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Action Lesson 12: Level 3 Action Emotions

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Level 3 Action Emotions

What I learned doing this assignment: This one really, really helped me write the initial draft of a scene I was feeling I would never be able to write.

3. Write the scene as a first draft, highlighting danger, excitement, and adrenaline.

SETUP: Scottish moors. Moonless, windless night. REPORTER, HOSTESS, and 3 TEAM MEMBERS (TM#1, TM#2, TM#3) lie on the ground, wearing night vision goggles and small oxygen masks, crawling slowly toward the Safe House 50 feet away. Low light in the windows. TM#4 sits in one of the two cars behind them.
REPORTER operates, using a hand-held control device, a small drone going from window to window.
REPORTER (whispering): Okay, I’ve injected all the gas I had. It’ll disperse and everyone be sound asleep in minutes, if not already. Security cameras are off, everything is jammed —
DANGER: HOSTESS: Can’t believe I said yes to this thing. We can all be killed–
The drone lands silently like a trained bird next to the cars as REPORTER springs forward.
TM#1 is already there, opening the door with his lock picks, revealing a shabby, dark hallway.
ADRENALINE: REPORTER enters, holding a spray can, breathing fast, adrenaline pumping. The control device has been tucked into one of the large pockets hanging around his torso.
RELIEF: No sounds. Everybody is asleep. He heads straight into the sleeping quarters of the STATION CHIEF – seems like he has a floor-plan in his brain.
HOSTESS (to TM#1): Get the damn package!
TM#1 and TM#2 hustle to the ‘surgery’ dragging a large bag with air-holes, TM#1 looking at a small piece of paper.
SUSPENSE: Just outside DOCTOR’s quarters, HOSTESS stops short, listening — not sure everybody is asleep!
Fight / Flight / Freeze: She freezes — everybody is not asleep! She creeps in —
SURPRISE: DOCTOR is getting up, frazzled, but holding a gun! Her arm shoots out — lifting and pulling him to herself with one hand, holding his gun arm with the other — turning toward the door with him in front of her, as —
SHOCK: — a groggy GUARD#1 shoots at them from the doorway. As DOCTOR slumps, HOSTESS catches his gun and shoots GUARD#1 dead.
TM#3 comes up behind GUARD#1, takes his gun and makes sure DOCTOR is dead.
As HOSTESS and TM#3 arrange the bodies and the guns to make it look like a shoot-out took place, REPORTER rushes in.
REPORTER: Oh, crap! You said there was only one guard.
HOSTESS (huffy): And you said everyone would be asleep! Just go make sure yours is truly asleep!
REPORTER rushes back to spray more sleeping gas on the sleeping STATION CHIEF and GUARD#2.
TM#1 and TM#2 hustle the large bag, with HACKER in it now, out.
RELIEF: Everybody is out the door in less than 2 minutes.
EXCITEMENT: It has worked!
REPORTER: Phew! That could have gone down a whole lot worse!
TM1 lays out the bag containing HACKER on the backseat. TM#1, TM#2, and TM#3 drive off.
REPORTER and HOSTESS walk to the second car. HOSTESS drives.
HOSTESS: You’re gonna hang all this on that poor woman, aren’t you?
(beat)
HOSTESS: I saw you hiding financial reports among her papers.
REPORTER: You’re not the only one who can frame people, you know.
(beat)
REPORTER: Did you have to kill the doctor?
HOSTESS: Hey, I wasn’t the one. Besides, he tortures people.
(beat)
HOSTESS: So. What’s she gonna do now?
REPORTER: Well, I don’t think she’ll be ordering any more ‘extreme interrogation sessions’! She’ll probably say her doctor was paid off to spring the prisoner, there was a shoot-out with security guys —
HOSTESS: And she slept through it all? And where is the prisoner supposed to be now?
REPORTER: Loose? Maybe they’ll ‘question’ her on what kind of transport she arranged for him?
HOSTESS: And then they’ll find the incriminating evidence in her files… Why is it always the woman who has to do the heavy lifting?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL.

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Lesson 11: Level 2 Action Emotions

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Level 2 Action Emotions

What I learned doing this assignment: This lesson provided a really helpful framework for constructing a fight scene and adding detail to it.

3. Write the scene as a first draft, highlighting surprise, shock, and suspense.

As REPORTER walks along the dark alley behind HACKER’s apartment building, deep in thought — a slight RUSTLE — REPORTER turns his head to look, as —

A kosh grazes the side of his head and lands on his shoulder. His eyes open wide in surprise — do these things happen in London?

He leans into the attack, his arms going up instinctively, trying to keep body close — trying to turn — get his arms around him to prevent him from hitting again —

For a second, REPORTER gets to look into ASSASSIN’s eyes. Cold, business-like. REPORTER tries to cling tighter, surprise giving way to shock — fear —

It is a deadly struggle between a trained professional and a total novice — with nobody around to watch. In one smooth move, the professional slides out of the clumsy embrace, throwing off the novice onto his back.

REPORTER rolls away, desperately rummaging in his pocket. ASSASSIN no longer looks cool – he’s angry now. He takes out a switchblade. As he approaches to deliver the coup de grace, REPORTER throws himself toward the space between ASSASSIN’s legs, stabbing upwards with his screwdriver — the handle end.

By the time, he realizes his mistake and tries to turn it around, ASSASSIN is already bending over, trying to reach the coiled pest between his legs with the switchblade.

REPORTER squeezes through, uncoiling and pushing himself back with his own legs, taking ASSASSIN’s legs with him. ASSASSIN falls forward, forehead hitting concrete, switchblade flying off.

ASSASSIN’s not out. And he’s really angry. He’s trying to raise himself. REPORTER kicks him on the forehead — taking care not to kick the guy’s nose into his brain. He bends over to make sure he’s out. As he searches him —

REPORTER (muttering): I gotta hit the library — I should learn some judo.

The kosh, the switchblade, no gun, no wallet or identification.

REPORTER: And who the hell are you?

Looks like he’s about to kick him again, but doesn’t.

REPORTER: And you should learn about gravity.

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Action Lesson 10: Level 1 Action Emotions

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Level 1 Action Emotions

What I learned doing this assignment: I decided to do this using a simple scene, rather than one of the complicated action sequences, which I haven’t mapped out yet.

3. Write the scene as a first draft, highlighting anxiety, fear, and relief.

INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
Five men and one woman are buzzing around with wands, scanning all the walls, furniture, equipment, anything they can reach. They are AGENTS from MI6. They don’t look like James Bond. BILLIONAIRE hovers like a mother hen — clearly anxious.
BILLIONAIRE: I don’t understand! We don’t let anyone near here!
His eyes dart from wand to wand around the room — fear level rising on his face.
AGENT 1: Our orders are to check everything, sir.
(comforting)
AGENT 1: It could be a false alarm, sir.
CLACKING OF HEELS from the corridor outside. HOSTESS enters. She looks around.
HOSTESS: Good thing I came in early —
BILLIONAIRE walks to her.
BILLIONAIRE (plaintive): I can’t understand it! We don’t let anyone near here!
HOSTESS puts her hand on his arm — comforting — as AGENTS exhaust all surfaces and finish up.
AGENT 3: Clear!
AGENT 1: Good news! This room is clean, sir.
Relief washes over BILLIONAIRE’s face. He turns to HOSTESS.
BILLIONAIRE: You think that idiot ENERGY MOGUL shot off his mouth somewhere?
HOSTESS: And I was planning on sneaking out and checking some new shoes this morning.
(smiles at BILLIONAIRE)
HOSTESS: Oh well, old shoes will have to do.
BILLIONAIRE puts his arm around her shoulders.
BILLIONAIRE: No, no. You go on ahead. Go get some shoes. You deserve it. I’ll see them out.
HOSTESS: Thank you, sir.
She turns to leave.
INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
In the distance, heels CLACKING, HOSTESS turns the corner and disappears.

[BG]

Action Lesson 9: Twists that Engage Us!

ASSIGNMENT:

BG’s Favorite Twists!

What I learned doing this assignment: I’m starting to think that my whole concept is a twist: A broken-hearted reporter, working undercover as a waiter to get a scoop about a conspiracy to start a war, decides to fight the conspirators, instead. Clearly, a change of direction. But I don’t know what type of twist that is. Yet;))

Plan Fails /Plan Succeeds: REPORTER’s ingratiate-yourself-for-access plan fails when he’s spotted near forbidden areas of The Club. So he has to resort to planting a listening device, a more illegal means.

Identity or Plan Exposed / Identity Hidden: REPORTER discovers that HOSTESS is a German spy, and it was she who sent him the tip.

Deceived / Surprising Truth: REPORTER passes himself off as a waiter, but when he decides that is no longer a viable plan, he writes a letter to BILLIONAIRE, confessing that he was there to get a scoop, and apologizing for deceiving him.

Betrayal / Surprising Alliance: HOSTESS is working for BILLIONAIRE under false pretenses: She’s a spy, who is there to stop his plans (betrayal). She’s allied with REPORTER, her asset.

Attacked / Protected: ASSASSIN is waiting to have another go at REPORTER, but HOSTESS flies out of the shadows and flattens ASSASSIN.

Lost Resources / New Resources: REPORTER discovers HOSTESS is an ally.

It Just Got Worse / It Just Got Better: REPORTER discovers his friend and ally, HACKER, has been abducted. And then, on the way back to his hotel, he’s attacked by ASSASSIN.

Trap / Trick / Escape: REPORTER tricks BILLIONAIRE, and causes him to arrange the killing of a fellow conspirator.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Formatting bugs in this program. Strikethrough doesn't work:(
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL.

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ACTION LESSON 8 – Why Do We Care

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Likability/Empathy/Justification

What I learned doing this assignment: This assignment made me think and come up with at least one new scene idea.

LIKABILITY/LOVABILITY
A. Other people like or respect the character. REPORTER’s neighbors and his editor like him and try to cheer him up.
B. The character shows love for something. He’s been dumped by the love of his life. He’s still in love and he’s in the middle of his grieving process.
C. They’re trying to do something good.
D. Save the cat — rescue or do something good for someone else. The first time we meet him, he’s under an elderly neighbor’s kitchen sink, fixing a broken pipe.
E. Funny, humorous, witty. Self-deprecating, bitter wit of the kind that depressed people have.
F. Kindness. He’s a naturally kind person.
G. Good moral decisions and actions. Being on the right side. He will get out of his funk and will try to stop a war.

EMPATHY / DISTRESS
A. Undeserved misfortune.
B. External Character conflicts.
C. Plot intruding on life.
D. Moral dilemmas. REPORTER has to decide between saving his friend and not breaking the law.
E. Forced decisions they’d never make.
F. Wound attacked.

JUSTIFICATION
A. The character or their family abused.
B. Threatened by others.
C. The Hero is the victim of attacks.
D. They’ve suffered major losses.
E. The Villain or their representatives have trespassed. The villains want to start a war for their own interests and benefit.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Action Lesson 7: Map Out Your Story

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Story Map!

What I learned doing this assignment: I got lost among my various labels and scenes. Will take a little time to pull it together in the right order;))

MALDOVINIA ON FIRE

THE PLAN: The Villain’s plan is in place before the movie starts and the Hero wanders into that plan, not knowing what he is getting into.

It is a conspiracy, codenamed NORTHSTAR, to pump weapons and militants into MALDOVINIA, where rebels are battling government forces. The conspirators want to turn the protracted insurgency into a full-blown land war in the middle of Europe and disrupt piped natural gas supply, so that they can sell expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europeans.

The conspiracy is led by BILLIONAIRE, a man of immense wealth, who uses his media empire as a weapon in his crusade to fight off any challenge to the Western-led world order. His second-in-command is ENERGY MOGUL, another billionaire. He wants Germans to stop buying cheap, piped natural gas and buy, instead, his five-times more expensive LNG.

ACT 1:

1. OPENING:

V1: OPENING IMAGE: WEAPONS: A shipment of weapons of war is being unloaded from a cargo plane at a remote airfield in MALDOVINIA.

V2: CONSPIRATORS’ MEETING 1: The conspirators watch this in real-time on a wall-size screen in the St. Michael conference room of the posh London club named A Club for Patriots. They discuss the progress of operation NORTHSTAR.

2. INCITING INCIDENT:

M1: THE TIP: A young REPORTER, who has not recovered from a broken heart, finds a mysterious envelope in his mailbox. It contains blurry photos of BILLIONAIRE, the club and some bank statements.

M2: INCITING INCIDENT: His editor thinks this is definitely a tip worth investigating. A scoop like that could put his weekly magazine on the map. He decides to send REPORTER to London to check it out.

M3: FIRST ACTION: Before flying to London, REPORTER shows the material, via secure video-link, to HACKER, a friend who lives in London. They conclude from copies of the bank statements that money is being pooled to finance a nasty operation, and someone is trying to stop it by sending this tip. REPORTER says, The world is full of nasty stuff, let’s just stick to getting a story.

REPORTER flies to London, gets a room at a cheap hotel. His intention is solely to get a scoop for his paper. The next morning he goes to the club in the photos, which is named A Club for Patriots, and referred to as The Club by the public. While looking around, he’s approached by a big, beautiful woman, who says she remembers him from the days he worked at a fancy restaurant in London. Her name is HOSTESS, she works at The Club, and hires him on the spot as a waiter.

That night REPORTER discusses with HACKER over video-link how he should ingratiate himself with BILLIONAIRE so that BILLIONAIRE will want to keep him around to serve him. REPORTER tells HACKER he hates to lie.

V4: BILLIONAIRE MEETS REPORTER: Next morning, at The Club, he meets BILLIONAIRE, who takes a shine to him – REPORTER can speak French and knows the labels of 200 most expensive wines!

V5: CAUGHT SNOOPING: The ingratiate–for–access plan backfires before it starts, because BILLIONAIRE spots him near the St. Michael conference room and bans him from the floor.

M4: ESCALATION: So REPORTER needs to make a new plan to investigate the conspiracy. He moves up the ladder of deception: He makes a jerry-rigged listening device.

3. FIRST TURNING POINT AT END OF ACT 1:

A2: BREAK IN: REPORTER climbs in through an open window and plants the listening device in the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room.

ACT 2:

V6: CONSPIRATORS’ SHOUTING MATCH: The conspirators have a heated meeting about the funding of operation NORTHSTAR.

M5: DISCOVERY: REPORTER, in his car, listens via his listening device. He discovers that the conspirators are planning an operation codenamed NORTHSTAR that will pump in weapons and militants into MALDOVINIA where separatists are battling government forces. Their goal is to turn the protracted insurgency into a full-blown land war in the middle of Europe and disrupt piped natural gas supply, so that they can sell expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europeans.

M6: CHANGE OF HEART: REPORTER is upset and pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves. He calls in, over an encrypted connection, to his editor to report. REPORTER seems out of his funk now. He blurts out: Just who are these men who feel entitled to start wars and consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes? He makes the mistake of using the word NORTHSTAR during his emotional call.

V7.1: CAUGHT SPEAKING: Keyword monitoring programs of NSA latch onto the word NORTHSTAR and an alert goes out. At CIA, Langley, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR EASTERN EUROPE meets with underlings. It turns out they are not only aware of NORTHSTAR, but they are covertly supportive! He tells staffers NSA has warned them that the press may be onto NORTHSTAR. They decide to alert BILLIONAIRE via MI6 and other cutouts.

Six agents from MI6 show up at dawn to sweep the St. Michael conference room.

V8.1: TWISTS: No bugs are found! BILLIONAIRE is relieved. HOSTESS leaves hurriedly, goes to her car to make a call and is revealed to be a German agent. ENERGY MOGUL still thinks REPORTER is involved somehow.

4. MID-POINT:

M6.1: PUZZLED: REPORTER is puzzled – what happened to the listening device he planted? He’s getting suspicious of HOSTESS.

V10: ASSASSIN HIRED: ENERGY MOGUL jumps the gun, meets with a hitman, named ASSASSIN, and hires him, without authorization from BILLIONAIRE.

V8.2: That night, HOSTESS again sits in her car with her unusual-looking laptop and equipment and sends an encrypted message to her control, German Agent. She then plants fake evidence implicating HACKER into the transatlantic data stream, in order to deflect CIA’s suspicion away from REPORTER.

V7.2: CAUGHT BY NSA AGAIN: NSA monitoring programs latch onto the fake information planted by HOSTESS.

A6: THE ORDER: DEPUTY DIRECTOR says, “Getting an American reporter would create legal issues. No such impediment to the abduction of a foreigner for national security purposes! I want HACKER in the safe house by tomorrow!”

V9: ABDUCTION: REPORTER’s friend and ally, HACKER, is captured and taken to a CIA safe house.

M9: APPARENT DEFEAT: Meanwhile, REPORTER keeps trying and can’t get through to his friend HACKER. He leaves his room with some tools. He climbs up to HACKER’s flat — seems he’s getting used to this. He jimmies open a window, and goes in. He finds it ransacked. And all of HACKER’s electronics equipment are missing.

M10: AMBUSHED: On the way back to his hotel from HACKER’s ransacked apartment, REPORTER is ambushed by ASSASSIN.

A4: FIGHT: REPORTER tries to fight off ASSASSIN, a professional hitman. He finally pushes him off his center of gravity, toppling him down. While ASSASSIN is down, he kicks him unconscious.

M11.1: TWIST: REPORTER follows HOSTESS to her car and discovers she is a German agent. She tells him they are working for the same goal: to stop a war. She tells him there are many Germans opposed to paying high energy prices to accommodate Western geopolitical ambitions. It was she who sent him the tip and removed his listening device. She offers to help him find his friend. “You help me, I help you!”

V11: TORTURE: Meanwhile, at the remote CIA safe house, DOCTOR reports HACKER has been interrogated, he’s in bad shape, and insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to REPORTER. STATION CHIEF does not believe. She tells DOCTOR to keep on trying.

M11.1: NEW PLAN: Meanwhile, his friend’s disappearance has caused REPORTER to realize he needs a new plan. He brainstorms and decides staying as a waiter at The Club is no longer safe or useful. He writes a letter to BILLIONAIRE, confessing and apologizing for working at his club under false pretenses.

