Forum Replies Created

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    October 5, 2023 at 12:08 pm in reply to: Lesson 4

    Carol Kennedy: Key Business Decisions

    What I learned doing this assignment is to think like a Producer and make sound business decisions.
    NOTE: I’ve had to change my script focus due to an impending contract.

    1. Give us the decisions that are in your current High Budget script:

    Genre: Dark Comedy
    Title: Ruling Bodies
    Concept: Congress has a serial
    killer, and they are a voting member. <div>

    Audience: 25 and over Females

    Budget: $2M to $5M

    Lead Characters:
    Sandra Warner, Congresswoman up
    for election, struggling with alcoholism and mourning the recent death of
    her beloved Senator father.

    David Chambers, strong, stoic father
    figure to Sandra with a dark secret.

    Julie Lu, Sandra’s overly
    ambitious assistant, sleeping her way to the top with Sandra’s nemesis.

    Debra Chambers, recovering
    alcoholic, socialite wife of David, with body dysmorphia issues and an
    unfiltered mouth.

    Kirsten Lexington, Sandra’s political
    opponent who likes to spread conspiracy theories.

    Jerry Warner, Sandra’s crazy brother, recently released from prison, who Sandra
    helped incarcerate. </div><div>

    Journey / Character Arc
    In the midst of a reelection
    campaign, Sandra must come to grips with the death of her father, her own
    advanced alcoholism and a growing public tension as more politicians meet with
    fatal ‘home accidents’. She’s a bad ass but losing her grip as alcoholism
    takes over her sensibilities, cleverness, and tact.

    Opening

    Opening is a murder and all we know is the Senator who is killed
    apparently knows the killer.

    Ending: Sandra discovers the killer has been in her own back yard the whole time – and she’s not all that opposed to the killer’s motives.

    </div>

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    October 3, 2023 at 12:47 am in reply to: Lesson 3

    ASSIGNMENT
    What I learned about this assignment is the value of becoming a genre expert.

    Carol Ann Kennedy

    Specialty — Dark Comedy (with strong female leads)

    Do a quick Google search for “top (genre) movies.” Select two of the top movies in your genre to watch.

    Don’t Look Up
    Burn After Reading

    3. As you watch each movie, take notes on how that movie fulfills the key parts of your genre.

    4. For each movie, tell us the following:

    Genre: Dark Comedy

    Title: Don’t Look Up

    ___________________________________________________

    How it delivered on the genre conventions

    Subject taboo
    Deals with the impending end of the world as two astronomers discover an extinction-level comet heading straight towards earth with impact estimated in 6 months.

    Ironic Characters/Situations

    As the two astronomers set out to ‘warn the world’ of their impending doom, they are met with a society more interested in social media ‘likes’, celebrity gossip, a President more interested in how she is doing in the polls and TV show hosts obsessed with ratings and their egos.

    Laughing at dark themes/subject matter
    The end of the world is nothing to laugh at; however, the movie takes you to the limits of absurd satire, from the idiot tasked to go up and blow the comet off course, to the clueless TV hosts who tell the two astronomers to ‘keep it light’ during their appearance to tell the world they have six months to live.

    BEATS THAT HIT THE CONVENTIONS

    The President’s Office treats them like school children on a visit to the White House, not scientists with a very dark message for humanity.

    Leonardo DiCaprio’s character has severe performance anxiety, and now he’s tasked with announcing a very dark message to the entire world.

    Kate Dibiasky (Dibiasky Comet) and her desperate Xanax and pot-infused rages as no one will listen.

    Kate finds, what might be, real love as the world is about to end.

    Kate’s ex-boyfriend capitalizes on her infamy, tweeting and blogging negative things about being in a relationship with her.
    _________________________________________________________

    Genre: Dark Comedy

    Title: Burn After Reading

    How it delivered on the genre conventions:

    Outline of the movie, highlighting the parts that fulfill the genre:

    Subject taboo

    An alcoholic, CIA analyst
    A woman obsessed with her weight and physical image

    A ‘muscle head’ personal trainer who thinks he’s smarter than he is.

    Ironic Characters/Situations

    “Dim-bulb” employees of a gym are thrust into a dangerous world of blackmail and espionage, way out of their normal domain, when they discover a CD accidently left by a gym patron that contains the memoir of a CIA analyst.

    Gym employee with body dysmorphia, just wanting money for her weight loss surgery and multiple planned cosmetic surgeries.

    Brad Pitt plays a male bimbo, obsessed with his looks and a surface-level thinker.

    Harry’s unexpected rage and erratic behavior quash their plans for an easy blackmail.

    They try to sell the information to the Russians and with the promise of more files. They must break into Harry’s computer; which results in the death Chad.

