Kevin Mann
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Kevin Mann’s Character death track<o:p></o:p>
What I learned doing this assignment is by outlining who dies, when they die and how they die, you can make each character’s death more horrific and meaningful. <o:p></o:p>
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR<o:p></o:p>
Atmosphere of Evil established– Two characters are in the middle of a salvation arena gauntlet. <o:p></o:p>
Horror Situation: Person A must kill Person B to escape<o:p></o:p>
Reaction: Fight- Person A kills Person B and is removed from the arena.<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 1<o:p></o:p>
Why-It starts the horror<o:p></o:p>
How-Cassandra and Jamie are animal lovers. Pets are forbidden as they take up valuable resources. The two were found keeping some small animals including rats. They are also known to be the heads of an underground anti-government group. They are forced to endure the medieval “rat torture.” A rat is placed on their chest. A metal bucket is placed over the rat and the bucket is tied to the women’s chests. A fire is set on top of the bucket. The rats panic and begin to eat their way through the women to escape. The first one to give the Admonition the information they seek is freed.<o:p></o:p>
Connect with the characters– The main characters all publicly pretend to go along with the government, but we find out that they are anti-government as they are all part of a dark web subversive group.<o:p></o:p>
The characters are warned not to do it.-Through the web group, they decide to meet IRL. One of the characters refuses to meet and warns the others it can only end badly.<o:p></o:p>
Denial of Horror-The remaining members are confident that they have been careful and that they will not be caught during the meet-up.<o:p></o:p>
Safety taken away– When they meet, Jessica follows her father unknowingly leading The Admonition’s Gestapo, who were alerted by an unknown character, to the meeting place.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– Impending doom that the group is not aware of.<o:p></o:p>
Monster: The nature of the beast.-The Gestapo traps them. We find out the two people from the first scene used to run the group. The survivor gave everyone else up.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-As the Gestapo gets near, Jessica alerts the group, but as they try to escape each is captured. (Impending Doom)<o:p></o:p>
Horror reaction-Hide, Fight, Escape-The characters react differently. Some try to find a hiding place, some just run, others fight, but they are all captured in the end.<o:p></o:p>
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN<o:p></o:p>
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted– They are all captured and taken to The Admonition’s headquarters.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situations-They are all tied to crosses in front of a large black, glass wall.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Crying, screaming, begging, denial-Characters react differently to the situation, but they are all trapped and can’t escape.<o:p></o:p>
One of us killed-The character who did not attend the meet-up is dragged out and killed in front of everyone.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-The character appears behind the glass wall on an old-fashioned rack.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-The character begs for the group to save him. Each one in the group is given a chance to trade places with the man. As each one refuses, the rack is turned until it finally rips him limb from limb. (Characters refuse to act)<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 2<o:p></o:p>
Why- Although Alex did not attend the meet-up, they were on the list. This is the first time the group gets the rules of the arena and sees how bad the torture is.<o:p></o:p>
How- The Rack. Alex’s limbs are each tied to a chain that is attached to a wheel. As each of the other characters refuses to take their place, the wheels are turned stretching their limbs until the limbs are ripped off.<o:p></o:p>
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!<o:p></o:p>
Full pursuit by the killer-The group is separated. Each one of the group is given a chance to go straight to conversion therapy by a member of The Admonition. The Admonition lies to people by telling them others have accepted the offer. If their assigned partner has accepted the offer, they are screwed.<o:p></o:p>
Horror Situation-Internal group conflict<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Denial-They all think they know each other<o:p></o:p>
Terrorized– One of the group has accepted the offer. The rest of the group is forced to watch as that person’s partner is put into an arena with a hungry lion. They are given the chance to join the person and try to save them. One person accepts. The rest watch as one is eaten by the lion while the other blinds the lion but is injured and is brought back into the group.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– See another killed. Chance to help, but don’t.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Denial, fighting, and begging. Some are in complete denial. Others beg to go directly to conversion, but that is off the table.<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 3<o:p></o:p>
How- eaten by a lion.<o:p></o:p>
