and best looked after home
Wound: He is lonely, has been from day one he came into existence – lesson learned: loneliness is a choice
Mission/Agenda: after his family moves from city to a farmhouse in the country, Urr’s agenda is to manipulate his family to move back to the city
Secret: he knows nothing about elves, where they come from, what kind there are etc
What makes them special? His ability to come out of his shell and inspire warring sides to work together – behind a loner shell is a creative natural leader.
What draws us to this character? A naive, spirited loner unaware of his kin and history, his best intentions get used and abused by everyone around him.
Traits: spirited, slightly gullible, curious, quick learner, vulnerable
Subtext: says as little as he can get away with to guard his character and space from others, uses politeness to disarm opposition.
Flaw: considers himself a loner, not to have any friends ever

Values: autonomy, creativity, compassion, politeness, optimism

Irony: His positive, spirited character is what draws others to him, while he himself wants to be left alone.

What makes this the right character for this role? He has no idea where he comes from and who-what family-elves are, all he knows is what he must do – we go on the journey of discovering his roots with him.

VELBAS (Eng: sharp) – ancient house elf
Role in the Story: Authority – proud of his house and unwilling to share it with anybody.
Age range and Description: Male ancient house-elf, 156 years old – same age as the mischievous boy hidden inside a grumpy old man
Internal Journey: from grumpy, entitled authority man to a mischievous old teacher
External Journey: from locked away lonely house to always open and busy stables
Motivation: he is the authority among all farm elves and apt to keep his position
Wound: when he was young, he wanted to be a stable, but his father would have none of it and Velbas had to follow family traditions and take over the farmhouse
Mission/Agenda: to get rid of Urr but teach the youngster at least a little bit while they are together
Secret: his infatuation with Tunne (she/her) the stable-elf
What makes them special? He is a great manipulator

What draws us to this character? A grumpy old wise man, who has hidden his soft-kind side away – how long will he last when faced with a spirited opposition?
Traits: grumpy, smart, sincere, inconsiderate
Subtext: always tries to stand taller than what he is (ready to climb the highest rock for that) to stress his importance and keep distance from others at the same time; constantly squinting eyes look through everyone around him – he scrutinizes and judges everything and everybody.
Flaw: he likes putting others down

Values: authority, determination, knowledge, peace, fairness
Irony: he tries to distance himself from others while he is dying to share his knowledge and wisdom
What makes this the right character for this role? With his age and wisdom, he is the best opposition for Urr, one that can outsmart Urr easily but has admiration for young elf’s desire to learn and get better, while keeping his loner status (Velbas can relate to deciding to create distance)

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Character Profiles Part 1

1. What I learned: the character profile I used is similar to what I have been using before but somehow it felt far more easier to pin down the characters this time – I have to figure out why 🙂 could be because it was cleared of all other distractions and I did not try to go too deep immediately and kept things more on the surface, approaching the lesson/work with curiosity and joy.

2. URR – the modern family-elf –

Role in the story: Dreamer/Fighter – well groomed, set in his ways, loner family elf, happy with his life in the city – naive to the world outside his apartment. When thrust into the rough world of a farm needs to find the fighter inside in order to survive.
Age range and Description: Male, young elf – 7 years old (since this is how long the family has existed), wiry but tough.
Internal Journey: from a snobby, anxious loner to merry and easy-going, mischievous elf – it’s okay to open up.
External Journey: from a loner city elf to the, albeit reluctantly, adventurous one who reunites all the farm elves at his new home.
Motivation: to have the happiest family and best looked after home.
Wound: He is lonely, has been from day one he came into existence – lesson learned: loneliness is a choice.
Mission/Agenda: after his family moves from city to a farmhouse in the country, Urr’s agenda is to manipulate his family to move back to the city.
Secret: he likes it in the country.
What makes them special? His ability to come out of his shell and inspire warring sides to work together – behind a loner shell is a creative natural leader.

3. VELBAS (Eng: Sharp) – ancient house elf

Role in the Story: Authority – proud of his house and unwilling to share it with anybody.
Age range and Description: Male ancient house-elf, 156 years old – same age as the farmhouse, mischievous boy hidden inside a grumpy old man.
Internal Journey: from grumpy, entitled authority man to a mischievous old teacher.
External Journey: from inside the farmhouse to the outside farm buildings.
Motivation: he is the authority among all farm elves and apt to keep his position.
Wound: when he was young, he wanted to be a stable elf, but his father would have none of it and Velbas had to follow family traditions and take over the farmhouse.
Mission/Agenda: to get rid of Urr.
Secret: his infatuation with Tunne (she/her) the stable elf.
What makes them special? He is a great manipulator

4. Other characters:

Supporting characters:
Kippen (Eng: spark) – Velbas’ daughter – compassionate and friendly
Tunne (Eng: feelings) – the stable-elf – self-sufficient matriarch of the stable-elves
Dog – family dog – an energetic mutt
The family – we only see parts of them, never in full (unless maybe on a photo)

Minor roles:
Other farm elves

Background characters:
Farm animals

Other mystical creatures

5. Genre – Action-Drama

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment is how much easier the Old Ways/New Ways make development of the character/story – it makes everything so much clearer in my mind by starting from Old Ways/New Ways.

My hero: Urr – a city family-elf – a modern version of old house-elf, tied to a family rather than a house.

Internal Journey: from snobby and anxious to merry and easy-going

External Journey: from a loner city elf to the, albeit reluctantly, adventurous one who unites all the farm elves at his new home

Old Ways:
* Ignorant of other mystical beings
* Snobbish – false belief in his own greatness
* Loner – prefers his own company
* Scared to look out
* Rigidly set in his ways

New Ways:
* Dares to look out and have friends, and enemies
* Still prefers his own company but is happy to have others to turn to around him
* Aware of old myths and his part in the elf-lore
* Knows change cannot be avoided
* Braver than before
* Accepts his nature as a mischievous elf

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Aina Jarvine.

[Aina Jarvine]

Hi! I am Aina, a director of animated movies and TV joining you from Estonia.

I have written about dozen short and five or so feature scripts – developed far more of them :-). One feature animation script I co-wrote was produced and released back in 2020, and few shorts I directed myself.

I come with a new idea I’d like to direct-produce to this class. It’s a Christmas animation feature set in the world of mythical characters and how they get on in our modern-day world.

Strange or unusual about me: I have had hot pink hair for about a decade by now 🙂

Looking forward to this journey with all of you – like Shah I’m a long-time ScreenwritingU member :-).

Aina

[Aina Jarvine]

I, Aina Järvine, agree to the terms of this release form.

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

[Aina Jarvine]

Hi Cheryl,

I hope you enjoyed Tallinn 🙂 And yayy for going for writing :-)!!!!!

Aina