    Laughing at dark themes/subject matter

    Blackmail

    Murder/Violence

    Body dysmorphia
    Espionage

    Infidelity

    All of the ‘uncomfortable’ themes above are touched upon, and yet, the movie still manages to send us into uproarious laughter, mainly due to the absurd, over the top characters.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    September 29, 2023 at 10:51 pm in reply to: Lesson 2

    Carol Kennedy’s Credibility is Going Up!

    Here’s a very clear plan for building my credibility.

    Use more options in IMDB – could use more training on this
    Update my LinkedIn profile and link to my website
    Update my website
    Get Writing Assignments to post

    CREDIBILITY CHECKLIST

    1. Your Writing Sample

    ‘Recommend’ from Coverage – Yes
    Delivers on the genre in a strong way – Yes <div>

    Delivers on the business decisions – Yes

    2. Screenwriting Accomplishments

    Contest wins – No, but placed. </div>

    Smaller deals (options, sales, writing assignments) – optioned

    Larger deals not yet

    <div>

    Movies produced – One

    3. The Google factor

    Google your name. How many items on the first page show you as a professional screenwriter? NO

    Buzz posts, interviews, news reports, etc.. I presented at the ABQ Film Incubator

    4. Your Network

    How many producers are in your network? 30 </div><div>

    How many Connections do you have who are connected to producers? 40

    5. Education specific to screenwriting

    Degree in film or screenwriting – British National Film Institute </div><div>

    Master Screenwriter Certificate program at ScreenwritingU YES

    6. Borrowed Credibility

    Represented by an agent or manager
    NO </div><div>

    Working with a producer YES

    Connected to a star – No, but mentored by two well-known Hollywood screenwriters.
    Connected to a funding source – Producer

    7. IMDB CREDITS

    Go to [url=”http://imdb.com/”]http://IMDB.com[/url] and search your name. What credits show up there for you? I’m there but not much else. How do these credits work anyway?
    </div>

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    September 28, 2023 at 12:02 pm in reply to: Lesson 1

    Hi Everyone!

    The two projects that I bring to the class are:

    Tone Deaf – $2M to $3M

    Georgia – $1M to $2M

    I have learned that the most important thing to do is to graciously take feedback and use the opportunity to show how you can work collaboratively and efficiently.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    September 26, 2023 at 9:59 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

    Hi! I’m Carol!


    I’ve written at least 7 scripts (probably more, as I’ve been writing all my life!)

    I hope to secure writing assignments with the knowledge gained from this class.

    There’s a lot of strange things about me, but the one thing people find most interesting is that I play the sitar and studied under Ravi Shankar’s disciple.

    :)!!

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    September 26, 2023 at 9:55 pm in reply to: Confidentiality Agreement

    Carol Kennedy
    I agree to the terms of this release form.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 7, 2023 at 12:09 pm in reply to: Week 2 Day 5 – What I learned ..

    I learned clever ways to elevate the interactions between the Pro and Ant. All that has led up to where they are, their desires, motivations, goals, need to be cleverly ‘cast’ into the script. Dialogue should fit all of the above and, if coupled by the right environment, can lead to, not only great payoffs, but great set ups as well. Going back and looking at all of this in my current script as I have 2 very significant Ants and Pros.

  • What makes this scene fantastic is the unexpected reactions from what would be expected by someone getting their head bashed in by Batman. The Joker is just laughing, almost ‘getting off’ by Batman’s powers. The other interesting element of it is the Joker attempting to point out the similarities between the two and, in the end, how they are both alike (irony), even suggesting that they both should be against the same enemy. This seems to start to resonate a little with Batman, until Joker continues to spew venom from his mouth and he is reminded what a weasel this guy is. The motivation for Batman is to find out where he is holding the kidnapped victims. The motivation for Joker is to get out of this alive, even perhaps with a new ally. The taunting words by the Joker seem to be tempting Batman to beat him more, or join his forces. Such a great scene and the late Heath Ledger is brilliant.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 7, 2023 at 11:52 am in reply to: Week 2 Day 4 – What I learned …

    This was great for me as I have now gone back and elevated my screenplay with character reveals that uplift the entire story. Character reveals bring a more layered element to characters and, when done well, can bring everything to life. It’s an element that I’ve learned is a critical difference between a good script and a GREAT script. Will work on this more on all of my screenplays.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 7, 2023 at 11:46 am in reply to: Week 2 Day 4: Character Reveal – SPIDER-MAN

    I love that we are collectively being shocked by the reveal – both the audience and the character. His reaction mimics our reaction, along with the witnesses in the scene. And using something as mundane as a food tray to reveal it is also great irony, only increased when the bully comes after him. It’s also a ‘root for the underdog’ type of moment that we all love. The intensity level raises as we see the bully coming at him, but secretly know we are about to likely see more powers come to fruition and we do get that payoff big time.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 6, 2023 at 12:35 pm in reply to: Week 2 Day 3 – What I learned …

