[Catherine Johnson Johnson]

ASSIGNMENT #3: CREATING YOUR THRILLER WORLD:

Subject Line: Catherine Johnson’s World and Characters!

What I learned doing ths assignment is: “I needed a Red Herring. I liked the twist/sub-plot that creating the Red Herring made.”

One part of the World is at Billy’s work area, JFK Airport, US Customs incoming tarmac/cargo/quarantine storage (fenced) areas.

Billy’s basement apartment in the Bronx; other areas within the building.

Restaurants in the East Village

Apartments of several victims.

The Detective’s home in Brooklyn.

Times Square, New Year’s Eve

Alley in Hell’s Kitchen

Billy’s Mother’s apartment in Manhattan.

1. Remind us of your CONCEPT: Log: Some killers slip through the cracks.

Big Mystery: The Detective has to first determine if a crime is happening and then try to identify/find the weapon and the killer.

Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie? Will this killer slip through the cracks?

Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script? The Detective could also be a victim at any time…and/or so could her daughter.

2. Tell us the Intriguing World you have selected for this story.

3. With your top 2 or 3 characters, tell us the role they play and then answer these three questions:

Characters:

VILLAIN: Billy Rogers: New York transplant born in Oklahoma. His hobby is caring for stow-away critters he finds in shipments at work. Most of them are harmless. Really.

Billy seems shy but he just doesn’t have much social experience; not very good with women, but he’d love to find a caring mate if such a thing exists.

HERO: Detective Erin Harrigan, NYPD Homicide Detective. Iraqi War Veteran. Does not like pests.

Also possible HERO: Elizabeth Harrigan, Detective Harrigan’s teenage daughter. Sixteen going on twenty. Like any teen, thinks she’s bullet-proof. Loves exotic pets. Not fond of New York City.

RED HERRING: Co-worker, JIM. He’s been “siphening off” incoming goods and his team becomes the focus of US Custom’s Investigation and his boss’ death.

4. What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.

[Catherine Johnson Johnson]

Catherine J’s Big M.I.S.

[Thriller] Day 2: The Big Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense

ASSIGNMENT #2

“What I learned doing this assignment is: To not get ahead of myself; take the story-building one step at a time.”

Logline: “Some killers slip through the cracks.”

1. What are the conventions of your story?

· Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: NYPD Homicide Detective

· Dangerous Villain: The killer

High stakes: Identify the killer and get him off the streets

· Life and death situations: He’s using a weapon that is thus far untraceable.

· This story is thrilling because? The weapon is powerful and the detective is deathly afraid of it.

2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?

· Big Mystery: The Detective has to first determine if a crime is happening and then try to identify/find the weapon and the killer.

· Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie? Will this killer slip through the cracks?

· Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script? The Detective could also be a victim at any time…and/or so could her daughter.

[Catherine Johnson Johnson]

Catherine Johnson

“I agree to the terms of this release form.”

GROUP RELEASE FORM FOR “THRILLER 20” CLASS

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

1. That everyone’s work here is copyrighted and they are the sole
owner of that work. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this
group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that
idea.

2. That this program is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun and I will not share,
disclose, present, or deliver the information, design, and writing of this
program to anyone for any reason without written permission from Hal Croasmun.

3. That I will keep the other writers’ ideas and writing confidential
(including Hal’s materials) 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 Thriller 20.

[Catherine Johnson Johnson]

ASSIGNMENT #1 for Catherine Johnson

Subject line: HARD CANDY (Drama, Thriller) This is an older film but it was a fairly contained movie.

What I learned from this assignment is that I should pay attention to the beats in my story.

This movie repeats the beats a lot. I found it annoying. It made me realize that a serial killer movie needs to have deeper meaning in each victim scene; move the story fwd, reveal character, etc. Not just rack up victims.

I chose to watch a movie I had not seen before. Hard Candy, a drama thriller (2004) was written by Brian Nelson and directed by David Slade.

· Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: This is a kind of a buddy film, with the protagonist and antagonist going on the journey together. From imdb.com we get this summary: “A 32 yr old man meets up with a 14 yr old girl in a Candy shop. She talks him into taking her back to his place. Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee/candy shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.”

· Dangerous Villain: Our first impression is that Jeff is the villain (a pedophile trying to hook up with a girl he met online. They reverse rolls (like the characters in Mississippi Burning did) at the start of act 2 and we learn the dangerous villain is Haley (with shades of Monster (2003) in her spirit).

· High stakes: It is truly life or death for each of them.

· Life and death situations: Numerous instances in Act 2 & Act 3.

· This movie is thrilling because? You don’t know what’s going to be the outcome and the plot has many twists and turns.

· 3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?

· Big Mystery: Is Jeff going to try to seduce Hayley? Or kill her? Or keep her? or is Hayley going to seduce Jeff? Hold him prisoner? Kill him? Expose him? Drive him mad? Is she really crazy?

· Big Intrigue: Haley is far more prepared for this day than Jeff is.

· Big Suspense: What’s going to happen to Jeff? To Hayley?

4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller? I wouldn’t say great but it fit the criteria. Also, good acting. Bad make-up.

5. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and

put it at the top of your work.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by  Catherine Johnson Johnson.

[Catherine Johnson Johnson]

Name: Catherine Johnson

How many scripts have I written? 6 and numerous others in the works.

I am rewriting a thriller I wrote several years ago. I hope to finish it this month.

I have had lots of strange pets over the years. I love screenwriting because it merges everything I do creatively. I was a visual artist first; now I paint with words.

[Catherine Johnson Johnson]

ASSIGNMENT: Movie title: THE HANDLER

Surface Plot: A Baggage Handler in US Customs has a lot of baggage of his own.

Below the Surface: Until now, he has done a terrible job of handling his own baggage.

He’s terrible with women. Has a lot of “Mommy” issues and anger. He would rather sit at home alone with his “pets” which he finds and adopts from the incoming quarantine section at work. Today, he finds a special pet, not knowing that it has special power and conditions that will give him unlimited power to change his world for ever.

WHAT I LEARNED:

Originally, my main character was male and when he breaks bad and begins killing women, I had his antagonist as a male homicide detective. I looked hard below the surface and found it much more interesting to make the detective a female and gave her a surprising backstory which further complicates the plot and gives a deeper payoff at the end.