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Cassie Randall

Member

June 20, 2023 at 3:12 pm in reply to: Lesson 8

Cassie’s Supporting Characters

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…I didn’t think there was a difference between developing main characters and supporting characters, because they’re all in your story, right? You need to know them completely? I’m interested to see how developing supporting characters continues, because I have often fallen into the trap of spending a lot of time on stuff that isn’t necessarily important to understanding my supporting characters, which leads to including too much unnecessary information in the story, because I spent the time putting it together, right?! I also love the continued focus on how characters support and drive the story: since we have our lead characters supporting the story already, how do these supporting characters support the main characters in their journey, and therefore the full story? It is so exciting to see all of these pieces as individual and essential pieces in the full structure. It feels very empowering knowing that you’re discovering and molding the right piece in the right place, and you can keep taking one piece out to refine further without the whole thing falling apart, and you can put it back and each time you do that you make the story stronger and more exciting.

NOTE TO SELF: I need to develop the mom character as the antagonist. Yay, story development!

2. Tell us your supporting and background characters.

Supporting Characters: Dad, ghost hunter

Background Characters: Dan’s wife, landlord…

3. Focusing on those supporting characters, fill in the basic profile for each.

Support 1:

Name: James Harris

Role: Dan’s dad

Main purpose: Show what happens when someone completely gives over to Dan’s mom/James’s wife.

Value: Provides Dan with insight and motivation to stand up for himself. Also is the reason he moves out of the new apartment and back with Greg: his dad has a secret apartment next door to Dan’s new apartment and mom discovers it.

Support 2:

Name: Ginny Montrose

Role: Novice ghost hunter

Main purpose: She’s the new tenant who moves into Greg’s unit when Dan finally moves out.

Value: Makes Greg want to get Dan back as a roommate, which will cover PP2 and lead through Act III to the climax as Greg helps Dan stand up for himself against his mom.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 20, 2023 at 1:20 pm in reply to: Lesson 7

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…to spend time with all main characters. Like the lessons said, it can be easy to make everyone other than your main protagonist interesting, and I realized reading that that is what I seem to do: the hero/good guy/main guy is kind of bland and slides through a world built around interesting side characters. This exercise was excellent for spending time on my main protagonist to make sure I gave him the attention he needs to get to know him and develop him into an interesting, dynamic character. It’s empowering to me as the writer, exciting for the story, and he deserves the attention!
I still had an easier time with my ghost ant/protagonist, but this was perfect for kind of weighing out how much development I had in each character to make it more equal.

2. With each of your lead characters, first tell us the following:

A. The High Concept.

B. This Character’s Journey.

C. The Actor Attractors for this Character.

Story’s high concept:

A recent divorcé trying to avoid his overbearing mom rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost who will use all of his ghostly skills to get rid of his new roommate.

Protagonist Dan Harris:

Journey:

From a nice guy dominated by his mom and then a terrible ghost roommate to assertive and confident and standing up for himself and what he wants, needs, and deserves.

Actor attractors:

Character subtext, emotional range, dynamic character journey, gets to play his character possessed by the ghost character (so two characters in one! Maybe even more Greg gets his buddies to possess Dan, too!)

3. Brainstorm these profile components for each character.

7. Character Subtext:

He keeps quiet about what he wants because he was taught by his mom (and dad) growing up that he shouldn’t–mother is always right and he never learned how to stand up for himself

8. Character Intrigue:

Unspoken wound: He can’t even approach his mom to address this, because he doesn’t realize it’s not a healthy dynamic, and she wouldn’t listen, anyway. Dad’s no help either, he’s in the same boat.

9. Flaw:

He undervalues himself so he doesn’t know how to or think it’s ok to stand up for himself.

10. Values:

Self-determination

11. Character Dilemma:

Pleasing others versus being himself

(Initial) Antagonist Greg Jackson:

Journey:

From a disillusioned, exhausted, antisocial ghost who is jealous of living people and can’t stand being around them to a generous and supportive guy who finds beauty and joy in his state of existence.

Actor attractors:

Character subtext (envy and longing underneath antagonism); actor in their young 20s getting to play a mentality that’s seen over a hundred years of living and history/grumpy old man; dynamic performance opportunity: absurdist comedic performance to intense emotion

3. Brainstorm these profile components for each character.

7. Character Subtext:
Withholding–he lashes out and is antagonistic because deep down he is lonely and wishes he could have another chance at life.

8. Character Intrigue:
Unspoken wound: He is resentful that Dan doesn’t appreciate the life he has because he’d love to switch places.

9. Flaw:
Overdoing things/overcompensating: he does outlandish stuff to justify him being a ghost and to hide the fact that he’s sad and lonely

10. Values:
The present/being grateful for the moment, which of course he hides under hurt.

11. Character Dilemma:
Being vulnerable vs hiding his loneliness and regret.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 17, 2023 at 6:53 pm in reply to: Lesson 6

Cassie’s Character Profiles Part 1

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…Thinking through my specific leads, I was able to stop, probe little details, and sit back and see what came out. For example, I knew I needed an age for my ghost. I was thinking maybe he could have been born in the 1700s and died as a cranky 70 year old, but I don’t believe I could represent a character from the 1700s accurately, and an old man being an old man isn’t very original or fun. Then I thought, wait, what if the ghost WAS old because they had to live through 100 years or something, but they died young. THEN I was on Greg’s tail! I did the same with Dan: Ok, he’s in his mid-30s, a divorce sprung on him…the spiteful or cheating spouse isn’t original or fun, so what is it? Ah. Maybe his MOM is the problem. That opens all kinds of stuff to understand Dan and who he is, and how he needs to change and grow. Standing up for himself to his mom after a whole lifetime is more dynamic and rooted in his story and who he is.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Story’s high concept (updated):

A recent divorcé trying to avoid his overbearing mom rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost who will use all of his ghostly skills to get rid of his new roommate.

Protagonist:

Dan Harris–living roommate, going through a divorce, NEW DEVELOPMENT: The divorce is because of his overbearing mom. His wife just can’t take it anymore.

