[Eileen Montelione]

Subject line: Eileen Montelione’s Big M.I.S.

What I learned doing this assignment is it’s difficult— but essential to simplify the M.I.S.

Logline:
After surviving a terrible attack, Carla wakes up from a coma with retrograde amnesia. Her husband, Derrick Marshall juggles his political career while helping her adjust back into her life at home, and vows to find her attacker.

Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
Carla Marshall, a victim of a brutal attack that left her with no memory of her past. When her memory is triggered, she soon realizes that the man who claims to be her husband isn’t, and that she isn’t actually Carla Marshall. She’s Morgan Gibson, a small town engineer/wife/mother, who’s been reported missing for nearly a year.

Dangerous Villain:
Derrick Marshall, an ambitious and powerful governor who will stop at nothing to climb the political ladder. He has covered up his wife’s murder by replacing her with an unwitting look-alike, our hero, Carla/Morgan.

High stakes:
Derrick’s dead wife and his other victims, Carla/Morgan’s life, her real family’s lives, unveiling a conspiracy, political power in the wrong hands

Life and death situations:
Carla/Morgan’s initial attack, car chase, (wo)manhunt, her family held hostage

This story is thrilling because?
Carla immediately feels uneasy when Derrick takes her home from the hospital. As she begins to unravel the truth, he becomes suspicious that she knows, and tries to kill her. She narrowly escapes, outsmarting him with traps she engineers along the way back to her real home.

Big Mystery: What is the main mystery of your story that will keep us wondering throughout the story?
Who is Carla, and what happened to her?
Why can’t she remember anything before her attack?
Who attacked her, and why?

Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie?
Our main character discovers that she is the center of a murderous political conspiracy, and everything she has been told about herself is a lie.

Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script?
When her “husband” finds out that she knows the truth, he and his hired hands promise to hunt her and her real family down until they’re dead.

How will she and her real family escape Derrick, and live to tell the truth?

[Eileen Montelione]

Eileen Montelione
I agree to the terms of the 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.

[Eileen Montelione]

Thank you for your concern and your suspicion, Jolene.

Always nice to be wrongfully accused of something. Makes for quite a first impression.

But hey, you got the genre right, it’s textbook Thriller, so I’ll give you that.

Rest assured, I have infinite ideas of my own, verging on too many, and my mental real estate is at capacity. No room in here for anyone’s ideas but mine…just ask my husband:)

Jo, can I call you Jo? I would highly advise you to contact tech support if something is downloading on your computer without your consent. It’s usually a better plan than jumping to the conclusion that it must be a fellow classmate who didn’t introduce herself or sign a confidentiality agreement.

By the way, thanks for asking, or did you ask? Hell, it doesn’t matter, I’m gonna tell ya anyway. The reason I didn’t introduce myself or sign the agreement isn’t because I’m some evil mastermind lurking on indie screenwriting forums (although that’s a fun idea that’s up for grabs). The reason is: I wasn’t even given login information until well after the class officially began. It took three attempts of reaching out to support. Finally, when I threatened to dispute the charges, someone got back to me with login credentials. So, forgive me, I’m still playin’ catch up.

But, thanks for bringing my poor manners to my attention.

Hello, everyone, I’d like to formally introduce myself:

Name’s Eileen.

I’m a damned good writer and an even better person.

Been writing for a long time, and am excited to be dipping my toes in the Thriller genre.

Hope we all have fun, and stay respectful of one another.

P.S. No hard feelings, Jolene. I’ve got one hell of a sense of humor. It’s what’s gotten me through life. I got quite a kick out of your reply to my posted assignment, and had fun defending myself:)

P.P.S. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go see a man about a confidentiality agreement…

[Eileen Montelione]

What I learned doing this assignment is…?

Delivering on the conventions and expectations of a genre is essential.

Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Dr. Richard Kimball a successful vascular surgeon

Dangerous Villain:
We are led to believe the one-armed man worked alone, but it turns out Dr. Charles Nichols, Kimball's long time friend & confidant was at the top of the conspiracy all along

High stakes: Dr. Kimball is an innocent man who has been sentenced to death for the brutal murder of his wife. No one seems to believe him, yet he's determined to avenge her death and track down her killer.

Life and death situations:
Bus crash & train collision
Manhunts
Ambulance chase
Diving off the dam
Face to face battles with the one armed man

This movie is thrilling because?
The suspense never stops. An innocent man narrowly escapes death row and attempts to solve his wife's murder while evading the police and US Marshalls at every turn. We can't wait to see how he will continue to slip through the fingers of the authorities again and again in order to buy time to find the real killer.

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

Big Mystery: Who is the one-armed man that murdered Mrs. Kimball?
Big Intrigue: Why did anyone want to murder her? We see Dr. Kimball deduce that the intended victim was actually him, not his wife. Which is even more intriguing, because we find out that the murder was part of a larger pharma conspiracy.
Big Suspense: Car chases, manhunts, subterfuge

4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?

The Fugitive is one of my favorite films because it follows the conventions of the genre without being convoluted. I love all the twists and turns. And, that Dr. Nichols, Kimball's close friend is someone Kimball and the audience fully trust until we don't. The suspense keeps going all the way until the end.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by  Eileen Montelione. Reason: Spacing seems weird
• This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by  Eileen Montelione.

[Eileen Montelione]

No, I’ve never heard of it, but will check it out. Thx for the recommendation:)