    I learned how subtext can really draw you in and, when coupled with irony, raises so many questions that you must find out what the answer is.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 6, 2023 at 12:32 pm in reply to: Week 2 Day 3: Character Subtext #1 – GET OUT

    The not too subtle subtext here is racism. From her feeling his muscles and examining his physique characteristic of how slaves were treated, to the woman asking about the stereotype of black men’s size, we understand who is at the party. The other subtext is the interaction between the two black men, with one attempting to be relatable from a cultural standpoint and the other totally clueless about it. The scene brings up so many questions that you almost MUST continue watching as you start to feel like the main character “What the F..k?”

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 5, 2023 at 12:38 pm in reply to: Week 2 Day 2 – What I learned …

    I learned that matching dialogue to contrasting environments can bring a scene to life.

  • LOL! A classic. She’s trying to convince a machismo, arrogant guy that he’s not all that great and has no idea about women and how most of them, at one time, have faked an orgasm. He’s pushing back, not having it, thinks she’s way off base because that’s never happened to him. He’s confident he knows women. She’s determined to show him different, and does…boy does she show him! She speaks in a matter of fact way about this personal subject that draws you in while doing something as mundane as eating a horrible looking sandwich. His confidence seems to wane as she makes her case in a simple, but effective way, finally making her case to the entire restaurant. Satisfied, she smiles, goes back to her sandwich. She proves her point in a dramatic, surprising way in contrast to the simple way the conversation began.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 4, 2023 at 12:03 pm in reply to: Week 2 Day 1 What I learned …

    This taught me just how much you can do without a lot of dialogue. I learned a lot about Jack through his actions, rather than the dialogue. I will now go back and look at actions in my lead characters and if they are worthy of who the character is and what the script is trying to accomplish.

  • Jack starts out unsure, nearly in shock at the carnage around him. He doesn’t know what to do until he sees a
    man calling for help stuck underneath the wreckage with an engine about to
    blow. That’s when Jack’s Super Hero kicks
    in. He suddenly becomes Jack the Unsure
    to Jack the Leader, directing people on what to do, where to go, how to
    help. When the pregnant woman is spotted
    he rushes into action, comforting her, getting more help and directing her what
    to do. We all want to be in an emergency
    with someone like Jack. He’s courageous,
    brave, compassionate, and a real leader.
    We see who he really is when he sees people in distress and suffering.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 1, 2023 at 7:07 pm in reply to: Day 5: What I learned …

    I learned some smart techniques in drawing the audience in simply with dialogue. I also learned how to cleverly ‘tie things off’ using contrast and irony, both in imagery and dialogue. It also made me look closer at themes and how you want to ‘leave an audience’.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    April 1, 2023 at 7:04 pm in reply to: Day 5: Resolution Scene

    Such a great scene! I think what makes this scene great is perspective. Usually when someone is dead or dying, we don’t hear a long monologue like this. He’s reviewing his life, which is in direct alignment with what he does throughout the film, but this time it’s from a sense of gratitude and not deprivation. His seemingly peaceful manner is also in stark contrast to the imagery of screaming and despair that we see on the screen, but in alignment to his nostalgia. And the irony of the end dialogue is that it kind of suddenly turns the camera on the viewer.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 30, 2023 at 12:01 pm in reply to: Day 4: What I learned …

    I learned how to enhance dialogue by the smallest of things like ‘don’t call me son’ and also inserting irony like telling Tom Cruise that ‘he can’t handle the truth’ when his role is responsible for exactly that. Irony helps build tension, the right irony helps create a scene. I’ll now go back and review this part of my script and make it better!

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 30, 2023 at 11:57 am in reply to: Day 4: 3rd Act Climax

    A Few Good Men — Taking Down Jessup

    One of the most well-written scenes in movie history in my opinion. The characters both have a significant arcs in this scene with Kaffee appearing initially nervous bumbling and intimidated by the highly decorated Colonel and the Colonel appearing pompous, arrogant, and annoyed by this ridiculous investigation. They have conflicting views of the world that are clear:

    COLONEL: Angry because he feels he is protecting him, his family and the country and can do whatever necessary to do so and ‘how dare he question HIM!
    He feels a significant sacrifice he has made in his life for everyone and he should not only be honored because of it, but respected and never questioned

    KAFFEE: Believes in integrity and honor should be coupled with such. He’s emotionally invested in the case and feels a duty to find the truth and disclose it.

    Here are several key dialogue points that make the scene so very good and continue to increase intension throughout:

    Calling him ‘son’ and demanding he be addressed by his title – arrogance and intimidation.

    “You snotty little bastard” heighten of tension.