Why- Because Lissette has taken the offer, her partner, Ashlyn, is put into the arena with a hungry lion. Rafic offers to go in with her, but his younger brother Khalil insists that he must do it. The Admonition accepts Khalil over Rafic. He goes into the arena with Ashlyn but cannot save her. He is wounded, but not before blinding the lion. The glass goes black again before the survivors see if Khalil survives. The Admonition convinces Khalil that he is now a determent to his brother’s chance of survival. The Admonition tells Kahlil that if he can get his own brother to kill him, they will let Rafic live. Khalil is returned to the group.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– Character becomes a liability.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction– Try to solve, fight. Some try to help the wounded character; others agree he should be killed because he is now a liability.<o:p></o:p>
Character death 4<o:p></o:p>
How- He begs his brother to put him out of his misery. Khalil feels that Rafic must live to continue spreading their religion. <o:p></o:p>
Why- This shows how cruel the admonition is. Natalie, Issac, and Samuel try to help Khalil, while the others agree he should be killed. Khalil finally convinces Rafik to put him out of his misery, pretending to be much more injured than he really is.<o:p></o:p>
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR<o:p></o:p>
Fight to the death-The people who are left are put into the salvation arena.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-trapped, forced into a dangerous environment, no escape-Each arena is made specifically to hurt the two in it the most. Both mentally and physically.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Fight, give up, don’t cooperate. Some characters take the challenge and fight each other. Others give up and are killed. One arena’s participants choose not to play and are both killed.<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 5 and 6<o:p></o:p>
How- The Judas Cradle<o:p></o:p>
Why-Isaac and Riley refuse to compete against each other. They are both put on a Judas Cradle and are slowly ripped apart<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 7<o:p></o:p>
How-The Pear of Anguish<o:p></o:p>
Why-Jessica is deaf and speaks to Martin using sign language. Martin is an underground journalist exposing the horrors of the religious extremist government. The Pear is inserted in their mouths, so neither can speak. Through sign language, Martin tells Jessica he loves her and sacrifices himself to save her. His head is ripped apart.<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 8<o:p></o:p>
How-The Brazen Bull<o:p></o:p>
Why-Samuel is a non-verbal autistic savant. He and Natalie are suspended above The Brazen Bull, which is a medieval version of a wicker man. They must solve complex math questions. Natalie tries to help, but Samuel does not understand the situation and quickly answers the questions. Since he finishes first, Natalie is dropped into the bull and burnt alive.<o:p></o:p>
Hysteria-The arena’s survivors are put into conversion therapy and fight to keep their identities.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– As the conversion therapy starts, the remaining characters go into hysteria knowing they are about to lose what makes them, them.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Fighting, denial. Some fight it, which is painful. Some deny it is happening and give in.<o:p></o:p>
The thrilling escape from death-The characters who come out of therapy think they are safe.<o:p></o:p>
Death returns to take one or more.-One of the characters has not been converted, they slip up and are murdered.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-Doing something forbidden. One character has escaped the influence of conversion therapy and is hiding in plain sight. They slip up and are killed. The other remaining characters are made to watch to test their new religious convictions.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-None. They do not react and watch as their friend is tortured and killed.<o:p></o:p>
Character Death 9<o:p></o:p>
How-Crucifixion <o:p></o:p>
Why-On The Admonition’s weekly live stream, Rafic, and Samuel, who now live and work together, watch as Jessica is crucified for trying to get her father’s underground newspaper back up. <o:p></o:p>
Resolution-After Jessica’s death, Rafic, and Samuel are in their bakery. Lissette comes in. The three go into the basement, restart the computer, and send a message of rebellion out. After a few moments, many replies start coming in.<o:p></o:p>
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Kevin Mann’s Horror Situation Track<o:p></o:p>
What I learned doing this assignment is thinking through the horror you want to inflict upon your characters will save you time and energy going forward. I think there are a few situations and reactions not mentioned in the assignment that should be included. Maybe they are just subsets of the ones already included.<o:p></o:p>
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR<o:p></o:p>
Atmosphere of Evil established– Two characters are in the middle of a salvation arena gauntlet. <o:p></o:p>
Horror Situation: Person A must kill Person B to escape<o:p></o:p>
Reaction: Fight- Person A kills Person B and is removed from the arena.<o:p></o:p>
Connect with the characters– The main characters all publicly pretend to go along with the government, but we find out that they are anti-government as they are all part of a dark web subversive group.<o:p></o:p>
The characters are warned not to do it.-Through the web group, they decide to meet IRL. One of the characters refuses to meet and warns the others it can only end badly.<o:p></o:p>
Denial of Horror-The remaining members are confident that they have been careful and that they will not be caught during the meet-up.<o:p></o:p>