He tenders his resignation to HOSTESS and invites her to lunch. They eat under some old trees to avoid satellite surveillance.

5. SECOND TURNING POINT AT END OF ACT 2:

M11.2: TWIST: REPORTER learns from HOSTESS that his missing friend and ally, HACKER, is at a CIA safe house, being interrogated (euphemism for tortured). REPORTER is horrified and blames himself for involving his friend in such a dangerous operation.

ACT 3:

6. CRISIS:

M11.3: DILEMMA: In another move up the ladder deception and violence, REPORTER decides to rescue HACKER – from what is, in essence, a government prison. He asks for HOSTESS’s help. She points out that it would be a very high-risk operation. REPORTER tells her that he has a plan for stopping NORTHSTAR. “I have a nice, bloodless plan, where we don’t have to kill any of the bad guys. Let the Goliaths kill each other. But I absolutely need HACKER to be able to do it. Since you also want to stop NORTHSTAR, will you help me rescue him?”

A9: BATTLE AT THE SAFE HOUSE: Using tools and a plan made by him, REPORTER, HOSTESS and HOSTESS’s contacts carry out an elaborate rescue operation to break HACKER out of the CIA safe house. HACKER is spirited away to an undisclosed safe house.

V13: ASSASSIN ATTACKS AGAIN: On the way to his new hotel, where he’s hiding out, REPORTER is again attacked by ASSASSIN, wielding a taser this time. HOSTESS, who is secretly following him to protect him, flies out of the shadows and flattens ASSASSIN with a body-slam!

A11: STOPS A KILLING: REPORTER stops HOSTESS, who’s sitting on ASSASSIN, from crushing his rib cage and lungs. “Wait, let’s not close that door!”

M14: TWIST: REPORTER asks HOSTESS to help him put NORTHSTAR out of business. She agrees and arranges HACKER’s participation via video-link from the undisclosed safe house.

7. CLIMAX:

M14: TWIST: Now that HACKER is safe, REPORTER asks HOSTESS to help him put NORTHSTAR out of business. REPORTER has made a plan to stop NORTHSTAR: “Take away their money, and what is left? A bunch of preening old men, trying to rule the world! Since my hacking skills are nowhere near what the job requires, can you set it up so that HACKER participates?” She agrees and arranges HACKER’s participation via video-link from the undisclosed safe house.

V14: FOLLOW THE MONEY: REPORTER, HOSTESS and HACKER hold a brainstorming session to refine REPORTER’s original plan to put NORTHSTAR out of business.

M15: FULL OUT ATTACK: REPORTER, HOSTESS and HACKER conduct a major hacking operation to divert the conspiracy’s 20 billion dollar NORTHSTAR funds and make it look like one of the conspirators did it.

8. RESOLUTION:

V16: FALLING OUT AMONG THIEVES: Next day, BILLIONAIRE holds an emergency NORTHSTAR status meeting. He’s breathing fire: His daily review of accounts shows the 20 billion dollar kitty is no longer in the secret NORTHSTAR account. After a heated discussion, with recriminations flying around and Energy Mogul on the defensive, BILLIONAIRE terminates NORTHSTAR.

A12: HIT: That night, BILLIONAIRE finds evidence in the accounts that a lot of the NORTHSTAR money has moved to accounts controlled by ENERGY MOGUL. As if bringing unwelcome attention to the group wasn’t enough! He calls ASSASSIN to arrange a walk in the park. He tells him, Your contract with ENERGY MOGUL regarding REPORTER is cancelled! He hires him for more money to kill ENERGY MOGUL instead.

V17: CLEANUP MODE: BILLIONAIRE goes into clean-up mode in order to protect his reputation and the rest of his plans. He calls REPORTER’s editor and tells him he’ll give an exclusive interview to REPORTER.

V18: FITTING ENDING: During the interview, BILLIONAIRE explains what is needed to defend the Western way of life, tries to find out how much REPORTER knows, and blames it all on ENERGY MOGUL. REPORTER’s questions are mild and respectful. But there is change in the air. The balance of power between the two has shifted. After REPORTER leaves, BILLIONAIRE looks unsettled. He continues to stare, like a malign bird of prey, at REPORTER’s empty chair.

ENERGY MOGUL is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest due to excessive colchicine, a medication he was taking for his gout.

The floor of a hidden room behind St. Michael Conference Room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys NORTHSTAR documents and equipment.

M16: SUCCESS: REPORTER is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with HOSTESS/German Agent. A guy who never smiled, is smiling and laughing again. His heart has healed!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Action Lesson 6: Creating Your Action Structure

ASSIGNMENT:

BG’s Action Structure!

What I learned doing this assignment: I had trouble assembling my events into the structure template. Finding the right pieces from the three tracks… Everything seemed jumbled, same events written from different perspectives, in different orders…

Look through your three tracks (Mission, Villain, and Action) and find the points that could work for this structure:

MALDOVINIA ON FIRE

THE PLAN: The Villain’s plan is in place before the movie starts and the Hero wanders into that plan, not knowing what he is getting into.

It is a conspiracy, codenamed NORTHSTAR, to pump weapons and militants into MALDOVINIA, where rebels are battling government forces. The conspirators want to turn the protracted insurgency into a full-blown land war in the middle of Europe and disrupt piped natural gas supply, so that they can sell expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europeans.

The conspiracy is led by BILLIONAIRE, a man of immense wealth, who uses his media empire as a weapon in his crusade to fight off any challenge to the Western-led world order. His second-in-command is ENERGY MOGUL, another billionaire. He wants Germans to stop buying cheap, piped natural gas and buy, instead, his five-times more expensive LNG.

1. Opening: Weapons of war being unloaded from a cargo plane at a remote airport in MALDOVINIA. The conspirators watch this in real-time on a wall-size screen in the St. Michael conference room of the posh London club named A Club for Patriots. They discuss the progress of operation NORTHSTAR.

2. Inciting Incident: A mysterious envelope containing blurry photos of BILLIONAIRE, the club and some bank statements arrives in REPORTER’s mailbox. It’s a tip about a plot to start a war. His editor thinks a scoop like that could put their small magazine on the map. He sends REPORTER to check it out.

3. First Turning Point at end of ACT 1: REPORTER’s lame plan to snoop around BILLIONAIRE as his favorite waiter at The Club fails. He’s banned from the second floor. Now he needs to take more risk. He moves up the ladder of deception — from lying to get hired as a waiter to planting a listening device in the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room.

4. Mid-Point: During his emotional report to his editor about his findings, he carelessly uses the word NORTHSTAR. Keyword monitoring programs of NSA latch onto the word and CIA and MI6 become involved. They are not only aware of NORTHSTAR, but are covertly supportive. It is a much bigger conspiracy than believed at the beginning. The stakes are raised.

5. Second Turning Point at end of ACT 2: REPORTER learns from HOSTESS that his missing friend and ally, HACKER, is at a CIA safe house, being interrogated (euphemism for tortured). REPORTER is horrified and blames himself for involving his friend in such a dangerous operation.

6. Crisis: REPORTER decides to rescue HACKER, from what is, in essence a government prison — illegal and extremely risky. HOSTESS tells him so, but he convinces her to help — they are a team now. Using tools and a plan made by him, REPORTER, HOSTESS, and her allies rescue HACKER from the CIA safe house, and take him to an undisclosed safe house.

7. Climax: Then, they conduct a major hacking operation (with HACKER participating via video-link) to divert the conspiracy’s funds and make it look like one of the conspirators did it. BILLIONAIRE discovers NORTHSTAR funds are missing. It looks like ENERGY MOGUL stole them. He terminates NORTHSTAR and has his second-in-command, ENERGY MOGUL, killed by ASSASSIN.

8. Resolution: BILLIONAIRE goes into clean-up mode in order to protect his reputation and the rest of his plans. He calls REPORTER’s editor and tells him he’ll give an exclusive interview to REPORTER. During the interview, BILLIONAIRE explains what is needed to defend the Western way of life, tries to find out how much REPORTER knows, and blames it all on ENERGY MOGUL. REPORTER’s questions are mild and respectful. But there is change in the air. The balance of power between the two has shifted. After REPORTER leaves, BILLIONAIRE looks unsettled. He continues to stare, like a malign bird of prey, at REPORTER’s empty chair.

REPORTER is seen in a restaurant, smiling and having a good time with HOSTESS, the female lead. His heart has healed!

[BG]

Lesson 5: Create Your ACTION Track

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Action Track!

What I learned doing this assignment: Coming up with types of events and the purposes behing them is helping me flesh out my ideas.

3. Sequence the action scenes to deliver your story. Give us your list of action scenes and the purpose of each scene.

MALDOVINIA ON FIRE

WEAPONS: Weapons of war being unloaded from a cargo plane at a remote airport in MALDOVINIA.

Purpose: Creates the mystery of who they are for and for what purpose.

BREAK IN: REPORTER climbs in through an open window and plants a listening device in the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room.

Purpose: Insight into Hero. He’s taking more risks, moving up the ladder of deception.

DISCOVERY: REPORTER learns about the aims of the conspiracy via the listening device he planted. He’s horrified.

Purpose: Insight into Hero. Now, he’s pissed off enough to want to stop them. He’s coming out of his funk!

FIGHT: REPORTER fights off ASSASSIN, a professional hitman.

Purpose: Gives us a glimpse into his skills — No training in fighting or weapons. Not his specialty. He’s a mechanical engineer-turned-reporter. Yet he can improvise and uses his engineering knowledge to topple him down.

SURVEILLANCE: REPORTER tails HOSTESS and catches her in the act of communicating with her control.

Purpose: Gives us two people who need each other.

THE ORDER: The CIA Deputy Director says, “Getting an American reporter would create legal issues. No such impediment to the abduction of a foreigner for national security purposes! I want HACKER in the safe house by tomorrow!”

Purpose: Insight into the Villain’s enablers. The Villain is not just the NORTHSTAR conspiracy. Major intelligence agencies support it! Increases the stakes for REPORTER.

ABDUCTION: REPORTER’s friend and ally, HACKER, is captured and interrogated (euphemism for tortured) in a CIA safe house.

Purpose: Insight into the rotten nature of Villain’s enablers. Increases the stakes for REPORTER.

TORTURE: At the CIA safe house, Hacker has been interrogated, he’s in bad shape, and he insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to Reporter. STATION CHIEF does not believe. She tells DOCTOR to keep on trying.

Purpose: Insight into the rotten nature of Villain’s enablers. Increases the stakes for REPORTER.

BATTLE AT THE SAFE HOUSE: Using tools and a plan made by him, REPORTER, HOSTESS, and her allies rescue HACKER from the CIA safe house, and take him to an undisclosed safe house.

Purpose: Insight into Hero: REPORTER will take on great risk to rescue a friend! Plus, cool weapons and fight scene to watch;))

AMBUSH: ASSASSIN attacks REPORTER again, this time with a taser. HOSTESS, who is secretly following him to protect him, flies out of the shadows and flattens ASSASSIN! REPORTER asks her not to kill him!

Purpose: Hero against Villain’s representatives. But now, he has a guardian angel — who can fight and uses her weight as a weapon! Also creates intrigue: Is it just that REPORTER doesn’t want to kill anybody, or does he have a longer term plan that will need ASSASSIN’s services?

STOPS A KILLING: REPORTER stops HOSTESS from crushing ASSASSIN’s rib cage and lungs.

Purpose: Insight into Hero. REPORTER does not want to kill bad guys, he’d rather they kill each other.

HIT: BILLIONAIRE cancels ASSASSIN’s contract with ENERGY MOGUL regarding REPORTER, and instead, hires ASSASSIN to kill ENERGY MOGUL, his second-in-command.

Purpose: The Villain needs to do cleanup in order to protect his reputation and the rest of his plans. He’s not done yet!

[BG]

Action Lesson 4: Create Your Villain Track

ASSIGNMENT:

BG’s Villain Track!

What I learned doing this assignment: I’m still trying to figure out how to raise the body-count, especially since my hero wants to save people and not kill anybody!

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

MALDOVINIA ON FIRE

HERO: REPORTER

VILLAIN: BILLIONAIRE

THE PLAN: The Villain’s plan is in place before the movie starts and the Hero wanders into that plan, not knowing what he is getting into.

It is a conspiracy, codenamed NORTHSTAR, to pump weapons and militants into MALDOVINIA, where rebels are battling government forces. The conspirators want to turn the protracted insurgency into a full-blown land war in the middle of Europe and disrupt piped natural gas supply, so that they can sell expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europeans.

The conspiracy is led by BILLIONAIRE, a man of immense wealth, who uses his media empire as a weapon in his crusade to fight off any challenge to the Western-led world order. His second-in-command is ENERGY MOGUL, another billionaire. He wants Germans to stop buying cheap, piped natural gas and buy, instead, his five-times more expensive LNG.

OPENING IMAGE: WEAPONS: A shipment of weapons is being unloaded from a cargo plane at a remote airfield in Maldovinia.

CONSPIRATORS’ MEETING: The conspirators watch this in real-time on a wall-size screen in the St. Michael conference room of the posh London club named A Club for Patriots. They discuss the progress of operation NORTHSTAR.

THE TIP: A mysterious envelope containing blurry photos of Billionaire, the club and some bank statements arrive in Reporter’s mailbox.

BILLIONAIRE MEETS REPORTER: Sent to investigate the tip, Reporter gets a job as waiter at the Club. Billionaire takes a shine to him.

CAUGHT SNOOPING: Billionaire spots him near the St. Michael conference room and bans him from the floor. Reporter resorts to installing a jerry-rigged listening device into the thermostat in the St. Michael conference room.

CONSPIRATORS’ SHOUTING MATCH: The conspirators have a heated discussion about the funding of operation NORTHSTAR. Reporter, in his car, listens via his listening device.

CAUGHT SPEAKING: Keyword monitoring programs of NSA latch onto the word NORTHSTAR in a conversation between Reporter and his editor, and CIA discovers that the press is onto NORTHSTAR, which they support. They alert MI6. MI6 sends agents to scan the St. Michael conference room.

TWIST: No bugs are found! Billionaire is relieved. Energy Mogul still thinks Reporter is involved somehow.

ABDUCTION: REPORTER’s friend and ally, HACKER, is captured and is being interrogated in a CIA safe house.

ASSASSIN ATTACKS: ENERGY MOGUL, without authorization from Billionaire, hires a hitman, named ASSASSIN, who ambushes Reporter. REPORTER tries to fight him off, finally pushing him off his center of gravity and toppling him down. While ASSASSIN is down, he kicks him unconscious.

TORTURE: At the CIA safe house, Hacker has been interrogated, he’s in bad shape, and he insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to Reporter. STATION CHIEF does not believe. She tells DOCTOR to keep on trying.

BATTLE AT THE SAFE HOUSE: Using tools and a plan made by him, REPORTER, HOSTESS, and her allies rescue HACKER from the CIA safe house, and take him to an undisclosed safe house.

ASSASSIN ATTACKS AGAIN: On the way to his new hotel, where he’s hiding out, REPORTER is again attacked by ASSASSIN, wielding a taser this time. HOSTESS jumps out of the shadows and flattens him. REPORTER asks her not to kill him.

FOLLOW THE MONEY: REPORTER, HOSTESS and allies make a plan to put NORTHSTAR out of business.

ATTACKED: Billionaire discovers NORTHSTAR funds are missing. It looks like ENERGY MOGUL stole them.

FALLING OUT AMONG THIEVES: Billionaire terminates the plot and has his second-in-command, ENERGY MOGUL, killed by ASSASSIN.

CLEANUP MODE: Billionaire calls Reporter’s editor and tells him he’ll give an exclusive interview to Reporter.

FITTING ENDING: During the interview, Billionaire explains what is needed to defend the Western way of life, tries to find out how much Reporter knows, and blames it all on Energy Mogul. Reporter’s questions are mild and respectful. But there is change in the air. The balance of power between the two has shifted. After Reporter leaves, Billionaire looks unsettled. He continues to stare, like a malign bird of prey, at Reporter’s empty chair.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
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[BG]

Action Lesson 3: Creating the Mission Track

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Hero’s Mission Track!

What I learned doing this assignment: I need to come up with more assassins, a higher body count, and maybe even a car chase;))

1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.

A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds?
• Reporter gets pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves and decides to get involved.

B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?
• One guy against billionaires, media and intelligence agencies

C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?
• Internal Motivation: Reporter starts with a broken heart. As he finds out more, he starts coming out of his funk and his intentions change. His mission becomes: To do what he can. This is also his healing process.
• External Motivation: Assassins and agents are going 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?
• Getting close to the subject, searching for information, getting caught, fighting assassins and agents, getting allies, rescuing friends, tricking the conspirators and agents, and the possibility of injuries or death.

2. Use the Basic Mission Steps to outline the mission.

NOTE: You can also use any of these steps: Twist, escape, search, discovery, hide out, attacking back, apparent success or defeat.

Clear Mission:
REPORTER’S CLEAR MISSION: To stop a conspiracy to start a war… before assassins and agents kill him!

Motivation:
MOTIVATION FOR THE MISSION: REPORTER gets pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves and decides to get involved

Inciting Incident:
INCITING INCIDENT: REPORTER is sent by his editor to check out a tip about a plot to start a war.

First Action:
FIRST ACTION: When REPORTER first arrives, his intention is to get a scoop for his paper. He gets hired as waiter by HOSTESS, who works at The Club, which, according to the tip, serves as headquarters for the conspiracy.

Obstacle:
OBSTACLE: REPORTER gets seen near the St. Michael conference room and is banned from the floor.

Escalation:
ESCALATION: He makes a jerry-rigged listening device, installs it into the thermostat in the St. Michael conference room.

DISCOVERY: He listens in and discovers that the conspirators are planning an operation codenamed NORTHSTAR that will pump in weapons and militants into Maldovinia where separatists are battling government forces. Their goal is to turn the protracted insurgency into a full-blown land war in the middle of Europe and disrupt piped natural gas supply, so that they can sell expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europeans.

NEW PLAN: REPORTER gets pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves and decides to get involved. He calls his editor to report, but makes the mistake of using the word NORTHSTAR during the call.