B. This character’s journey. (NOTE: I do the three act/8 beat structure, still with all of the needed beats, because that’s what I’ve been teaching for 8 years so it’s easier for me to understand):

Act I

Dan’s mom has always controlled his life. Because his dad is similarly domineered, he has no idea how to stand up for himself.
(Inciting Incident) His wife can’t handle it and gets out of the situation by divorcing him, so he has to stay with his parents…

(PP1) for a whole day before he remembers how awful it is to live with them and signs a lease for his own place.

Act II

(Rising Action) This apartment already has Greg in residence, who wants to get rid of Dan in any way he can

(Midpoint Climax) Once he can’t take anymore shenanigans from his ghost roommate, Dan moves to a new apartment…

(Bad Guys Close In) …only to find that he’s living next to his dad’s secret “get away from my wife” apartment. She discovers and all hell breaks loose (need A.I.L. and D.K.ofS…)

(PP2) Greg, who hates his new wannabe ghost hunter roommate even more, finds Dan and brings him back to their apartment

Act III

(Physical Climax) Together, they work to get rid of Greg’s roommate, using some clever uses of Greg possessing Dan’s body (callbacks from stuff that happened in Rising Action).

(Emotional Climax) Then, Dan, thinking Greg is still possessing him, stands up to his mom–but it turns out it was him with his new backbone he developed from standing up for himself against Greg. Then Dan and Greg live happily ever after :p

C. The Actor Attractors for this character.

The actor gets to go through a dynamic journey from spineless to confident and assertive, so there’s a lot of emotional range to show off with. The subtext will be rich in his spinelessness because he has to work so hard to hide how he’s really feeling. Then he has to deal with a very determined and inappropriate ghost, which will give a lot of time for fun acting to show how the actor can play a character in absurd situations. Additionally, the actor will be possessed by the ghost at times, so there’s a two-for-one for that actor.

Age: Early to mid 30s

Core Traits: Kind, generous, patient, timid but hates that

Want: To make everyone happy

Need: To have his own back

Wound: He grew up with a very domineering mother who dictated and controlled his life (we’ll see that in a montage at the beginning right after he gets the call from his wife, who is not coming to family dinner, that she wants a divorce and his mom is the reason)

Likability: He’s a sweetheart

Relatability: We’ve all had a person like his mom somewhere in our lives

Empathy: We want to see him be treated the way he deserves

(Initial) Antagonist (cuz buddy comedy):

Greg Jackson–ghost roommate, loves his apartment, doesn’t want to share it, will do anything to scare Dan away.

B. This character’s journey.

Greg is a ghost in his early 20s who died in the best part of the 1920s, but before he could really do anything “fun.” (It’s got to be some silly death so it’s not heavy or loaded.) At first he loved being a ghost, but having been through 100 years of fashion trends, political movements, world events, etc, that just keep repeating, he’s just exhausted and resentful that he hasn’t been able to experience physical existence (he does try, though–possessing Dan hahaha, etc) and can’t experience growing older.

^^That was for reference for me

Act I

Greg lives by himself in an apartment that, after 100 years of searching, is perfect for him. One of the neighbors is a wannabe ghost hunter who has been trying to get into the unit to practice on Greg. Greg has had success chasing off any apartment hunters by being, you know, a ghost, but Dan is desperate and doesn’t believe in ghosts, anyway.
(Inciting Incident) Dan signs the lease.

(PP1) Greg commits to getting rid of Dan in any way he can.

Act II

(Rising Action) All the fun and games Greg’ll do: spooky stuff, bringing over ghost and demon buddies to party and make a mess/pull noise complaints on Dan, bringing over lady ghosts from different decades for noisy weird and spooky ghost sex, etc

(Midpoint Climax) Dan finally moves out!

(Bad Guys Close In) But oh no…here comes the wannabe ghost hunter. Greg’s life starts falling apart because he can’t get away from this person.

(All is Lost) Not sure yet…maybe the ghost hunter does something that takes away his sense of safety? Like, they actually do something to make him talk or do something, and he can’t control it?

(Dark Night of the Soul) None of his friends can or will come around anymore. He’s genuinely alone.

(PP2) Something the ghost hunter does, or maybe they bring someone over for a seance, and they say something that makes him realize how much he liked Dan. He decides to go get him back

Act III

(Physical Climax) They get the ghost hunter out of the apartment (see Dan’s Physical Climax above)

(Emotional Climax) Greg…gotta be something about experiencing something real, or growing old, or something…maybe he possesses the dad or mom for kicks, then says it really sucks to be in an old body, he’ll keep his forever youth, thankyouverymuch

C. The Actor Attractors for this character.

Shoooooot. He gets to play a disillusioned young twenty year old with the heart of a 120+ year old, with experience and memories from major periods in earth’s history (WWI to present). He gets to completely let loose with absurd antics and behaviors (partying with demons, ghost sex, etc) which is physically and emotionally fun to play, but he’ll also have that simmering subtext of feeling resentful, tired, jealous, and frustrated. The climax will be fun for him too because he gets to have the realization that he actually loves his life–I’m seeing a great moment where the actor can play that very dynamically with just small facial acting, etc. That stuff’s the best, to be able to have things working inside you that you translate so clearly and so humanly to an audience.

Age: Early 20s, perennial rebel, troublemaker

Core Traits: Grumpy, particular, antagonistic

Want: To have his apartment to himself

Need: To have someone to share life (or existence, in hs case) with

Wound: He’s lonely and feels like he’s been sitting on the sideline for over 100 years

Likability: He’s youthful, attractive, and, in contrast, a big ol’ grump

Relatability: We’ve all felt like we don’t belong somewhere, or that we’ve been in a place too long and can’t get out, or wished we had a different life

Empathy: We want to see him happy and with a friend. He’s had a rough life.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 14, 2023 at 6:18 pm in reply to: Lesson 5

Cassie’s Likability/Relatability/Empathy

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…continuing to learn about who my characters genuinely are. I said in last assignment’s “what I learned” that I typically have focused on plot structure and therefore ended up with pretty generic characters and struggled with making their scenes dynamic, unique, interesting, compelling, and engaging. A major goal of mine is to “present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell” (cuz I want that MONEY lol), and to do that, I need characters the audience likes, relates to, and empathizes with. I hadn’t ever considered these aspects of character development and they are very powerful and effective ways to further meet my characters! I am really excited about this whole “meeting my characters” process because, again, in the past I have just forced generic things into my story.

