[Jan Kaschner]

I, Jan Kaschner, agree to this confidentiality agreement document.

[Jan Kaschner]

DARK INTENT – Character Subtext

A. NARIAH NILSSON
1. Character surface: Brilliant, highly skilled undercover special agent,

who takes risks and is self-centered and confident.
2. Character Subtext: Emotionally insecure and wounded. She craves

family and human connection, and fears the dark.

B. EMERSON BLACK
1. Character Surface: Gregarious and generous author and inventor. 2. Character Subtext: Greedy, selfish capitalist who hates his family,

but needs family and connection.

C. MOTHER REVEREND ASHANTI
1. Character Surface: A pious Catholic nun.
2. Character Subtext: A renegade missionary, thief and unwed mother.

Giving our lead characters can open up the doors to vivid characters.

[Jan Kaschner]

ENVIRONMENTAL SUBTEXT

Environment 1: Nariah’s portable shrine that displays her dual religions. It consists of a Catholic crucifix and a small Buddha, along side of her yoga mat. Here she connects with and receives guidance from the deities of Buddhism and Catholicism and her Grandmother’s spirit.

Environment 2: The Night. Because Nariah has Nyctophobia, the darkness is her biggest challenge.

Environment 3: The Lab – This is where Nariah gets her energy and transmissions. This is her home base.

By doing this assignment, I learned to intentionally think about locations in terms of subtext.

[Jan Kaschner]

DARK INTENT PLOT SUBTEXT

Surface: Orphaned since two, Special Agent Nariah Nielsen’s first mission is to stop Russian hackers from causing a world wide blackout. <div>

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Major Twist: Nariah battles Nyctophobia!

Her first step is to get a special generator and a drone from Emerson Black, a reclusive inventor, living in the Andes Mountains, but not to trust him. <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>(Subtext)

As she leaves Emerson, she’s redirected to Cairo, Egypt to sync up the generator to the thermo energy of the Great Pyramid As she leaves, she sees the Pyramids blow up behind her. The generator was a bomb! (<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Subtext: That’s why she couldn’t trust Emerson!)

When Nariah battles the Russian hackers, Emerson swoops in and captures her. Knowing about her fear of the dark, he tortures her. The biggest torture is when he tells her that he is her long lost brother, and that he had to kill their grandmother. <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Deeper meaning: The sibling that Nariah has longed for is the evil mastermind of the take over of the world’s interconnected electric grid!

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Even <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Deeper Meaning: Nariah must destroy her own brother.

</div>

[Jan Kaschner]

Hey Hal,

As in Pro Series and the Master Screenwriting classes, will it be possible to get the assignment before the Saturday class?

Some of us like to review lessons and handouts before the call/lesson, so it’s not all new material. That may be why there were questions regarding what the 5 Star Model elements were.

If we have the prompts ahead of time, the demo makes more sense, and we can take notes on our printed out lesson.

Thanks,

Jan