Overwhelming Odds:
OVERWHELMING ODDS: Keyword monitoring programs of NSA latch onto the word and CIA discovers that the press is onto NORTHSTAR, which they support. They alert MI6. MI6 sends agents to scan the St. Michael conference room.

TWIST: No bugs are found! REPORTER is puzzled. Unbeknownst to him, HOSTESS goes to her car to make a call and is revealed to be a German agent.

APPARENT DEFEAT: REPORTER’s friend and ally, HACKER, is not answering his calls. Unbeknownst to REPORTER, he has been captured and is being interrogated in a CIA safe house.

AMBUSHED: On the way back to his hotel from HACKER’s ransacked apartment, he’s ambushed by ASSASSIN, sent by one of the billionaires. REPORTER tries to fight him off, finally pushing him off his center of gravity and toppling him down. While ASSASSIN is down, he kicks him unconscious.

New Plan:
TWIST: REPORTER follows HOSTESS to her car and discovers she is a German agent. She tells him they are working for the same goal: to stop a war. She tells him there are many Germans opposed to paying high energy prices to accommodate Western geopolitical ambitions. It was she who sent him the tip and removed his listening device, and she planted fake information about HACKER to deflect CIA’s attention away from REPORTER.

APPARENT SUCCESS: Using tools and a plan made by him, REPORTER, HOSTESS, and her allies rescue HACKER from the CIA safe house, and take him to an undisclosed safe house.

AMBUSHED AGAIN: On the way to his new hotel, where he’s hiding out, REPORTER is again attacked by ASSASSIN, wielding a taser this time. HOSTESS jumps out of the shadows and flattens him. REPORTER asks her not to kill him.

TWIST: REPORTER asks HOSTESS to help him put NORTHSTAR out of business. She agrees and arranges HACKER’s participation in planning via video-link from the undisclosed safe house.

Full out Attack:
FULL OUT ATTACK: REPORTER and allies conduct a major hacking operation to divert the conspiracy’s funds and make it look like one of the conspirators did it.

Success:
SUCCESS: Lead conspirator terminates the plot and has his second-in-command killed by ASSASSIN. REPORTER is seen in a restaurant, smiling and having a good time with HOSTESS, the female lead. His heart has healed!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Action Lesson 2: Heroes and Villains That Sell the Roles!

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Hero and Villain!

What I learned doing this assignment: I organized my ideas according to the conventions of the ACTION genre, and now, I’m wondering how I’m going to be able to invent all those set pieces.

Concept: Sent to get a scoop about a conspiracy, an engineer-turned-reporter decides to fight the conspirators instead.

Hero Morally Right: Preventing war and liberating humanity from warmongers.

Villain Morally Wrong: Promoting and starting wars to get control of resources. Warmongers are trying to start a war. Afraid of Reporter, they send assassins and agents after him.

Hero

A. Unique Skill Set: Reporter is an engineer by training. He’s a fast learner, can make unique devices, has knowledge of computers. Athletic.

B. Motivation: Reporter realizes that war will hurt many people and that he must keep on fighting. He wants to save lives and stop bad guys.

C. Secret or Wound: A bad breakup with the love of his life has drained his joy of living. He doesn’t want to talk about it.

Villain

A. Unbeatable: Conspirators have money, control of media, and assistance from CIA and MI6.

B. Plan/Goal: To start a war by pumping weapons and militants into a powder keg.

C. What they lose if Hero survives: Exposure, loss of face, maybe even death. The conspiracy will be exposed and the billionaires’ humanitarian work will be shown to be a cover for their personal gain.

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero in Action: Reporter is sent to check out a tip about a conspiracy to start a war. He sneaks around, fights assassins and agents, and makes unique weapons.

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: Reporter must get over his broken heart, learn new things, and devise new tools to fight the conspirators.

C. Destroy the Villain: Reporter forces the conspirators to terminate their plot and tricks them into killing each other.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Action Lesson 1: Creating Your Action Concept

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Conventions!

What I learned doing this assignment: This assignment helped me organize my ideas according to the conventions of the ACTION genre.

2. Brainstorm your concept and tell us the concept and conventions.

Concept: Sent to get a scoop about a conspiracy, an engineer-turned-reporter decides to fight the conspirators instead.

Conventions:

Hero: An engineer-turned-reporter with a broken heart.

Mission: To investigate a conspiracy to start a war… and stop it before assassins and agents kill him.

Demand for Action: If he doesn’t stop the conspiracy, war will break out and people will die.

Antagonist: Vicious billionaire who uses his media empire to convince the public that war is necessary to protect their way of life.

Escalating Action: Sneaking around to investigate turns into fighting off assassins and agents, a high-risk rescue operation, and a high-risk hacking operation.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

AGREE,
1. Birgul E.
2. I agree to the terms of this release form.
3. Please leave the entire text below to confirm what you agree to.

[BG]

1. Name? Birgul E.
2. How many scripts you’ve written? 3.
3. What you hope to get out of the class? I would like to convert a partially-written fourth screenplay into an action-thriller.
4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you? I’m really, really worried that I will not be able to invent a sufficient number of fun and exciting scenes.

[BG]

Lesson 28 – The Chronological Edit

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Chronological Edit

What I learned doing this assignment: Events of the story take place over 10 days. I went through it, counting the days and made sure one thing leads to another and later events do not occur before earlier ones. Tagline: From Wimp to Warrior in 10 Days!

[BG]

Lesson 27: Draft 2: Solving Scene Problems

ASSIGNMENT

BG Solved Scene Problems!

What I learned doing this assignment: I went through my outline, checked each scene, and marked those that could be improved by the techniques listed in this assignment. I also marked each scene in which I could improve the use of dramatic devices such as twists, hooks, dramatic irony, suspense, surprise, mislead/reveal, emotional descriptions, etc. Implementation of these enhancements will have to wait for Draft #3!!!

[BG]

Lesson 26: Draft 2: Solving Character Problems

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Solved Character Problems!

What I learned doing this assignment: I had shortchanged character intros for the sake of speed and brevity. I have added some, and not just into the scenes, but into my summary, as well. When I’m trying to fix structure problems, rearrange scenes, and figure out what is missing, I find the summary much easier to work with. It’s only 3-5 pages, making it easier to edit, print, and get a global view.

2. For any character problems you find, make the prescribed improvements.

In my outline, I marked where each major character first appears and added a short description there. I also marked where more information is provided about them in later scenes, through action, other characters talking about them, etc.

Cast of Major Characters (in order of appearance)

BILLIONAIRE
(First appears in Opening/Old Ways)
Seated around the table are five very important men, each with his own agenda and needs, who have come together in a conspiracy, codename NORTHSTAR.

At the head of the table sits BILLIONAIRE, a man of immense wealth, who uses his media empire as a weapon in his crusade to fight off any challenge to the Western-led world order.
(We find his age, foundations, Davos speeches, etc. through Reporter’s research.)

ENERGY MOGUL
(First appears in Opening/Old Ways)
To his right sits ENERGY MOGUL, another billionaire. His needs are pecuniary and easier to understand. He wants Germans to stop buying cheap Russian gas and buy, instead, his five-times more expensive LNG.
(We find out about his age, his gout, etc. in later meetings of the conspiracy.)

REPORTER
(First appears in Inciting Incident)
A young man walks in. Late-twenties, medium-build. Broken-heart written all over his face. He is REPORTER, a mechanical engineer. He’s dropped out of grad school mid-thesis, bummed around Europe for a year, and then drifted into a job as a reporter for a U.S. weekly magazine.
(We find out more about him when CIA staffers discuss him later.)

EDITOR
(First appears in Inciting Incident)
EDITOR, mid-fifties, a fatherly type, stands by a giant monitor, watching curiously as information streams down and Reporter explains.
(I know, skimpy! This poor guy heads a regional weekly magazine that covers serious topics. He has aspirations of becoming national, but he has a small budget, and, unfortunately for him, serious topics mean few advertisers!)

HACKER
(First appears in ACT 1 Turning Point)
In two little windows in a corner are Reporter and HACKER, his close friend from grad school, same age, different departments.
(I can’t decide what else to say at this point. Maybe address his technical qualifications?)

HOSTESS/GERMAN SPY
(First appears in ACT 1 Turning Point. Introduced through action.)
A big, beautiful WOMAN catches up.
WOMAN: Hi! Reporter! It’s Reporter, isn’t it? We met at Chez Jean. Don’t you remember?
REPORTER: Uhhh… No…
WOMAN: You were working there! Well, I’m HOSTESS.
(extends her hand)
HOSTESS: I work at The Club as a hostess. The Club for Patriots. Right behind you. Very well-known. Are you still at Chez Jean?
REPORTER: Uhhh… No…
Gorgeous. Big, but not over-weight. Rather, covered by a layer of smooth muscle. Hostess takes his arm firmly, turns him around and marches him toward The Club.
(We find out later that she is a German spy. At this point, I was thinking that her being bigger than him would be interesting. Think Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. She was a head taller than him.)

CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR
(First appears in ACT 2 Midpoint Turning Point)
INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM – LANGLEY – DAY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR for Eastern Europe in a meeting with several STAFFERS.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We have received an alert from the NSA. Their keyword monitoring systems have picked up a reference to Northstar in an encrypted overseas communication.
(No description yet. Needs work. In the meantime, all I can think of is: He looks like what you would imagine a guy working at a job like that would look like.)

ASSASSIN
(First appears in ACT 3 New Plan)
Next to him is a nondescript man, wearing glasses, a cap and an expensive light trench coat. He is ASSASSIN. They seem to know each other well.
(Needs work! Probably tall. Sophisticated-looking, Eastern European, slight accent, could be from Czech Republic. Does not like proximity to subject. Weapon of choice: A used Glock 17 with night sights. We learn more about him later from HOSTESS/GERMAN SPY, because intelligence agencies also use him occasionally.)

CIA SAFE HOUSE CHIEF
(First appears in ACT 3 Turning Point: The lowest of the low)
INT. OFFICE OF STATION CHIEF – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
STATION CHIEF sits at her desk, sifting through piles of paper. Looks like this lady hasn’t been promoted in ages. A harried-looking DOCTOR enters.
(I’m not sure I can say any more about this person without sounding crude.)

[BG]

Lesson 25: Draft 2: Solving Structure Problems

ASSIGNMENT

BG Solved Structural Problems

What I learned doing this assignment: I found these structure questions extremely useful. I discovered that my answers to these questions, taken together, form a summary of my plot. So, by answering them in some detail, I ended up with a 3-page summary — almost a treatment! And it helped me consolidate, and clarify in my own mind, the jumbled mess that had evolved over 24 lessons.

2. Using the Structure Questions above, go to each structure point in your script and ask the question. Make sure you have a real answer.

THE STRUCTURE QUESTIONS

Act 1:

Opening/Old Ways: Is this an engaging opening scene that lures us into the story? Is the lead character clearly living in a pre-transformation mode? Do the “Old Ways” show up in their behavior and dialogue?

On an airfield in Ukraine, BAYRAKTAR COMBAT DRONES are lined up in front of open hangar doors. One circles overhead like a giant prehistoric bird. In the distance, weapons of war, tied up on pallets, are being unloaded from the cavernous bowels of a cargo plane.

This is being monitored in real-time on a wall-size screen in a conference room of a posh London club. Seated around the table are five very important men, each with his own agenda and needs, who have come together in a conspiracy, codenamed NORTHSTAR.

At the head of the table sits BILLIONAIRE, a man of immense wealth, who uses his media empire as a weapon in his crusade to fight off any challenge to the Western-led world order. To his right sits ENERGY MOGUL, another billionaire. His needs are pecuniary and easier to understand. He wants Germans to stop buying cheap Russian gas and buy, instead, his five-times more expensive LNG.

Inciting Incident: How does this incident invite and propel us into the journey?

A young REPORTER, who has not recovered from a broken heart, finds a fat envelop in his mailbox. It contains photos of Billionaire (introduced in the opening), his posh club in London, and some bank statements. His EDITOR thinks this is definitely a tip worth investigating. A scoop like that could put his weekly magazine on the map. He decides to send Reporter to London to check it out.

Turning Point: How is this Turning Point a twist that locks us into the journey with “no going back?”

Before flying to London, Reporter shows the material, via secure video-link, to HACKER, a friend who lives in London. They conclude from copies of the bank statements that money is being pooled to finance a nasty operation, and someone is trying to stop it by sending this tip. Reporter says, The world is full of nasty stuff, let’s just stick to getting a story.

Reporter flies to London, gets a room at a cheap hotel, and the next morning goes to the club in the photos, which is named ‘A Club for Patriots.’ While looking around, he’s approached by a big, beautiful woman, who says she remembers him from the days he worked at a fancy restaurant in London. Her name is HOSTESS, she works at The Club, and hires him on the spot as a waiter.

Act 2:

New Plan: What new plan did the protagonist create to deal with the Act 1 Turning Point?

That night Reporter discusses with Hacker over video-link how he should ingratiate himself with Billionaire so that Billionaire will want to keep him around to serve him. Reporter tells Hacker he hates to lie.

The ingratiate-for-access plan backfires before it starts, because he’s spotted ‘loitering’ and is banned from the floor. So he needs to make a new plan to investigate the conspiracy. He moves up the ladder of deception: He climbs in through an open window and plants a listening device in the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room.

Plan in action: How does the protagonist take action on that plan?

As Billionaire presides over a Northstar status meeting with the other four conspirators, Reporter listens in his car, and is upset and pissed. He calls in, over an encrypted connection, to his Editor to report. Reporter seems out of his funk now: He blurts out, Just who are these men who feel entitled to start wars and consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?

Midpoint Turning Point: How does the Midpoint change the meaning, creating a reveal that changes everything while keeping us on the same journey?

NSA Keyword Monitoring Program picks up on the word Northstar and an alert goes out. At CIA, Langley, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR EASTERN EUROPE meets with underlings. They are not only aware of Northstar, but they are covertly supportive. He tells staffers NSA has warned them that the press may be onto Northstar. They decide to alert Billionaire via MI6 and other cutouts.

Act 3:

React/Rethink: What is revealed to the protagonist from the Midpoint? How do they react or rethink things?

Six agents from MI6 show up at dawn to sweep the St. Michael conference room. No bugging devices are found. Billionaire looks relieved. Hostess leaves quickly and walks fast to her car with her large Gucci bag slung over her shoulder. In her car, which she keeps parked in a remote spot of a major retailer’s lot, she sets up an unusual-looking laptop and some equipment, and sends an encrypted message to her control, GERMAN AGENT. They establish a secure link and talk. She reports the MI6 agents’ dawn visit and says she’ll have to figure out a way to deflect suspicion away from ‘the mule.’

Meanwhile, MI6 agents’ dawn visit to sweep for bugs has created excitement among the kitchen staff. When Reporter walks in for his shift that morning, a waitress rushes to him and gushes, “They were everywhere, Monsieur! But they didn’t find anything!” Reporter at first looks concerned, then relieved and surprised. His eyebrows go up slightly – brain whirring, puzzle pieces jumping around, assembling themselves into a coherent picture. He spots Hostess approaching. He hastily moves behind a group of workers to avoid being seen – he’s getting suspicious of Hostess.

New Plan: What new plan did the protagonist create to deal with this new level of conflict?

The Energy Mogul jumps the gun, meets with ASSASSIN and hires him without authorization.

That night, Hostess again sits in her car with her unusual-looking laptop and some equipment and sends an encrypted message to her control, German Agent. She then plants evidence remotely into Hacker’s electronics equipment, in order to deflect Intelligence agencies away from Reporter.

This time, NSA deciphers traces of a British hacker’s phone number and new references to Northstar in monitored transatlantic communications. At CIA, Langley, Deputy Director for Eastern Europe again meets with underlings to discuss the legal advantages of capturing a foreign citizen as opposed to an American reporter. They decide the law permits abduction of a foreigner for national security purposes.

Scottish moors. A black MI6 van speeds toward a dark, lonely-looking house, looming in the distance. In the van, Hacker lies unconscious with two boxes full of his electronics equipment by his side. An American rendition team sits in front.

Meanwhile, Reporter keeps trying and can’t get through to his friend Hacker. He leaves his room with some tools. He climbs up to Hacker’s flat – seems he’s getting used to this. He jimmies open a window, and goes in. He finds it ransacked. And all of Hacker’s electronics equipment are missing.

On the way back to his own flat, Reporter is attacked from behind by Assassin. He topples Assassin down. As the guy, surprised by Reporter’s tactic, tries to right himself, Reporter kicks Assassin’s head, knocking him out. Then, Reporter kicks again — he’s really pissed! He bends down and whispers, You attacked the wrong waiter, didn’t you?

Next morning, Reporter is really cold toward Hostess, who has come to the kitchen to talk to him. He evades her attempts to talk.

That evening, Reporter follows Hostess to the parking lot. Inside her car, Hostess starts setting up her secure laptop and her gear on the passenger-side seat. Reporter looks in through the window. He recognizes the equipment – their images had zipped by on his screen while he was researching listening devices in his hotel room. He knocks on the window. Hostess looks surprised, but moves her gear to her lap and unlocks the door. Reporter slides into the passenger seat and says, Why don’t we talk here?

Turning Point: The lowest of the low. How has this Turning Point brought the character to the lowest of lows, making it almost impossible for them to win in a normal way? This forces them to adopt the change in a much bigger way.

In the car, Reporter confronts Hostess, who admits to being a German agent, also trying to stop Northstar. Reporter asks Hostess if she had anything to do with the abduction of his friend, Hacker. She does not answer. Instead, she tells him she can help him find his friend. “You help me, I help you.”

Meanwhile, at the remote CIA safe house, DOCTOR reports Hacker has been interrogated, he’s in bad shape, and insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to Reporter. STATION CHIEF does not believe. She tells DOCTOR to keep on trying.

Act 4:

Dilemma: What emotional dilemma requires the protagonist to choose between two alternatives, losing something with either choice?

His friend’s disappearance has caused Reporter to realize he needs a new plan. He brainstorms and decides staying as a waiter at The Club is no longer safe or useful. He writes a letter to Billionaire, confessing and apologizing for working at his club under false pretenses.

