[Bob Hucul]

I learned by going through the log line it can change or add more profound truths in your story. I discovered the new main profound truth in this process. The one I had originally will still be part of it but is more of a sub or additional profound truth now. Also I learned how useful it was to develop the story and puzzle by going through this model of characters and main pressure and it ultimately helps shape the story.

Logline: A self-centered professional basketball mascot needing to repair his public image is enlisted to lead a city-wide pilot program to retrain the unemployed to become mascots and during the process he learns the value of being part of a team and helping others.

Change Agent: Owner of the professional basketball team. He is a self-taught billionaire that has learned when building his empire that it’s all about serving others through teamwork. He is very old and wants to help the city and basketball team with his wisdom learned. He also wants to pass the empire down to his daughter and uses her to communicate his vision having her oversee the mascot program. She’s an extension of the owner/change agent in this regard. She’s learned his values growing up and is very kind and understanding of these values but lacks a bit of confidence (which she ultimately learns from the main character who is a change agent in this regard for her). The owner/dad has a greater vision of helping both city/team and his daughter in what they need in a selfless way that you don’t really see until the end. In many ways he becomes a mentor of the mascot. Owner ultimately dies at the end passing the torch to his daughter. The mascot program students are a change agent also since they ultimately help the main character in his transformational journey.

Transformable Characters: Professional Mascot, the basketball team, the city politicians, and the mascot program students. The main character / professional mascot is starting with a self-centered view of the world which is self-destructive and needs to make a change to a new view of putting others first and working as a team in order to save his job (and ultimately the city and the team). The basketball team also needs to change since they are working individually and not as a team. The city and politicians are divided and need to change for same reasons if they truly want to help the city they represent. The mascot program students need to change for various different old views but ultimately they need to remove their metaphorical masks to become their authentic self and recognize their self-worth. They are all part of the puzzle in taking the audience through the profound truth(s) that we need to help each other and work together.

The Oppression: The city’s poor economy (partly from everyone ordering online from Amazon, etc. and ultimately hurting small businesses and their local economy) that is causing residents to demand solutions from their politicians (not realizing its themselves not the politicians that can save them). The residents need to shop locally but ultimately focused on the ease and low price for themselves which is ultimately hurting the community. The subset is also the basketball team’s poor performance and low attendance. Ultimately both of these just symptoms of the problem as the underlying cause of the oppression is division that is being rooted in the people throughout the city and basketball team pursuing their own selfish gains and not helping each other. This old view is spreading and unless it changes they can’t turn things around and reduce the pressure on the city, the team and each other.

Betraying Character: The star basketball player that is enlisted (along with his team) to help the main character in the program. Ultimately it becomes too tempting for the main character to bail and look out for his own selfish needs by taking a contract to be the star of a team where he can get more endorsments. The local politician trying to win election (over the current mayor) wants to sabotage the program and the basketball player works with him to do that with the promise that the politician can help the player get what he wants. He wants to make the change but ultimately can’t and reverts to his old ways.

[Bob Hucul]

Bob’s Transformational Journey

What I learned was how important the characters transformational journey is to the overall story structure and the ride the audience will take to experience the shift.

Log Line for the Transformation Journey

A self-centered professional basketball mascot with a taste for the “good life and fast lane” is faced with retirement after he loses his temper with a fan on national television and shoots him close range with a shirt gun. To repair his public persona and get his job back he is forced into leading a state-run pilot program to retrain unemployed individuals to become mascots to help stimulate local small businesses. The mascot program brings an unexpected purpose to his life as he learns the value of being part of a team and helping others.

Old Ways

His main moto: Mascot starts with M and that stands for ME

The Hockey game is about him not the team in his mind, he brings the fans

Probably only mascot with a high-powered Hollywood agent

Self-centered, career driven

Focused on Money and Fame

Dislikes kids unless they have a hot mom or kids want to be like him one day

There is only one lane and that’s fast

Womanizer

Not a Team Player

Prankster

New Ways

His new favorite quote from Oscar Wilde “Be yourself; everyone else is taken”

Values being part of a team

Loves helping others succeed

Understands the true meaning of being a mascot

Drops his hollywood agent

Lives without a metaphorical mask and shows people his authentic self

Teaches people how they can be their true self and feel empowered by being a mascot

Able now to have a real and deep relationship with a women

You can’t see the world around if don’t slow down

Love kids but still loves hot moms

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Bob Hucul.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Bob Hucul.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Bob Hucul.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Bob Hucul.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Bob Hucul.

