Christopher Harboldt
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Chris’s Character Death Track
What I learned from this assignment is that figuring out the “why” helps give the script more depth.
Character Death 1: The baby has died. It’s unknown how. Innocent. It starts the horror.
Why? It raises the question, is the mother losing her mind or did the son kill her?
Character Death 2: The cousin, a beautiful, spoiled rotten, wannabe internet star is bludgeoned to death live online. She’s blind sided.
Why? She finally gets the views that she’s always strived for, but loses her life to get them.
Character Death 3: The Uncle, a narcissistic bodybuilder is also blindsided. He is killed with one of his dumbbells.
Why? Increases the horror.
Character Death 4: Dad’s head is crushed by the Android. He’s betrayed
Why? Moral reason. He was naive and didn’t give his son much attention.
Character Death 5: Grandpa’s seemingly beaten to death and one of his eyes are plucked out.
Why? Grandpa sees the grandson in a sex act with the female Android. The Monster made the decision.
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Chris’s Horror Track
What I learned from doing this assignment is that the Horror Track helps with developing the spine of the story.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established A baby cries. The mother appears to be holding a baby, but she’s actually holding nothing but a baby blanket. Dad is saddened by this. Son is consumed with his phone. The proto type droid is confused.
Horror Situation: The mom and dad argue about her taking too much medication.
Reaction- Denial She pleads that she needs them. Flashback of her on her knees wailing as she holds her lifeless daughters body.
Horror Situation: She’s haunted by the voice of the baby. There’s something evil in this house.
Reaction- Solve Father wants to call her doctor to see if he can change her meds again.
Connect with the characters The son is home alone all day, immersed in his phone and is agitated that the family Android is cleaning his room. The father gets home and immediately gets on his computer for more work. The mother tries to replicate a dinner recipe from social media. They’re all busy and interact sparingly.
The characters are warned not to do it. The grandfather warns the parents that giving the grandson full access to the internet and social media could be damaging to him.
Denial of Horror The father thinks that he’s over reacting. He’s just a boy.
Safety taken away The vehicles are disabled. All cells are confiscated.
Horror Situation: At the kitchen table, the young son points a gun that he found at his mother.
Reaction- Denial Father – He obviously thought it was a toy. He’s just a boy.
Horror Situation: Mom and Father argue about the meds again. This time she dumps them in the toilet. They fall asleep in the living room watching a movie and she chokes her son in her sleep.
Reaction- Fight Father struggles to pry her hands from around the boy’s throat.
Monster: The nature of the beast. Shocking images of torture, death and the Dark Web are seen.
Horror Situation: Son shows his mother the small Bluetooth speakers that he hid throughout the house. He then plays audio on his phone of his sister crying. The mother is in shock as she realizes that he’s been torturing her all along.
Reaction- They are dismayed , yet hopeful as they leave there son in a scary psychiatric ward.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN FFWD 10 Years later
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted The house is locked down.
Horror Situation: Disturbed patients wander around the facility as the parents pick up their quiet, but smiling son to take home.
Reaction- The mom is slightly leery of her son.
Horror Situation: The new droid is acting strangely.
Reaction- Denial Dad ( who developed the droid) can’t believe that there might be a glitch.
One of us killed A cousin is killed, but the family thinks that she just wandered off for a walk.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer To his disgust, Grandpa observes his grandson engaged sexually with the android. Grandpa is murdered.
Terrorized It is now known that the son has hacked the android and turned it into a murderous accomplice. The mother gains access to her father’s homing pigeons and sends a message for help.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death They try to destroy the android.
Hysteria the Aunt and Uncle believe that they’re going to die. They do.
The thrilling escape from death The android is seemingly destroyed by the mother and father. A huge sigh of relief.
Death returns to take one or more. The android, badly damaged, re activates and kills the father.
Resolution The mother is forced to watch all the murders which are being projected by the android onto the wall. She’s in agony as she hears her son giving commands to kill in the video. She begins having a nervous breakdown. Flashing lights and sirens are heard in the distance. The android quickly approaches her and snaps her neck.
Cut to the hospital where she springs up from bed screaming. She’s alive but severely traumatized.
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Chris’s Horror Plot
What I learned from doing this assignment is that my initial concept needs to be overhauled.
Create your plot.
1. Knowing your concept, fill in one or two sentences for each of the plot points.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established The killers POV images of the family dog being chased and killed are projected onto a wall as the mother screams in terror.
Connect with the characters The son is home alone all day, immersed in his phone and is agitated that the family Android is cleaning his room. The father gets home and immediately gets on his computer for more work. The mother tries to replicate a dinner recipe from social media. They’re all busy and interact sparingly.
The characters are warned not to do it. The grandfather warns the parents that giving the grandson full access to the internet and social media could be damaging to him.
Denial of Horror The father thinks that he’s over reacting. He’s made a pretty good living in the robotics world.
Safety taken away The vehicles are disabled. All cells are confiscated.
