[Alan Reyes]

Alan Reyes’s Villain Track!

1. Ask the Villain Track questions to discover your Villain’s plan, decisions, and actions.

A. What might be the Villain’s plan to accomplish an evil outcome or to annihilate the hero? The plan could be pre-existing or created on the spot.

In EXTRADITION, the villain is a corporate SVP for a Saudi Arabian oil company. His goal is to exterminate a scientist who is a liability to his company. He has moles in the U.S. DoJ, this is how he finds out that our Hero is alive and living in Thailand. He hires a hitman. When the hitman fails, he then hires another hitman. Lastly, he must take out our hero by himself.

B. How many ways can the Villain attack or destroy the hero?

The Villain hires a hitman, hires a 2nd hitman, then takes it upon himself. Meanwhile, an investigator also chasing our hero, catches and arrests him, then catches him and let’s him go.

C. What advantage does the Villain have and how can they exploit that in this movie?

Our Villain is backed by the biggest oil company in the world.

D. What would be a “fitting end” for this Villain where they pay for what they’ve done?

Our Villain is charged with the attempted murder of our hero, plus the murder of our hero’s lover 10 years ago.

2. Include labels with each step of their plan.

Develop your own set of labels, but make sure you clearly show decisions, plans, and actions your Villain takes.

The Villain track happens for 2 characters. The story begins with the Investigator being the main antagonist and switches to The Company’s SVP.

MISTAKE: The Investigator has arrested the scientist, and has him in a local police station jail cell. But he underestimated the scientist’s resourcefulness, and the scientist escapes from the holding cell.

DILEMMA: The Investigator’s dilemma. The Investigator works for the national police force. But his orders seem to be coming from a Corporation. The SVP calls the station chief, and the investigator gets the feeling that someone else is pulling the strings. Does his follow police protocol, follow orders from a private company man, or follow his gut?

DECISION/KILL HERO: When the Villain hears that the Investigator has let the scientist slip out of his hands, he sends the first corporate hitman to kill the scientist.

PLAN: The Villain sits back and waits for the phone call that the job is done, and the scientist is dead.

PLAN: The Villain gets news that the scientist killed his professional hitman. He hires a better hitman. Hitman 2 has a less subtle method than Hitman 1. Hitman 2 blows shit up!

RETALIATION: Hitman 2 has our Hero pinned in a research lab/facility. Hitman 2 ’s affinity towards using explosives backfires, when our Hero setups up a chemical trap in the lab. Hitman 2 is dead.

CAPTURE: The SVP thinks he has the Hero in his snare. But the Hero has come to him wearing a wire, to record the SVP’s expository confession.

FITTING ENDING: Our villain comes face-to-face with our Hero. He offers him money to keep him quiet. Our Hero stands behind his principles. The Villain let’s the Hero go… and signals his men to follow our Hero and get rid of him inconspicuously. As our hero walks out, the police enter. They heard everything. Our Hero was wearing a wire. A wire put on him by the investigator the was chasing him.

The SVP will become a fall guy, and the company will remain untouched.

[Alan Reyes]

Alan Reyes’s Hero’s Mission Track

A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds?

The Hero must clear his name of 10-year-old murder charges in order to survive this mission. He’s an extraordinary scientist, a professional problem solver.

B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?

One man trying to evade capture by local investigator working in cooperation with the U.S. DoJ, all while taking on a Saudi Arabian oil company coming for his head.

C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?

Internal motivation: The trauma of losing his research partner/lover 10 year ago has been resurrected. He’s been hiding in Southeast Asia ever since he was named as the main suspect for her murder. Now that he’s being forced to face this again, it’s time for him to find the real killer(s) and find closure.

External: A local Bangkok investigator has been tasked to arrest our hero for extradition to the U.S., and his old employer has sent a hitman to kill him.

D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?

Our Hero is a fugitive facing charges for a murder he didn’t commit. To clear his name, he travels across several borders in search of the truth and the real killer. He’s being hunted by a local investator, and a corporate hitman. He must evade capture and death.

2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.

Clear Mission: To clear his name, the Hero must solve the murder he was framed for 10 years ago before a federal agent arrests him or a hitman kills him.

Motivation: Hero has been in hiding for 10 years, after being framed for the murder of his research partner. Once an extraordinary scientist with a bright future, the emotional trauma he suffered forced him into reclusion. He’d lost the will for scientific exploration and the search for answers.

Inciting Incident: When our Hero sees a newscast about his murder charges on a tv at a local Thai bar, he’s pulled back into the public eye. Forced to face old murder charges, our Hero’s obsession with seeking truth and justice in the name of science is awoken.
First Action: Hero contacts he man that helped him disappear 10 years ago. This is his longtime friend and colleague who was the head of personnel at the company 10 years ago.