2. Brainstorm one or more ways you can present your Protagonist through each of these:

Likability: Even though people are really mean, unfair, and awful to him, he doesn’t retaliate and punish them back. Going through the divorce, he doesn’t try to destroy his soon-to-be ex’s life. Being forced to live with a terrible roommate who hates him, he still isn’t as awful as he could be.

Relatability: We’ve all had people bully us and try to make our lives miserable: bosses, partners, spouses, roommates. We’ve all been in relationships that harm us that we still try to make work. We’ve all been desperate for a way out of those relationships, to develop the strength to stand up for ourselves.

Empathy: We want to see people stop shitting (forgive my language) on him and treat him decently, because he’s a nice guy. We want to see him finally in a relationship and in a situation where he is happy, safe, and secure. We want to see him stand up for himself.

3. Just to get the experience, give us one or more ways that your Antagonist could be presented through each of these:

Likability: He’s an antisocial ghost. This is immediately endearing because he’s stuck here forever and has to deal with people that he doesn’t like. He has no way to escape and does very entertaining things to keep people away from him. We like watching those entertaining things and him being frustrated and upping the ante with each tactic. (Trying to spook, being obnoxious…possessing his roommate so he does what the ghost wishes he could do…?)

Relatability: We’ve all been forced to deal with, work with, or live with people we don’t want to. Think coworkers or college roommates. Especially since he especially doesn’t like people, that potentially takes some audience members (who also don’t like people very much) even deeper in relatability.
HOWEVER, his subtext is that he is secretly jealous of people still living and being able to have live experiences. We’ve all felt like we’re on the outside looking in and wishing we could have experiences of groups we just aren’t a part of.

Empathy: This is his apartment. He didn’t agree to having a roommate and he doesn’t like anyone. We want him to be happy in his grumpy solitude.
ALSO, we want him to be able to be happy and secure in being able to experience certain aspects of living that he either never got to or genuinely misses.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 13, 2023 at 11:12 pm in reply to: Lesson 4

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…when you leave your mind open to the potentials of discovering characters, you can experience actually meeting more realistic people and allowing them to reveal themselves to you instead of forcing them into the small box you’ve already considered in just putting together the story. It opens a lot of space for characters to interact with each other and reveal themselves, and it will make it way more fun to put distinct characters together and see how they play!

2. For each of your main characters, use this list to brainstorm one or more Intrigue items that might apply. You don’t need all of them; just one or two.

NOTE: Need to do this for other characters: ex-wife, ghost hunting tenant, potentially an exorcist, potentially the guy’s boss, potentially a therapist, lawyer

Character Name: Dan Harris (VERY subject to change)

Role: Guy going through a divorce and has no choice but to live with an antisocial ghost

Hidden agendas: Maybe he is trying to get back with his wife. Or maybe he is trying to have the ghost exorcized. Maybe the ghost reminds him of someone he hates or had a bad history or interaction with.

Competition: Maybe his wife cheated on him and he feels like he has to prove himself to be more desirable than the guy she cheated with. With the ghost–who can make the other one move out?

Conspiracies: Working with the exorcist to get the ghost out.

Secrets: Maybe he had an affair himself in the past so he’s really been trying to make it up to his wife, who is just an awful awful person to begin with. Does she know? If she does, it would be more of a reason to be even more awful awful awful.

Deception: Has to convince the ghost nothing is happening with the an exorcist

Unspoken Wound: His mom taught him to always make everyone else happy and put himself last. This could lead to him being codependent, helpless, or deep down resentful

Secret Identity:

3. Give us an idea of how that character’s subtext might show up in your movie.

His interactions with his wife and the ghost. Potentially the exorcist. Maybe with the ghost hunter tenant to make the ghost miserable.

2. For each of your main characters, use this list to brainstorm one or more Intrigue items that might apply. You don’t need all of them; just one or two.

Character Name: Greg Jackson (VERY subject to change)

Role: Antisocial ghost who has to put up with a guy going through a divorce as a roommate

Hidden agendas: Influencing the therapist or wife to get the guy out? Tries to get the guy to forgive wife? Wants to have the guy do certain things so he can experience by proxy?

Competition: Wants to get the guy out of his apartment–how far does he have to go, and who will blink first?

Conspiracies:

Secrets: Maybe he cheated with someone close to the guy. Hmm, I have to figure out when the ghost was born and died. Also, that also seems too obvious to include, but it’s an option.

Deception: Maybe he secretly likes having the guy here because he can experience stuff through him.

Unspoken Wound: He is genuinely envious (in a sweet way…?) of living people. He has stuff he wishes he’d done. What are those things………a relationship with a partner? With a child? With a friend? Some professional, physical, or artistic accomplishment? Yeah, that would be good–the guy can help him after they join forces.

Secret Identity: Related to the guy? Or to someone he knows? No, I don’t think I like that, too obvious, but it’s an option.

3. Give us an idea of how that character’s subtext might show up in your movie.

The crazy things he does to try to get the guy out. Things he gets or encourages the guy to do so he can experience them too. Working behind guy’s back to sway wife, etc.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 13, 2023 at 10:14 pm in reply to: Lesson 3

Cassie’s Subtext Characters

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…I think this is the furthest I have ever pushed character development. Ok, definitely, lol. I am comfortable with plot structure, but I haven’t ever really developed characters beyond “I need this person to do this to support the scene and advance the plot.” I hope I did it right…! I’ll keep watching movies and working on identifying character subtext since this is new to me and I feel like more practice will help me be more confident. I think I may spend more time on my characters, for sure! I’m excited to go through the story process with fully fleshed-out characters.