Monster: The nature of the beast. Shocking images of torture, death and the Dark Web are seen.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted The house is locked down.
One of us killed A cousin is killed, but the family thinks that she just wandered off for a walk.
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Full pursuit by the killer To his disgust, Grandpa observes his grandson engaged sexually with the android. Grandpa is murdered.
Terrorized It is now known that the son has hacked the android and turned it into a murderous accomplice. The mother gains access to her father’s homing pigeons and sends a message for help.
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death They try to destroy the android.
Hysteria the Aunt and Uncle believe that they’re going to die. They do.
The thrilling escape from death The android is seemingly destroyed by the mother and father. A huge sigh of relief.
Death returns to take one or more. The android, badly damaged, re activates and kills the father.
Resolution The mother is forced to watch all the murders which are being projected by the android onto the wall. She’s in agony as she hears her son giving commands to kill in the video. She begins having a nervous breakdown. Flashing lights and sirens are heard in the distance. The android quickly approaches her and snaps her neck.
Cut to the hospital where she springs up from bed screaming. She’s alive but severely traumatized.
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Chris’s Characters for Horror
What I learned is that by honing in on Group, Dying Pattern and Characters helps with the structure of the storyline.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen.
A grieving, haunted mother, struggles to keep her sanity while believing that her son may be trying to push her over the edge.
Social Group – Family
Father, Son and Mother
2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie.
The characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two die. The grieving Father struggles to cope with a wife who seems to be losing her mind and possibly suicidal.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
The Father is a Leader. He believes that his wife is hallucinating on her meds and that she needs to go see her Doctor and have them adjusted. He also tries to help her with her grief. The Father is also a rescuer as he tries to save his wife.
The Mother is a Out of Control character. She believes that she’s being haunted and that her son could be evil.
The Son is an Introvert. He’s immersed with technology and especially his phone.
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Chris’s terrifying Monster
What I learned doing this assignment is that a great monster consists of a combination of three things– being unique, unknown and terrifying.
Tell us what or who your monster is.
My Monster is the son, a techie, who has killed his baby sister and tries to push his unstable mother over the edge.
Give us a few sentences for each of the following for your monster:
Their Terror: He uses technology, such as small, hidden Bluetooth speakers to terrorize his grieving mother.
Their Mystery: The mother and audience doesn’t know who or what is doing the terrorizing. We don’t see the Monster until it’s revealed that it’s been the son all along.
Their Fear Provoking Appearance: The young son wears a mask of innocence. Think Damien from The Omen.
Their Rules: He preys upon his mom’s technological ignorance.
Their Mythology: He has been babysat by the Dark Web and How To videos.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Christopher Harboldt.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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(The Shining) Horror Conventions
What I learned doing this assignment.
This movie checks off all the conventions and has a layered, smart story.
Title / Concept: A writer with a drinking problem and anger issues moves his family into a isolated hotel to become the winter caretaker. A former caretaker, Mr. Grady, killed his family there with an axe. Will history repeat itself?
Terrorize The Characters: An axe wielding father hunts down his wife and son.
Isolation: They live in a massive hotel which frequently becomes inaccessible because of snow storms.
Death: Jack threatens his wife Wendy, telling her that he’s going to bash her brains in. He attempts to get to his wife by chopping through their bathroom door with an axe. He kills Mr. Halloran, the cook, with an axe. He chases his son through a maze with the axe.
Monster/Villain: Mr. Grady, who influences Jack and Jack.
High Tension: Wendy finds out that she and her son won’t be able to escape. Jack has sabotaged the radio and vehicle.
Departure from Reality: Their son Danny has horrendous premonitions. Jack is either being haunted or losing his mind or both.
Moral Statement: This I could use some help with. Any takers?
3. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great horror film? The Shining is a psychological horror classic. The acting, writing, cinemaphotography and score are fantastic!
4. With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.
Concept: A grieving mother, who’s being terrorized in her home struggles to keep her sanity while her son may or may not be trying to push her over the edge.
Terrorize The Characters: Someone or something speaks through the baby monitor. The mother, who’s on meds, hears the cries of her dead baby, etc. She has horrific dreams.
Isolation: Isolated farm house
Death: Infant daughter dies. Will the mother overdose on her meds or kill herself in another way?
Monster/Villain: Is reveled to be the son.
High Tension: The mother finds out that her son is indeed trying to push her over the edge. He uses several technologies to terrorize her.
Departure from Reality: Is the mother seeing and hearing things because she’s on meds or losing her mind or both?
Moral Statement: Letting technology such as the internet, cell phone and computer babysit your child might be a recipe for disaster.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Christopher Harboldt.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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Chris Harboldt
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.
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Hello everyone,
1. My name is Chris Harboldt.
2. I’ve written 4 feature length scripts and have co-written several shorts.
3. I’m here to learn and up my Horror writing.
4. I’m a pretty good mimic of celebrities and cartoon characters.