[George Krubski]

George’s Hero and Villain

What I learned doing this assignment is that by asking yourself a series of themed but relatively straightforward questions, you can really flesh things out. With a few focal points, I was able to build out a network of interconnected answers that help flesh out some themes.

Concept:

Hero Morally Right: Marshall Steel is an icon of justice, driven by a nuanced decisions about what is right. Here, he wants to clear his name and return to his role serving his country.

Villain Morally Wrong: Ursula Pierce is driven by victory. For her, the ends justify the means, even if innocents must pay. Success at all costs – justice is only for those strong enough to claim it for themselves. (Escalation: Ursula is the opposite of Steel: She doesn’t care anything about right and wrong, just victory.)

Hero

A. Unique Skill Set: Steel mixes the physical skills of a special forces operative with the intellectual drive of a Supreme Court justice.

B. Motivation: Justice… for himself, and the country. (Escalation: In my original take, Steel was on the run after an assassination attempt, but by being framed for a crime, it removes various venues he could turn to, and also ties in better with the theme of justice.)

C. Secret or Wound: Steel wasn’t always the man he is today. His wound is that in his younger days, he believed that the ends justified the means, and the led to – among other things – the destruction of a small village of innocents in the Central American country of Val Verde. His career seeking justice since then is an effort to balance the scales and beat back the guilt. (Escalation: Again, this is an opportunity to hit the theme of justice and balance. Originally his “wound” was just being hunted, but giving him a dark past deepens things, and also deepens his connection with the villain.)

Villain

A. Unbeatable: Ursula has the same training that Steel has, but she isn’t hampered with morals. Further, she has a full organization at her disposal. (Escalation: My original intention was that Ursula was going to be either Steel’s protégé or the student of his mentor. However, she’s now a survivor of the massacre at Val Verde, adopted and raised by Steel’s mentor. So, basically, Steel “created” her, and she has a personal state in bringing him down.)

B. Plan/Goal: Initially to kill Steel in an “accident,” then to frame him and put him on the run, which gives her and her team cover to kill him.

C. What they lose if Hero survives: Failure is not an option. Ursula’s masters demand success, and she’s staked her life on it. If she can’t beat Steel, they’ll be exposed… and she’ll be lucky to live long enough to be a scapegoat. (Escalation: Rather than just a mercenary, Ursula is now cast as a zealot willing to put her life on the line to get the job done.)

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero in Action: A staged car accident puts Steel on the run, framed as a drunk driver who killed a family. (Escalation: Originally, this was an assassination attempt, but making it a frame job changes things.)

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: In the aftermath of the accident (which Steel was not supposed to survive), a pair of “police officers” try to kill him. He fights them off, and recognizes them by their tattoos… which he has one of, too! As he tries to survive and clear his name, he faces an increasing number of skilled enemies.

C. Destroy the Villain: Not only does Steel have
to face Pierce, he also has to deal with the conspiracy she represents… as well
as the sins of his own past in Val Verde. (By adding Steel’s “wound” the final
confrontation with Ursula will become much deeper, almost a superhero/supervillain
duality, since he “created” her and she has now become the worst version of
what he could have been. I also want to escalate the conspiracy… it may be that
both “sides” have a stake in Steel being taken out. Still thinking it through.)

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by  George Krubski.

[George Krubski]

George’s Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is that there are some ways to quickly and easily develop an idea by fleshing it out and answering some simple questions… even if the idea is as cheesy as “What if Arnold Schwarzenegger or Stephen Seagal were a Supreme Court Justice?”

Concept: “Justice Under Fire.” Former special forces operative and current Supreme Court Justice Marshall Steele finds himself on the run from a shadowy organization looking to gain a majority on the high court by any means necessary.

Conventions

Hero: These days, Marshall Steele has a reputation as an even-handed judge willing to weigh all sides in an issue, leading to a role as the swing vote on the Supreme Court on most issues. In his younger days, he dispensed justice in a completely different way – as a special forces operative in the jungles of South America and Asia.

Demand For Action: When a minor accident puts Justice Steele in the hospital, he finds himself targeted by a mysterious group looking to turn a fender-bender into something with more dramatic and permanent results.

Mission: Justice Steele must survive against an army of assassins intent on removing him from the court and preventing him from writing a series of opinions on a trio of potentially history-making cases.

Antagonist: The Monopoly is a sinister syndicate representing political interests, and employing a seemingly endless army of expert assassins and agents, the most prominent of whom, Ursula Pierce, shares a personal history with Steele.

Escalating Action: As a runs for his life, Steele realizes that what appeared to be an accident was actually a staged attempt at murder, and the group calling the shots may have connections to the White House.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by  George Krubski.

[George Krubski]

Hi, folks! Nice to see everybody! I look forward to getting to know you all over the next few weeks!

My name is George Krubski. I’ve written 8-10 scripts, ranging from “What was I thinking?” to “decent enough to win local contests.”

I love writing but found the events of 2020 somewhat paralyzing. Not only was the industry in shambles, but I found it hard to figure out what to write about when I had no idea what the world was going to look like. Now that things are getting back on track, I want to start writing again, so what I’m hoping to get out of the class is something structured to help me get my feet wet again.

Something unique or unusual… In addition to the scripts noted above, I was the head writer for a fan-created virtual series that extended the life of a prematurely cancelled TV show with 29 episode-length scripts. I wrote or co-wrote about a third of them, and closely reviewed and edited the remaining ones. It was quite a labor of love!

I’m a “structure geek” and love things like Save the Cat, Soth’s 8 minimovies, and Schecter’s My Story Can Beat Up Your Story. I’m trying to ingrain it all in my daughter at an early age. She’s twelve and will often lean over to be during a movie and say “We’re at mini-movie six. Here comes the nadir…”

[George Krubski]

George Krubski: 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.