    “You can’t handle the truth” the irony to Tom Cruises role, condescending.

    CLEAR ARC BOTH CHARACTERS MOVE TO:
    Tom Cruise’s confidence at the end ‘don’t call me son’…you son of a bitch”
    FINALLY:
    The Colonel completely now out of control/lost his cool: I’m going to rip the eyes out of your head and piss in your dead skull.”

    Of course, none of the above could be accomplished without the clever and skill of both Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 29, 2023 at 12:15 pm in reply to: Day 3: What I learned …

    What I learned is turning points are so ‘delicious’ when they slowly creep up on you. All of these turning points had an eerie feeling that got more intense and just were able to draw us in so cleverly. Every turning point seemed to pose a question that we had to hang on to in order get the answer. I rewrote a few of my turning points using this idea making them all the better.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 29, 2023 at 12:12 pm in reply to: Day 3: Three turning points

    GET OUT: Mother/Smoking Scene: I don’t think we’ve ever seen these two together like this so it already builds intrigue. It works as the mother’s ‘weirdness’ creeps up slowly and gets more and more intense and she delves deeper into his psychic ‘pain’.

    GET OUT: Seizure Scene: A lot of this works because of the unexpected and the irony of the scene. The weird, creepiness of the characters and their odd behavior increases the intrigue and mystery and the blood dripping down the nose draws you in, now we have to find out why that happened.

    GET OUT: End twist; It works because he is cornered. The desperation to ‘get out’ increases and only intensifies by her supposed inability to find the keys with a backdrop of the creepy dialogue describing even more weirdness.

    BRIDESMAIDS: This scene works because so much of it is ‘relateable’ – who hasn’t had a jealous friend at some point or themselves been a little jealous. And who hasn’t felt as if they were at the ‘breaking point’ where they felt they could just topple over the whole thing. You can just feel the hatred and intensity building and the reactions of the others is also relatable.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 29, 2023 at 11:38 am in reply to: Day 2: What I learned

    This is what I love about ALL art forms – the subtle nuances. The dialogue is amazing and draws you in but very quietly. The environment that they are in is in very stark contrast to the Dark Knight but dealing with a lot of similar issues, only under a different forum. I went back and added some of these elements to my script and it’s SOOO much better!

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 27, 2023 at 10:32 pm in reply to: Day 2: 12 ANGRY MEN

    LESSON TWO 12 Angry Men

    Watch 1st time for:

    Basic scene components — Scene arc, situation, conflict, moving the story forward, entertainment value, and setups/payoffs.Invitation to the journey.
    Conflict is when they have one person who doesn’t issue a guilty vote
    The personalities of the men increase conflict, some confrontational, others unsure.
    The urgency to ‘get on with it’ provides conflict to the ‘let’s sit and talk about it a while’.
    Feelings about what the boy actually did and who he did it to (father).

    Watch 2nd time for:Challenging Situation·Interesting ActionIntriguing DialogueSomething inside this character needs to go on the journey.
    Friction between the men who want to ‘get on with it’.
    The b/g information on the kids increases the intrigue.
    The battle between right/wrong and justice/ injustice
    Big stakes; the life of a young boy.

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 27, 2023 at 12:46 pm in reply to: DAY 1: What I learned …

    I looked back on a script that I am working on and realized that some things were too obvious, others were not. So, I rewrote it adding more irony and intrigue. It’s SOOO much better now!

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 27, 2023 at 12:36 pm in reply to: Day 1: THE DARK KNIGHT

    Watch 1st time for:·THE DARK KNIGHT

    The clown images offer an interesting, creepy visual and irony to a bank robbery.
    They seem to be working together then…
    We realize the guy they are talking about is there…and evil.
    The cuts back and forth to the guy in the bank sitting calmly with the gun. Setup.

    Watch 2nd time for:·

    Challenging Situation·- the
    bank guy with a gun and the rigged safe.
    Intrigue – who is the Joker who
    planned this heist
    Interesting Action – ruthless,
    evil, violent, seemingly unmoved by it all
    Intriguing Dialogue – talking
    about the split/the planner guy.
    Tone – just another day in the
    park against horror.
    Lures us into the Story – who
    is the guy they are talking about/who are they

    Twist at Conclusion of the
    scene – the unexpected bus

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 10:21 pm in reply to: Confidentiality Agreement

    1. Carol Kennedy

    2. “I agree to the terms of this release form.”

  • Carol Kennedy

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 10:16 pm in reply to: Introduce Yourself to the Group

    Hi! Im Carol and Ive written about 10 scripts…who’s counting…lol. I hope to become a better screenwriter, which is always my goal. Something unusual? Whats NOT unusual, but many find it weird that I play the sitar and own one that was actually played by the late great Ravi Shankar.

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by  Carol Kennedy.

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