2. With your example movie, give us the following answers for the character with the most subtext:

Movie Title: The Nice Guys

Character Name: Jackson Healy

Subtext Identity: The paid enforcer

Subtext Trait: Scrupulous – Principled – Ethical – Wants to do the right thing

Subtext Logline: Covers by making a living being an enforcer-for-hire

Possible Areas of Subtext: Jackson wants to do the right thing, but that has devolved into beating up people for a living. When it comes to protecting someone who has hired him to protect her from ANOTHER enforcer/kidnapper/assassin, he realizes he wants to protect her, and he will take time and pay his own money Holland March (who was hired to find the girl) to help him protect her. This is revealed in an emotional moment (where alcoholic March is passed out) when Healy tells the story of a time he saved people in a diner from a crazy guy with a shotgun, for free…but it meant so much to him because he felt “useful.” This reveals why he does what he does, and maybe why he started doing it, even though he ended up in a dark, soulless, for-hire place.

3. For your two leads, brainstorm these answers:

Character Name: Dan Harris (VERY subject to change)

Subtext Identity: A genuinely nice guy who wants to make everyone happy

Subtext Trait: Covers by being submissive to his soon-to-be-ex wife and his ghost roommate

Subtext Logline: When a genuinely nice guy who just wants everyone to be happy is finally pushed to his limit, he learns to finally stand up for himself with the help of a resentful ghost roommate.

Possible Areas of Subtext: Giving in to his wife, (his mom is all up in his business?), his boss, his ghost roommate. Every time he is unfairly treated, he just shuts his mouth and has some M&Ms or something (I don’t want him to drink or do drugs). He goes to therapy to try to stand up for himself, ends up going with ex-wife (AND then ghost? Hahaha that would be fun), eats the whole bowl of M&Ms each time.

Character Name: Greg Jackson (VERY subject to change)

Subtext Identity: The bully who resents living people because he feels like he missed out on a lot of life

Subtext Trait: Covers by being a jerk to living people and keeping them away from him

Subtext Logline: When an antisocial ghost who secretly misses being alive is forced to live with a human roommate, he learns to accept and embrace his state of existence.

Possible Areas of Subtext: He covers his sadness and heartfelt desire to live again with all the nutty things he does to chase his living roommate away.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 9, 2023 at 6:48 pm in reply to: Lesson 2

Cassie’s Actor Attractors

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…I have tended in the past to focus on story structure and as I’m writing I realize that my characters are all pretty similar, and then they have a hard time carrying the story when I don’t know what their individual selves are like in the world and how I should be letting them live. I’ve also seen that in local short plays here in Houston, and it’s really helped me recognize that I need to make sure my characters are distinct and are what need to specifically live in the story/world. This was a good assignment to help me learn what goes into that (I have that dull pressure in my forehead that comes from struggling and pushing myself to think in ways about things I haven’t before), so I’m very excited to use this process and tools to discover and uncover my characters 😀

Lead Character Name: Dan Harris (VERY subject to change)Role: Protagonist

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

He gets to live with and deal with a grumpy ghost who doesn’t want him for a roommate!

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

He goes from being a weak, pooped-on guy to someone who knows exactly what they want in life and how to get it for himself. The situations he has to to deal with regarding his ghost roommate and how they affect him.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

His reactions to and growing confidence to do something about how the ghost makes him crazy. Through dealing with something absurd, he actually develops the confidence and skills to stand up for himself against his soon-to-be exwife who is trying to ruin his life. (She’s worse than a grumpy ghost?! Hahahah.)

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

How he has to manage a ridiculous boss and exwife. He’s going to want to save that poor character. (I have the general idea but I may need to sharpen the first intro scene to really make it pop)

5. What could be this character’s emotional range

Miserable, submissive, empty, to confident and in charge of his life

6. What subtext can the actor play?

Desperation to actually live his own life again

7. What are the most interesting relationships this character can have?

With the ghost and his almost-exwife.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

How he reacts to and at first accepts ridiculous treatment, to using it to empower himself.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

How he has no other choice but to deal with a ghost roommate–how he acts/reacts to deal with what that dang ghost is going to put him through.

Lead Character Name: Greg Jackson (VERY subject to change)Role: Initially Antagonist, Eventually Co-Protagonist

1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?

He’s a cranky ghost who will do anything to keep his apartment to himself

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?

He’s an antisocial ghost who’s sticking around to try to continue to pursue mortal pleasures and experiences, which is hard because he’s dead.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?

Hahaha, oh boy, I have a list of things, but see above for an idea

4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?

A prospective tenant checks out his apartment and he scares the crap out of him to keep him from signing the lease.

5. What could be this character’s emotional range

Grumpy and antisocial and scheming to compassionate and cooperative.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

He misses being alive and is jealous of Dan.

7. What are the most interesting relationships this character can have?
Dan, the ghost hunter tenant who moves in after Dan moves out.

8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?

Through the shenanigans he does.

9. What could make this character special and unique?

I’m not sure how to answer this with additional details that aren’t above…I’ll keep it percolating to see what else I have

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE FOR MYSELF: My big supporting characters are the almost-exwife and the wannabe ghost-hunter who finally gets to move into the apartment after Dan goes back home for a bit.

Also the lawyer, but not as much.

Cassie Randall

Member

June 9, 2023 at 4:59 pm in reply to: Lesson 1

Cassie’s Actor Attractors for The Nice Guys

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

Movie Title: The Nice Guys

Lead Character Name: Holland March (Ryan Gosling)

1. Why would an actor WANT to be known for this role?
It’s a dynamic, wide ranging character in an action comedy “period (1970s) piece”

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in the movie?

He’s a struggling PI with questionable morals trying to make a living for him and his daughter after he lost his wife in a house fire that he still carries guilt for

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead takes in the movie?

All the fights! The car chases! Again, he’s a struggling, not-so-good PI, so his scenes are pretty much dumb luck, and it’s fun to watch

4. How is this character introduced that could sell it to an actor?

Oh, I forgot, he’s an alcoholic, too, which gets in the way/helps his attempts. His intro is him waking up fully dressed late in the morning, soaking in a bathtub. The TV (on The Waltons, which helps set the time setting and referencing it is also a repeated game later in the movie) wakes him up suddenly. Then the phone rings, he pulls his soggy self out of the tub and crawls to it as he listens to a voicemail from his daughter, who clearly takes a supportive parent role over his wreck of a self.

