Tolan Furusho
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What I learned doing this assignment is: The character’s back story, their history, is important in creating BW characters. Each of the six points relate not so much to who the character is now, but the experiences they lived and how that shaped who they are today.
The dilemma is solved because of the tools their life experiences gave them. The morals they live by, or cast aside is again, shaped by their experience. Even their predictability is habit shaped by experience only to be shattered by a new experience.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
I switched from Supernatural to Breaking Bad. BB has the more engaging characters and would rather model my BW show on them.
Walter White
A. Role in the show: Primary protagonist. Every decision and action he takes has ripple effects affecting everyone on the show.
B. A brilliant chemist cooking extraordinary meth. His science background got him accolades, but not money. Now, his science background will empower him and make him rich.
C. In the beginning it is his spectacular background in science, we see glimpses of this through his awards. Then, the secret is his cancer and third, of course, is his meth making/dealing. All this information in the pilot.
D. In regard to the cancer, is it morally right to hold back such information from your spouse? Then it becomes a question of whether making meth, even for noble reasons can be morally justified.
E. A mild mannered chem teacher deciding to cook meth is unpredictable. This is compounded by his recent cancer diagnosis which emboldens him to be more aggressive and assertive, something he never did before.
F. Even when he’s doing something criminal, like assaulting the teen in the clothing store, it’s done for noble reasons. This “bad acts for good reasons” exponentially increases with his meth dealing.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
1. Tell us the journey of your show. Born and raised in Hawaii, a young woman wants desperately to distance herself from her upbringing and be more cosmopolitan. The one thing she can deny, but cannot escape is her connection to the supernatural, and she must embrace her abilities and her connection to the islands to save her younger sister who was kidnapped by spirits intent on ending mankind.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
a. Primary protagonist – Noelani Kamakawiwa’ole (NK).
b. Adam Kane – A blond, blue eyed haole washes ashore in Waikiki with no memory. He has an uncanny ability to understand the languages and cultures of the diverse population of Hawaii. Despite his looks, he is connected to the islands in deep, spiritual ways.
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
a. Role in the show: NK – Her primary motivation is to find her missing sister who disappeared 10 years ago. Everyone believes she was murdered, but NK knows that it was the spiritual world that took her. NK feels guilty for the abduction because she was forewarned years ago by a spirit and she chose not to listen as it would acknowledge her special abilities, abilities she tries desperately to disavow.
b. Unique Purpose/Expertise: Despite going missing 10 years ago, NK knows that her sister is still alive, whether in the material or spiritual world. Her expertise is her ability to see things others can’t see and to understand things others can’t understand.
c. What is secret beneath the surface: ?
d. Moral Issue: How far will NK go before she feels compelled to acknowledge her special abilities? Is she willing to allow innocent people to be hurt? Is she willing to sacrifice mankind?
e. Unpredictable: ?
f. Empathetic: The loss of a loved one is always tragic, but the desperation of knowing that the loved one is still out there, alive is even more heartbreaking and desperate. Guilt over something that had dire consequences is something we all experienced.
Adam Kane
a. Role in the show: Although he looks like an outsider, AK’s role is to guide and assist NK as she steps into the world of the supernatural. It is also his role to help NK embrace her identity as he searches for his own.
b. Unique Purpose/Expertise: His purpose is to help NK in the material and supernatural world. In the material world, his good looks and charm helps resolve many of NK conflicts and his understanding of gods, demons and mythology of every religion and faith helps NK in the spiritual world.
c. His entire backstory is a secret that reveals he is a demi-god sent to help NK.
d. Moral Issue: ?
e. Unpredictable: ?
f. Empathetic: Besides his good looks and charm, his lack of identity and the quest to find who he is, is something I believe many people can relate to.
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Tolan S. Furusho’s Three Circle of Characters
What I learned from this assignment is: A Character’s backstory is instrumental in the character’s pursuit of their goals. The character’s actions in pursuing their goals is dictated by their experiences, prejudices and beliefs, whether grounded in reality or not.
Also, the dynamics between characters contracts and expands and is very animated. Characters should compliment each other but also have points of differences to make the relationship interesting.
ASSIGNMENT 1: Supernatural
A. Main Characters Circle:
a. Sam – Younger brother trying to distance himself from his demon hunting family. Has the opportunity to attend law school but gets drawn back in to find his father who went missing on a demon hunt.
b. Dean – Older brother. Takes on the family tradition of hunting demons. Returns for the assistance of Sam to find their missing father and solve why their mother was destroyed by demonic forces.
B. Connected Circle:
a. John. Father. Disappears while hunting demons. Dean and Sam search for him using clues left to them in their father’s journal.
C. Environment Circle: Various law enforcement investigating strange murders and disappearances. Various ghosts and demons and the people that they affect.