Safety taken away– When they meet, Jessica follows her father unknowingly leading The Admonition’s Gestapo, who were alerted by an unknown character, to the meeting place.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– Impending doom that the group is not aware of.<o:p></o:p>
Monster: The nature of the beast.-The Gestapo traps them. We find out the two people from the first scene used to run the group and gave everyone else up.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-As the Gestapo gets near, Jessica alerts the group, but as they try to escape each is captured. (impending doom)<o:p></o:p>
Horror reaction-Hide, Fight, Escape-The characters react differently. Some try to find a hiding place, some just run, others fight, but they are all captured in the end.<o:p></o:p>
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN<o:p></o:p>
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted– They are all captured and taken to The Admonition’s headquarters.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situations-They are all tied to crosses in front of a large black, glass wall.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Crying, screaming, begging, denial-Characters react differently to the situation, but they are all trapped and can’t escape.<o:p></o:p>
One of us killed-The character who did not attend the meet-up is dragged out and killed in front of everyone.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-The character appears behind the glass wall on an old-fashioned rack.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-The character begs for the group to save him. Each one in the group is given a chance to trade places with the man. As each one refuses, the rack is turned until it finally rips him limb from limb. (Characters refuse to act)<o:p></o:p>
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!<o:p></o:p>
Full pursuit by the killer-The group is separated. Each in the group is given a chance to go straight to conversion therapy by a member of The Admonition. The Admonition lies to people by telling them others have accepted the offer. If their assigned partner has accepted the offer, they are screwed.<o:p></o:p>
Horror Situation-Internal group conflict<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Denial-They all think they know each other<o:p></o:p>
Terrorized– One of the group has accepted the offer The rest of the group is forced to watch as that person’s partner is put into an arena with a hungry lion. They are given the chance to join the person and try to save them. One person accepts. The rest watch as one is eaten by the lion while the other blinds the lion, but is injured and is brought back into the group.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– See another killed. Chance to help, but don’t.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Denial, fighting, and begging. Some are in complete denial. Others beg to go directly to conversion, but that is off the table.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– Character becomes a liability.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction– Try to solve, fight. Some try to help the wounded character; others take over and kill them because they are now a liability.<o:p></o:p>
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR<o:p></o:p>
Fight to the death-The people who are left are put into the salvation arena.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-trapped, forced into a dangerous environment, no escape-Each arena is made specifically to hurt the two in it the most. Both mentally and physically.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Fight, give up, don’t cooperate. Some characters take the challenge and fight each other. Others give up and are killed. One arena chooses not to play and both killed.<o:p></o:p>
Hysteria-The arena’s survivors are put into conversion therapy and fight to keep their identities.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation– As the conversion therapy starts, the remaining characters go into hysteria knowing they are about to lose what makes them, them.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-Fighting, denial. Some fight it, which is painful. Some deny it is happening and give in.<o:p></o:p>
The thrilling escape from death-The characters who come out of therapy think they are safe.<o:p></o:p>
Death returns to take one or more.-One of the characters has not been converted, they slip up and are murdered.<o:p></o:p>
Horror situation-Doing something forbidden. One character has escaped the influence of conversion therapy and is hiding in plain sight. They slip up and are killed. The other remaining characters are made to watch to test their new religious convictions.<o:p></o:p>
Reaction-None. They do not react and watch as their friend is tortured and killed.<o:p></o:p>
Resolution-One of the remaining characters is seen starting a new underground dark web group.<o:p></o:p>
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Kevin Mann’s Horror Plot<o:p></o:p>
What I learned doing this assignment is there is a set way to build suspense and get the audience involved with the characters. This way of plotting gives you a good foundation on which to build your script.<o:p></o:p>
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR<o:p></o:p>
Atmosphere of Evil established– Start in the middle of a salvation arena gauntlet. Two characters fight to the death, and one emerges.<div><o:p></o:p>
Connect with the characters– We introduce the characters as they all publicly pretend to go along with the government, but we find out that they are anti-government as they are all part of a dark web subversive group.