After tendering his resignation to Hostess, he invites her to lunch. They eat under some old trees to avoid satellite surveillance. Hostess tells him interagency chatter indicates Hacker is being interrogated at a desolate CIA safe house in the Scottish Moors. In another move up the ladder deception and violence, Reporter decides to rescue Hacker – from what is, in essence, a government prison. He asks for Hostess’s help. She points out that it would be a very high-risk operation. Reporter tells her that he has a plan for stopping Northstar. “I made a nice, bloodless plan, where we don’t have to hit any of the bad guys. Let the Goliaths kill each other. But I absolutely need Hacker to be able to do it. Since you also want to stop Northstar, will you help me rescue him?”

Climax/Ultimate Expression of The Conflict: How is this the ultimate expression of the conflict? How does it require a “fight to the death,” either literally or symbolically?

Reporter, Hostess and Hostess’s contacts carry out an elaborate rescue operation to break Hacker out of the CIA safe house. Hacker is spirited away to a German safe house in Ireland.

Now that Hacker is safe, Reporter explains to Hostess in more detail the plan he has made to stop Northstar: “Take away their money, and what is left? A bunch of preening old men, trying to rule the world! Since my hacking skills are nowhere near what the job requires, can you set it up so that Hacker participates via secure remote link?” She agrees.

Resolution: How does this resolution represent the “New Ways” and bring this story to a fitting conclusion?

Reporter, Hacker and Hostess refine and implement Reporter’s original plan to divert the conspirators’ 20 billion dollar Northstar kitty.

Next day, Billionaire holds a Northstar status meeting. He’s breathing fire: His daily review of accounts shows the 20 billion dollar kitty is no longer in the secret Northstar account. After a heated discussion, with recriminations flying around and Energy Mogul on the defensive, Billionaire terminates Northstar.

Soon, Billionaire discovers that a lot of the Northstar money has moved to accounts controlled by Energy Mogul. As if bringing unwelcome attention to the group wasn’t enough! He calls Assassin for a walk in the park, and hires him for more money to kill Energy Mogul instead of Reporter.

New Ways: What are the New Ways and do they clearly show up in your lead character’s Act 4 behavior and dialogue?

Billionaire is in cleanup mode. He calls Reporter’s Editor and offers to give an exclusive interview to Reporter. During the interview, he explains what is needed to defend the Western way of life, tries to find out how much Reporter knows, and blames it all on Energy Mogul. Reporter’s questions are mild and respectful. But there is change in the air. The balance of power between the two has shifted. After Reporter leaves, Billionaire looks unsettled. He continues to stare, like a malign bird of prey, at Reporter’s empty chair.

Energy Mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest due to excessive colchicine, a medication he was taking for his gout.

The floor of a hidden room behind St. Michael Conference Room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys Northstar documents and equipment.

Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent. A guy who never smiled, is smiling and laughing again.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 24: Fill in Any Missing Scenes

ASSIGNMENT

BG Filled In Missing Scenes!

What I learned doing this assignment: With scenes proliferating, I had trouble seeing the overall flow. I needed to disentangle my own stuff! So I went back to my original beat sheet. Things had evolved and changed as scenes got written. So I’m cleaning it up and updating it! I now find it very convenient keep a current beat sheet (date it after every change!). It will also help to write a 5-page treatment.

4. Tell us what scenes you added and why.

I added a new opening. I figured the opening needs more excitement, like weapons shipments and a conspiracy in full bloom. The old opening had a mousy reporter finding a tip for a story in his mailbox. Honestly, who would want to see a broken-hearted guy, when they can see combat drones?

[BG]

Lesson 23: Finish Act 4

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 4 Resolution

What I learned doing this assignment: I’m trying to decide what belongs in the Climax, and what should be moved to Resolution.

Outline ACT 4 Key Scene 4: Resolution – Wrap it up and show us the new status quo.

BEGINNING:
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – DAY
Billionaire gives an interview to Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on Energy Mogul. During the interview, Reporter challenges Billionaire’s worldview. The balance of power between them has changed.

MIDDLE:
INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S BEDROOM – DAY
Energy Mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest due to colchicine, a gout medication.
INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – NIGHT
The floor of a hidden room behind St. Michael Conference Room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys Northstar documents and equipment.

END:
INT. RESTAURANT – DAY
Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent.

Write ACT 4 Key Scene 4: Resolution – Wrap it up and show us the “new normal.”
(only one piece of it and still in a semi-outline mode):

BACKGROUND: Billionaire has terminated Northstar and is in cleanup mode. He’s been briefed by MI6 and was informed that Hacker did not know where leaked materials had come from and was no longer in custody. Billionaire wants to find out just how much Reporter knows. So he calls Reporter’s Editor and tells him he’ll grant an exclusive interview to Reporter.

INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – DAY
BEGINNING:
Billionaire welcomes Reporter to his office. All gracious and charming. He extends his hand.
BILLIONAIRE: So you’re a reporter! Instead of making him sit at a guest chair facing his desk, he leads him to the big table. They sit at a corner — former enemies confronting each other at the peace-table.

MIDDLE:
Billionaire explains how he has been a lifelong crusader for democracy, and gives his autocracies-are-gaining-on-democracies speech. He is trying to elicit a reaction — trying to gauge Reporter’s level of sympathy to his crusade. He moves to making vague references to his recent aborted activities. “Misconceptions about what we were trying to do.” He looks into Reporter’s eyes — will he be able to see the wisdom of my crusade? Then, he blames it all on the Energy Mogul and moves onto trying to co-opt Reporter.

END:
Billionaire says a talented journalist like him would rise fast in his media empire. Reporter explains that he had dropped out of graduate school and that he’s thinking of going back to mechanical engineering. Billionaire then tries to set him up:
BILLIONAIRE: Ms. Hostess is such a wonderful-looking girl, and so competent, too! If only I were 30 years younger!
Almost jovial.
BILLIONAIRE: I think she likes you!
He again looks into Reporter’s eyes, with a million questions in his own — is this guy smart enough to understand me, can I trust him?
REPORTER: I don’t think she’d be interested in me, sir.
Finally, Billionaire pulls out his checkbook. Reporter looks horrified.
BILLIONAIRE: I have donated billions to charity over my lifetime. Do you have a favorite charity? Reporter, relieved, gives him the name of a European charity that cares for street animals.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 22: Act 4 Climax

BG’s Act 4 Climax

What I learned doing this assignment: My ACT 4 has become too long. I have to see all of it at the same time to decide what I can move elsewhere. So I’m sticking to OUTLINE form at this point.

Outline ACT 4 Key Scene 1: Reaction to 3rd Act Turning Point.

BEGINNING: His friend’s abduction has caused Reporter to realize he needs a new plan.
MIDDLE: He brainstorms and decides staying as a waiter at The Club is no longer safe or useful.
END: He writes a letter to Billionaire, confessing and apologizing for working at his club under false pretenses.

Outline ACT 4 Key Scene 2: Protagonist faces their Dilemma.

BEGINNING: He invites Hostess to lunch. They eat under some old trees to avoid satellite surveillance.
MIDDLE: Hostess tells him interagency chatter indicates Hacker is being interrogated at a desolate CIA safe house in the Scottish Moors.
END: Reporter decides to rescue him. He asks for Hostess’s help

Outline ACT 4 Key Scene 3: Climax – The Ultimate Expression of The Conflict.

BEGINNING:
INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
Reporter and Hostess break the Hacker out of the CIA safe house with an elaborate plan and help from Hostess’s contacts.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Reporter, Hacker and Hostess make plans to divert the conspirators’ 20 billion dollar kitty to stop Northstar.

MIDDLE:
INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
Status meeting. Billionaire is breathing fire: he has discovered 20 billion dollar kitty is no longer in the secret account. After a heated discussion, with recriminations flying around and Energy Mogul on the defensive, Billionaire terminates Northstar.
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – NIGHT
Billionaire, disenchanted with Energy Mogul for bringing unwelcome attention to the group, meets with Assassin and hires him for more money to kill him instead of Reporter.

END:
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – DAY
Climax: Billionaire gives an interview to Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on Energy Mogul. During the interview, Reporter challenges Billionaire’s worldview. The balance of power between them has changed.

Outline ACT 4 Key Scene 4: Resolution – Wrap it up and show us the new status quo.

BEGINNING:
INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S BEDROOM – DAY
Energy Mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest due to colchicine, a gout medication.

MIDDLE:
INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – NIGHT
The floor of a hidden room behind St. Michael Conference Room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys Northstar documents and equipment.

END:
INT. RESTAURANT – DAY
Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 21: Act 4 Begins

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 4 First Scenes

What I learned doing this assignment is: I can’t believe it, the first draft is almost done! I never wrote in drafts before. I would start at the beginning and just hack at it, for months, years, as it grew and evolved into this humongous mess! So this is a first for me!

Outline Key Scene 1: Reaction to 3rd Act Turning Point.

BEGINNING: His friend’s abduction has caused Reporter to realize he needs a new plan.
MIDDLE: He brainstorms and decides staying as a waiter at The Club is no longer safe or useful.
END: He writes a letter to Billionaire, confessing and apologizing for working at his club under false pretenses.

Outline Key Scene 2: Protagonist faces their Dilemma.

BEGINNING: He invites Hostess to lunch. They eat under some old trees to avoid satellite surveillance.
MIDDLE: Hostess tells him interagency chatter indicates Hacker is being interrogated at a desolate CIA safe house in the Scottish Moors.
END: Reporter decides to rescue him. He asks for Hostess’s help.

Write Key Scene 1: Reaction to 3rd Act Turning Point.

INT. REPORTER’S ROOM – DIFFERENT CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Reporter sits on the bed, propped against pillows, writing on a pad with a pencil.
ON THE PAD: Doodles, a decision tree, lists…
Reporter turns to a previous page and stares. We can see partially as he traces his assumptions with the pencil.
ON THE PAD: “Assumptions:
— Hacker almost certainly abducted by intelligence agencies.
— Almost certainly told them everything he knows.
— Didn’t know about listening device since I didn’t tell him.
— In fact, nobody knows, since Hostess removed it. ”
He puts down his pad and pencil and lies on his back, looking at the ceiling. Then, he gets up and moves to the desk. On it, there is stationary from his previous hotel. He starts writing — nice, legible handwriting.
We can see partially through his hand.
ON THE PAPER: “Dear Mr. Billionaire, I am writing to confess …”
REPORTER (VOICEOVER): Dear Mr. Billionaire, I am writing to confess and personally apologize to you. I entered your employ under false pretenses. I am a junior American reporter, eager to interview you. I mistakenly thought if I got a job at your club, I could get close to you and have a better chance of getting a scoop and advancing my career. —

Write Key Scene 2: Protagonist faces their Dilemma.

INT. KITCHEN – THE CLUB – DAY
Reporter is surrounded by the staff.
REPORTER: I want to apologize to you all for leaving you in the lurch like this. I know how short-staffed you are and you have all been working double-time. But I just couldn’t stand deceiving you anymore. I’m a reporter. I joined the staff here to get a story. I thought if I were here, I would have a better chance of getting a scoop. I was wrong. I apologize. Today is my last day.
Staff rush toward him to say goodbye, some grabbing his hand, female employees hugging him.
WAITRESS: Oh Monsieur, must you leave?
Hugs and kisses all around as Hostess watches, looking like a woman whose carefully-laid plans had just crashed down.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE KITCHEN – THE CLUB – DAY
Reporter catches up with Hostess walking away.
REPORTER (calling): Ms. Hostess! I wanted to apologize to you, too, and tender my resignation.
He pulls out an envelope from his pocket.
REPORTER: I also wrote to Mr. Billionaire and personally apologized.
(beat)
REPORTER: I wonder if you would allow me to invite you to lunch to make up for my conduct.

EXT. PARK – DAY
Reporter and Hostess sit under a group of old trees, eating lunch.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 20: Finish Act 3

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Completed Act 3

What I learned doing this assignment: I’m trying to stick to the plan and keep up. Some middle scenes are still missing their dialogue and descriptions and look like they did on the Beat Sheet.

A CLUB FOR PATRIOTS

ACT 3 DRAFT 1

BG’s Act 3 Reaction to Midpoint

Write Act 3 Key Scene 1: React/Rethink the new reality revealed by the Midpoint!

INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
Five men and one woman are buzzing around with wands, scanning all the walls, furniture, equipment, anything they can reach. They are AGENTS from MI6. They don’t look like James Bond. Billionaire hovers like a mother hen.
AGENT 1: Clear!
AGENT 2: This room is clean, sir.
Billionaire looks relieved.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
In the distance, Hostess turns the corner and disappears.

INT. GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – DAY
Intelligence agency boiler room. Agents working at their desks. Screens all around. One GERMAN AGENT feels a slight buzz in his pocket. Checks his phone and stands up. He does look like James Bond. He leaves the room.

EXT. GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – DAY
Beautiful grounds surround the agency buildings. German Agent sits on the grass under some 100 year old trees, talking on his phone.

INT./EXT. HOSTESS’S CAR NEARBY STREET – DAY
Hostess in her car with cellphone to her ear.
HOSTESS: Bees buzzing in the hive. Damn bees! They will sting me one day!
GERMAN AGENT (on Hostess’s phone): Talk is yellow jackets from across the pond got a whiff of a high-latitude flower.
HOSTESS: I’ll have to figure out something to distract them away from the mule.

INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S LONDON PAD – DAY
Killed and stuffed animal heads adorn the walls. Lots of horns. Energy Mogul has propped up his right leg and talks on the phone.
ENERGY MOGUL: I’m planning to walk a little in the park today. Need exercise.

EXT. HYDE PARK – DAY
Energy Mogul walks slowly under the trees. He has a slight limp. Next to him is a nondescript man, wearing glasses, a cap and an expensive light trench coat. He is ASSASSIN. They seem to know each other well.
ENERGY MOGUL: He’s such an idiot. It’s always his club, his precious conference room, his plan! He thinks he is emperor of the world!
Assassin walks with a blank face.
ENERGY MOGUL: I don’t like smart people! They are dangerous!
Assassin finally sneaks a sideways glance, as if to say, This idiot doesn’t seem to think I’m smart.
ASSASSIN: I thought no bugs were found.
ENERGY MOGUL: Doesn’t matter, I know that young man did it! I told him! I said that young man is too smart, too good-looking. Get rid of him! Does he listen to me? Nooo! He’s such an idiot!
He turns to the Assassin.
ENERGY MOGUL: I guess he likes him because the young punk is smart!
ASSASSIN: What would you like me to do?
ENERGY MOGUL: I don’t want you to kill him or anything. Just break every bone in his body. I want him in the hospital for a year! Out of my hair! Until this opportunity is over.
ASSASSIN: Yes, sir.
ENERGY MOGUL: Let him choose his own damn wine!
Energy Mogul’s limp has become more pronounced. Assassin slows down.
ASSASSIN: Leg bothering you, sir?
ENERGY MOGUL: Damned gout! He serves me roast pheasant! Every time! I know he’s doing it deliberately – I know it! He knows I can’t resist it and that it causes my gout to flare up! I know it!
He frowns.
ENERGY MOGUL: And make it look like he was mugged.

BG’s Act 3 Middle Scenes

1. Outline Key Scenes (Act 3 Middle Scenes).

INT. KITCHEN – THE CLUB – DAY
MI6 agents’ early-morning visit to sweep for bugs has created excitement among the kitchen staff. When Reporter walks in, a waitress rushes to him and gushes, “They were everywhere, Monsieur! But they didn’t find anything!” Reporter looks concerned, then surprised. His eyebrows go up slightly – brain whirring, puzzle pieces jumping around, assembling themselves into a coherent picture. He spots Hostess approaching. He hastily moves behind a group of workers to avoid being seen. and leaves by the rear exit.

EXT. PARKING LOT OFF BUSTLING STREET – LONDON – NIGHT
INT. GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – NIGHT
Parking lot in a congested area some distance from both The Club and Hostess’s flat. Hostess, sitting in her car with an unusual-looking laptop and some equipment, sends an encrypted message to her control, German Agent. She then plants evidence remotely into Hacker’s electronics equipment, in order to deflect Intelligence agencies away from Reporter.

INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM LANGLEY – DAY
CIA deciphers traces of a British hacker’s phone number and new references to Northstar in monitored transatlantic communications. They discuss the legal advantages of capturing a foreign citizen as opposed to an American reporter.

INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
INT./EXT. VAN – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
Scottish moors. A black MI6 van speeds toward a dark, lonely-looking house, looming in the distance. In the van, Hacker lies unconscious with two boxes full of his electronics equipment by his side. An American rendition team sits in front.

INT./EXT. REPORTER’S HOTEL ROOM — NIGHT
Reporter can’t get through to his friend Hacker. He leaves his room with some tools.

INT./EXT. HACKER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
Reporter climbs up to Hacker’s flat. Easier this time. He jimmies open a window, and goes in. He finds it ransacked. And all of Hacker’s electronics equipment are missing.

EXT. DARK STREET NEAR REPORTER’S FLAT – NIGHT
On the way back to his own flat, Reporter is attacked from behind by Assassin. He topples Assassin down. As the guy, surprised, tries to right himself, Reporter kicks Assassin’s head, knocking him out. Then, Reporter kicks again — he’s really pissed! He bends down and whispers, Skipped your Elementary Mechanics class, didn’t you?

INT. KITCHEN – THE CLUB – DAY
Next morning, Reporter is really cold toward Hostess, who has come to the kitchen to talk to him. He evades her attempts to talk.

EXT. PARKING LOT OFF BUSTLING STREET – LONDON – NIGHT
That evening, Reporter follows Hostess to the parking lot. Inside her car, Hostess starts to set up her secure laptop and her gear on the passenger-side seat. Reporter looks in through the window. He recognizes the equipment – their images had zipped by on his screen while researching listening devices in his hotel room. He knocks on the window. Hostess looks surprised, but moves her gear to her lap and unlocks the door. Reporter slides into the passenger seat and says, Why don’t we talk here?

