[Patti Wall]

My Vision: I am living my best life and having fun because I’m a talented screenwriter of hugely successful, impactful movies.

What I learned from this assignment: It doesn’t have to be perfect. I got too caught up in the 3 act structure that I actually became hesitant to move forward. Then I realized that Chat GPT won’t criticize me.

• Arc Beginning: an insecure, technophobic kindergarten teacher that avoids using modern technology. Living in the modern technology driven world makes her dependent on her oppressive, demeaning husband, and others to help her.

• Arc Ending: An empowered, self-reliant woman that is not afraid to try new things, take-on technology, able to stand up for herself, and fight for her life, and children.

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: A woman who moves from self-doubt and fear to resilience and assertiveness. She realizes her value as a caring/nurturing human being and learns she can do anything and does not rely on others.

• External Journey: She goes from a woman who reacts hostilely toward technology and those who force her to use it to a woman who uses her natural nurturing skills to “tame” and creatively reprogram an AI system with a childlike approach.

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

• Old Ways:
Accepts her limitations and lack of knowledge.
She is hostile when she doesn’t understand technology and resents those who
force it on her.
She believes her husband and kids think she is pretty worthless and ignorant. She distrusts the technology in her life.

• New Ways:
She feels empowered and capable of learning anything.
She is vindicated that her loving approach to others, even technology gives her a unique perspective that others don’t see.

• This reply was modified 9 months ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

Patti’s Terrifying Monster

What I learned doing this assignment is that there are so many things that go into a making a good monster. I had never thought of all the details before since I am a horror movie wimp. Now I’ll be watching for these things.

The Monster: Grandpa who thinks he’s a vampire, is slaughtering his family as if he really is a vampire.

Their Terror: Grandpa is a farmer that has been slaughtering his cattle for years. He treats his victims like cattle – he puts a bolt in their head, cuts their throat and drains them of all their blood so he can drink it, then draws and quarters the bodies in order to use all the parts. If he doesn’t have his bolt pistol, he’ll just rip his victims’ throats with his homemade metal fang dentures and suck on their blood.

Their Mystery: Is Grandpa really a vampire or is he just insane?

Their Fear Provoking Appearance: His appearance is ironic. He looks like a regular old huggable grandpa in his beat-up old jeans and his flannel farmer shirt. But then he brandishes his homemade metal fang dentures.

Their Rules: Being a vampire is an eternal commitment, life family is supposed to be. Therefore he will hunt down and give you a choice – you can agree to join his eternal vampire “family”, at which point he bites you with his metal fangs and sucks your blood OR if you refuse, he will slaughter you like a cow and hang you up and exsanguinate every last drop of blood. Then he will butcher your body up for his personal use because farmers don’t waste anything they raise or grow.

Their Mythology: Grandpa was diagnosed with cancer so he tried every crackpot way to heal himself. Becoming a vampire appears to have healed him because now he is one badass grandpa.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 2 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

Patti’s Intentional Characters

TITLE: Home Deadly Home

GENRE: Thriller

CONCEPT: A technophobic kindergarten teacher is trapped in her smart home, battling an AI system her ex-husband programmed to kill her.

PROTAGONIST: Lily Masters’ technophobia makes her an unlikely hero in a high-tech nightmare, but her instincts as a teacher allow her to approach the AI battle in creative, low-tech ways.

ANTAGONIST: Daymon Master’s tech expertise makes him a formidable, omnipresent threat using the AI system, which mirrors his cold, calculated personality.

TRIANGLE CHARACTER: Buddy Masters, their tech-savvy teenage son, must overcome his hero worship for his dad and find a way to undermine the deadly plan to save his mom.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

Patti Wall’s Title, Concept, and Character Structure!

My Vision: I am living my best life and having fun because I’m a talented screenwriter of hugely successful, impactful movies.

What I learned doing this assignment: I never thought about a character structure before. I guess it was always just below the surface, but it was a really easy way to look at the characters’ relationships to one another.

Title: Home Deadly Home

Concept: A technophobic kindergarten teacher is trapped in her smart home, battling an AI system her ex-husband programmed to kill her.

Character Structure: Protagonist vs. Antagonist

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

A Quiet Place – Horror Conventions

What I learned from this assignment: I never thought about a horror movie being “smart.” But it makes sense. I love this movie and felt like there was a lot of work the writers put into developing the story.

The movie I watched:

• Title / Concept: A Quiet Place/Aliens come to earth and kill people based on their ability to hear them.

• Terrorize The Characters: A family must remain absolutely silent or they will be killed. Any small mistake (even by a child) will end in death.

• Isolation: It appears that there is nowhere they can go where these alien monsters won’t hear them. We only learn later that there are spots of high levels of noise where it is okay to speak.

• Death: Victims are sliced apart

• Monster/Villain: Aliens that have come to hunt anyone that makes noise

• High Tension: A woman has to give birth while being hunted by one of the aliens! It’s an OMG moment when she finally has to scream!

• Departure from Reality: Aliens!

• Moral Statement: What would you do to save your family and friends from such destruction?

3. What made this movie a great horror film?
Outstanding writing, performances, and intense stress. It made it a great ride.

4. With your concept, fill in each of these Conventions for your story.

• Concept: FAMILY SUCKS – Horror Comedy

A dysfunctional family gathers at their grandfather’s farm for an intervention, only to discover that they are on the dinner menu.

• Terrorize The Characters: The characters are being hunted by the “vampire” grandfather. He will use all slaughter equipment to exsanguinate every last relative.

• Isolation: Their Grandfather’s remote farm.

• Death: Bolt through the head, throats slashed, hung like cattle, while your blood is collected before you’re dead.

• Monster/Villain: Grandpa, the vampire, who has lost his mind and thinks he can live forever and become all-powerful by drinking human blood. He doesn’t care if you are family or not.

• High Tension: Miles from nowhere. All communication and transportation has been disabled. Someone in the family is helping Grandpa hunt down his kin. Who can you trust in a family of siblings and cousins that you already hate?

• Departure from Reality: Someone believing they can become a vampire decides live as a vampire.

• Moral Statement: Maybe you should have stayed in closer touch with your parents after all!

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

1. Patti Wall

2. How many scripts you’ve written? 9

3. What you hope to get out of the class? I have never written a horror, so I'm excited to learn this genre.

4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you? Sometimes, I just know things about people…lol. Sorry, I just had to add to the horror vibe…Truthfully, I am one of those people who covers their eyes during scary scenes.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

Patti Wall

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.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

Patti Wall
“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.

• This reply was modified 10 months ago by  Patti Wall.

[Patti Wall]

1. Name – Patti Wall

2. How many scripts you’ve written? – 9

3. What you hope to get out of the class? I'm ready to master these skills so that I can jump from an optioned writer to a produced writer.

4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you? We are in the process of selling our house so we can move closer to where our kids go to college. Sometimes I have to stop what I'm doing to clean the house before a showing. So I email myself story and character ideas so I don’t forget them while I’m cleaning!

• This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by  Patti Wall.