Heidi James
Forum Replies Created
-
Subject line: Heidi James World and Characters!
What I learned doing this assignment is… the layers keep building and building the more questions you ask and deeper you dig!
CONCEPT – A swaggering team of lady cons meet at a cabin in the woods to divvy up the latest score. When the loot never arrives, accusations fly and the women realize more than their sisterhood is at stake when killing time turns into killing each other… watch your back, sister.
Big Mystery: When, how, and will Sam kill one of her own?
Big Intrigue:
Is the man on the phone setting Sam up or is he really in love with her?
Big Suspense: If Sam doesn’t kill Tommi, will the man on the phone come and kill her?
The Intriguing World for this story: An isolated cabin hidden deep in the woods that acts as a pressure cooker.
Characters:
<div>
Sam – Queen Of Clubs – Den mother and foundation of the team. The level-headed one — until today.
a. Whose side is Sam really on? The man on the phone or her sisters? </div><div>
b. Will she be able to kill Tommi or will Tommi kill her?
c. What is she really up to?
Charlie – Queen Of Hearts – The damaged lover and seducer, screwing her sister’s husband.
a. Did she rat Tommi out to her husband Johnny? Does she have her own plan with the man on the phone? </div><div>
b. Will Tommi kill her?
c. Why does she cover up her heart with tough sex talk?
Jo – Queen of Diamonds – The peacemaker and spiritual gangster
Is her innocent girl an act or is she really innocent?
Can she bear the emotional trauma of seeing the sisters so at each other’s throats – “divorce”
What exactly is her connection to Tommi’s husband Johnny?
</div>Tommi – Queen Of Spades – The wild child bilingual knife-thrower, married to Johnny and just had an affair with “The Horse”. She looks guilty of everything.
a. Did Tommi betray Sam? And how?
b. Will she kill Charlie or whoever ratted her out to Johnny?
c. Did Tommi rob the group fund and fuck Sam’s ex fiance?
-
Follow The Queen – A modern-noir thriller adapted from a hit Off-Broadway play
What I learned doing this assignment: How hard the Logline is to write for this (any thriller?) because I do not want to give away what the secret is – but without it, seems bland. It is difficult because it is an ensemble piece (a team of four women) and that makes it more complex to breakdown than just hero/villain.
Logline: A swaggering team of lady cons meet at a cabin in the woods to field delivery of the latest score. When the loot never arrives, bets and accusations start to fly and killing time turns into killing each other… watch your back, sister.
CONVENTIONS:
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Sam, The Queen of Clubs. The den mother and foundation of the group — until tonight.
Dangerous Villain: Man on the phone (who turns out to be Johnny — Tommi’s husband and secret lover of all the Queens)
High stakes: Sam must kill one of her “sisters” tonight in the cabin before midnight.
Life and death situations: Each Queen arrives at the cabin with a loaded gun. “Kill Bill” style fight when shit hits the fan.
This story is thrilling because:
Intimate female friendships are dangerous. Especially for four childhood friends turned con-team. They are emotionally, physically and mentally connected and must have trust — which they currently have none. We are constantly trying to figure out who knows what or who has done what to who – and what Sam is really up to. The big reveal at the end is that Sam knows Johnny has been watching them all night and she is out-conning him.
Big Mystery: Who is the Man on the phone and how did Tommi betray Sam?
Big Intrigue: (very hidden until third act) Sam is out-conning the Man on the phone (and the audience)
Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script?
What we SEE: Will Sam be able to kill Tommi – 1. emotionally (it is her sister she has loved all her life) 2. physically (Tommi is a master with guns and knives) Will she be able to bring her other two teammates around to her side? Or will they retaliate?
UNDERNEATH: Will Sam be able to get the women to confess to betraying their sister Tommi by sleeping with her husband Johnny and thereby set her plan into motion — make it look like she kills them all in a jealous rage, then offs herself so that Johnny will think they are dead and send his spy drones away. then the queens can regroup and get their money (and trust and sisterhood) back.
-
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
How to identify the differences between mystery, intrigue, and suspense in a film.
How to watch for twists that further the suspense or mystery – vs – things that just confuse.
PIG – Thriller Conventions (The genre said thriller but I realized while watching that though it was mysterious, intriguing, and suspenseful, it did not necessarily have life and death situations – more, an authentic life – vs – metaphorical death of the soul situations. I will repeat the assignment with more of an action thriller tomorrow?
– Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Robin Feld, a once successful Chef traumatized by the death of his wife Laurie and the realization that his “success” amounts to nothing more than a meaningless lie, now lives with a truffle pig at an isolated camp outside of Portland.
<div>
– Dangerous Villain: A restaurant owner/competitive father who hires men to steal the truffle pig. (metaphorically – a Capitalistic society incapable of empathy)
– High stakes: Will Robin get the only thing he cares about in life back, his pet pig.
– Life and death situations: While looking for the pig, Robin and the sidekick enter some dangerous situations and the pig is ultimately killed.
– This movie is thrilling because? You don’t know what will happen next or what has happened in before (in the past of the character)
3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
Big Mystery: Who bashed Robin over the head and stole his truffle pig? </div><div>
Big Intrigue: What happened to this man in the past to make him live like this?
Big Suspense: Will Robin find his pig and be rejoined with the only thing he loves?
4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
Suspense is heightened by what is left out instead of what is explained as in a Harold Pinter play.
</div>
-
Heidi James
Two pilots, one feature, one short, a transcription of a documentary and two treatments.
How to write a compelling and suspenseful thriller!!! A fully realized feature script of an adaptation of a hit off-broadway I have optioned.
My dad starred in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
-
Heidi James
I agree
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.
-
Thanks for this, Roscoe! I’m going to watch this.