[Bob Hucul]

What I learned doing this assignment was how defining the profound truth helps to find the essence of the story I’m trying to tell as well as the main character’s arc. Also by focusing on what will shift for the audience helps focus on who you’re telling your story to and why.

Profound Truth: You are loved to the extent you are known and show your true self.

Audience: Consider the masks we are wearing and how removing them and living our authentic selves can change our lives and those around us for the better.

Entertainment: The world of Mascots

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Bob Hucul.

[Bob Hucul]

1. Change/Transformational Journey: Going from living a career driven, self obsessed life to helping make others day better and in the process finding the true meaning of life that makes each day worth living (even if you’d have live it over and over again)…love.

2 – Change agent: Rita. She starts out being free and seeing the beauty around her. “These people are incredible how they sing”….she hears the music and rhythm of life.

Transformational<font face=”inherit”> Character: Phil as he’s living for a future day where one day he’ll be happy when he’s accomplished what he wants …to finding the joy of living in the moment. He learns to play the music of life which ultimately Rita </font>recognizes.

Oppression: The day repeating itself and the snow storm/6am alarm.

3 – Profound Journey: We see that he’s trapped and can’t get out of his current situation no matter how hard he tries. Wanting more but not getting the respect and happiness seemingly out of reach. We relate to him wanting to be free and break all the rules. Ultimately connect to him finding joy of the moment which is the only place you will find love.

4 – Old to New: Phil changed the most as his old way of doing things for himself to new way of doing things for others. Old way of pushing people away to new way of embracing life.

5 – Gradients of change: Steps after he learns day repeats were …first to break all the rules for his own personal gain, to wanting to escape from life, trying to connect to Rita but not knowing how (and continually getting slapped), to ultimately giving in to the moment and embracing it and thinking of others which ultimately is how he finds his way to Rita.

6 – Old way challenged: Old way is him constantly thinking and living for tomorrow and thinking about himself first. New way is thinking of others and embracing today.

7 – Profound moments: <font face=”inherit”>“What if there is no tomorrow?” scene….”I’m not going to live by their rules anymore”….he starts to realize that he’s been living a life he thought he was supposed to in order to be happy..what the world tells him to do…much like how we are waiting for the weather person to tell us what the weather is and depending on what groundhog sees….befroe we do </font>anything<font face=”inherit”>…which maybe also makes the ground hog and Phil going off the cliff symbolic..and both groundhog and weatherman having same name.</font>

Trying to save the homeless person but realizing he dies no matter what. That everyone has there time to die which we can’t choose. But we can choose how we live.

When he knows everyone in the café….maybe an insight similar to “It’s to do about knowing and being known” from The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard.

8 – Profound lines: “Winter is just a step in the cycle of life”

“No matter what happens tomorrow or for the rest of my life…I’m happy now…because I love you”

“Today is Tomorrow”

“Is there anything I can do for you Today?”

“Let’s live HERE”

9 – Ending / Payoff

Waking up next to her made you feel that he’d be ok with that day repeating if it had to over an over….all the days he couldn’t escape and resisted built a tension that when he finally recognized what he wanted and achieved that by thinking of others not himself …that broke the loop and there was a release that made us experience that moment stronger i think….

also when he asked why she was there and he said something like “because you said stay so i did”….also payed off well since made me feel that life is also asking the right questions…..and sometimes its as simple as that

<font face=”inherit” style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>10 – Profound Truth: </font>Live every day as if there is no tomorrow. Embrace every moment as if its all we have ..as in the moment is the only place you will find the most important part of life which is love…love for poetry, singing and people.

[Bob Hucul]

Bob Hucul

I agree to the terms of this release form

GROUP RELEASE FORM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This completes the Group Release Form for the class.

[Bob Hucul]

Hi everyone!

My name is Bob Hucul or you can call me Huculberry!

I’ve written countless stories in my head 🙂 but none finished yet on paper which is all that matters.

I hope to create structure this month around my writing via the course schedule and learn about the profound model/elements to help me propel an idea I’ve had to a finished draft in the next 60-90 days.

Last year this time I had just came out of open heart surgery (to repair an aortic root aneurysm). I’ve always had an interest in screenwriting and since the surgery I’ve vowed to make it happen. Also it so happens that today I was given 60 days notice from my job… so this course has come at the perfect time!

Looking forward to it!

Cheers