#TodayinCTVA

[houseofrourke]

It’s rough having to study/analyze something that shows great technical skill (camera movements, shot choices, editing, etc.) but whose storytelling and tone is absolutely odious.

TL:DR I had to yet again watch and discuss the Mad Men pilot with film majors.

[houseofrourke]

CTVA 425 (ADV Screenwriting) Assignment: Breakout Room #2

Using on the poem “When Loneliness is a Man” by Yusef Koumunyaka, create a character backstory for the protagonist and discuss how your group’s assigned resolution would go.

Submission:

My group settled on the idea of a former fighter pilot who witnessed the destruction of an air craft carrier. He was the sole survivor and it left him with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. Our protagonist developed poor coping mechanisms like alcoholism and semi-violent outbursts. This broke up his marriage and led to being estranged from his young daughter. Our idea for option #2 (the best possible outcome) was the chance to reconnect with his adult daughter as she starts her own family. The stipulation she places on having a relationship again is that he seek help. After rehab/therapy/counseling, our protagonist and his daughter are able to have a relationship again and he gets a shot at being a grandfather.

[houseofrourke]

When exploring Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy and comparing the Apollonian vs. Dionysian states, no one sums things up quite as well as Freddie Mercury!

[houseofrourke]

My screenwriting class might be happening in my living room from now on, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t set the mood!

[houseofrourke]

Tonight, I got to explore the perils of acting over Zoom!

My computer is too old to do virtual backgrounds so I had to get a little creative in recreating the Cheers bar.

Thankfully, I’ve got spare bottles and a can-do attitude!

[houseofrourke]

CTVA 425 (ADV. Screenwriting) Assignment: Character Backstory

A backstory paper exploring some of the key elements of the history or past experience of the main character(s) that will culminate in the events of your screenplay.

Submission:

Robyn Kelley McNulty was raised by her paternal grandmother. Her parents were lost in a car accident when she was seven- years-old. In Robyn’s late teens, she became Grandma Kelley’s caretaker as the older woman’s mind started to go. Grandma Kelley often mistook her granddaughter for her son, Robert, on bad days, referring to Robyn as “Robbie” so often that it became a permanent nickname. Their apartment was in Grandma Kelly’s name and Robbie couldn’t afford the rent hike after the funeral service. She lived in her grandmother’s car for a while afterwards, struggling to get back on her feet.

Alone and vulnerable, she ran into plenty of people who wanted to take advantage. She learned mistrust early and she learned it well. Robbie has managed to keep herself safe but only by staying on constant alert and driving away any and all who tried to get close. Currently, She works at a retro theater as a projectionist and as a part time bartender, trying to make ends meet. Robbie is polite and attentive to customers but lacks the social graces that guarantee bartenders good tips. She’s blunt, argumentative, and hard times have given her a mean streak that lashes out in times of helplessness. She’s much better suited to the solitude of the projectionists booth.

This persona made it difficult to find a roommate. Mercy Belmonte, however, saw Robbie’s rough exterior as the coping mechanism it is. They’ve lived together for the past year and a half and Mercy is never fazed by Robbie’s gruffness. Mercy’s unfailing kindness and sweet demeanor was grating to Robbie at first, then became endearing, and is now something she would go to the end’s of the earth to protect.

Mercy has been trying to get Robbie to meet her other friends, convinced that they would all get along. Robbie considers her friendship with Mercy a miracle unto itself and feels no desire to ask for more. At the start of the film, Robbie has finally run out of excuses not to meet these people and has agreed to join Mercy on an outing with her friends.

Robbie is a five-foot tall, butch-looking woman in her early twenties. Mixed race, African-American and Irish. Black hair cropped short. Brown eyes that are always scanning her surroundings. She stalks more than she walks and her hands are almost always curled into fists. She’s never seen without her father’s leather jacket.

TAG: ROBBIE MCNULTY, 23, wearing a leather jacket and a steely gaze that make her seem taller and meaner than she actually is.

[houseofrourke]

CTVA 425 (ADV Screenwriting) Discussion

After you watch the "Die Hard" and "Legally Blonde" lectures, taking notes on the plot points of basic structure or Kim Hudson's Heroine's Journey structure, share the basic structure of YOUR screenplay.

Submission:

At this time, my feature is following the basic three act structure, not dissimilar to Die Hard.

Inciting Incident - Robbie McNulty's roommate, Mercy, fails to send the "Safety Text" while out on a date and isn't answering her phone. Robbie has to go looking for her.

Plot Point 1 - In trying to figure out where Mercy might be, Robbie reaches out to Mercy's friends. Despite the fact that none of them get along, the group of friends join Robbie's search. Robbie fights them every step of the way.

Midpoint - Robbie has found Mercy's broken phone and abandoned car. The police won't help because Mercy hasn't been missing long enough. She knows next to nothing about the guy Mercy was going out with. She has no leads, no resources, and no clue as to what to do next.

Plot Point 2 - Mercy's friends are able to get Robbie the necessary information to figure out what happened. They also dig up information on the guy she was with and figure out where he must have taken her.

Climax - Robbie and the group of friends find Mercy. They fight off her abductor and escape.

Resolution - Mercy is safe. The group of friends have learned that, despite her less than friendly attitude, Robbie is actually very caring in her own prickly way. They adopt her as one of their own. Robbie has gained the circle of friends as her own, learning how to be open to affection and help.

I don't have any plans for a strict one-to-one parallel to either the Hero's or Heroine's Journey for this story, but that's not to say I'm not taking certain inspirations from those structures. For instance, in the search for Mercy, I do have the Dark World from The Heroine's Journey in mind. Robbie and the circle of friends have to search a busy city in the middle of the night for their vulnerable friend. It's a descent into a frightening and threatening world, almost an Underworld of its own, in order to stage a rescue.

[houseofrourke]

CTVA 425 (ADV Screenwriting) Assignment

Your premise assignment should be four double-spaced sentences (plus a Working Title): The first sentence is the basic idea (--or what Robert McKee calls the "Controlling Idea"); the second sentence is your Act I in a nutshell, without the label "Act I"; the third sentence is your Act II; and the fourth sentence tells us how your story ends... Don't give us an analysis of the story! Just TELL the story, briefly.  Give this assignment a Working Title at the top of the page, and on the next line, please specify: "Feature Screenplay" or "One Hour TV Pilot."

SUBMISSION

Working Title: When You’re Safe

Feature Screenplay

Premise:

If you want to find out who your true friends are, get into trouble. Robbie McNulty, an ill-socialized loner who has convinced herself she likes it that way, spends an evening making a horrible impression on her roommate’s circle of eccentric but close friends. When the roommate goes missing after a first date gone wrong, Robbie teams up with the group of friends to search the city for her. Working together and learning to trust despite bad first impressions, Robbie and the circle of friends are able to find the roommate and save her from her abductor.