BG’s Act 3 Turning Point

2. Write Turning Point 3 – Protagonist faces their lowest low.

INT.HOSTESS’S CAR – PARKING LOT – NIGHT
Reporter motions toward her communications gear.
REPORTER: Intelligence agency grade gear.
It’s not a question, it’s a statement.
HOSTESS: You read a lot, don’t you?
REPORTER: You removed the bug from the conference room.
Hostess looks uncertain — it’s a first.
REPORTER: Russian agent, huh?
HOSTESS: No, German.
REPORTER: German!
Hostess no longer looks uncertain.
HOSTESS: We, too, are trying to stop this plot.
(beat)
HOSTESS: We don’t want to buy expensive LNG. We want the cheap Russian gas. Billionaire’s group wants us to buy their expensive LNG. See, they want to start a war and blame Russia. Then, the German public won’t be able to resist pressure from some of our allies to give up the cheap Russian gas and buy the expensive LNG! They want us, the Germans, to take one for the team!
REPORTER: Yes, I figured out that much. But why me? Why didn’t you send your tip to a real journalist? Why me?
HOSTESS: I assume by real journalist, you mean big media. They wouldn’t have printed it. New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, they are all pro war. They believe war is necessary to take Russia down a peg and perpetuate the Western-led world order.
REPORTER: You used me.
HOSTESS: I chose you. I wanted a scientist, a thinker, not a bought-and-paid-for Western journalist.
REPORTER: My friend is missing.
Hostess remains silent.
REPORTER: Did you have something to do with that?
HOSTESS: I can help you find him. I know some people. You help me, I help you.

INT. RECOVERY ROOM – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
Small, understaffed operation. No expensive monitors or equipment around. Hacker lies unconscious on a gurney. Roughed up. Skin around his closed eyes is a ghastly blue-black.

INT. OFFICE OF STATION CHIEF – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
STATION CHIEF sits at her desk, sifting through piles of paper. Looks like this lady hasn’t been promoted in ages. A harried-looking DOCTOR enters.
DOCTOR: Look, I don’t think I’ll be able to get anything more out of him. Short of drowning him, I guess. He insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to Reporter. He just saw some of the stuff that was sent to Reporter. Does not know by whom.
STATION CHIEF: Well, I don’t believe him. Keep on trying.
DOCTOR: He doesn’t look good. We’ll all look bad if he has a cardiac arrest or something.
STATION CHIEF: We’ll look worse if we fail.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 19: Act 3 Turning Point

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 3 Turning Point

What I learned doing this assignment is: I’m trying to avoid the temptation to write the scene first, and then figure out the outline from the long mess.

1. Outline Act 3 Key Scene 4 – Turning Point 3.

BEGINNING:
INT.HOSTESS’S CAR – PARKING LOT – NIGHT
Reporter confronts Hostess, who is revealed to be a German agent, also trying to stop the plot.
MIDDLE:
Reporter asks Hostess if she had anything to do with the abduction of his friend, Hacker. She does not answer. Instead, she tells him she can help him find his friend. “You help me, I help you.”
END:
INT. OFFICE OF STATION CHIEF – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
DOCTOR reports Hacker has been interrogated, he’s in bad shape, and insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to Reporter. STATION CHIEF does not believe. She tells DOCTOR to keep on trying.

2. Write Turning Point 3 – Protagonist faces their lowest low.

INT.HOSTESS’S CAR – PARKING LOT – NIGHT
Reporter motions toward her communications gear.
REPORTER: Intelligence agency grade gear.
It’s not a question, it’s a statement.
HOSTESS: You read a lot, don’t you?
REPORTER: You removed the bug from the conference room.
Hostess looks uncertain — it’s a first.
REPORTER: Russian agent, huh?
HOSTESS: No, German.
REPORTER: German!
Hostess no longer looks uncertain.
HOSTESS: We, too, are trying to stop this plot.
(beat)
HOSTESS: We don’t want to buy expensive LNG. We want the cheap Russian gas. Billionaire’s group wants us to buy their expensive LNG. See, they want to start a war and blame Russia. Then, the German public won’t be able to resist pressure from some of our allies to give up the cheap Russian gas and buy the expensive LNG! They want us, the Germans, to take one for the team!
REPORTER: Yes, I figured out that much. But why me? Why didn’t you send your tip to a real journalist? Why me?
HOSTESS: I assume by real journalist, you mean big media. They wouldn’t have printed it. New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, they are all pro war. They believe war is necessary to take Russia down a peg and perpetuate the Western-led world order.
REPORTER: You used me.
HOSTESS: I chose you. I wanted a scientist, a thinker, not a bought-and-paid-for Western journalist.
REPORTER: My friend is missing.
Hostess remains silent.
REPORTER: Did you have something to do with that?
HOSTESS: I can help you find him. I know some people. You help me, I help you.

INT. OFFICE OF STATION CHIEF – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
Small operation. No expensive monitors or equipment around. STATION CHIEF sits at her desk, sifting through piles of paper. Looks like this lady hasn’t been promoted in ages. A harried-looking DOCTOR enters.
DOCTOR: Look, I don’t think I’ll be able to get anything more out of him. Short of drowning him, I guess. He insists he didn’t hack or send any hacked materials to Reporter. He just saw some of the stuff that was sent to Reporter. Does not know by whom.
STATION CHIEF: Well, I don’t believe him. Keep on trying.
DOCTOR: He doesn’t look good. We’ll all look bad if he has a cardiac arrest or something.
STATION CHIEF: We’ll look worse if we fail.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 18: Act 3 Middle Scenes

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 3 Middle Scenes

1. Outline Key Scenes (Act 3 Middle Scenes).

INT. KITCHEN – THE CLUB – DAY
MI6 agents’ early-morning visit to sweep for bugs has created excitement among the kitchen staff. When Reporter walks in, a waitress rushes to him and gushes, “They were everywhere, Monsieur! But they didn’t find anything!” Reporter looks concerned, then surprised. His eyebrows go up slightly – brain whirring, puzzle pieces jumping around, assembling themselves into a coherent picture. He spots Hostess approaching. He hastily moves behind a group of workers to avoid being seen. and leaves by the rear exit.

EXT. PARKING LOT OFF BUSTLING STREET – LONDON – NIGHT
INT. GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – NIGHT
Parking lot in a congested area some distance from both The Club and Hostess’s flat. Hostess, sitting in her car with an unusual-looking laptop and some equipment, sends an encrypted message to her control, German Agent. She then plants evidence remotely into Hacker’s electronics equipment, in order to deflect Intelligence agencies away from Reporter.

INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM LANGLEY – DAY
CIA deciphers traces of a British hacker’s phone number and new references to Northstar in monitored transatlantic communications. They discuss the legal advantages of capturing a foreign citizen as opposed to an American reporter.

INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
INT./EXT. VAN – CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
Scottish moors. A black MI6 van speeds toward a dark, lonely-looking house, looming in the distance. In the van, Hacker lies unconscious with two boxes full of his electronics equipment by his side. An American rendition team sits in front.

INT./EXT. REPORTER’S HOTEL ROOM — NIGHT
Reporter can’t get through to his friend Hacker. He leaves his room with some tools.

INT./EXT. HACKER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
Reporter climbs up to Hacker’s flat, jimmies open a window, and goes in. He finds it ransacked. And all of Hacker’s electronics equipment are missing.

EXT. DARK STREET NEAR REPORTER’S FLAT – NIGHT
On the way back to his own flat, Reporter is attacked from behind by Assassin. He topples Assassin down. As the guy, surprised, tries to right himself, Reporter kicks Assassin’s head, knocking him out. Then, Reporter kicks again — he’s really pissed! He bends down and whispers, Skipped your Elementary Mechanics class, didn’t you?

INT. KITCHEN – THE CLUB – DAY
Next morning, Reporter is really cold toward Hostess, who has come to the kitchen to talk to him. He evades her attempts to talk.

EXT. PARKING LOT OFF BUSTLING STREET – LONDON – NIGHT
That evening, Reporter follows Hostess to the parking lot. Inside her car, Hostess starts to set up her secure laptop and her gear on the passenger-side seat. Reporter looks in through the window. He recognizes the equipment – their images had zipped by on his screen while researching listening devices in his hotel room. He knocks on the window. Hostess looks surprised, but moves her gear to her lap and unlocks the door. Reporter slides into the passenger seat and says, Why don’t we talk here?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 17: Act 3 Begins

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 3 Reaction to Midpoint

What I learned doing this assignment: Trying to keep straight my acts, my 4 Act Transformational Structure, my Beat Sheet…

Using your Beat Sheet, outline your Act 3 Key Scenes.

Outline of Act 3 Key Scene 1: Reaction/Rethink.

BEGINNING: Six agents from MI6 show up to search the St. Michael conference room. No bugging devices are found.
MIDDLE: Hostess makes a call on a secure link.
END: Energy Mogul hires an ASSASSIN.

Write Key Scene 1: Reaction/Rethink.

INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
Five men and one woman are buzzing around with wands, scanning all the walls, furniture, equipment, anything they can reach. They are AGENTS from MI6. They don’t look like James Bond. Billionaire hovers like a mother hen.
AGENT 1: Clear!
AGENT 2: This room is clean, sir.
Billionaire looks relieved.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
In the distance, Hostess turns the corner and disappears.

INT. GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – DAY
Intelligence agency boiler room. Agents working at their desks. Screens all around. One GERMAN AGENT feels a slight buzz in his pocket. Checks his phone and stands up. He does look like James Bond. He leaves the room.

EXT. GERMAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY – DAY
Beautiful grounds surround the agency buildings. German Agent sits on the grass under some 100 year old trees, talking on his phone.

INT./EXT. HOSTESS’S CAR NEARBY STREET – DAY
Hostess in her car with cellphone to her ear.
HOSTESS: Bees buzzing in the hive. Damn bees! They will sting me one day!
GERMAN AGENT (on Hostess’s phone): Talk is yellow jackets from across the pond got a whiff of a high-latitude flower.
HOSTESS: I’ll have to figure out something to distract them away from the mule.

INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S LONDON PAD – DAY
Killed and stuffed animal heads adorn the walls. Lots of horns. Energy Mogul has propped up his right leg and talks on the phone.
ENERGY MOGUL: I’m planning to walk a little in the park today. Need exercise.

EXT. HYDE PARK – DAY
Energy Mogul walks slowly with a slight limp under the trees. Next to him is a nondescript man, wearing glasses, a cap and an expensive light trench coat. He is ASSASSIN. They seem to know each other well.
ENERGY MOGUL: He’s such an idiot. It’s always his club, his precious conference room, his plan! He thinks he is emperor of the world!
Assassin walks with a blank face.
ENERGY MOGUL: I don’t like smart people! They are dangerous!
Assassin finally sneaks a sideways glance, as if to say, This idiot doesn’t seem to think I’m smart.
ASSASSIN: I thought no bugs were found.
ENERGY MOGUL: Doesn’t matter, I know that young man did it! I told him! I said that young man is too smart, too good-looking. Get rid of him! Does he listen to me? Nooo! He’s such an idiot!
He turns to the Assassin.
ENERGY MOGUL: I guess he likes him because the young punk is smart!
ASSASSIN: What would you like me to do?
ENERGY MOGUL: I don’t want you to kill him or anything. Just break every bone in his body. I want him in the hospital for a year! Out of my hair! Until this opportunity is over.
ASSASSIN: Yes, sir.
ENERGY MOGUL: Let him choose his own damn wine!
Energy Mogul’s limp has become more pronounced. Assassin slows down.
ASSASSIN: Leg bothering you, sir?
ENERGY MOGUL: Damned gout! He serves me roast pheasant! Every time! I know he’s doing it deliberately – I know it! He knows I can’t resist it and that it causes my gout to flare up! I know it!
He frowns.
ENERGY MOGUL: And make it look like he was mugged.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 16 – Finish Act 2

ASSIGNMENT

BG Has Completed Act 2 Draft 1

What I learned doing this assignment is: I’m trying to stick to my 4 Act Transformational Structure, my Beat Sheet, and High Speed Writing. I’m trying to keep it short. A 90-page screenplay.

A CLUB FOR PATRIOTS

ACT 2 DRAFT 1

Write the “Reaction to the ACT 1 Turning Point” scene.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Reporter is seated in front of his laptop at the cheap hotel desk.
ON THE SCREEN: Reporter and Hacker are in their separate little windows. In Hacker’s window, the part of his apartment visible behind him is nice.
REPORTER: There I was, working up my courage to go inside, when this big lady comes up from behind. She grabbed me and took me — walked me right into the Club and hired me.
HACKER: Really hard up for waiters, huh?
REPORTER: Said she remembers me from Chez Jean. I have zero recollection of her.
HACKER: Hmm… Moving faster than I expected, I wonder if you’re ready —
REPORTER: And I have to meet Mr. Billionaire tomorrow — for inspection!
HACKER: Oh dear, do you have anything to wear?
REPORTER: Not really. Clean jeans?
HACKER: No! Fortunately for you, London has many used-clothing shops. We like to buy things we can’t afford. A nice navy-blue sports jacket, nice shirt, gray wool slacks…
ON THE SCREEN: Already scrolling on the screen are store-front photos of several used-clothing shops, their addresses and a map.
HACKER: You want to be humble, pleasant and compliant. Delightful would help, but you can’t handle delightful. Don’t mention you are a mechanical engineer, or that you have been dumped. Don’t volunteer, wait to be asked. Remember, you are a servant now. Not an equal. Nobody wants an uppity servant.
REPORTER: Yeah, yeah.
HACKER: And lose the attitude. If he likes you, he’ll keep you around and you can find out things. Smart is optional, compliant is key!
REPORTER: How am I going to explain what I’m doing in London?
HACKER: You’re an expat who wants to see the world. Got that? An expat who wants to see the world.
REPORTER: I hate to lie.
ON THE SCREEN: In his window, Hacker throws up his hands.
HACKER: Fine scruples for an undercover reporter!

Write Key Scene 2: Protagonist takes on a plan and executes it.

INT. LOBBY – THE CLUB – DAY
Three-story high lobby. The Carrara-marble floor shines like glass. Hostess spots Reporter standing hesitantly at the entrance. She glides toward him like an ocean-liner.
HOSTESS (whispering): Mr. Billionaire is on the floor! This way.
She takes firm charge of his arm and leads. Billionaire spots them approaching.
BILLIONAIRE: Welcome to the team.
REPORTER: Thank you, sir.
BILLIONAIRE: Ms. Hostess here tells me you worked at Chez Jean.
REPORTER: Yes, sir.
BILLIONAIRE: I was thinking of having flounder au gratin for dinner. What wine, do you think?
REPORTER: Perhaps a Sauvignon Merceau ’86, sir?
Billionaire’s eyebrows shoot up.
BILLIONAIRE: You know your wines!
REPORTER: I know my labels, sir.
BILLIONAIRE: You can serve me dinner at 8.
He marches off. Hostess smiles — pleased with herself.
HOSTESS: Haaa! He was expecting you to say, White wine! You don’t really know all the wines in the world, do you?
REPORTER: Just the top two hundred, Ma’am.
Hostess pats him hard on the back. He gets pushed forward a foot.
HOSTESS: I knew you were smart and you would pick up on that ‘if you can read foreign wine labels’ talk!

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Reporter sits in front of his laptop at the desk.
ON THE SCREEN: Reporter and Hacker are in their separate little windows.
REPORTER: Well, your plan to ingratiate myself worked. He wants me to serve his dinners.
HACKER: I don’t know, they’re probably desperate. Nobody wants to serve anymore!
REPORTER: I had to lie to him, I had to lie to that hostess woman, I had to lie to my fellow kitchen staff… Why can’t I just tell him I’m a reporter and would like to interview him —
HACKER: If we’re right about what we think is going on over there, then, you better tell me now what kind of flowers you’d like me to send to your wake.
(beat)
HACKER: That is, assuming they find your body.
REPORTER (thoughtful): As a reporter, I’m kind of protected, but you’re not.

Write Key Scene 3: Not only does their plan fail, but…

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – THE CLUB – NIGHT
Reporter approaches, pushing the serving cart. Knocks on the door.
REPORTER: Your dinner, sir.
BILLIONAIRE (calling from inside): Please leave the cart outside the door.
REPORTER: Very good, sir.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – THE CLUB – NIGHT
The door opens. Billionaire pushes the serving cart out. Stops short, staring. In the distance, the Reporter is visible from behind, turning the corner.

INT. LOBBY – THE CLUB – DAY
Hostess waits near the entrance. She grabs Reporter as he enters. Reporter cringes slightly — it hurts!
HOSTESS: Number 1. You enter by the service entrance! Number 2. He saw you last night! He’s angry! Says you were loitering near the St. Michael conference room! He never lets anyone near there. He has his most important meetings there. Told me to keep you away from the whole floor!
She looks at him strangely.
HOSTESS: I’ll give you a floor-plan so you don’t get lost like that again.

Write the Midpoint scene.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Reporter sits in front of his laptop at the desk.
ON THE SCREEN: Images and instructions for various listening devices, electrical circuitry…

EXT. BUSTLING STREET – LONDON – DAY
Reporter enters a shop. The sign above the door reads: “You-Do-It Electronics.”

EXT. OUTSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
Reporter, dressed in dark slacks and turtle-neck, stands eyeing a partially-open, second-floor rear-window that overlooks the dark alley behind The Club. He starts to climb up the drain-pipe, steps on the decorative ridges and disappears into the window.

INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
Using a tiny screwdriver, Reporter opens the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room and installs a tiny device.

INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – NIGHT
A modern-day star chamber in an Empire-style conference room, with computer screens everywhere. Billionaire sits at the head of the 15-foot long table, presiding. Around the table are an ENERGY MOGUL, a DEFENSE MOGUL, a retired 4-star GENERAL, and a former PRIME MINISTER.
BILLIONAIRE: Gentlemen, Northstar’s foundation is in place. We are ready to launch.
The Energy Mogul shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
ENERGY MOGUL: So the 20 billion is in the bank and we can start to transfer some funds to our Turkish friends running the ops?
He is an American oil and gas billionaire, whose goal in life is growing his energy empire by selling LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europe. A big, ruddy man, he sits with his right leg propped up on a velvet-covered Ottoman – painful, his gout is acting up.
GENERAL: Are we really sure we can trust their action plan?
PRIME MINISTER: Our experience has been that militants they transferred to other theaters have not stayed loyal.
BILLIONAIRE: I think we have no choice but to trust their judgment at this point. The media campaign I have initiated is showing success. Public demand for military action is growing.
(beat)
BILLIONAIRE: Well, that’s it, gentlemen.
He stands up — terse, not a man who would brook insubordination.