<o:p></o:p>The characters are warned not to do it.-Through the web group, they decide to meet IRL. One of the characters refuses to meet and warns the others it can only end badly.
<o:p></o:p>Denial of Horror-The remaining members are confident that they have been careful and that they will not be caught.
<o:p></o:p>Safety taken away– When they meet, Jessica follows her father unknowingly leading The Admonition’s Gestapo, who were alerted by an unknown character, to the meeting place.
<o:p></o:p>Monster: The nature of the beast.-The Gestapo traps them. We find out the two people from the first scene used to run the group and gave everyone else up.
<o:p></o:p>ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
<o:p></o:p>Isolated / Trapped / Abducted– They are all captured and taken to The Admonition’s headquarters.
<o:p></o:p>One of us killed-The character who did not attend the meet-up is dragged out and killed in front of everyone.
<o:p></o:p>
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!<o:p></o:p>
Full pursuit by the killer-Each of the group is given a chance to go straight to conversion therapy by a member of The Admonition.</div><div><o:p></o:p>
Terrorized-They are shown past salvation arena participants who end up being people that some of the group knew. They are forced to watch as these other people are killed in horrible ways
<o:p></o:p>
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR<o:p></o:p>
Fight to the death-The people in the group who do not choose to go straight into conversion are put into the salvation arena.</div>
Hysteria-The arena’s survivors are put into conversion therapy and fight to keep their identities.
<o:p></o:p>The thrilling escape from death-The characters who come out of therapy think they are safe.
<o:p></o:p>Death returns to take one or more.-One of the characters has not been converted, they slip up and are murdered.
<o:p></o:p>Resolution-One of the remaining characters is seen starting a new underground dark web group.
<div><o:p></o:p></div>
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Kevin Mann’s characters for horror<o:p></o:p>
What I learned from this exercise- My concept doesn’t neatly fit into the formula. I need to rethink some aspects of my scenario to make it work. <o:p></o:p>
The Group- My group are outsiders that are also perceived to be sinners by The Admonition. These are people who refuse to conform to the beliefs of the extremists. Anyone who practices a non-Christian religion, LGBTQIA, non-sanctioned journalists/bloggers anyone trying to enact change.<o:p></o:p>
Dying Patterns –The closest pattern would be the one where 6 or 8 people are together and they die one by one. In my story, 2 people go into the salvation arena and 1 comes out and is sent back into society after conversion therapy. This happens a few times until things change. I could have 10 characters all held together and they go in 5 different salvation arenas 2 by 2, then the 5 survivors come out the other side.<o:p></o:p>
Characters –<o:p></o:p>
The lovers – Isaac and Riley. They are a gay couple forced to compete against each other.<o:p></o:p>
The Innocent- Jessica. Daughter of Martin. She is only there because Martin is her father.<o:p></o:p>
The Rebel- Martin. He is an antiestablishment underground journalist. When he is captured, they bring his daughter with him and force them into the arena together.<o:p></o:p>
The Leader- Rafic. Leader of an underground Muslim church<o:p></o:p>
The Moral One- Kahlil. Rafic’s younger brother who will do anything for him.<o:p></o:p>
The Rescuer- Natalie. A caring, loving Jewish teacher trying to pass her religion on to children.<o:p></o:p>
The introvert. Samuel. A young autistic boy.<o:p></o:p>
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Kevin Mann’s terrifying monster.<o:p></o:p>
What I learned- The more specific you are, the more terrifying your mythos will be.<o:p></o:p>
Tell us what or who your monster is.<o:p></o:p>
The Admonition-counsel of religious extremists that oversee the salvation arena.<o:p></o:p>
Give us a few sentences for each of the following for your monster:<o:p></o:p>
Their Terror: They control the salvation arena and send hunters out to find the heathens to be put into the arena. They tailor the trials of the arena to cause the most physical and mental damage. They pay people to tun one another in.
