Lecture 4 The Ordinary World and The Risk

Lecture 4: “The Ordinary World” and “The Risk” Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto Professor Christopher Bradley 1

Previous Lesson • The Opening Hook K 2 (1991) Screenplay by Patrick Meyers and Scott Roberts 2

In this Lesson • Establishing the world of your characters before the crisis begins • The first ripple of unrest in your character’s world. Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto 3

The Ordinary World Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto Lesson 4: Part I 4

Function of Structure Recap • Increasing pressures on the characters, asking more and more of them in terms of risk and difficulty of choice Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto 5

The Ordinary World • Your character may have small niggling problems, but basically, everything is okay. • These are the pages in which you establish what your character(s) value. • We learn what they value by seeing what they fear and by seeing their flaws. 6

The Ordinary World • In these pages, you establish the goal of your protagonist (and, often, the goal of your antagonist as well. • Note: Why might each not want to reach their goal? What scares them about their goal? You want conflict between characters, but also within characters themselves! • Establish the genre and tone of the story? . 7

The Risk Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto Lesson 4: Part II 8

The Risk • By about page 10, the protagonist should have encountered the first major disturbance in the balance of his or her world, coming from the antagonist. • The protagonist will take action to address this disturbance – Unsuccessfully. • The Antagonist will then take even stronger, more threatening action. 9

The Risk - Example Star Wars (1977) Screenplay by George Lucas • In Star Wars, you have the Ordinary World, Luke chatting with his aunt and uncle, working on broken equipment. Then, Obi Wan gets the message Princess Leia sent via R 2 -D 2. He asks Luke to join him. Luke declines. 10

The Risk - Clip • Please pause the lecture and watch the clip from Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto 11

Assignments Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto Lesson 4: Part III 12

E-Board Post • Post your first 15 (plus or minus) pages, including your Opening Hook, your Ordinary World and the first ripple of unrest in the world of your protagonist. 13

End of Lecture 4 Sexy Beast (2000) Screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto Next Lecture: The Mini Crisis 14