#todayinctva

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.

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.

Script Marking for Actors

Lecture

ACTIVE VERBS are the most direct way an actor translates the ideas of the script into behavior

ALWAYS expressed in the “To” form.

I want “to seduce” him.

I want “to mock” her.

Every line of dialogue AT MINIMUM should be marked with an active verb. Sometimes an actor will change actions in the middle of a line and it will require more.

Every active verb is a way of the character trying to achieve their OBJECTIVE in the scene so they should all relate back to the objective.

Assignment: Mark up the scripts from the scenes that will be performed in class.

Submission:

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.

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:

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: