dworetzky tom
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can you give us a report on the status of the site? I still can’t get into Audio 6 or almost any of the other lessons and audio at this point and there is not response from customer service thanks
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BIG LITTLE LIES IRONY
The Monterey 5 turn themselves in for killing Perry even though they have gotten away with it.
Jane takes part in her rapist Perry’s death, even though she doesn’t get to shoot him with the gun she bought for that purpose.
Celeste and Madeline identify the wrong man as the rapist for Jane and she almost kills him
Ziggy wasn’t abusing Amabella, Max, Perry’s son was.
Celeste tried to keep the boys from seeing Perry’s abuse but they videotaped it and that saved the day and exposed Mary Louise as the one who probably caused Perry to become and abuser
Mary Louise’s nice act hid her behavior to Perry when he was young.
Bonnie seemed to love nathan, but killing Perry and confronting her mother made her realize that ironically she never did– and ironically that she was a victim of mother abuse like Perry.
Nathan thought bonnie would be the opposite of madeline and she turned out to be just as crazy
Perry seemed so loving and turned out to be horrible to celeste
Everyone thought celeste hada perfect life and it turned out it was a secret nightmare
Renata thought she was rich and happy and ironically, Gordon gutted both her love and her finances and she wound up poorer that Jane.
Ed had every reason to ditch madeline and ironically her cheating led to a deeper truer love between them.
Snarky Ed turned out to basically be a bigger person and more forgiving than any of them.
Amabella and Ziggy, ironically, turn out to be friends. ziggy, who seemed so mean and strange at first, turned out to be sweet.
Max, Josh and Ziggy accept each other as brothers, ironically when it looked like the two families would be fighting each other..
Perry’s death freed both Celeste and Jane, even though, ironically, they turned an innocent accident into a crime by lying about it.
Ironically, we never find out what happened to the Monterey 5 for lying.
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MODULE 1 – LESSON 10: CREATING INTRIGUING LAYERS
ASSIGNMENT 1: EXAMPLE SHOW
Watch the next episode of your Example Show and notice how layers show up in this show — both in this episode and throughout the episodes you’ve already seen.
Tell us the layers you have discovered in the Example Show.
Big little lies layers
Plot
Surface
Perfect world of monterey, and perfect daily life of the school moms
Layer 1 sabotage
Perry’s killing
Layer 2 conspiracy
Women conspire in pointless coverup with lies that put all of them at risk
Layer 3 mystery
Why does Mary Louise want to destroy Celeste and all the other women and get her grand boys under her control
layer 4 Hidden agenda
What are the cops so obsessed with?
What is Jane’s agenda with Perry her rapist?
Why does Madeline convince the women to lie?
Why does gordon scam the money are destroy Renata’s life?
Why Does Madeline Sleep with the director?
Why does Bonnie kill Perry?
layer 5 Future consequences
Jane must overcome phobia to love because Perry raped her?
Celeste must overcome her violent sex addiction that was caused because Perry beat her
Bonnie must deal with her mother abusing her that led to her killing Perry
The Monterey 5 cannot maintain their lie about the death of Perry
Mary Louise must address that she Perry was abusive because of her behavior to him over the death of her other son
Mary Louise and Celeste must confront each other over the custody trial
CHARACTER SURFACE:
Celeste
Layer 1: surface perfect hot wife
Layer 2: hidden relationship: abused sex addicted masochist
Layer 3: intrigue: Will she be able to break free of her addiction and again become a self possessed and successful woman
Layer 4: secret identity: a slutty masochist– her many one-night slutty relationships with men and her abused victim relation with Perry
Layer 5: conspiracy her conspiracy with the other women to cover up the death of Perry
Madeline
Layer 1: surface perfect cheerleader of her mob and cheerful loving wife
Layer 2: hidden relationship: affair with the show director
Layer 3: intrigue: Will her affair come to light, will the lie about Perry get her in trouble?
Layer 4: secret identity: her affair with director, her low self esteem because she married young, missed college and accomplished little compared to other women
Layer 5: conspiracy her conspiracy with the other women to cover up the death of Perry
Bonnie
Layer 1: surface perfect bohemian spiritualist and wife
Layer 2: hidden relationship: abused by her mother, Perry killer
Layer 3: intrigue: Will she kill her mother, too? Will she confess to killing Perry. Will she admit she doesn’t love Nathan?
Layer 4: secret identity: her murderer inside her. Perry Killer. Mother hater.
Layer 5: conspiracy her conspiracy with the other women to cover up the death of Perry
Jane
Layer 1: surface nice young single mom
Layer 2: hidden relationship: raped by Perry
Layer 3: intrigue: Will she find her rapist and kill Perry? Will her participation in the lie about his death get her in trouble? Will she be able to love again after being traumatized by the rape?
Layer 4: secret identity: that her motherhood came from rape. That she is suicidal .
Layer 5: conspiracy her conspiracy with the other women to cover up the death of Perry
Renata
Layer 1: surface perfect wife and uber successful rich businesswoman
Layer 2: hidden relationship: how hot her sex with Gordon is, Her participation in the lie about Perry
Layer 3: intrigue: Will she be able to recover from the bankruptcy Gordon committed? Will she be caught by the cops in the lie about Perry?
Layer 4: secret identity: That she came from nothing and is self made, and deathly afraid of poverty. That she is a rage-aholic
Layer 5: conspiracy her conspiracy with the other women to cover up the death of Perry
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MODULE 1 – LESSON 9: INVITING OBSESSION THROUGH OPEN LOOPS
ASSIGNMENT 1
1. Think about your Example Show. Make a list of the Big Picture open loops that were established early in the season.
2. Watch the next episode and see how those open loops are being used to create the need to see future episodes.
GOALS:
New goals?
Jane, Celeste, Bonnie and Renata want to get past the murder lie
Jane and Celeste want Perry’s kids to be friends
Amabella’s abuser to be discovered
What is Jane’s money source
Goals related to the big picture?
Unspoken goal is for cops to solve murder
Marie Louise wants to find out what happened to Perry, what makes Celeste tick
Crushed goals?
Madeline wants to keep her affair hidden
Renata wants to stay rich
Competition / conflict around goals?
Ed wants his marriage to be more honest, Maddie doesn’t
Nathan wants Maddie and Bonnie to get along, Ed doesn’t
Mary Louise hates Maddie and Maddie just wants her out of the picture
CONSEQUENCES:
Are they going to be caught?
Will Bonnie get caught as Perry’s killer
Problems created from past actions?
Madeline’s affair has wrecked her marriage to Ed
Good plans gone wrong?
The murder coverup driven by Maddie makes more trouble than telling the truth
Covering up Perry’s abusive behavior makes more trouble for Celeste than if she had gone public to begin with
Amabella’s accusation of Ziggy triggered the conflicts that led to Perry being revealed as the rapist in a way
Perry’s rape of Jane led to his own death
Perry’s abuse of Celeste led to his own death.
SOLVING PROBLEMS:
Perry’s problem is his rage, triggered by who knows what, but maybe by his mother
Bonnie’s problem came from her impulsive act to save Celeste by killing Perry
Madeline’s problem is her affair with the director and her competition with Renata
Renata’s problem is that she is alpha, and also that this drove her husband Gordon to try to one up her and get busted for it by the SEC
What are they trying to solve?
Season 1, Celeste, Jane, Madeline are trying to find out who Ziggy’s dad is.
Major change imposed on character?
Renata goes broke, Bonnie kills Perry, Madeline’s affair is exposed to Ed, Nathan can’t deal with Bonnie’s not being there.
Previous solutions cause new problems?
Bonnie checking out is killing her marriage to Nathan
Madeline’s need for intimacy causes the affair that threatens her marriage
Jane’s looking for Mr. Goodbar leads to getting raped, and having Ziggy
Perry rage leads to his death and his being a rapist
RELATIONSHIPS:
Relationships in peril?
By season 2 pretty much every relationship is in peril
New relationships forming?
Jane, madeline bonnie Celeste and Renata form a bond, become the Monterey Five
Mary Louise forms an enemy relationship with Madeline and Celeste
Conflict inside relationships?
Relationships changing?
DANGER / SURVIVAL / RISKS:
Can they survive X?
Putting themselves in danger / making dangerous decisions?
Will Madeline and Bonnie marriages survive?
Will Bonnie end up in Jail?
Will Gordon end up in jail?
Will Renata be broke and maybe in jail also?
Will Jane’s bad choices continue and get her into more trouble?
Will Mary Louise’s fight with Madeline and drive to expose the Monterey 5 put her in peril?
Who else is pulled into their danger?
Abegail, Ed, Nathan, Ziggy, Max, amabella and the rest of the kids are all at risk as it looks like their parents may all wind up in jail or divorced.
Internal dangers (drug addiction, need for medicine, inner demons)?
Celeste has an abuse demon, madeline has a romance demon, Jane has a victim of rape demon, Ziggy and Max seem to have demons that make them impulsive and aggressive
Mary Louise has some crazy demon, maybe the source of Perry’s violence.
Nathan’s goading of Ed, and Ed’s snarkiness suggest some sort of inner demons driving them both.
Gordon has some sort of greed demon that has led him to jail.
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assignment 8 – Big Little Lies the two mysteries
1. CREATE YOUR SHOCKING EVENT MYSTERY AND TELL US THE WWWWW AND H, ALONG WITH THE PART WITHHELD.
That Bonnie killed Perry at the Elvis/Audrey Trivia Night
A. SHOCKING EVENT:
That Bonnie and the women killed Perry, while he was beating Celeste and exposing his abuse and was discovered to be Jane’s rapist, and that his son Max abused Amabella
B. SECRET:
That perry abuses Celeste, that he raped Jane, that all the lead women were involved in and covered up the killing
C. INVESTIGATION:
Madeline and celeste keep pushing to find Jane’s rapist and Amabella’s abuser
WWWWW AND HOW:
Who- perry and all the women
What – the abuse, rape and max’s abuse of amabella
Where – in Monterey, the school
What – a murder that is justified and covered up by all the main characters
When – the night of the elvis/audrey event at the shool
Why – because Perry was the evil behind Celeste, Jane, Madeline and Renata’s issues and actions
How – an impulsive act from a sudden explosive discovery of perry acting out
PART WITHHELD:
That Perry was the cause of the rape, the abuse and amabella’s abuse
2. CREATE THE OVER TIME MYSTERY AND TELL US THE WWWWW AND H, ALONG WITH THE PART WITHHELD.
The revelation of the victim and the murders over time, that Max is amabella’s abuser, that Madeline is having an affair that is driving her Ave Q obsession
A. COVER UP:
That perry is an abuser and a rapist, that max is abusing amabella, that madeline had an affair and that is what is driving the AveQ fight
B. SECRET:
That the 4 women killed Perry
C. REVEALS:
The affair is revealed as the motivation for Maddie’s Ave Q obsession, Jane’s sudden recognition that Perry is the rapist, Celeste, Jane and Maddie’s sudden recognition that Perry is beating Celeste in the final scene and that he was abusing her all along. That Max is the one who choked Amabella not Ziggy, that Bonnie is actually the one who killed Perry
WWWWW AND HOW:
Who -perry is the victim, Bonnie the killer
What – a simple reflex push to save the other women he was beating up
When – the night of the Elvis audrey affair at school
Where – at the school trivia night
Why – because he was beating on the women
How – an impulsive push by bonnie
PART WITHHELD:
That all the women, really, killed Perry together and then decided to cover it up…we do not know exactly why at the end of season 1
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LESSON 7: EMPATHY/DISTRESS, Big Little Lies
ASSIGNMENT 1:
A. Undeserved misfortune.
Madeline- divorce from nathan, car crash with director, problems with abigail
Renata – amabella’s choking.
Celeste – Parry’s abuse
Jane- being raped. Ziggy being accused of bullying
B. External Character conflicts.
Madeline- renata about AVe Q and Ziggy, ed, nathan about marriage, with abigail about bonnie and being a teen, madeline and director about affair, with bonnie about abigail
Renata with jane, madeline and celeste about ziggy, with madeline and celeste about ave q, with husband about power and ziggy.
Celeste with perry about abuse. Celeste with therapist about abuse.
Jane with unknown rapist she confronts. With Renata about ziggy and amabella
C. Plot intruding on life.
Madeline. Car crash forces her to brink about hidden affair.
Renata. Amabella’s abuse is random and triggers her conflicts with madeline, Celeste and her husband
Jane. Being pushed by the rape, she tries to confront the rapist, but can’t for unknown reasons and flees
D. Moral dilemmas.
Madeline- is forced by affair to lie to husband and everyone
Celeste is forced by abuse to lie to everyone, and to give up her career out of fear.
Renata is forced by Amabella’s being bullied to take on team Madeline.
Jane is forced by rape to hide Ziggy’s parenthood, the rape and her plan for revenge
E. Forced decisions they’d never make.
Madeline. Car crash forces her to acknowledge affair, at least in her mind and to the director and also to cover it up.
Renata – amabella’s abuse mystery forces her give in at least so far vs. to confront the school and take on Madeline and Celeste to the bitter end.
Jane- generally a peaceful watcher, the rape and the abuse charges are forcing her to take action and be assertive in a way she would not normally do.
Celeste is forced by Perry’s abuse to stand up to him and maybe leave. She is forced by Madeline to be a lawyer again and defend Ave Q
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Big little lies relationship map between madeline, renata, celeste and jane
Madeline | renata | celeste | jane
Surface | adversaries | bff | new friend
Common ground | school school school
Conflict | [madeline, renata] alphas, fighting against amabella-ziggy accusation, Ave Q
[celeste and jane] both want to diffuse ziggy-amabella
History| [renata, madeline] butt heads before|
[madeline, celeste] both don’t work |
[jane] none with others, moved, raped in her own past.
Subtext | [madeline, renata] power struggle|
[celeste] sex abuse secrets|
[jane] rape, revenge, suicide
arc |[madeline] righteous to bad, secrets to exposure|
[renata] truce to conflict |
[celeste] Secrets to exposure, stay at home mom to working woman again |
[jane]mysterious secrets to exposure, pleasant to violent
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MODULE 1 LESSON 5 BIG LITTLE LIES DEPTH OF EMOTIONS
A. Situational: Hope / Fear
Madeline: finds happiness in her life, family, work/ that Nathan will win, that Renata will win. That she will lose, even Ed
Celeste: that her perfect love will be perfect or she will be able to leave/ that she will be too powerless and Perry will kill her
Renata: that she reaches a place of joy and happiness without having to run the world/ that she will lose control and everything will explode
Jane: that she will be able to make a new start with Ziggy/ that her past will catch up with her and bad shit will just keep on happening again
B. Motivation: Want / Need
Madeline: wants control and power and success/ needs revenge on those who have wronged her, and other wounded birds like her
Celeste: wants perfect harmony in her love/ needs to be dominated and lose her self
Jane: wants a fresh start/ needs revenge to end her fear
Renata: wants power/ needs understanding
C. Mask: Base Negative Emotion / Public Mask
Madeline: base emotion: regret, even shame / public mask bold and brave activist
Celeste: base emotion self loathing/ public mask: peacemaker –graceful tranquility and acceeptance of her gifts of beauty, brains and perfection
Jane: base emotion: frantic fear/ public mask: calm detachment
Renata: base emotion: unbridled hysteria/ public mask: calculating dominant bully
D. Weaknesses
Madeline – hurts the ones she loves
Celeste – lets those she loves hurt her and others she loves
Jane – obsessive about her trauma (ptsd)
Renata – stubborn and needs to control
E. Triggers
Madeline – losing her mother role, her alpha status
Celeste – being physically abused turns her on
Jane – fear of strangers, home invasions, rapists
Renata – sex causes her to lose control, threats to her alpha state make her go ballistic
F. Coping Mechanism
Madeline – throws herself into projects to mask inner pain, like Ave Q, and her fight for justice for Ziggy, fights back, manipulates, stews on things (like nathan and bonnie)
Celeste – shuts down, feels helpless, alters her state with sex
Jane – gets violent, attacks back
Renata – lashes out, alters her state with sex
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MODULE 1 LESSON 4 ASSIGNMENT 1 LAYERS OF CHARACTER INTRIGUE BIG LITTLE LIES
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie
Role – leader of Team madeline, play producer
Hidden agendas- be recognized as leader over Renata, better mother than Bonnie
Competition for power and position with Renatta, and with Bonnie over Ed and the kids.
Conspiracy – defending Jane with Celeste and Ave Q with her director
Secrets – whatever her real feelings are for Ed, her regrets about her early marriage and motherhood
Deception – deceiving Ed about Nathan, the town about Ave Q
Wound – betrayed by Ed
Secret Identity – driven powerhungry “career” woman using the play to carve out a career.
Celeste Wright
Role- powerful woman/abused wife
Hidden agendas to escape perry and protect her kids
Competition with perry over control of her life
Conspiracy with Madeline to work for Jane
Secrets that she is an abused wife
Deception fooling Perry, maybe, about how strong and powerful she really is
Wound- she chose love over power
Secret Identity – she is a masochist
Jane Chapman
Role – rape survivor and single mom
Hidden agendas either to protect herself and Ziggy with the gun, or exact vengeance
Competition with Renata about Ziggy and Amabella, albeit unwillingly
Conspiracy – with Celeste and Madeline to defend Ziggy, with Madeline to find her rapist
Secrets – that Ziggy is the child of a rape. Whatever is happening that led her to move to town.
Deception – that she is just a single mom, with no gun or agenda.
Wound – that she was raped. That she chose to keep Ziggy
Secret Identity – rape victim
Renata Klein
Role leader of team Renata, powerful alpha woman
Hidden agendas to be liked and desired by her husband as sexy, not just powerful,
Competition – to win about Ziggy, about Ave Q, basically about anything that beats Madeline
Conspiracy – she is conspiring with her husband to beat Madeline, and maybe Bonnie to block AVe Q.
Secrets – that she loses control during sex
Deception – that she is cold, that she is trying to make peace with madeline, when she wants to trash her
Wound – that she chose control over feeling, that she can’t relax and enjoy life
Secret Identity – sexually uncontrollable
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BIG LITTLE LIES ENGAGING MAIN CHARACTERS assignment 1
A. Role in the show:
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – at home mom and leader of team Madeline, the blow up queen
Celeste Wright – at home mom and BF of Madeline, was a powerhouse lawyer, now an abused wife
Jane Chapman – mystery mom from the wrong side of the tracks, destined to be the catalyst for massive clash between madeline and renata
Renata Klein – powerful working mom, leader of team renata, also massively confrontational
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – theater expert, expert leader and mobilize of her team – purpose is to right what she things of as social wrongs and help strays
Celeste Wright – beauty and grace are her expertise, although we also are led to believe that she is smart and a good lawyer. Her purpose is to make peace, to settle with Perry her husband, and to lawyer the resolution of renata v. Madeline
Jane Chapman – her expertise and purpose are unknown, but she is a victim and very scared. A stray, struggling to protect her son
Renata Klein – powerful and very good at negotiating. Her purpose is to protect her family and grow her power.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – her whole nathan-ed marriage turmoil suggests that she is not done with nathan. Her competition with Renata and support for jane suggests she will do anything to help strays
Celeste Wright – what lies beneath the surface is her stockholm syndrome abusinve relationship with perry
Jane Chapman – also someone who was abused, clearly is not over it and there is some hint that she may have moved there either to escape someone or to track someone down
Renata Klein – underneath the surface is her struggle to be a hot wife and mother and to give up control vs. Being a powerful controlling boss.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – she crosses boundaries with Ed and Nathan, as her hatred for nathan is suspect. And she puts her kids and ed in the middle of it. She also crosses boundaries defending jane, to some extent
Celeste Wright- her acceptance of abuse even at risk to her kids crosses boundaries
Jane Chapman – keeping a gun under your pillow crosses boundaries
Renata Klein – her crushing of Ave Q and looking to fix blame on Ziggy for choking Amabella crosses boundaries. Her brutality in business is no holds barred.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – From her brain to her lips without a thought
Celeste Wright – never know if she likes the violence or hates it
Jane Chapman – has a gun, traumatic past…anything could happen
Renata Klein – she is controlling, but has trouble controlling her brittle control. Disagree with her and fell the wrath, even her husband gets burned.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – hard to be a poor mom in such an accomplished world
Celeste Wright – she is an abuse victim
Jane Chapman – she is a rape survivor and poor single mom
Renata Klein- she wants to be fun and lovable but her life and choices force her to be power hungry and controlling. And she has a lot of rage issues she clearly wants to control or overcome
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Big Little Lies Three Circles of Characters
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie
Celeste Wright
Jane Chapman
Renata Klein
Connected circle
Perry Wright and the kids
Ed Mackenzie
Bonnie Carlson
Nathan Carlson
Gordon Klein
Abigail Carlson
Ziggy Chapman
Tom at coffee shop
Harper Stimpson
Amabella Klein
Environment circle
Two lead cops
Other students
Other cops
Other parents
Yoga participants
Other teachers and administrators
Maids etc.
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BIG LITTLE LIES the 5 Star Points
1 Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?
THE BIG HOOK OF THE SHOW IS WHO IS THE MURDERER AND WHO GOT MURDERED (AT THIS POINT AT LEAST)- as well as who winds the competition between Team Renata and Team Madeline
2 Amazing and Intriguing Characters
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE THE 5 WOMEN, plus families
Reese Witherspoon as Madeline Martha Mackenzie
Alpha, stay at home mom who leads her “team” and is feared. As one character says, with her things don’t blow over, they blow up.
Nicole Kidman as Celeste Wright
Gooey in love and perfect, beautiful, but something really scary is going on under the surface of her marriage.
Shailene Woodley as Jane Chapman
Why would a single mom, with allegedly no dad in the picture move just down the coast from Santa Cruz to Monterey…and keep a .38 sub-nose under her pillow at night?
Alexander Skarsgård as Perry Wright, Celeste’s husband
A younger man, dream boat, with a high powered job, is always getting gooey with Celeste, except there is a moment where it is clear he is a physical abuser, control freak.
Adam Scott as Ed Mackenzie, Madeline’s husband
Ed is the successful, apparently self-employed husband of Madeline, whose rage at her ex makes him treat their love as both great and a consolation prize. Ed seems to be very good at reading situations and diffusing conflict in the family.
Zoë Kravitz as Bonnie Carlson, Nathan’s wife
Bonnie is the free spirit, who is with Madeline’s ex and bonding with her daughters…but underneath Nathan says she is smart and that will piss off Madeline. And why does she have a problem with Ave. Q, Madeline’s passion project.
James Tupper as Nathan Carlson, Madeline’s ex-husband and Bonnie’s husband
Nathan is called a bit of a dick, and is both a mellow fellow and a manipulator, especially of Madeline.
Laura Dern as Renata Klein
Renata is the alpha leader of the other “team” and is the opposite of Madeline, on the board of Paypal, vastly rich and successful, and seemingly brittle over the envy other women feel about her.
Jeffrey Nordling as Gordon Klein, Renata’s husband
He seems devoted to her, but may also have an edge brought on my his own beta status in the relationship
Kathryn Newton as Abigail Carlson, Madeline and Nathan’s daughter
Abigail is the idealistic hypocrite, who loves to help the poor, but skips her chores at home
Iain Armitage as Ziggy Chapman, Jane’s son
Something a bit off about quiet Iggy. Sweet, and a sleepwalker, who is accused by renata’s daughter Ama bella of choking her on the first day of school.
3 Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situation causes us to feel both empathy and distress for this character?
As a general situation, there is the first day of school, and parental school competition, wealth competition and “success” competition that creates both empathy and distress. These pressures are pretty relatable to anyone trying to “make it” or having kids. It is heightened because the community is very rich and super competitive
Madeline Martha Mackenzie
Stay at home mom under the $150,000 cutoff. likeable and extends herself to new person Jane. Ex wife with custody issues. And a difficult Teen daughter. Put in situation with School, Ave Q play conflict with Bonnie, wife number 2. Conflict with Renata, who is the opposite side, the working mother Alpha, over Ziggy and Amubella’s situation.
Celeste Wright
Apparently perfect, gooey marriage that appears to be abusive. Was successful, now stay at home, apparently
Jane Chapman
Single mom, poor, likeable, has a gun and son Ziggy gets in trouble for being violent on first day at new school.
Perry Wright
Seems like the perfect husband until the domineering abusiveness comes out.
Ed Mackenzie
Seems like a peacemaker with Madeline. Distress is being the consolation prize as second husband to Madeline.
Bonnie Carlson
Likeable free spirit in a tough spot as Nathan’s new wife vis a vis Madeline, who is established alpha in the social set.
Nathan Carlson
Doesn’t seem bad, but is seems like he did something dickish leaving Madeline for Bonnie, who is younger, prettier and freer
Renata Klein
Dominant alpha super successful business woman with a perfect life. But her daughter amabella has choke marks on her neck after first day of school and she is super protective about it. Takes on Jane as Ziggy is accused and denies he choked her.
Gordon Klein
Renata is a dominant in their marriage. He is supportive, but also has some edge about the envy women deal with with each other and that pisses her off.
Abigail Carlson
Teen daughter is likeable and supportive of Madeline in the Bonnie – Madeline tiff…but she is also a bit wild, always a concern.
Ziggy Chapman
A sweet quiet boy, who may or may not be nuts. He is in a tough spot as the new kid in town and at school who is accused of choking.
4 Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?
There are basically one for every moment/scene of the pilot..!
Who is the victim and who is the murderer?
Who is the lead character?
What is behind and what will happen with the Nathan, Bonnie, Madeline triangle?
What is going on with Ziggy’s sleepwalking and general strangeness?
Did Ziggy choke Amabella?
Why did Jane really move to town?
Why does Jane sleep with a revolver under her pillow?
What is with the Celeste-Perry super gooey and then abusive relationship?
Who is the bearded guy at Tom’s coffee shop who was eyeing Celeste, Madeline and Jane?
Is Abigail at risk from her friends in the car at the opening? Will texting and driving get someone killed?
Who is Ziggy’s father?
Who is the girl in the blue dress barefoot on the beach whose face we don’t see?
Whose male footprints are in the sand at the beach?
Who is the richest?
Everybody moves here for the education? Is that the only reason, really?
Why does Jane feel wrong in these idyllic situations? (confession at the coffee shop)
Why does someone tell the cops that Nathan is a dick?
Why does someone tell the cops that both husbands and wives were at the benefit where the murder happened and that “sows” are the real actors?
What is going on with Bonnie’s petition to stop Madeline’s Ave Q production?
Who is Harper Stimpson and why does she ask Celeste how Perry is but not Madeline about Ed? Is there are affair?
Why does Ed tell Madeline that she collects damaged people?
Why does Renata get so made when Gordon says what he says about women envying each other? And why does Renata question her work in the face of such a lovely life and motherhood?
And who is making love, wearing a giant diamond ring, in the final shots?
What is Team Renata and Team Madeline, which someone said to the cops?
5 Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
The main reason to watch every episode is that there are open loops basically from every single scene/moment. Also, it is a lovely setting and very rich (mostly) people, so there is an element of wealth-porn that soaks every scene. Fantastic architecture, kitchens, cars, clothes, etc.
4. Answer the question, “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
What I learned is that basically, you are best to load every shot with an open loop that forces bingewatching. Too many is barely enough. Plus, fantastic locations and fascinating subworlds (like Monterey) is a good idea, too.
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Tom Dworetzky
“I agree to the terms of this 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 Binge Worthy TV class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, teaching a class, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the Binge Worthy TV 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 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. The easiest solution if you have similar ideas is to either not look at each other’s work or to agree to take your shows in different directions.
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 Binge Worthy TV class.
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I’m tom.
I’ve done three feature scripts at this point, a few shorter ones.
I have done features up to now and want to learn how to transition to a TV model.
Something unique? 50 years of martial arts? Tai Chi, Aikido, Karate, Wrestling, Boxing.
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This reply was modified 4 years ago by dworetzky tom.
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This reply was modified 4 years ago by dworetzky tom.
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This reply was modified 4 years ago by
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thanks Chris!
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I am having same problem