ASSIGNMENT 2: AKUA (GODS)
A. Main Characters Circle:
a. Noelani Kamakwiwa’ole – A mixed raced young woman with psychic abilities that she tries desperately to ignore. Feels responsible for the disappearance of her younger sister whom she knows was abducted by the spirits. Must accept her spiritual abilities and use them to find her sister and in doing so, she discovers a greater plot for the destruction of mankind.
b. Adam Kane – A haole who washes ashore on Waikiki Beach with no memory and no identification except for dog tags with the name “Adam Kane”. Although he is an outsider, he possess an ability to understand the different languages and cultures of the island without being able to pinpoint why. He may be white, but his heart and soul is that of a Kama’aina (local born).
B. Connected Circle:
a. Ms. Hayashi – An elderly O-daisan (Japanese Spiritual Medium). Often at odds with NK but someone NK turns to for spiritual advice.
b. Aunty Jane – An elderly lady who seems to be as old as the islands themselves. She chain smokes hand-rolled cigarettes and always seems to have a light, even though she never has matches or a lighter. It is rumored that she is Madam Pele. She lends timely assistance to both NK and AK as they navigate the Hawaiian legends.
c. Kawika (David) Moniz, age 10. Son of the disappeared sister. NK watches after Kawika to protect him from the same forces that abducted his mother.
d. Michael Moniz, father of Kawika and brother-in-law of NK. Currently in the psychiatric hospital for the murder of his wife, NK’s younger sister. Deemed insane when explaining the disappearance of the younger sister. He holds clues as to who or what took her.
C. Environment Circle:
a. Fellow HPD Officers who are uncomfortable with NK and find her strange and aloof. They give her cases that have a weird vibe to it and they all seem to be resolved with more earthly reasons when in fact, they all have a supernatural connection.
b. Family Members – There are numerous “Aunties” and “Uncles” in the show, many of whom are not blood related but close family friends. They are a big O’hana (family) that love and support NK even though her desire is to distance herself from them.
c. Various individuals affected by the supernatural; possessions.
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SUPERNATURAL – PILOT, 5 Star Model
WHAT I LEARNED – The power of empathy greatly affects the BWS-ness of the show. Connecting to the characters and their plight makes up for other, weaker aspects of the 5 Star Points.
1. Big Picture Hook: A father and his two sons, demon hunters, search for the entity responsible for the death of their mother and close loved ones.
2. Amazing/Intriguing Characters: The show revolves around two brothers, Dean and Sam. Admittedly, I found both these characters generic. Dean, the leather jacket, muscle-car driving bad boy and his younger brother, the black sheep of the family with smarts and opportunities to forever separate him from his past. I believe Sam is the protagonist that drives the story.
3. Empathy/Distress: Losing a mother is always difficult and having her taken in such a violent and gruesome way exacerbates the distress. This was the strongest of the 5 Star Points. Sam’s decision to forego law school is another empathetic point; who hasn’t had to make a life altering decision and choose a path? It seemed odd though that it was the death of his college girl friend and not the death of his mother or the disappearance of his father that compels him to forego law school and hunt demons.
4. Layers/Open Loops: The primary Open Loop is: “Why was Sam’s mother and girlfriend killed, and by whom?” Other questions deal with their father and whether he’s still alive, and if so, where is he. This premise opens many other avenues of questions, such as how did this family acquire the responsibility to fight demons, are there others that can do what they do, and are these individual events or does it connect to a bigger more ominous reveal?
5. Inviting Obsession: The aspects of the supernatural drives me to watch the next episode and the season, to see why this family and especially Sam is targeted by demonic forces. The promise of experiencing a new urban legend each episode is another reason to continue watching and finding out how these legends coalesce intrigues me.
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I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask this, but I’m having difficulties accessing the site to post the assignments. I’ve completed the assignment due on the 20th but am unable to post my answers. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Tolan S. Furusho
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Hello, everyone. I’m Tolan S. Furusho
So far, I’ve written three screenplays; The River – LOGLINE: Guilt ridden attorney seeks solace on a mountain river and meets the woman of his dreams; only to discover that her only child was killed by a client he set free.
El Blanco Dragon – LOGLINE: With no one willing to pay his ransom a mild mannered engineer unleashes his inner dragon and joins his captors to save their village from the evil druglord.
Buried Secrets – LOGLINE: Attorney-client privilege, the shallow grave of a young girl. A racist attorney, shunned by his community risks his morals, ethics and life to find a way to disclose the secret to save his black client’s life and expose the killer.
I hope to learn how to develop a TV pilot so I can send it to my buddy who’s the head of Amazon Entertainment. Last thing I want to do is send him something shoddy.
I enjoy three things: Fly fishing, karate and writing.
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Tolan S. Furusho
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