5. What is this character’s emotional range?

EVERYTHING. He’s scared, weak, nervous, and he grows through the movie to be the strong one at the end.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

Quiet frustration and desperation, anxiety, DRUNKENNESS, to confidence.

7. What are the most interesting relationships this character has?

With his daughter and his now-partner-through-necessity, Jackson Healy.

8. How is this character’s unique voice presented?

How he attempts to succeed in what’s necessary for success in his jobs, and fails consistently.

9. What makes this character special and unique?

His reactions in high-stress scenes: his screams are AWESOME.

10. (Fill in a scene that shows the character fulfilling much of the Actor Attractor model.)

When he’s drunk at the party and goes around asking questions, ends up swimming after the mermaids in the pool (shown in the background), then falls down a hill while trying to impress a lady (he pretends she’s shooting him and LAUNCHES himself over a wall and falls a VERY long way, sees Amelia running away, can’t place her, then ends up leaning against a tree and smoking with a dead guy who happens to be the next person person they’re looking for in their case.

Movie Title: The Nice Guys

Lead Character Name: Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe)

1. Why would an actor WANT to be known for this role?

He’s a tough guy who is paid to go beat people up in an action comedy in the ‘70s (arguably a period piece). A good taste to leave in producers’ and audiences’ mouths when they’re looking for another capable and believable tough guy, and leave them impressed by his realistic, believable placement in a different, distinct decade.

2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in the movie?

Lots of fight scenes where he DOMINATES. A good taste to leave in producers’ and audiences’ mouths when they’re looking for another capable and believable tough guy, and leave them impressed by his realistic, believable placement in a different, distinct decade.

3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead takes in the movie?

Fights and fights and car chases! And his dilemma of trying to find Amelia “off the clock” because he feels like it’s the right thing to do–unique range that’s fun to watch from a guy who beats people up for buyers. And having to deal with dead weight March because he has no other choice.

4. How is this character introduced that could sell it to an actor?

He slides on his brass knuckles, rings a doorbell, and slugs some random guy in the face, calmly delivering the message, “Leave (So-and-So, I forget) alone.” Boom.

5. What is this character’s emotional range?

Calm, brutal, patient, in control, to sensitive, concerned, wanting to protect and save someone of his own choosing.

6. What subtext can the actor play?

There was a nice moment where he shares a story with March about being the “dinner guy” who saved a diner of people from a crazy guy with a shotgun, even though no one paid him. He said it made him feel “useful.” It’s the first softness and insight into who he is at the core. And of course, March is passed out drunk on a diving board and doesn’t hear a word.

7. What are the most interesting relationships this character has?

With March and March’s daughter.

8. How is this character’s unique voice presented?

His patience and confidence in getting people to do what he wants, because he knows he has a whole range of ways to get them to comply…and he ain’t afraid to use them.

9. What makes this character special and unique?

He’s the guy in charge who is very good at beating people up for money, seemingly the one with twisted morals. However, his actions and priorities actually make him the more honest and human of him and March.

10. (Fill in a scene that shows the character fulfilling much of the Actor Attractor model.)

His scene where he meets March and beats him up and breaks his arm because Amelia paid him to do it. He learns and gathers info from March about the same girl because he uses his big ol’ bag of tricks on March, then calmly accepts a YooHoo from his daughter outside.

Cassie Randall

Member

May 31, 2023 at 11:13 pm in reply to: Lesson 6

Cassie’s Genre Conventions

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…the specific conventions of genres. That is such a helpful document to read and have, thank you! Learning to take a moment to spot places where you can and should incorporate those conventions: this will help develop the story, definitely, and it seems like the perfect way to build spaces for characters that fit the genre to develop and grow. “Build it and they will come,” lol. With an understanding of what the story needs to do and where it’s going, it seems like it will be a much clearer process in bringing characters that specifically support, serve, and advance the story. I’m excited!

Title: One Bed/One Bath and a Ghost

Concept: A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

Genre: Comedy

Comedy:

Incongruence

Mechanics (setup/punchline, repeated games, runners, sight/prop humor)

Comedic protagonists

Strong story

Act 1:

Opening: Guy is spineless at work, goes home, wife treats him terribly, but he doesn’t stand up for himself.
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES
COMEDIC PROTAGONISTS
Apartment complex manager shows the ghost’s unit and the ghost does something super terrifying to keep the potential tenant from signing the lease.
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES
COMEDIC PROTAGONISTS
OR the obnoxious wannabe ghost hunter tenant scares them away from signing by telling them about the ghost…OR both…COMEDIC PROTAGONISTS

Inciting Incident: Guy’s wife waits at home that night to serve him divorce papers.
STRONG STORY
Unknown to ghost, complex manager tell obnoxious tenant that he can move in when his lease is up…NEXT WEEK! Oh, this is the worst possible development for the ghost. He won’t be able to scare this tenant away and the tenant will never leave him alone.
STRONG STORY

Turning Point (Plot Point 1): Guy signs lease with apartment. Ghost and the obnoxious tenant are furious.
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES

Act 2:

New plan: Guy moves in (is he trying to move on or does he want to get his wife back?? What’s his goal that he’s working for here?). (Wife wants to destroy him in divorce?) Ghost tries to scare guy out of apartment. (Obnoxious tenant does the same? Is that too much happening??)
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES
INCONGRUENCE (GHOST VS GUY)

Plan in action: The fun and games of the ghost scaring the guy out of the apartment, guy dealing with the ghost
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES

Midpoint Turning Point: Guy moves out of apartment, back with wife (false victory)
STRONG STORY

Act 3:

Rethink everything: The obnoxious tenant (ooh, maybe he’s an amateur ghost hunter and terrible at what he does? But that’s why he’s always wanted to live in that apartment? I LIKE!!) moves in with the ghost; guy realizes how much it sucks to live with his wife, has newfound respect for himself and not willing to go back to being treated like crap. (PHYSICAL LOSS/ALL IS LOST of a literal pleasant place to live)
STRONG STORY
INCONGRUENCE
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES

New plan: Guy finds out wife was cheating and she only wants back with him because her lover dumped her, so he’s out-y? Ghost wants obnoxious tenant out and strangely misses his buddy. (EMOTIONAL LOSS/DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL of realizing they miss each other)
STRONG STORY

Turning Point (Plot Point 2): Huge failure / Major shift: Ghost and guy coordinate to get obnoxious tenant out and help guy in the divorce (spooking the wife? Making her look crazy? LOOK UP DIVORCE STUFF and see what if anything the ghost could do to help guy in the settlement…OR just drive her crazy so she just wants the whole thing over…scary “dreams,” etc)
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Divorced character signs final divorce papers with a nice settlement for himself; obnoxious tenant is evicted; guy moves back in with ghost
STRONG STORY

Resolution: They live like buddies–HOWEVER, something needs to introduced to give them a new buddy journey together where they work as a team…sassy little end of movie, give people a little “ohhhh okay!” to leave ‘em happy and thinking
MECHANICS: SIGHT/PROP COMEDY, REPEATED GAMES

Cassie Randall

Member

May 31, 2023 at 10:01 pm in reply to: Lesson 5

Cassie’s Four-Act Transformational Structure

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…I’ve actually been working at analyzing and teaching movie plot structure for my high school classes for a few years, but my technique is the three-act structure. It was fun to see how similar beats can play out with four acts, but I kept basically with my three act structure–it’s much easier for me to follow after working with it for a few years.

2. Give us the following:

Concept
A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

Main Conflict

Divorced character vs ghost (subplots, divorced character vs ex-wife, ghost vs other tenant)

Old Ways
Divorced character: Spineless, depressed, not assertive, values others over himself
Ghost: Actively tries to expel people from his apartment with creepy ghostly activities, won’t interact positively with people, super antisocial

New Ways
Divorced character: Assertive, fulfilled, optimistic, finds joy in creating and choosing his own life (MAYBE ghost helps him value his life?? Maybe he wanted to give up because of all the crap happening?)
Ghost: Spends time with his new friend and enjoys the new living situation

3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.

Act 1:

Opening: Guy is spineless at work, goes home, wife treats him terribly, but he doesn’t stand up for himself.
Apartment complex manager shows the ghost’s unit and the ghost does something super terrifying to keep the potential tenant from signing the lease. OR the obnoxious wannabe ghost hunter tenant scares them away from signing by telling them about the ghost…OR both…

Inciting Incident: Guy finds wife cheating (? too extra? Maybe she just serves him?). I don’t think anything about the job. That’s too much.
Ghost overhears complex manager telling obnoxious tenant that he can move in when his lease is up…NEXT WEEK! Oh, this is the worst possible development for the ghost. He won’t be able to scare this tenant away and the tenant will never leave him alone. OR!!! We hear that, but the ghost doesn’t, so we know his actions to get rid of the guy are only shooting him in the foot.

Turning Point (Plot Point 1): Guy signs lease with apartment. Ghost and the obnoxious tenant are furious.

Act 2:

New plan: Guy moves in (is he trying to move on or does he want to get his wife back?? What’s his goal that he’s working for here?). (Wife wants to destroy him in divorce?) Ghost tries to scare guy out of apartment. (Obnoxious tenant does the same? Is that too much happening??)

Plan in action: The fun and games of the ghost scaring the guy out of the apartment, guy dealing with the ghost

Midpoint Turning Point: Guy moves out of apartment, back with wife (false victory)

Act 3:

Rethink everything: The obnoxious tenant (ooh, maybe he’s an amateur ghost hunter and terrible at what he does? But that’s why he’s always wanted to live in that apartment? I LIKE!!) moves in with the ghost; guy realizes how much it sucks to live with his wife, has newfound respect for himself and not willing to go back to being treated like crap. (PHYSICAL LOSS/ALL IS LOST of a literal pleasant place to live)

New plan: Guy finds out wife was cheating and she only wants back with him because her lover dumped her, so he’s out-y? Ghost wants obnoxious tenant out and strangely misses his buddy. (EMOTIONAL LOSS/DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL of realizing they miss each other)

Turning Point (Plot Point 2): Huge failure / Major shift: Ghost and guy coordinate to get obnoxious tenant out and help guy in the divorce (spooking the wife? Making her look crazy? LOOK UP DIVORCE STUFF and see what if anything the ghost could do to help guy in the settlement…OR just drive her crazy so she just wants the whole thing over…scary “dreams,” etc)

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Divorced character signs final divorce papers with a nice settlement for himself; obnoxious tenant is evicted; guy moves back in with ghost

Resolution: They live like buddies–HOWEVER, something needs to introduced to give them a new buddy journey together where they work as a team…sassy little end of movie, give people a little “ohhhh okay!” to leave ‘em happy and thinking

Cassie Randall

Member

May 31, 2023 at 9:25 pm in reply to: Lesson 4

Cassie’s Subtext Plot

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

I have struggled with getting beneath the surface in the past: I tend to have the personality where I think through what I want to do until I’m ready to put it on paper, and then it’s a rush to get through my idea. I’ve been able to work over the last few years at analyzing plot structure, so I feel much more confident in setting up the journey of a story, but I haven’t had much practice at getting beneath the surface. I have been pretty intimidated by it, to be perfectly frank. I’m excited to take the time to consider it and work it into my script. Thank you for the State-To-Activity empowerment processes! They help me build much more confidence and excitement than I typically have had in the past. Let’s go!

Concept: A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

Subtext Plot(s):

Fish out of Water–

My divorced lead character is suddenly thrown into a combination of situations he has no experience in and had no warning of: suddenly getting a divorce, finding out his wife was cheating on him, getting thrown out of his house, moving into an apartment at warp speed, AND having to live with a ghost, AND AND having to live with a ghost who doesn’t want him there, but the guy has nowhere else to go.

My ghost lead character is similarly thrown into a situation he did not expect or agree to, and certainly does not desire: he wants to be left alone, live by himself in the apartment, and now suddenly he’s saddled with a human roommate going through a lot of stuff the ghost isn’t prepared to deal with, himself.