INT./EXT. REPORTER’S CAR – STREET NEAR THE CLUB – NIGHT
Reporter, sitting in his car, looks upset and pissed off. Using a hand-held remote, he turns off the listening-device and pulls out his cellphone. He touches the secure-link icon on the phone.

INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Editor, sitting at his desk, is visible through the glass wall of his office. His desk phone RINGS with a special sound.

INT. EDITOR’S OFFICE – NEWSROOM – DAY
Editor presses a special button on his desk phone and picks up.
EDITOR: Keep it short, I’ve lost faith in secure connections.
REPORTER (on Editor’s intercom, blurting): Just who the hell do these guys think they are?
Editor shakes his head and smiles — Kids! They need time to figure things out.
EDITOR: Masters of the universe?
REPORTER (on the intercom): This whole Northstar thing is just to stop Nord Stream 2!
EDITOR: You better watch your ass, kid!

INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM – LANGLEY – DAY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR for Eastern Europe in a meeting with several STAFFERS.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We have received an alert from the NSA. Their keyword monitoring systems have picked up a reference to Northstar in an encrypted overseas communication.
STAFFER 1: So they don’t yet know who was communicating with whom?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: No. They just deciphered the word Northstar.
He looks around the table.
STAFFER 2: It looks like some new players have entered the game.
STAFFER 3: We should warn MI6 so they can inform our Northstar friends.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 15: Act 2 TP – The Midpoint

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 2 TP – Midpoint

What I learned doing this assignment: Epiphany: I discovered the wisdom in Hal’s insistence that we outline first! It keeps me from wandering into irrelevancies, falling in love with them, and then distorting the screenplay’s backbone to fit them in!

Outline your Key Scene 4: The Midpoint.

BEGINNING: His first plan having failed, Reporter makes a new plan to investigate the conspiracy: He takes a dangerous and semi-illegal step: He plants a listening device in the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room.
MIDDLE: Billionaire presides over a Northstar status meeting of with the other conspirators. Reporter, listening in in his car, is upset and pissed. He has a short phone call, over an encrypted connection, with his Editor to report. He cannot avoid a small, emotional outburst: Just who are these men who feel entitled to start wars and consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?
END: At CIA, Langley, Deputy Director for Eastern Europe meets with underlings. They are not only aware of Northstar, but they are covertly supportive. NSA has warned them that the press may be onto Northstar. They decide to alert Billionaire via MI6 and other cutouts.

Write the Midpoint scene.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Reporter sits in front of his laptop at the desk.
ON THE SCREEN: Images and instructions for various listening devices, electrical circuitry…
EXT. BUSTLING STREET – LONDON – DAY
Reporter enters a shop. The sign above the door reads: “You-Do-It Electronics.”
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
Reporter, dressed in dark slacks and turtle-neck, stands eyeing a partially-open, second-floor back window that overlooks the dark alley behind The Club. He starts to climb up the drain-pipe, steps on the decorative ridges and disappears into the window.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
Using a tiny screwdriver, he opens the thermostat of the St. Michael conference room and installs a tiny device.

INT. ST. MICHAEL CONFERENCE ROOM – NIGHT
A modern-day star chamber in an Empire-style conference room, with computer screens everywhere. Billionaire sits at the head of 15-foot long table, presiding. Around the table are an ENERGY MOGUL, a DEFENSE MOGUL, a retired 4-star GENERAL, and a former PRIME MINISTER.
BILLIONAIRE: Gentlemen, Northstar’s foundation is in place. We are ready to launch.
The Energy Mogul shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
ENERGY MOGUL: So the 20 billion is in the bank and we can start to transfer some funds to our Turkish friends running the ops?
He is an American oil and gas billionaire, whose goal in life is growing his energy empire by selling LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Europe. A big, ruddy man, he sits with his right leg propped up on a velvet-covered Ottoman – painful, his gout is acting up.
GENERAL: Are we really sure we can trust their action plan?
PRIME MINISTER: Our experience has been that militants they transferred to other theaters have not stayed loyal.
BILLIONAIRE: I think we have no choice but to trust their judgment at this point. The media campaign I have initiated is showing success. Public demand for military action is growing.
(beat)
BILLIONAIRE: Well, that’s it, gentlemen.
He stands up — terse, not a man who would brook insubordination.

INT./EXT. REPORTER’S CAR – STREET NEAR THE CLUB – NIGHT
Reporter, sitting in his car, looks upset and pissed off. He turns off the hand-held, listening-device remote and pulls out his cellphone. He touches the secure-link icon on the phone.
INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Editor, sitting at his desk, is visible through the glass wall of his office. His desk phone RINGS with a special sound.
INT. EDITOR’S OFFICE – NEWSROOM – DAY
Editor presses a special button on his desk phone and picks up.
EDITOR: Keep it short, I’ve lost faith in secure connections.
REPORTER (on Editor’s intercom, blurting): Just who the hell do these guys think they are?
Editor shakes his head and smiles — Kids! They need time to figure things out.
EDITOR: Masters of the universe?
REPORTER (on the intercom): This whole Northstar thing is just to stop Nord Stream 2!
EDITOR: You better watch your ass, kid!

INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM – LANGLEY – DAY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR for Eastern Europe in a meeting with several STAFFERS.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: We have received an alert from the NSA. Their keyword monitoring systems have picked up a reference to Northstar in an encrypted overseas communication.
STAFFER 1: So they don’t yet know who was communicating with whom?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR: No. They just deciphered the word Northstar.
He looks around the table.
STAFFER 2: It looks like some new players have entered the game.
STAFFER 3: We should warn MI6 so they can inform our Northstar friends.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 14: Act 2 Middle Scenes

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 2 Middle Scenes

What I learned doing this assignment: I’m very comfortable with the 20% quality standard;)) Hope it also means the first draft can be SHORT! Maybe at the end, there will be an opportunity to submit questions like that.

Outline Key Scenes 2 & 3.

Write Key Scene 2: Protagonist takes on a plan and executes it.

INT. LOBBY – THE CLUB – DAY
Three-story high lobby. The Carrara-marble floor shines like glass. Hostess spots Reporter standing hesitantly at the entrance. She glides toward him like an ocean-liner.
HOSTESS (whispering): Mr. Billionaire is on the floor! This way.
She takes firm charge of his arm and leads. Billionaire spots them approaching.
BILLIONAIRE: Welcome to the team.
REPORTER: Thank you, sir.
BILLIONAIRE: Ms. Hostess here tells me you worked at Chez Jean.
REPORTER: Yes, sir.
BILLIONAIRE: I was thinking of having flounder au gratin for dinner. What wine, do you think?
REPORTER: Perhaps a Sauvignon Merceau ’86, sir?
Billionaire’s eyebrows shoot up.
BILLIONAIRE: You know your wines!
REPORTER: I know my labels, sir.
BILLIONAIRE: You can serve me dinner at 8.
He marches off. Hostess smiles — pleased with herself.
HOSTESS: Haaa! He was expecting you to say, White wine! You don’t really know all the wines in the world, do you?
REPORTER: Just the top two hundred, Ma’am.
Hostess pats him hard on the back. He gets pushed forward a foot.
HOSTESS: I knew you were smart and you would pick up on that ‘if you can read foreign wine labels’ talk!
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Reporter sits in front of his laptop at the desk.
ON THE SCREEN: Reporter and Hacker are in their separate little windows.
REPORTER: Well, your plan to ingratiate myself worked. He wants me to serve his dinners.
HACKER: I don’t know, they’re probably desperate. Nobody wants to serve anymore!
REPORTER: I had to lie to him, I had to lie to that hostess woman, I had to lie to my fellow kitchen staff… Why can’t I just tell him I’m a reporter and would like to interview him —
HACKER: If we’re right about what we think is going on over there, then, you better tell me now what kind of flowers you’d like me to send to your wake.
(beat)
HACKER: That is, assuming they find your body.
REPORTER (thoughtful): As a reporter, I’m kind of protected, but you’re not.

Write Key Scene 3: Not only does their plan fail, but…

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – THE CLUB – NIGHT
Reporter approaches, pushing the serving cart. Knocks on the door.
REPORTER: Your dinner, sir.
BILLIONAIRE (calling from inside): Please leave the cart outside the door.
REPORTER: Very good, sir.
INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – THE CLUB – NIGHT
The door opens. Billionaire pushes the serving cart out. Stops short, staring. In the distance, the Reporter is visible from behind, turning the corner.
INT. LOBBY – THE CLUB – DAY
Hostess waits near the entrance. She grabs Reporter as he enters. Reporter cringes slightly — it hurts!
HOSTESS: Number 1. You enter by the service entrance! Number 2. He saw you last night! He’s angry! Says you were loitering near the St. Michael conference room! He never lets anyone near there. He has his most important meetings there. Told me to keep you away from the whole floor!
She looks at him strangely.
HOSTESS: I’ll give you a floor-plan so you don’t get lost like that again.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 13: Act 2 Begins

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 2 Reaction to Turning Point 1

What I learned doing this assignment: One thinks that one saves time by jumping into writing scenes without an adequate structure. But spending the first 8 days on structure has been immensely helpful to me. I am now finding it easier and faster to add scenes to what I call the ‘backbone.’

Using your Beat Sheet, outline Key Scene 1.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
BEGINNING: Reporter, seated at his laptop, tells Hacker via video-link that he’s gotten a job at the Club as a waiter.
MIDDLE: They discuss how he should ingratiate himself with Billionaire so that Billionaire will want to keep him around to serve him.
END: Reporter tells Hacker he hates to lie.

Write the “Reaction to the Turning Point” scene.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Reporter is seated in front of his laptop at the cheap hotel desk.
ON THE SCREEN: Reporter and Hacker are in their separate little windows. In Hacker’s window, the part of his apartment visible behind him is nice.
REPORTER: There I was, working up my courage to go inside, when this big lady comes up from behind. She grabbed me and took me — walked me right into the Club and hired me.
HACKER: Really hard up for waiters, huh?
REPORTER: Said she remembers me from Chez Jean. I have zero recollection of her.
HACKER: Hmm… Moving faster than I expected, I wonder if you’re ready —
REPORTER: And I have to meet Mr. Billionaire tomorrow — for inspection!
HACKER: Oh dear, do you have anything to wear?
REPORTER: Not really. Clean jeans?
HACKER: No! Fortunately for you, London has many used-clothing shops. We like to buy things we can’t afford. A nice navy-blue sports jacket, nice shirt, gray wool slacks…
ON THE SCREEN: Already scrolling on the screen are store-front photos of several used-clothing shops, their addresses and a map.
HACKER: You want to be humble, pleasant and compliant. Delightful would help, but you can’t handle delightful. Don’t mention you are a mechanical engineer, or that you have been dumped. Don’t volunteer, wait to be asked. Remember, you are a servant now. Not an equal. Nobody wants an uppity servant.
REPORTER: Yeah, yeah.
HACKER: And lose the attitude. If he likes you, he’ll keep you around and you can find out things. Smart is optional, compliant is key!
REPORTER: How am I going to explain what I’m doing in London?
HACKER: You’re an expat who wants to see the world. Got that? An expat who wants to see the world.
REPORTER: I hate to lie.
ON THE SCREEN: In his window, Hacker throws up his hands.
HACKER: Fine scruples for an undercover reporter!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 12 – Finish Act 1

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Finished Act 1

What I learned doing this assignment: Never wrote a first-draft Act 1 this fast before;))

2. Write a 20% draft of Act 1.

A CLUB FOR PATRIOTS

ACT 1:

Key Scene 1: Exciting opening scene intros a main character, the conflict and/or world.

INT. APARTMENT LOBBY — NIGHT
A young man walks in. Late-twenties, medium-build. Broken-heart written all over his face. He is REPORTER, a mechanical engineer. He’s dropped out of grad school mid-thesis, bummed around Europe for a year, and then drifted into a job as a reporter for a U.S. weekly magazine.
He checks his mailbox and finds a fat envelope. He examines it. Looks puzzled and walks toward the elevators.
INT. REPORTER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
Contents of fat envelope laid out on the kitchen table: bad copies of photos of several people, of a beautiful, 18th-century building in London, of a few diplomatic cables, and of what look like online bank statements…
Reporter takes photos of some of the items with his cellphone. He connects the cellphone to a big workstation in the corner and transmits the photos he’s just taken.
He sits at the keyboard and types — reverse-image searches.
ON THE SCREEN: With each match, information streams down the large monitor. He reads fast.

Key Scene 2: Inciting Incident propels the protagonist onto the journey!

INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Bustling newsroom, with computer screens everywhere. Contents of fat envelope are again laid out on a big table. EDITOR, mid-fifties, a fatherly type, stands by a giant monitor, watching curiously as information streams down and Reporter explains.
EDITOR: What the hell…
REPORTER: Wait till you see this.
ON THE SCREEN: Stream stops at a photo he’s taken with his cellphone. A blurry image of an important-looking man. Glamorous photos of the same man in various social occasions with other important-looking people stream down the screen.
REPORTER: Would you believe it, he’s BILLIONAIRE! What’s he doing in my mailbox?
ON THE SCREEN: Billionaire’s Wikipedia summary reads:
“British Billionaire, 65. Born in Czechoslovakia. He uses
his media empire to promote Western values. His foundation,
National Endowment for Freedom (NEF), provides billions
to democracy efforts worldwide.”
EDITOR: Well, Reporter, looks to me like somebody wants you to investigate something.
His eyes twinkle.
EDITOR: You’ve hit big time, kid.
REPORTER: Why me? I’m a nobody. Why not the New York Times? Or the Washington Post?
EDITOR: Okay. Let’s lose the self-pity. It’s clearly a tip. It’s worth a look.
Reporter stands looking mulish — his usual non-committal, unsmiling self.
EDITOR: No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.

Write the scene for the Reaction to the Inciting Incident.

INT. REPORTER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
Images of the contents of the envelope stream slowly down the screen. In two little windows in a corner are Reporter and HACKER, his friend from grad school, same age, different departments.
Reporter sits in front of the screen at the keyboard, looking scruffy.
HACKER: Gee, some of these cables could be classified stuff.
REPORTER: Which is why I’m just letting you only look at images, not giving you copies. And wash your computer after this call.
HACKER: This is a secure connection. VPN.
REPORTER: Yeah, right. Moving on.
ON THE SCREEN: Images streaming. They stop at — the beautiful, 18th-century building. Images found through reverse-image search have replaced some of the blurry paper copies.
HACKER: Well, I recognize the Club, of course, very posh, billionaire’s row and all that. All members are billionaires, oligarchs, international wheeler-dealers… Can I take another looksie at that bank statement again?
ON THE SCREEN: Stream stops at a video of Billionaire giving speech at a Davos conference. On the wall behind him, in wall-size letters, is the title of his talk:
“Changing the World for the Better
Through Pro-Democracy NGOs”
HACKER: You know, of course, all that ‘Pro-Democracy NGO’ stuff is just cover for doing regime-change operations in countries with governments we don’t like? Can I just take another looksie at that bank statement again?
REPORTER: I’m trying to protect you from from stuff with national security implications.
HACKER: Well, it looks to me like someone is putting together money to finance a nasty operation and someone else is trying —
REPORTER: The world is full of nasty stuff, let’s just stick to getting a story.
He turns off the streaming images. Only Reporter and Hacker, in bigger windows, are left on the screen now.
REPORTER: I’ll call when I get there. Keep safe.

INT. INSIDE AIRPLANE – NIGHT
Cheap flight. Reporter plugging away at his laptop.

INT. CHEAP HOTEL – LONDON – NIGHT
Cheap room. Reporter plugging away at his laptop.

Write your Act 1 Turning Point.

EXT. LONDON STREET – DAY
Reporter finds the building. Huge, beautiful, 18th-century palace. Discrete gold sign reads: A Club for Patriots. As he walks around it – FOOTSTEPS. He turns around —
A big, beautiful WOMAN catches up.
WOMAN: Hi! Reporter! It’s Reporter, isn’t it? We met at Chez Jean. Don’t you remember?
REPORTER: Uhhh… No…
WOMAN: You were working there! Well, I’m HOSTESS.
(extends her hand)
HOSTESS: I work at The Club as a hostess. The Club for Patriots. Right behind you. Very well-known. Are you still at Chez Jean?
REPORTER: Uhhh… No…
Gorgeous. Big, but not over-weight. Rather, covered by a layer of smooth muscle. Hostess takes his arm firmly, turns him around and marches him toward The Club.
HOSTESS: That’s good. Because, we’re hiring! You were a bouncer at Chez Jean, right? Outside job. Igghhh! Not good. This job is inside! A waiter!
Hostess turns to him and lowers her voice conspiratorially.
HOSTESS: Actually, we’re always hiring. You wouldn’t believe how tight the job market is for a good waiter. If you can read labels on foreign wines, there is no limit to how high you can rise. You do speak foreign languages, right?
REPORTER: Uhhh… Yes…
Hostess brings him to a sharp stop right before the cathedral-style entrance of The Club.
HOSTESS: Of course, Mr. Billionaire is very picky, doesn’t like anything or anyone! He will insist on meeting you! Dress properly tomorrow.

[BG]

Lesson 11: Act 1 Turning Point

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Turning Point 1 Scenes

What I learned doing this assignment: On a good day, I can squeeze out 1 page. Trying to keep up by keeping it short;))

1. Outline your Act 1 Turning Point.

BEGINNING: The Reporter finds the building. Huge, beautiful, 18th-century palace. Discrete gold sign reads: A Club for Patriots. He walks around it.
MIDDLE: A big, beautiful WOMAN catches up with him. She is HOSTESS. Says they met previously and offers him a job at the Club.
END: Reporter goes along and accepts.

