[Gunnar Weber-Prada]

Gunnar Profiles People

What I learned that is improving my writing is that the character’s actions and behaviors come first from their traits.

Person 1: Narcissistic, Self Sabotaging, Insecure, Beautiful

Person 2: Narcissistic, Insecure, Smart, Kind

Person 3: Honest, Insecure, Smart, Self Sabotaging.

[Gunnar Weber-Prada]

Gunnar Puts Essence to Work

What I’ve learned is the essence of the scene seems very close to the Logline of the scene.

Script I chose:

The Last Stakeout

Scene 1 location: Act 1, Scene 1

Logline: Griff enters his room. He expresses conflict with his age.

Essence I’ve discovered: Griff is feeling lonely and neglected due to age.

New Logline: Griff enters room. He expresses his feelings of isolation and neglect as he prepares for bed.

Scene 2 location: Act 2, Scene 1

Logline: Griff argues with some sort of official.

Essence Discovered: Griff expresses frustration with “little man in a big job” type bureaucrat. He feels he is being ignored and trivialized rather than being listened to and treated with some dignity.

New Logline: Griff expresses his frustration with a bureaucrat and the ‘system’ he feels trapped in.

Scene 3 location: Act 2, Scene 2

Logline: Griff reminisces on his past relationship.

Essence discovered: Thinking about his past energizes Griff’s present.

New Logline: reminiscing on his past and family puts a positive spin on his attitude and motivations him .

Scene 4 location: Act 2, Scene 3

Logline: Death is nearby. Griff dreams of being prepared for the casket.

Essence discovered: Death is nearby. Griff dreams of his casket. Is he prepared?

New Logline: Dath is nearby. Griff imagines being prepared for his casket. It is both mundane and terrifying.

Scene 5 location: Act 3, Scene 2

Logline: The long wait over, Griff’s patience is finally rewarded.

Essence discovered: Patience is rewarded with Love.

New Logline: The wait is over.Griff gets what he has been waiting for; Love.