Their Mystery: They are cloistered and unknown to anyone. No one is sure where their power or money comes from, but everyone bows to them. There are always twelve and no one knows how one is replaced when they die.
<o:p></o:p>Their Fear Provoking Appearance: They wear Monk’s robes. Their faces are obscured by metal masks which are locked onto them. They live with railroad nails through their palms and a metal crown of thorns is built into their masks in deference to Christ.
<o:p></o:p>Their Rules: They serve at the will of their higher power. No amount of pleading can keep you from the salvation arena. They know your deepest fear and force you to face it. They pick people to go into the arena together that will cause the most emotional damage when one dies. The conversion therapy erases your freewill.
<o:p></o:p>Their Mythology: The Admonition is run by a shadow group. They are just servants.
<div><o:p></o:p></div>
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What I learened,
1) Mike Flannagan is an amazing horror write and director.
2) Taking a well-worn trope and tweaking it can reinvigorate that trope.
3) You have to learn how to build tension in a smart manner.
4) Sometimes the monster isn’t as important as the victims they choose.
5) I can’t see yet that a departure from reality is necessary.
Hush (the movie I watched)
Concept- A deaf woman in an isolated cabin is terrorized by a masked killer.
Terrorize the characters-She is trapped in the house as the killer plays a cat and mouse game with her. He kills others and terrorizes her. We, as the audience, know what’s going on through sound, but the character doesn’t. The killer tells her that he can come in at any time but won’t until she wishes she was dead.
Isolation- Classic cabin in the woods. He neighbor has been murdered, so there is no one else around.
Death- Only three people die, including the killer. This is more about the terror of the possible then the kills themself.
Monster/villian-Psychotic killer
High tension-She depends on technology to communicate. As the story progresses, he takes the tech away from her so she can only depend upon herself.
Departure from reality- I couldn’t find an obvious departure from reality. The only thing is that a large number of people are hearing, so for any hearing person the loss of the sense of sound is a departure. She can’t depend on one of the senses that many people have.
Moral statement- You can only depend on your own strengths. Horrible things happen to normal people. The way you choose to deal with those things determine the outcome of your life.
What I loved about this is that both the monster and the victim are very smart. Either one could win, so it keeps you involved. Maddie, the deaf woman, doesn’t deserve this. She could be any random person, which makes this much scarier to me. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and because of that her life changes forever.
The Unsightly (My Concept)
In the near future the extreme religious right has overthrown the government. They hunt down anyone who does not confirm to their ideology. Two at a time, The Unsightly are placed in the salvation arena and forced to compete while ibeing live streamed. One must kill the other. The survivor then is put through conversion therapy and reborn into society.
Terrorize the characters- Hunted down, forced to fight to the death, then put through conversion therapy.
Isolation- Must hide from society to escape the extremists. They are hunted down, placed in the salvation arena and only one comes out.
Death- Each arena is set up based on the victims “perversion” forcing them to do something abhorant to them to survive. The first to do it lives, then is forced to kill the other.
Monster/Villian-Religious extremists
High tension- Life or death situations, having to kill another to survive, then forced to deny your true nature to live.
Departure from reality- The salvation arena is a modern day gladiator arena which no longer exist.
Moral-Doing horrible things in the name of religion is wrong and always has been.
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I have my assignment ready in a word doc, but I can’t paste it here. Is there something else I can do, or do I have to rewrite it all?
Thanks
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Hello,
I’m Kevin Mann from Palm Springs, CA. I’ve written several shorts and two full length scripts. The full length scripts I have written are both horror. I am hoping this class will help me take those scripts to the next level.
Way back when, I was an actor in the first holographic arcade game.
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Kevin Mann
I agree to the terms of this release form
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Yes! It was really expensive for the time it came out. Trust me, I saw none of that money! LOL I did have the pleasure of watching my nephews shoot my head off and watch as my neck erupted in flames…good times!!
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Yes, I’m on a Macbook. Thanks. I will give that a try!
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Wow! Congrats on being in production!!
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Lol. Yep