Competitive Agendas– (this needs more thought and work…)

The ghost wants the guy out, and the guy has nowhere else to go. They are stuck with each other, so they struggle against each other to get the other one to leave.

On the inside, they actually will become each other’s allies, champions, and best friends once they realize that, after seeing their alternative living situations, they actually really like living with each other and can help each other achieve a happy living (or AFTERLIVING) situation.

Cassie Randall

Member

May 26, 2023 at 2:22 pm in reply to: Lesson 3

Cassie’s Transformational Journey

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

The recorded lesson was a huge relief for me when Hal talked about getting stuck and burying yourself. Historically, I have been that writer and that person that rigidly followed step by step and if I got stuck on a step, I would just give up. I also wasn’t a big outline person: I just had an idea and one character and just jumped into watching them do random stuff that went nowhere. I have learned over the years how to structure a three-act movie plot and for me, writing out where the story starts and where it ends up has been such a huge relief and gift. I’m excited about applying this to the characters and looking at their journey to add depth and richness to my scripts 😀

———————————————

One Bed/One Bath and a Ghost

A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

1. Start this assignment by empowering yourself using our State-To-Activity empowerment process.

State: I’m completely capable…

Activity: …at designing a great transformational journey for my Protagonist!

2. Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist–divorcé

Arc Beginning: Pretty spineless recent divorcé

Arc Ending: Confident in and actively choosing his physical and emotional living situations for his own benefit

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: From letting people dictate how he should feel and what he should do to standing up for himself

External Journey: From bouncing along different living situations at the whims of others to choosing his own place to live

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: Spineless, depressed, not assertive, values others over himself

New Ways: Assertive, fulfilled, optimistic, finds joy in creating and choosing his own life

————————————————————————————

2. Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist–cranky ghost

Arc Beginning: Cranky ghost living alone

Arc Ending: Happy with his new roommate and friend

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: He goes from hating people to opening his heart to his new friend, and maybe even others

External Journey: Living alone in his apartment to sharing it with someone he’s come to love

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: Actively tries to expel people from his apartment with creepy ghostly activities, won’t interact positively with people, super antisocial

New Ways: Spends time with his new friend and enjoys the new living situation

Cassie Randall

Member

May 23, 2023 at 7:00 pm in reply to: Lesson 2

Cassie’s Intentional Lead Characters!

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

Below I have a summary of something I learned about protagonists in a buddy movie, but for the assignment itself, it was really useful to take a different approach to developing characters to serve a story. This is a really interesting and exciting technique that provides the structure of the world and story first and then look around inside and see who all is in there holding it up. I’ve had experiences of having a really cool character…with no idea where to go with them. And sometimes I don’t know I have no idea where I’m going until after I’ve wasted a lot of time and pages going to that nowhere, lol. So this has been a lot of fun and really empowering. It also made my brain feel all pressure-y from the hard thinking, which also feels good because it feels like a literal workout XD

I did have a hard time wrapping my mind around the “what is unique about this character” because there were no examples to work from, but I am comforting myself with the idea that we will be fleshing them out with more detail in later lessons. I don’t want to get too far into specific details of a character without knowing how I need them to function within the world, with each other, and for the story. Anyway, here you go!

————————————————–

Doing some research about buddy movies (I have one link below), I think I may have a dual-protagonist movie, so just in case, I’m going to do the work for both of my potential protagonists. As the story develops and grows, I’ll be able to see more clearly who’s in charge of what, but for the moment, the story I have in mind has both my divorcé and the ghost with their own goals and ways to achieve them that initially put them at odds with each other–also making them each other’s initial antagonists. But don’t worry, they’ll realize they’ve become buddies and will unite together against their common foe(s)!

Concept:

A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

Protagonist 1 logline:

What makes this character fit my concept and title powerfully?

A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go learns to stand up for himself when he has to learn to live in an apartment with a cranky ghost.

What makes him unique:

I’m not sure how to answer these questions at this point haha, so I’ll just do it literally. This guy is unique because he is a recent divorcé who has a roommate for a ghost.

Protagonist 2 logline:

What makes this character fit my concept and title powerfully?

A cranky ghost with historically no desire for a roommate is forced to share his apartment with the divorcé, and he learns that there are actually some people worth being around.

What makes him unique:

He’s a ghost who haunts an apartment, and he has worked very hard for a very long time to keep it to himself.

Antagonist 1 logline:

What makes this character fit my concept and title powerfully?

A wife cheats on her husband, files for divorce, and kicks him out of the house so he has to go stay in the apartment with the cranky ghost. She’s the one who put them both in that situation.

What makes her unique:

I’m not sure…she’s a wife who cheated on and demanded a divorce from her husband and kicked him out of the house…dang, never heard of that before, amirite?

Antagonist 2 logline:

What makes this character fit my concept and title powerfully?

An obnoxious neighbor tries to get the new guy (the divorcé) evicted from the apartment complex so he can move into the unit. Neither the ghost nor the divorcé are cool with that, at all. (Maybe he wants to kick him out because of something with a love interest b-story neighbor he’s jealous about…? That’s pretty standard, though. I’ll try to come up with something more new and fun.)

What makes him unique:

I’m not sure yet. I have a few ideas of who he could be (nerd, bro, etc) so I don’t want to go too far with him and close off anything that would end up working better in the story.

https://scriptmag.com/features/column-d-writing-buddy-picture

Cassie Randall

Member

May 23, 2023 at 12:30 pm in reply to: Lesson 1

Here we go! Thank you, Cheryl!

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

I had a bunch of potential ideas I had listed out from the last assignment–more than three, gasp!–that I held on to and let simmer. I ran my ideas again past a new audience for their reactions and feedback. I actually went with an idea I’d been holding onto in the back but hadn’t “tested” very well with my audiences. As I worked through this assignment with each of my potential ideas, this idea grabbed the buddy movie character structure immediately. Two or three of my other concepts also stuck to structures quickly, but as I considered this one and wrote some notes, I could see the basic story structure and some supporting characters popped up and I ended up with a lot of strong, useful notes and it made me feel excited and optimistic. Also through the process of holding onto ideas and working multiples through these assignments to varying degrees of satisfaction, I was able to further refine my concept into something that I think describes more closely the script I currently have in mind.