2. Write your Act 1 Turning Point.

EXT. LONDON STREET – DAY
Reporter finds the building. Huge, beautiful, 18th-century palace. Discrete gold sign reads: A Club for Patriots. As he walks around it – FOOTSTEPS. He turns around —
A big, beautiful WOMAN catches up.
WOMAN: Hi! Reporter! It’s Reporter, isn’t it? We met at Chez Jean. Don’t you remember?
REPORTER: Uhhh… No…
WOMAN: You were working there! Well, I’m HOSTESS.
(extends her hand)
HOSTESS: I work at The Club as a hostess. The Club for Patriots. Right behind you. Very well-known. Are you still at Chez Jean?
REPORTER: Uhhh… No…
Gorgeous. Big, but not over-weight. Rather, covered by a layer of smooth muscle. Hostess takes his arm firmly, turns him around and marches him toward The Club.
HOSTESS: That’s good. Because, we’re hiring! You were a bouncer at Chez Jean, right? Outside job. Igghhh! Not good. This job is inside! A waiter!
Hostess turns to him and lowers her voice conspiratorially.
HOSTESS: Actually, we’re always hiring. You wouldn’t believe how tight the job market is for a good waiter. If you can read labels on foreign wines, there is no limit to how high you can rise. You do speak foreign languages, right?
REPORTER: Uhhh… Yes…
Hostess brings him to a sharp stop right before the cathedral-style entrance of The Club.
HOSTESS: Of course, Mr. Billionaire is very picky, doesn’t like anything or anyone! He will insist on meeting you! Dress properly tomorrow.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 10: Act 1 Inciting Incident

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Inciting Incident

What I learned doing this assignment: This site puts too much space between lines. Stuff becomes virtually unreadable. I was losing sight of the structure or where I was, when reading. So I decided to give up the traditional screenplay format of putting speaking character’s name on a separate line. Much easier to read this way.

Outline Key Scenes 2 & 3 for Act 1.

KEY SCENE 2: INCITING INCIDENT:
INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
BEGINNING: Reporter shows Editor the material he has received in a fat envelope in the mail and the research he has done on it.
MIDDLE: They discuss the contents
END: Editor thinks it is a tip, and it’s worth checking out. He decides to send Reporter to London to investigate.

KEY SCENE 3: THE EMOTIONAL REACTION TO THE CALL:
INT. REPORTER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
BEGINNING: Reporter calls his friend HACKER over secure video link for a second opinion on the anonymous package he has received.
MIDDLE: They discuss the contents, their meaning, and the potential danger from possession of classified material.
END: They decide on the next step.

Write your Inciting Incident scene.

INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Bustling newsroom, with computer screens everywhere. Contents of fat envelope are again laid out on a big table. EDITOR, mid-fifties, a fatherly type, stands by a giant monitor, watching curiously as information streams down and Reporter explains.
EDITOR: What the hell…
REPORTER: Wait till you see this.
ON THE SCREEN: Stream stops at a photo he’s taken with his cellphone. A blurry image of an important-looking man. Glamorous photos of the same man in various social occasions with other important-looking people stream down the screen.
REPORTER: Would you believe it, he’s BILLIONAIRE! What’s he doing in my mailbox?
ON THE SCREEN: Billionaire’s Wikipedia summary reads:
“British Billionaire, 65. Born in Czechoslovakia. He uses
his media empire to promote Western values. His foundation,
National Endowment for Freedom (NEF), provides billions
to democracy efforts worldwide.”
EDITOR: Well, Reporter, looks to me like somebody wants you to investigate something.
His eyes twinkle.
EDITOR: You’ve hit big time, kid.
REPORTER: Why me? I’m a nobody. Why not the New York Times? Or the Washington Post?
EDITOR: Okay. Let’s lose the self-pity. It’s clearly a tip. It’s worth a look.
Reporter stands looking mulish — his usual non-committal, unsmiling self.
EDITOR: No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.

Write the scene for the Reaction to the Inciting Incident.

INT. REPORTER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
Images of the contents of the envelope stream slowly down the screen. In two little windows in a corner are Reporter and HACKER, his friend from grad school, same age, different departments.
Reporter sits in front of the screen at the keyboard, looking scruffy.
HACKER: Gee, some of these cables could be classified stuff.
REPORTER: Which is why I’m just letting you only look at images, not giving you copies. And wash your computer after this call.
HACKER: This is a secure connection. VPN.
REPORTER: Yeah, right. Moving on.
ON THE SCREEN: Images streaming. They stop at — the beautiful, 18th century building. Images found through reverse-image search have replaced some of the blurry paper copies.
HACKER: Well, I recognize the Club, of course, very posh, billionaire’s row and all that. All members are billionaires, oligarchs, international wheeler-dealers… Can I take another looksie at that bank statement again?
ON THE SCREEN: Stream stops at a video of Billionaire giving speech at a Davos conference. On the wall behind him, in wall-size letters, is the title of his talk:
“Changing the World for the Better
Through Pro-Democracy NGOs”
HACKER: You know, of course, all that ‘Pro-Democracy NGO’ stuff is just cover for doing regime-change operations in countries with governments we don’t like? Can I just take another looksie at that bank statement again?
REPORTER: I’m trying to protect you from from stuff with national security implications.
HACKER: Well, it looks to me like someone is putting together money to finance a nasty operation and someone else is trying —
REPORTER: The world is full of nasty stuff, let’s just stick to getting a story.
He turns off the streaming images. Only Reporter and Hacker, in bigger windows, are left on the screen now.
REPORTER: I’ll call when I get there. Keep safe.

[BG]

Lesson 9: Act 1 Opening & Character Introductions

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Act 1: Opening Scenes

What I learned doing this assignment: I’m just inserting these scenes right into my Beat Sheet – like hanging ornaments onto a Christmas tree! Makes it easier for me not to lose sight of the big picture and wander off. I plucked these two off the tree and am reporting them here!

For Act 1, these are the first two Key Scenes:

Key Scene 1: Exciting opening scene intros a main character, the conflict and/or world.

INT. APARTMENT LOBBY — NIGHT
A young man walks in. Late-twenties, medium-build. Broken-heart written all over his face. He is REPORTER, a mechanical engineer. He’s dropped out of grad school mid-thesis, bummed around Europe for a year, and then landed a job as a reporter at a U.S. weekly magazine.
He checks his mailbox and finds a fat envelope. He examines it. Looks puzzled and walks toward the elevators.
INT. REPORTER’S APARTMENT — NIGHT
Contents of fat envelope laid out on the kitchen table: bad copies of photos of several people, of a posh club in London, of diplomatic cables, and of what look like online bank statements…
Reporter takes photos of some of the items with his cellphone, transmits them to a big workstation in the corner, and does reverse-image searches.
With each hit, information streams down the large monitor. He reads fast.

Key Scene 2: Inciting Incident propels the protagonist onto the journey!

INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Bustling newsroom, with computer screens everywhere. Contents of fat envelope are again laid out on a big table. EDITOR, mid-fifties, a fatherly type, stands by a giant monitor, watching curiously as information streams down and Reporter explains.
EDITOR
What the hell…
REPORTER
Wait till you see this.
One of the photos he’s taken with his cellphone appears on the screen. A blurry image of an important-looking man. Glamorous photos of the same man in various social occasions with other important-looking people stream down the screen.
REPORTER
Would you believe it, he’s BILLIONAIRE! What’s he doing in my mailbox?
Billionaire’s Wikipedia summary on the screen reads:
“British Billionaire, 65. Born in Czechoslovakia. He uses his media empire to promote Western values. His foundation, National Endowment for Freedom (NEF), provides billions to democracy efforts worldwide.”
EDITOR
Well, Reporter, looks to me like somebody wants you to investigate something.
His eyes twinkle.
EDITOR
You’ve hit big time, kid.
REPORTER
Why me? I’m a nobody. Why not the New York Times? Or the Washington Post?
EDITOR
Okay. Let’s lose the self-pity. It’s clearly a tip. It’s worth a look.
Reporter stands looking mulish — his usual non-committal, unsmiling self.
EDITOR
No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.

Key Scene 3: The protagonist reacts emotionally to the Inciting Incident.
Not written yet.

Key Scene 4: Turning Point – Lock in the journey.
Not written yet.

[BG]

Lesson 8: Add Theme and Antagonist Journey

BG’s Beat Sheet Draft 2

What I learned doing this assignment: I have trouble getting my head around ‘theme’ and would have liked to see examples:
What is the theme of Gone with the Wind?
What is the theme of Matrix?
What is the theme of Casablanca?
What is the theme of War and Peace?
What is the theme of Silence of the Lambs?

A CLUB FOR PATRIOTS

ACT 1:
INT. APARTMENT LOBBY — NIGHT
Opening: An unhappy-looking young man walks in. Late-twenties, medium-build. He’s a foreign- affairs Reporter for a serious weekly magazine. He finds a fat envelope in his mailbox.
INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Bustling newsroom, with computer screens everywhere. Reporter and his Editor discuss contents of the fat envelope, which are laid out on a big table: bad copies of photos of several people, of a posh club in London, of diplomatic cables, and of what look like online bank statements…
A reverse-image search of an important-looking man’s photo reveals he is Billionaire, scion of a noble family. Mid-sixties. Information on him streams down the screen. He uses his media empire to promote Western values. His foundation, National Endowment for Freedom (NEF), provides billions to democracy efforts worldwide…
Inciting Incident: The whole thing looks like a tip about a plot. Editor decides it’s worth checking out.
TE: Reporter is his usual non-committal, unsmiling self. Editor: No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.
INT. APARTMENT LOBBY — NIGHT
Reporter discusses contents with a Hacker friend in London via video call.
TE: Hacker friend: Gee, money being collected for a nasty purpose? Reporter: The world is full of nasty stuff. Let’s just stick to getting a scoop.
INT. INSIDE AIRPLANE – NIGHT
Cheap flight. Reporter plugging away at his laptop.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Cheap room. Reporter plugging away at his laptop.
EXT. LONDON STREET – DAY
Turning Point: Finds the building and walks around. Huge, beautiful, 18th century palace. Discrete gold sign reads: A Club for Patriots. Reporter enters the Club.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
A very friendly Hostess working at the Club spots him. He allows himself to be picked up by her. Gets job as waiter. Hostess gives him a tour.

ACT 2
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
Reaction: Meets some of the staff. Has encounter with Billionaire (media mogul, head of the conspiracy).
TE: During the encounter, Reporter sticks to his waiter role — a polite, serious, smart waiter.
Billionaire comes across as a dominant personality, a leader of men. He takes a shine to Reporter — good help is so hard to find.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
New Plan: Reporter sneaks around and climbs in through an open window…
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
TE: Takes a dangerous and semi-illegal step: He plants a listening device in the thermostat of the main conference room.
INT. MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM OF THE CLUB – NIGHT
A modern-day star chamber. Billionaire presides. Around the table are an Energy Mogul, a Weapons Mogul, a retired 4-star General, and a former Prime Minister. Billionaire gives his pep talk about their current project, codenamed Northstar, to start a war in Eastern Europe. Success! The 20-billion-dollar kitty for the project has been assembled. Northstar is ready to go.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
New Insights: Reporter, listening in in his car, is upset. He has a phone call with his Editor.
TE: Reporter seems out of his funk: Just who are these men who feel entitled to start wars and consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?
INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM LANGLEY – DAY
Turning Point/Midpoint: Deputy Director for Eastern Europe meets with underlings. They are not only aware of Northstar, but they are covertly supportive. NSA has warned them that the press may be onto Northstar. They decide to alert Billionaire via MI6 and other cutouts.

ACT 3
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
Meeting room is searched, but no bug is found.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
New Insights: Billionaire discusses the matter with the other members of the conspiracy.
INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S HOME OFFICE – NIGHT
The Energy Mogul jumps the gun, meets with an Assassin and hires him without authorization.
INT. HOSTESS’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Unbeknownst to the Reporter, the Hostess protects him by throwing suspicion on his innocent Hacker friend.
INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – DAY
Hacker has been captured by CIA agents. He is interrogated in a CIA safe house on the outskirts of a remote village near Scottish moors.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Meanwhile, Reporter, worried about his Hacker friend and getting suspicious of the Hostess, has hacked into her computer remotely, and is horrified.
INT. HOSTESS’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Turning Point 3: Reporter confronts Hostess, who is revealed to be a German agent, also trying to stop the plot.
TE: Reporter decides to sacrifice his own safety to rescue his Hacker friend.

ACT 4
INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
New Plan: Reporter and Hostess break the Hacker out of the CIA safe house with an elaborate plan and help from Hostess’s contacts.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
TE: Reporter, Hacker and Hostess make plans to divert the conspirators’ 20 billion dollar kitty to stop Northstar.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
TE: Status meeting. Billionaire is breathing fire: he has discovered 20 billion dollar kitty is no longer in the secret account. After a heated discussion, with recriminations flying around and Energy Mogul on the defensive, Billionaire terminates Northstar.
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – NIGHT
Billionaire, disenchanted with Energy Mogul for bringing unwelcome attention to the group, meets with Assassin and hires him for more money to kill him instead of Reporter.
INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S BEDROOM – DAY
Energy Mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest.
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – DAY
Climax: Billionaire gives an interview to Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on Energy Mogul.
TE: During the interview, Reporter challenges Billionaire’s worldview. The balance of power between them has changed.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
Resolution: The floor of a hidden room behind the main conference room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys Northstar documents and equipment.
INT. RESTAURANT – DAY
TE: Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

Lesson 7: Beat Sheet and High Speed Writing

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s High Speed Beat Sheet

What I learned doing this assignment: Plugging slug lines right into your outline is a great idea. Made it very easy to get a quick outline/first draft.

3. Use the High Speed Writing Rules as you create your Beat Sheet.
ACT 1:
INT. APARTMENT LOBBY — NIGHT
Opening: An unhappy-looking young man walks in. Late-twenties, medium-build. He’s a foreign- affairs Reporter for a serious weekly magazine. He finds a fat envelope in his mailbox.
INT. NEWSROOM – DAY
Reporter discusses contents with his Editor: dog-eared clippings, bad copies of what look like online bank statements, photo of a posh club in London and diplomatic cables…
Inciting Incident: It looks like a tip about a plot. Editor decides it’s worth checking out.
TE: Reporter is his usual non-committal, unsmiling self. Editor: No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.
INT. APARTMENT LOBBY — NIGHT
Reporter discusses contents with a Hacker friend in London via video call.
TE: Hacker friend: Gee, money being collected for a nasty purpose? Reporter: The world is full of nasty stuff. Let’s just stick to getting a scoop.
INT. INSIDE AIRPLANE – NIGHT
Cheap flight. Reporter plugging away at his laptop.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Cheap room. Reporter plugging away at his laptop.
EXT. LONDON STREET – DAY
Turning Point: Finds the building and walks around. Huge, beautiful 18th century palace. Discrete gold sign: A Club for Patriots. Enters the Club.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
A very friendly Hostess working at the Club spots him. He allows himself to be picked up by her. Gets job as waiter. Hostess gives him a tour.

ACT 2
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
Reaction: Meets some of the staff. Has encounter with Billionaire (media mogul, head of the conspiracy).
TE: During the encounter, Reporter comes across as a polite, serious, smart waiter. Billionaire takes a shine to him — good help is so hard to find.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
New Plan: Sneaks around and climbs in through an open window…
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
TE: Takes a dangerous and semi-illegal step: He plants a listening device in main conference room.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
Billionaire has a status meeting with other members of the conspiracy, which includes an energy mogul. The 20 billion dollar kitty for their plan is ready.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
New Insights: Reporter, listening in in his car, is upset. He has a phone call with his Editor.
TE: Reporter seems out of his funk: Just who are these men who feel entitled to consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?
INT. CIA CONFERENCE ROOM LANGLEY – DAY
Turning Point/Midpoint: Meanwhile, intelligence agencies start to suspect the Reporter and decide to alert the Billionaire via cutouts.

ACT 3
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – DAY
The room is searched, but no bug is found.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
New Insights: The Billionaire discusses the matter with the other members of the conspiracy.
INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S HOME OFFICE – NIGHT
The Energy Mogul hires an Assassin.
INT. HOSTESS’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Unbeknownst to the Reporter, the Hostess protects him by throwing suspicion on his innocent Hacker friend.
INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – DAY
Hacker gets captured and interrogated in a CIA safe house on the outskirts of a remote village near Scottish moors.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Meanwhile, Reporter, worried about his Hacker friend and getting suspicious of the Hostess, has hacked into her computer remotely, and is horrified.
INT. HOSTESS’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Turning Point 3: Reporter confronts Hostess, who is revealed to be a German agent, also trying to stop the plot.
TE: Reporter decides to sacrifice his own safety to rescue his Hacker friend.

ACT 4
INT./EXT. CIA SAFE HOUSE – NIGHT
New Plan: They break the Hacker out with an elaborate plan and help from Hostess’s contacts.
INT. CHEAP HOTEL – NIGHT
Reporter, Hacker and Hostess make plans to divert the 20 billion dollars to stop the conspiracy.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
TE: The conspirators discover the money is missing — the divergence was successful. The conspiracy is terminated.
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – NIGHT
The Billionaire, disenchanted with the energy mogul for bringing unwelcome attention to the group, meets with the Assassin and hires him for more money to kill him instead of the Reporter.
INT. ENERGY MOGUL’S BEDROOM – DAY
The energy mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest.
INT. BILLIONAIRE’S OFFICE – DAY
Climax: The Billionaire gives an interview to the Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on the energy mogul.
TE: During the interview, Reporter challenges Billionaire’s worldview. The balance of power between them has changed.
INT. INSIDE THE CLUB – NIGHT
Resolution: The floor of a hidden room behind the main conference room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys documents and equipment.
INT. RESTAURANT – DAY
TE: Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent.

[BG]

ASSIGNMENT – LESSON 6

BG’s Transformational Events

What I learned doing this assignment: Helped me to flesh out the story, come up with new events.

