Anthea Piscarik
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Assignment 5 – What Did I Learn: Interesting that I never looked at a character having a three act structure, just the story itself. It’s certainly a way to develop the arc for a character, maybe not with all the details and layers, but at least the main points to flesh out as the story develops!
1. For each of your main characters, create a 3-Act Structure of their journey.
Character One: Librarian
Beginning: Librarian is anxious to close up on a Friday night. It’s been a long week, she is waiting to hear back about an biopsy and her son is on leave from military duty. She hasn’t seen him for three years. So much going on in her life, and the last place she wants to be is in the library! But, there’s an author signing, and she’s tasked to stay until all visitors are gone and the security guard locks up.
Turning Point: Librarian gets reamed out by author of book signing for trying to close up a few minutes early.
Midpoint: Author comes back to apologize right before closing.
Turning Point 2: Librarian and author are confronted by another person who enters the library after killing the security guard who we never see.
Dilemma: Librarian is now gong to be a witness to a murder of the author by the killer which means she’ll be next in line.
3rd Act Climax: Librarian must figure out a way to survive the killer’s plan.
Ending: Librarian outwits the killer, but not sure yet how she does so.
Character Two: Author
Beginning: Author has the worst book signing of his career on a Friday night at a library. He’s on the downside of his illustrious career.
Turning Point: He confronts the Librarian about not being more welcoming and discouraging visitors.
Midpoint: Before getting in his car, he decides to turn around and apologize to the Librarian.
Turning Point 2: He doesn’t realize he’s being followed.
Dilemma: Now back in the Library, he’s cornered by the killer and also endangered the life of another person.
3rd Act Climax: He figures out a way to help the Librarian survive the killng.
Ending: He dies an unwitting hero.
Character Three: Killer
1. For each of your main characters, create a 3-Act Structure of their journey.
Beginning: Killer attends the book signing only to listen to a reading of the book.
Turning Point: He stays out of sight at first, unless the author grows suspicious or recognizes him.
Midpoint: The author leaves, he follows, but the author goes back. He decides to follow him back into the library.
Turning Point 2: Killer decides the library is the best place to kill the author. He’s already written a suicide note for him. He planned to leave it at his apartment, but now he realizes the library is a better place for the murder, since there’s not as many chances of things going awry.
Dilemma: He has no choice but to kill the Librarian too.
3rd Act Climax: Killer executes the author, but Librarian escapes.
Ending: Not sure what happens yet with killer. Stay tuned! I might also change who gets killed, Still working on details.
2. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
3. Post your assignment in the forums at https://www.<wbr>screenwritingclasses.com/<wbr>forums/
Subject line: (Your name’s) Character Journeys!
2. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
3. Post your assignment in the forums at https://www.<wbr>screenwritingclasses.com/<wbr>forums/
Subject line: (Your name’s) Character Journeys!
2. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
3. Post your assignment in the forums at https://www.<wbr>screenwritingclasses.com/<wbr>forums/
Subject line: (Your name’s) Character Journeys!
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ASSIGNMENT No. 4
Anthea T. Piscark – Character Depth –
What I learned doing this assignment: I need to explore the character depth instead of just coming up with arbitrary backstory and motivation!
1. With each of your characters, go through all of these questions to see which might fit for your story.
Internal Character Depth
Motivation:Secret:Wound:Subtext:Layers:
Character to character
Conflict:Hidden Agenda:Conspiracy:Intrigue:
Character Situation
Dilemma:Secret Identity:
2. With each character, create a simple profile like the example above for LOCKE.
Librarian: Married with two children. One is a Marine coming home for first time in three years. She is also waiting to hear a result of a cancer test.
Author: His sales are slipping. His books are no longer best sellers. He’s disillusioned, distraught and feeling like a failure.
Killer: Life is destroyed by being implied in a true crime novel. His live-in partner leaves him with their son, and he’s no longer allowed to see him.
3. Compare the character profiles to each other to see what conflicts can emerge from them.
The only person in the threesome stuck in the library after hours is the Librarian who wants to see her son before she finds out her biopsy results. She has a strong desire to live. The other two, author and killer, are self-destructive types. The librarian knows that if the killer executes the author, she’ll be next as the witness.
4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
5. Post your assignment in the forums at https://www.<wbr>screenwritingclasses.com/<wbr>forums/
Subject line: (Your name’s) Character Depth!
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ASSIGNMENT
What I learned doing this assignment: Hooks are not easy but so important to capture the interest of a potential producer! They have to inform without going into plot and give an electrifying sense of what an audience can anticipate.
Compare your concept to your lead characters to find unique ways for them to fulfill the concept.
Think about your Concept Hook and Contained Setting<div>
Yes, I’ve created the contained setting thanks to the pre-lesson exercise of going through five ideas. I decided on the final one. It was a process!
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With each of your main characters, how can they uniquely fit with the Hook?
Librarian – Unanticipated victim of the killer shadowing an author that ruined his life with implicating him in a crime thriller.