I am holding onto the story of Friday the 13th’s original intended story as a comforting reminder to stay open to the process. I have tended in the past to kind of fall blindly into sunk cost and not be open to adjustments or changes as I go, so I’m very excited to learn the process in this course!

Title: One Bed/One Bath and a Ghost –OR– One Bed, One Bath, One Ghost

Concept: A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

I’m excited to do this thang with you all! 😀

Cassie Randall

Member

May 22, 2023 at 4:05 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

I’m on two forums, so my apologies if you’ve seen this already! 😅
Module 2 Lesson 1: Cassie’s Title, Concept, and Character Structure

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

I had a bunch of potential ideas I had listed out from the last assignment–more than three, gasp!–that I held on to and let simmer. I ran my ideas again past a new audience for their reactions and feedback. I actually went with an idea I’d been holding onto in the back but hadn’t “tested” very well with my audiences. As I worked through this assignment with each of my potential ideas, this idea grabbed the buddy movie character structure immediately. Two or three of my other concepts also stuck to structures quickly, but as I considered this one and wrote some notes, I could see the basic story structure and some supporting characters popped up and I ended up with a lot of strong, useful notes and it made me feel excited and optimistic. Also through the process of holding onto ideas and working multiples through these assignments to varying degrees of satisfaction, I was able to further refine my concept into something that I think describes more closely the script I currently have in mind.

I am holding onto the story of Friday the 13th’s original intended story as a comforting reminder to stay open to the process. I have tended in the past to kind of fall blindly into sunk cost and not be open to adjustments or changes as I go, so I’m very excited to learn the process in this course!

Title: One Bed/One Bath and a Ghost –OR– One Bed, One Bath, One Ghost

Concept: A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

Good luck, everyone! 😀

Cassie Randall

Member

May 22, 2023 at 3:56 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

Module 2 Lesson 1: Cassie’s Title, Concept, and Character Structure

My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

I had a bunch of potential ideas I had listed out from the last assignment–more than three, gasp!–that I held on to and let simmer. I ran my ideas again past a new audience for their reactions and feedback. I actually went with an idea I’d been holding onto in the back but hadn’t “tested” very well with my audiences. As I worked through this assignment with each of my potential ideas, this idea grabbed the buddy movie character structure immediately. Two or three of my other concepts also stuck to structures quickly, but as I considered this one and wrote some notes, I could see the basic story structure and some supporting characters popped up and I ended up with a lot of strong, useful notes and it made me feel excited and optimistic. Also through the process of holding onto ideas and working multiples through these assignments to varying degrees of satisfaction, I was able to further refine my concept into something that I think describes more closely the script I currently have in mind.

I am holding onto the story of Friday the 13th’s original intended story as a comforting reminder to stay open to the process. I have tended in the past to kind of fall blindly into sunk cost and not be open to adjustments or changes as I go, so I’m very excited to learn the process in this course!

Title: One Bed/One Bath and a Ghost –OR– One Bed, One Bath, One Ghost

Concept: A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.

Good luck, everyone! 😀

Cassie Randall

Member

May 2, 2023 at 10:14 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

Hi, I’m Cassie Randall!

How many scripts have you written?
Two full length movie scripts, one for a high school course and one for my master’s degree (not at all proud of either of them lol), a bunch of sketch comedy pieces, short plays, and monologues.

What do you hope to get out of the class?
How to write scripts that I’m actually proud of (!) and establish the work structure to continually improve with each future script. I want to learn how to pitch scripts effectively because, shallow as it sounds, I want to make money off of my scripts to supplement my public school teacher salary XD I also hope to make long-lasting connections and relationships with other writers as we grow, improve, and hopefully bust into the industry–if you haven’t already!

Something unique, special, strange, or unusual about you?
I write, produce, and perform/participate in local sketch comedy shows, improv comedy shows (no writing there, though, lol), and a local film festival here in my very favorite city, Houston, Texas! 😀

Cassie Randall

Member

May 2, 2023 at 10:14 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

Hi, I’m Cassie Randall!

How many scripts have you written?
Two full length movie scripts, one for a high school course and one for my master’s degree (not at all proud of either of them lol), a bunch of sketch comedy pieces, short plays, and monologues.

What do you hope to get out of the class?
How to write scripts that I’m actually proud of (!) and establish the work structure to continually improve with each future script. I want to learn how to pitch scripts effectively because, shallow as it sounds, I want to make money off of my scripts to supplement my public school teacher salary XD I also hope to make long-lasting connections and relationships with other writers as we grow, improve, and hopefully bust into the industry–if you haven’t already!

Something unique, special, strange, or unusual about you?
I write, produce, and perform/participate in local sketch comedy shows, improv comedy shows (no writing there, though, lol), and a local film festival here in my very favorite city, Houston, Texas! 😀

Cassie Randall

Member

May 2, 2023 at 4:19 pm in reply to: Confidentiality Agreement

I, Cassie Randall, 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.

Cassie Randall

Member

Member

May 23, 2023 at 12:51 pm in reply to: Lesson 1

I think it is where assignments go, and I am so relieved too, lol.
Let me see about possible character structures…
It looks like you have:

1. Sergeant Reese

2. Mother

3. Congressman

They all seem to be “good guys”/on the same side/same goal to help the mother, so there’s no inherent conflict like the dramatic triangle examples (Alien, Star Wars). This structure looks like it could work if one of those three characters was an antagonistic force after the other two, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the structure of your story.

My thought process would be something like:

-What is the relationship between all of the above characters? Any good guy/bad guy stuff going on?

I got my master’s in English, focus on screenwriting. There was a required class on classroom management or something, and the teacher was a cool guy, but you could tell he’d never been in a public school classroom before hahaha XD

Cassie Randall

Member

May 3, 2023 at 9:46 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

Hey, Ruthie! No, it’s crazy, I moved here nine years ago and I haven’t been! 🙁 Have you been before?

Cassie Randall

Cassie Randall

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