3. Make a list of 6 – 8 changes or steps that need to happen for that character to go from who they are in the beginning (Old Ways) to who they are in the ending (New Ways).
This is an initial list for A CLUB FOR PATRIOTS.
Recognize there is more to life than his broken heart.
Come out of his shell and recognize that there is a lot worse pain and misery in the world.
See the level of power a very few in the world enjoy and misuse.
Make the decision to give up his current funk and do what he can for others.
Discover that he has courage.
Discover that he has the ability to sacrifice himself for others.
Become skilled at operating in the cloak-and-dagger world.
Stand up to billionaires, agents and assassins.
Defeat the conspiracy!

5. Brainstorm dramatic events or tests that could cause those changes for the character.
TE: Reporter in his meeting with his Editor is in his usual non-committal, unsmiling self. Editor: No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.
TE: Reporter discusses contents of the envelope with a Hacker friend in London via video call. Hacker friend: Gee, money being collected for a nasty purpose? Reporter: The world is full of nasty stuff. Let’s just stick to getting a scoop.
TE: During the initial encounter with the Billionaire, Reporter comes across as a polite, serious, smart waiter. Billionaire takes a shine to him — good help is so hard to find.
TE: Reporter takes a dangerous and semi-illegal step: He plants a listening device in main conference room.
TE: Reporter is out of his funk: Just who are these men who feel entitled to consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?
TE: Reporter decides to sacrifice his own safety to rescue his Hacker friend.
TE: The Reporter successfully conducts a covert rescue op.
TE: The Reporter successfully conducts a covert op to divert the conspiracy’s funds, and the conspiracy is terminated.
TE: The Billionaire gives an interview to the Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on the energy mogul. During the interview, Reporter challenges Billionaire’s worldview. The balance of power between them has changed.
TE: Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent.

6. Add these transformational events to your four act structure.
ACT 1:
Opening: Reporter finds a fat envelope in his mailbox. Discusses contents with his Editor: dog-eared clippings, bad copies of what look like online bank statements, photo of a posh club in London and diplomatic cables…
Inciting Incident: It looks like a tip about a plot. Editor decides it’s worth checking out.
TE: Reporter is his usual non-committal, unsmiling self. Editor: No need to be so glum. You’ll have a great time in Europe. Just keep it cheap.
Reporter discusses contents with a Hacker friend in London via video call.
TE: Hacker friend: Gee, money being collected for a nasty purpose? Reporter: The world is full of nasty stuff. Let’s just stick to getting a scoop.
Cheap flight, cheap room.
Turning Point: Finds the building and walks around. Allows himself to be picked up by a Hostess working at the Club. Gets job as waiter.

ACT 2
Reaction: Meets some of the staff. Has encounter with Billionaire (media mogul, head of the conspiracy).
TE: During the encounter, Reporter comes across as a polite, serious, smart waiter. Billionaire takes a shine to him — good help is so hard to find.
New Plan: Sneaks around and…
TE: Takes a dangerous and semi-illegal step: He plants a listening device in main conference room.
Billionaire has a status meeting with other members of the conspiracy, which includes an energy mogul. The 20 billion dollar kitty for their plan is ready.
New Insights: Reporter, listening in, is upset.
TE: He’s out of his funk: Just who are these men who feel entitled to consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?
Turning Point/Midpoint: Meanwhile, intelligence agencies start to suspect the Reporter and alert the Billionaire.

ACT 3
The room is searched, but no bug is found.
New Insights: The Billionaire discusses the matter with the other members of the conspiracy. The Energy Mogul hires an Assassin.
Unbeknownst to the Reporter, the Hostess protects him by throwing suspicion on his innocent Hacker friend.
Hacker gets captured and interrogated in a CIA safe house.
Reporter is horrified.
Turning Point 3: Hostess is revealed to be a German agent, also trying to stop the plot.
TE: Reporter decides to sacrifice his own safety to rescue his Hacker friend.

ACT 4
New Plan: They break the Hacker out with an elaborate plan and help from Hostess’s contacts. Reporter and Hacker make plans to divert the 20 billion dollars to stop the conspiracy.
TE: The divergence is successful, the conspiracy is terminated.
The Billionaire, disenchanted with the energy mogul for bringing unwelcome attention to the group, hires the Assassin for more money to kill him instead of the Reporter. The energy mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest.
Climax: The Billionaire gives an interview to the Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on the energy mogul.
TE: During the interview, Reporter challenges Billionaire’s worldview. The balance of power between them has changed.
Resolution: The floor of a hidden room behind the main conference room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys documents and equipment.
TE: Reporter is seen smiling and animated, having dinner with Hostess/German Agent.

[BG]

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment: This model helped me flesh out my story, find events that I had not thought of before, and link them through cause and effect.

Create a first draft of your 4 Act Transformational Structure.
1. Give us the following:
Concept: A Reporter for a U.S. weekly investigates a tip about a plot to start a war in Eastern Europe. At first, he’s dealing with his broken heart by obsessing over getting the biggest major scoop ever. Then, the horror of starting a war for profit penetrates the fog of his pain, and he decides to do something about it. He fights the conspiracy and thwarts their plans.
Main Conflict: He wants to expose the plot and stop a war. Agents and assassins from MI6, CIA, and a mysterious group of billionaires operating out of a posh club in London want to kill him to keep the plot secret.
Reporter’s Old Ways:
—– Dedicated to getting the scoop.
—– Jaded reporter.
—– Observes, but doesn’t intervene. Not my department.
—– He doesn’t care that it is a WAR that is being planned. It’s somebody else’s war.
—– Self-absorbed. Wallows in self-pity.
—– Willing to go along to get along.
—– Blind to his own motivations. Always joking to hide his wound.

Reporter’s NEW Ways:
—– He has found out he can fight a physical battle, not just a virtual one in an op room.
—– Can thwart a conspiracy.
—– Courageous.
—– Is fighting for a cause.
—– Self-confident and accomplished.
—– Operates well in the cloak-and-dagger space.
—– Released from his wound.

2. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.
ACT 1:
Opening: Reporter finds a fat envelope in his mailbox. Discusses contents with his Editor: dog-eared clippings, bad copies of what look like online bank statements, photo of a posh club in London and diplomatic cables…
Inciting Incident: It looks like a tip about a plot. Editor decides it’s worth checking out.
Reporter discusses contents with a Hacker friend in London via video call.
Cheap flight, cheap room. Finds the building and walks around. Allows himself to be picked up by a Hostess working at the Club.
Turning Point: Gets job as waiter.

ACT 2:
Reaction: Meets some of the staff. Has encounter with Billionaire (media mogul, head of the conspiracy), who takes a shine to him.
New Plan: Sneaks around and plants a listening device in main conference room.
Billionaire has a status meeting with other members of the conspiracy, which includes an energy mogul. The 20 billion dollar kitty for the plan is ready.
New Insights: Reporter, listening in, is upset: just who are these men who feel entitled to consign so many to destruction and death for their own purposes?
Turning Point/Midpoint: Meanwhile, intelligence agencies start to suspect the Reporter and alert the Billionaire.

ACT 3:
The room is searched, but no bug is found.
New Plan: The Billionaire discusses the matter with the other members of the conspiracy. The Energy Mogul hires a Hitman.
New Insights: Unbeknownst to the Reporter, the Hostess protects him by throwing suspicion on his innocent Hacker friend.
Hacker gets captured and interrogated in a CIA safe house.
Reporter is horrified.
Turning Point 3: Hostess is revealed to be a German agent, also trying to stop the plot. They break the Hacker out with an elaborate plan and help from Hostess’s contacts.

ACT 4:
New Plan: Reporter and Hacker make plans to divert the 20 billion dollars to stop the plan.
The divergence is successful, the plan is terminated and the Billionaire, disenchanted with the energy mogul for bringing unwelcome attention to the group, hires the Hitman for more money to kill him instead of the Reporter. The energy mogul is found dead in his bed — attributed to sudden cardiac arrest.
Climax: The Billionaire gives an interview to the Reporter to justify his worldview, to see how much he knows, and blame it all on the energy mogul.
Resolution: The floor of a hidden room behind the main conference room suffers a sudden structural failure and collapses. The resulting fire from broken gas pipes destroys documents and equipment.
The Reporter and Hostess are seen smiling and having dinner together.

[BG]

BG’s Character Interviews

What I learned doing this assignment: Amazing experience. They became almost alive!

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR PROTAGONIST

Tell me about yourself. Not too much to tell. What do you want to know?
Why do you think you were called to this journey? Why you? I just happened to be there and I just knew it was very, very wrong.
You are up against <the Antagonist>. What is it about them that makes this journey even more difficult for you? He has enormous power and resources and does not seem to be open to reconsider anything.
In order to survive or accomplish this, you are going to have to step way outside of your box. What changes do you expect to make and which of them will be the most difficult? I’m going to have to become physical and deceptive.
What habits or ways of thinking do you think will be the most difficult to let go of? I don’t know. I’ll have to learn to watch my back.
What fears, insecurities and wounds have held you back? I have this fear of commitment, that I’ll get too attached to something, anything, and I’ll get hurt again.
What skills, background or expertise makes you well-suited to face this conflict or antagonist? None, really. This is not my world.
What are you hiding from the other characters? What don’t you want them to know? I don’t want them to know that I know.
What do you think of <the Antagonist>? An arrogant, self-centered megalomaniac.
Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story. What I saw was was so aggregious that I couldn’t turn away.
What does it do for your life if you succeed here? It will give me a sense of self-worth.
Ask any other questions about their character profile that will help you. Why did she dump you? I wasn’t much of a catch, was I?

QUESTIONS FOR YOUR ANTAGONIST

Tell me about yourself. To whom much is given, much is expected. I’m someone who’s been put on this earth to help change and improve it.
Having to do with this journey, what are your strengths and weaknesses? I’m extremely intelligent, can accurately and quickly assess any situation, and I’m willing to do whatever is necessary.
Why are you committed to making the Protagonist fail? He doesn’t know the consequences of what he’s doing and how much harm he’s doing to the world.
What do you get out of winning this fight / succeeding in your plan / taking down your competition? We will achieve a more secure and stable world order.
What drives you toward your mission / agenda, even in the face of danger, ruin, or death? I feel that I have been put on this earth to improve the state of humanity.
What secrets must you keep to succeed? What other secrets do you keep out of fear / insecurity? We must keep our plans closely held, because they will not be understood by the common man.
Compared to other people like you, what makes you special? I have the ability to form a cohesive group of my peers and LEAD.
What do you think of <the Protagonist>? I think he’s a child. He doesn’t recognize what is good for the world.
Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story. The world is sliding into disorder. Malign forces are seeking to upend the world order established after WW2. They must be contained, confronted, and defeated. If necessary, through military means. I want a more cohesive and democratic world order.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

BG’s Character Profile Part 2

What I learned doing this assignment: As I fill in character profiles, the story seems to be developing, too.

Character Profile Part 1

REPORTER
Role in the story: Hero / Dreamer. Novice reporter, assigned to a story he becomes emotionally involved in.
Age range and Description: Male, late 20’s, physically fit, medium-build.
Internal Journey: From not caring that it is a WAR that is being planned to wanting to do something to stop a war.
External Journey: From being a dispassionate observer to becoming an active player taking action to stop a war.
Motivation: Pursuing a story.
Wound: He was dumped by the love of his life, dropped out of grad school (mechanical engineering), bummed around Europe, and is aimlessly drifting through life.
Mission/Agenda: To stop a war.
Secret: He’s an undercover reporter who pretends he’s looking for a job as bartender.
What makes them special? He knows how mechanical things work. He can punch above his weight. He becomes very determined.

BILLIONAIRE
Role in the story: Villain / Predator. Billionaire Media Mogul who leads a conspiracy.
Age range and Description: Male, 60’s, big and immaculately groomed.
Internal Journey: No real change.
External Journey: From unreserved support for a war to having second thoughts.
Motivation: To restore the unipolar world.
Wound: He felt he never lived up to his father’s expectations. His mother did not have much time for him.
Mission/Agenda: To start a war.
Secret: He’s the head of a secret Star Chamber.
What makes them special? He has billions and a media empire that can spew propaganda. He’s brilliant at manipulating people and public opinion.

Character Profile Part 2

REPORTER
What draws us to this character? Major underdog — chased by world-class agents and assassins in the completely unfamiliar world of espionage.
Traits: Kind, intelligent, risk-taker, covert.
Subtext: He’s an undercover reporter who pretends he’s looking for a job as bartender.
Flaw: He can become too determined and delay decisions.
Values: Compassion, justice, love.
Irony: He has to break the law to save thousands from death and destruction of a war.
What makes him the right character for this role? He’s a risk-taker willing to stick his neck out for other human-beings. He uses science to punch above his weight.

BILLIONAIRE
What draws us to this character? A man of immense riches on a messianic crusade to stop the world from changing.
Traits: Cruel, brilliant, manipulative, covert.
Subtext: On the surface, he’s a great humanitarian and patron of arts and charities. Secretly, he heads a conspiracy that sows chaos around the world through wars and sanctions that kill, maim and starve.
Flaw: He likes sowing chaos.
Values: Power, manipulating people and public opinion.
Irony: A great humanitarian who causes inhumane death, destruction, and starvation. His media empire calls wars and sanctions “humanitarian interventions.”
What makes him the right character for this role? He’s a brutal warmonger who hides under the veneer of culture, class and philanthropy.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Updating as I fill in more
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Updating as I fill in more
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: BOLD tag misbehavin' again;))
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

BG’s Character Profiles Part 1

What I learned doing this assignment: Laying out my characters like this is helping me to figure out the story that I want to tell!!!

2. Pick the type of role your Protagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.

Hero: He’s a foreign affairs reporter for a U.S. weekly, sent to investigate a tip about a plot to start a war in Eastern Europe. At first, he’s dealing with his broken heart by obsessing over getting the biggest major scoop ever. Then, the horror of starting a war for profit penetrates the fog of his pain, and he decides to do something about it. He fights the conspiracy and thwarts their plans.

3. Pick the type of role your Antagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.

Villain: He’s an energy mogul, leading a group of other billionaires in a conspiracy. They meet at a posh club in London. Their objective is to stop Germany from buying cheap, piped natural gas, so that they can sell them expensive, liquefied natural gas, shipped across the ocean in tankers. Since Germans are naturally resisting this, a war in Ukraine is needed to convince the German public.

4. What other characters might be necessary?

Supporting characters: German agent working as maid at the Club, Hacker sidekick, Reporter’s Editor, Assassin hired by the Billionaire, CIA Deputy Director, CIA Safe House Chief, other Billionaires… (Didn’t pick names yet.)

5. Pick your genre.

Action

6. Fill in whatever answers come to you about your lead character profiles.

Role in the story: Reporter.

Age range and Description: Early thirties.

Internal Journey: From not caring that it is a WAR that is being planned (War is profitable for the media!) to wanting to do something to stop a war.

External Journey: From being an observer (mission: to get the scoop) to becoming a player (taking action to stop a war)

Motivation: Get scoop/stop a war.

Wound: He was dumped by the love of his life. So he dropped out of grad school (mechanical engineering), bummed around Europe, working odd jobs like night security guard, building manager, and bouncer, and finally got himself hired in the U.S. as a foreign affairs reporter (because he knows how to travel on the cheap).

Mission/Agenda: Get scoop/stop a war.

Secret: Pretends to work as a bouncer at a less posh club.

What makes him special? He knows how mechanical things work. He can climb.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Bold tag is still not working right
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL.

[BG]

BG’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment: This assignment allowed me to learn more about my protagonist.

2. Who is your Hero and what is their Character Arc that represents a transformation?

A foreign affairs reporter investigates a tip about a plot to start a war in Eastern Europe.

—– Internal Journey: From not caring that it is a WAR that is being planned (not my department) to wanting to do something to stop a war.

—– External Journey: From being an observer (mission: to get the scoop) to becoming a player (taking action to stop a war).

3. What are the Old Ways and New Ways?

The reporter starts the movie living in his old ways:

—– Dedicated to getting the scoop.

—– Jaded reporter.

—– Observes, but doesn’t intervene. Not my department.

—– He doesn’t care that it is a WAR that is being planned. It’s somebody else’s war.

—– Self-absorbed. Wallows in self-pity.

—– Willing to go along to get along.

—– Blind to his own motivations. Always joking to hide his wound.

In the end, he has become a player:

—– He has found out he can fight a physical battle, not just a virtual one in an op room.

—– Can thwart a conspiracy.

—– Courageous.

—– Is fighting for a cause.

—– Self-confident and accomplished.

—– Operates well in the cloak-and-dagger space.

—– Released from his wound.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Still having trouble with tags!

[BG]

BG’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment: This assignment allowed me to learn more about my protagonist.

2. Who is your Hero and what is their Character Arc that represents a transformation?

A foreign affairs reporter investigates a tip about a plot to start a war in Eastern Europe.

—– Internal Journey: From not caring that it is a WAR that is being planned (not my department) to wanting to do something to stop a war.

—– External Journey: From being an observer (mission: to get the scoop) to becoming a player (taking action to stop a war).

3. What are the Old Ways and New Ways?

The reporter starts the movie living in his old ways:

—– Dedicated to getting the scoop.

—– Jaded reporter.

—– Observes, but doesn’t intervene. Not my department.

—– He doesn’t care that it is a WAR that is being planned. It’s somebody else’s war.

—– Self-absorbed. Wallows in self-pity.

—– Willing to go along to get along.

—– Blind to his own motivations. Always joking to hide his wound.

In the end, he has become a player:

—– He has found out he can fight a physical battle, not just a virtual one in an op room.

—– Can thwart a conspiracy.

—– Courageous.

—– Is fighting for a cause.

—– Self-confident and accomplished.

—– Operates well in the cloak-and-dagger space.

—– Released from his wound.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Having trouble with tags!!!
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  BG ERENGIL. Reason: Having trouble with tags!

[BG]

1. Name? Birgul E.

2. How many scripts you’ve written? 3.

3. What you hope to get out of the class? I would like to finish the first draft for this new screenplay idea that I have in 30 days.

4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you? I’m really, really worried that I will not be able to invent a sufficient number of fun and exciting scenes.

[BG]

AGREE,

1. Birgul E.

2. I agree to the terms of this release form.

3. Please leave the entire text below to confirm what you agree to.