Author – Callous, disillusioned writer faces death.
Killer – Retribution for his life ruined by author.
Thinking about the conflict that hook creates, how does each main character enhance or cause that conflict?
Tell us what makes these characters the “right ones” for this story? The librarian attempts to diffuse the tension between the author and subject of one of his books in order to saver her life. The author comes back to the library to apologize for his mean-spirited manner only now to jeopardize her life as a stalker plans to kill him.
Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
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Pick a movie that is outside the Covid Guidelines and give us your thoughts on how they could make it in the current production environment.
<b class=””>3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
This was a great assignment! It forced me to make choices that I would have to make with my own work. I chose Marty for several reasons but WOW it’s really dated even though the characters are well drawn. Paddy Chayefsky was like the king of drama as an author, playwright and screenwriter, especially in the 1950s, and I knew this was a part of the Playhouse Theatre that dominated television. I mentioned the Oscar-winning film in my first novel since it took place, partly, in 1955, so I wanted to see the film in its entirety. I would love to see it remade but I’m not sure how the story would resonate now. Regarding Contained Films, there were some obvious choices on what could be cut to keep the budget in tow and other COVID-related element but not lose the character arc.
<b class=””>Subject line: Anthea T. Piscarik Guidelines for Marty
<b class=””>TITLE: Marty (1955)
<b class=””>AS THEY DID IT:
A. People: Marty, Clare, Angie, Marty’s Mom, Cousin, and wife Aunt, Dancers, Bar guests, Marty’s other guy friends
B. Stunts: No Stunts
C. Extras: Busy NYC Street Scene, Dance Hall
D. Wardrobe: Ordinary
E. Hair and Make Up: Ordinary
F. Kids and Animals: Cousin and wife’s baby
G. Quarantine: Mostly limited locales
<b class=””>COVID GUIDELINE VERSION:
A. People: All main characters, but no dancers, bar guests, or other guy friends
B. Stunts: No Stunts
C. Extras: Leave out dancers and bar guests
D. Wardrobe: Same
E. Hair and Make Up: Same
F. Kids and Animals: Keep baby in movie
G. Quarantine: Omit opening busy street scene and start right in the butcher shop; don’t need to be in the dance floor if you hear the music in the foyer area. Cut to balcony scene where he can meet Clare and hear the music and dancing in the background.
3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
4. Post your assignment in the forums at https://www.<wbr>screenwritingclasses.com/<wbr>forums/
Subject line: (Your name’s) Guidelines for (Movie Title)
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Greeting Cheryl,
Okay I have to say it: Better late than never!
Thanks for your patience. I went into this project thinking of brushing off my first script based on a short story I had published. It’s a hybrid or should I say “semi-contained” and I thought, “somehow I’ll make it work” because I really want to get back to it after several years.
But as I worked through five ideas, mostly based on revising existing scripts, the fifth one came out of the blue, brand spanking new! And now I’m intrigued. So the exercise really got me thinking and POSSIBLY getting hitched to this totally new idea.
I’m not sure how unique it is, but it keeps coming back to me visually, and I’m considering it.
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Idea One:
A. Contained Environment: Hotel and nearby small restaurant
B, Contained Characters: Assassin and Co-conspirator; restaurant owner and assistant; assassin’s killer
C: Difficult Situation: Assassin wants OUT of the business on her latest assignment and plans to sabotage it. Restaurant owner recognizes her from window of restaurant and at hotel.
D: Reason for Containment: Story takes place in 24 hour period. A day in the life situation with the clock ticking for assassin’s assingment while she’s being trailed by someone who knows her plan to sabotage the assignment.
Idea Two:
A. Contained Environment: Bomb shelter
B: Contained Characters: Teen from 1955; Teen from 2015; Two Priests; Two friends of Teen from 2015; One five-year-old
C: Difficult Situation: Teen from 1955 only appears to teen from 2015.
D: Reason for Containment: Bomb Shelter, completed preserved from 1955. is the meeting ground between the two teens, one from 1955 and the other sixty years later.
Idea Three:
A: Contained Environment: Butcher shop; house in NYC; small lounge
B; Contained Characters: Butcher, his mom, single woman, Butcher’s friend, Butcher’s cousin and wife; Butcher’s aunt
C: Difficult situation: Butcher is lonely and not finding a love interest or even a companion.
D: Reason for Containment: Create a person world that shows his lonely existence.
Idea Four:
A: Contained Environment: Prison; law firm; apartment; coffee shop
B: Contained Characters: Former heroin addict prisoner, priest, SIster of prisoner; mother of victim; friend of prisoner; detective
C: Difficult Situation: Heroin addict kills prominent lawyer brother-in-law and faces death penalty.
D: Reason for Containment: Protagonist in jail and faces death penalty.
Idea Five:
A: Contained Environment: Library
B: Contained Characters: Librarian, Psychopath, Librarian’s Friend
C: Difficult Siutation: Killer has Librarian’s phone and cut off all computers.
D: Reason for Containment: Library closed. She was the last one there.