Obstacle: The Hero is en route to meet with his friend, but he’s accosted by the local investigator who has been tracking him since he was first sighted a few days prior. Our hero MacGyver’s his way out of the jail cell and is on the run.

Escalation: To complicate the cat and mouse game between our hero and the investigator, the Company’s hitman enters the picture. Now, his freedom and his life are at stake. The company originally framed our Hero for murder 10 years ago, and they want to tie up this loose end once and for all.

Overwhelming Odds: Our Hero has found his way to one of the Company’s research facilities to gather information about the murder of his partner. The Company hitman has followed our hero and has him pinned in the building. Our hero has a physical struggle with the assassin, and the proof he has that connects the Company to the murder is destroyed. Miraculously, our hero uses his lab skills to subdue the assassin and get away.

New Plan: The scientist is at a loss, but he has the assassin’s cellphone. He uses it to contact and meet with the SVP who ordered his hit.

Full out Attack: Our Hero the scientist takes matters into his own hands, and arranges to meet the SVP. During the climatic sequence, the SVP admits to wrong-doing and….

Twist: Our Hero is wearing a wire and coordinated this meeting with the investigator to capture the real murderer.

Success: The investigator arrests the SVP of The Company. Our Hero is vindicated and free to go.

[Alan Reyes]

Title: Extradition

Concept: 10 years ago, a scientist and a botanist, made a discovery that would’ve revolutionized the fuel industry. Soon after, they were targets of a corporate assassination that buried their discovery—one of them was killed, the other fled the country and went into hiding. The scientist (our hero) was framed for the murder of his research partner… Present day, the scientist has been found living in Southeast Asia. The DOJ wants him extradited to the U.S. and his old company still wants him (and his discovery) dead and buried.

Hero Morally Right: Scientist needs to clear his name of murder and expose a villainous corporation.

Villain Morally Wrong: A corporate exec sends a hitman for our hero in order to bury the existence of a renewable energy source that would kill the fossil fuel industry.

Hero: Gifted scientist

A. Unique skill set: He can “MacGyver”/science his way out of hairy situations.

B. Motivation: Survive and prove his innocence before he’s found and killed.

C. Wound: Traumatized by the loss of his research partner (and lover) in a lab fire/explosion. He has ptsd and pyrophobia.

Villain: Corporate SVP

A. Unbeatable: Tasked with killing our hero—he has the infinite resources of a global energy company.

B. Plan/goal: He hires an assassin to find and kill our hero before the DOJ brings him in.

C. If the hero survives: The oil company risks losing everything. The information that our Hero has could end the world’s dependence on oil.

Impossible Mission: Hero goes up against one of the biggest oil companies in the world while being chased by a hitman and a federal agent.

A. Puts hero in action: After a decade of hiding off the grid in Southeast Asia, our hero is unearthed when an old college classmate backpacking down the Mekong recognizes him at a humble street-side noodle cart. Our hero assures the classmate that he’s got the wrong person, but the damage is done and a picture of him is uploaded to Facebook. The picture is flagged by DOJ’s facial recognition system and the chase begins.

B. Demands they go beyond their best: With little time and little resources, our hero must use his wits to survive a manhunt and gauntlet of tasks that will lead him directly to the Villain’s door and eventually redemption.

C. Destroy the villain: Gather evidence to prove his innocence—and the company’s guilt—of murder, all while evading assassination.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Alan Reyes.

[Alan Reyes]

Hi, I’m Alan and I’ve written 2 feature scripts, a handful of tv pilots, and several shorts.

I’m taking this class to learn the tools and best practices for writing sellable action scripts.

Fun fact: Before I started working in the industry, I put myself through film school by dj-ing in my teens and early 20s.

[Alan Reyes]

Alan’s Conventions!

Title: Extradition

Concept: 10 years ago, a scientist and a botanist, made a discovery that would revolutionize the fuel industry. Soon after, they were targets of a corporate assassination—one of them died, the other fled the country and went into hiding. The scientist was framed for the murder of his research partner… Present day, the scientist has been found living in Southeast Asia. The DOJ wants him extradited to the U.S. and his old company still wants him dead.

Highly-skilled hero: Scientist (with the ability to science his way out of problems)

Demand for action: A manhunt for our hero

Mission: Our hero, the scientist needs to clear his name before he is captured or killed.

Antagonist: The company that wants him dead.

Escalating action: The DOJ wants him brought to justice. The company wants him dead. But another company wants what he knows.

What I learned doing this assignment is… to delay perfection.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Alan Reyes.

[Alan Reyes]

Alan Reyes. 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.

This completes the Group Release Form for the class.