Blog #13- Script Frenzy Project Reflection Paper

What did you think when we first discussed the project? How did you feel about it?
- When we first started discussing this project, I was very unsure and skeptical. I felt like there would be no way that I could write 100 pages. I honestly thought that Ms. Basko  was out of her mind and that she was expecting alot out of us. I also was concerned that I was going to have quite a bit of trouble thinking of an idea, and developing the script to the appropriate length in order to get it established for the beginning of Script Frenzy.

What do you think about the project now that it is done? How do you feel about it now?
- Now that I have finished the project I have realized that my skepticism was wrong. Indeed I didn't reach 100 pages, but I know why. I never worked on the script out side of class. Just through working on it in class, I got to 68 pages. I know for a fact that I could have reached 100 pages if I had spent more time out outside of class writing the story. I also realized that Ms. Basko wasn't out of her mind. My concerns about not developing the story enough were refuted because as I kept writing ideas were just flowing through my head and I didn't even realize that I had to think about writing the story. I found this project to be really fun and entertaining.

What parts of the planning stages in the Script Frenzy Workbook were the most helpful to you? And what parts were the least helpful to you? Explain.
- The most helpful part of the script frenzy work book was the planning out and sectioning off of each part of the script, from the opening scene, to the climax, to the detente. This was very helpful because it allowed me to visually see my script in a better manner. As a visual learner, it it hard for me to just plan with bullets and such, I need the break up and well organized pieces in order to start writing. The workbook provided that needed organization


What did you learn about yourself by taking on such a large project?
- From this project, I learned that I really underestimate myself because I didn't think I would even come close to even 50 pages and I did that and much more. I also realized that I am very creative and that ideas just come to me very easily. I never knew this because I never had to do a project of this bulk and in depth type writing to ever have realized that before.


How many pages is your final script? How did you handle time-management for this project? In what ways did you handle your time well? In what ways did you not handle your time well?
- My final script was 68 pages. I tried to accomplish three pages in class a day. This worked sometimes and other times it didn't due to class distractions and the occasional writers block days. I handled my time rather well while in class. I really tried very hard to do three pages a day and I set milestones like 10 pages, or to a specific page in order to keep me going. I could have worked more on this at home and outside of class in order to get to 100 pages, but I didn't plan well enough to think I needed that time, which I ended up regretting not having.


What are the strengths of your script? What parts of the script make you the most proud?
- I think the strengths of my scripts are in the area of creating drama. I feel like I really developed the sense of drama between the characters and between the situations that occurred throughout the script. I am most proud of my first ten or so pages. I think I really set the scene really well and that I really showed the personal, emotional connection that the protagonist had with the trouble in the story.


What are the weaknesses of your script? What are the parts that you know need more time and improvement?
- I think that my script lacks a good dialogue. I feel like I didn't spend enough time on the interactions between the characters and that since I didn't do that, the script leaves a sort of confusing cloud of how the characters truly feel about a certain topic. The conclusion is so abrupt and ties up the loose ends really rapidly, which could cause confusion. I think that if I were to spend more time on the ending and perhaps on the scene where Abby is in danger in the car with the murderer, the story wouldn't seem like it just stopped suddenly. If I spent more time developing that, I truly believe that the script would be enhanced greatly, leaving less confusion and abruptness for the reader.

If we had more time in the course and to spend on this project, what would you work on and how would you focus your time?
If we had more time to work on this project, I honestly would probably still only work on it in class because of my workload in my other classes. I would however make the script much longer. I would drag out some of the quick and abrupt scenes that just kind of were established and then were suddenly over. I would make the mystery of the murder more mysterious by having him cause more trouble in Abby's life, which would cause the NCIS team to just lose it. I would still work hard in class to continue accomplishing my three pages a class precendent. If I had more time to work on the script, I think my story would be better due to further character development and further hype in the story itself.

Blog #12- Reflection on Scene

What are the greatest strengths of your scene?
- I believe that the strongest part of my scene is the way in which I set up the emotion and concern for Abby by the other NCIS members. I also think that the way in which I "set the scene" for each action was developed well and aided in the establishment of imagery and emotion. After some discussion in peer groups, the members of my group said that I conveyed the urgency of the situation very well. They also said that I communicated the personalities of the characters well and simply, and it got the job done.

What makes you proud of this scene?
- Similar to the what I just mentioned, I am proud of the way I created emotion in the scene. I am proud of this because I know that as a reader, I enjoy being able to be emotionally connected to the characters. Some of my least favorite books are ones where I don't understand how the characters feel about a situation; there isn't that personal touch and character emotion that draws me in.

If you had time to re-write the scene, what would you do to improve it? Be specific.
- If I had to improve this scene in any way, I would spend more time on describing facial expressions and perhaps more time on the way the characters spoke amongst each other. I was quick to get the story moving along to get the characters to "save" Abby. I should have shown more inner emotion from the characters. After peer review, the members of my group were really stressing the fact that I should have included more dialogue to convey the message instead of using descriptors.

Blog #11: Adding Action and Description

INT. ABBY'S HOUSE- NIGHT

 

Gibbs and Abby are together, talking at Abby's home in the middle of the night. They are both sitting in her study with papers strewn around them, discussing the stalker situation. Abby is frantic, nervous looking and cannot stop moving. Gibbs is relaxed on the outside, covering his internal fear.

ABBY

"Gibbs, I am really scared about this whole thing. Who is this man and why is he stalking me? If it isn't my ex, who could it be? I did nothing wrong, why do I deserve this?!"

 

Abby quickly stands up out of the chair and begins pacing back and forth infront of Gibbs.

GIBBS

"Abbs, all you can do is relax,  you did nothing wrong and overthinking this is only going to make it worse. We are all working on this and I won't leave your side until you leave for court, I promise."

 

Gibbs stands up and puts his hand on Abby's shoulder, triyng to calm her nerves. Abby seems to begin to relax as if she knows she is in good hands.

ABBY

"You always have the right answers. I don't understand how you went through three wives. You are like a pineapple, your'e rough and tough on the outside and nice and loving on the inside."

 

Gibbs smiles with relief. He sits her back down and begins to leave the room.

GIBBS

"Abbs, you're like my daughter, I want to protect you. Let's stop talking about this. Should I go make coffee?"

Blog #10: Moving the Story Forward

Zeeva and Abby on the phone

ABBY

"Zeeva! Get Gibbs, get Tony, get McGee and get over here, now!"

ZEEVA

"Abby?! What's wrong, where are you?

ABBY

"I'm at home, someone just tried to break in to my house. Get over here now!"

ZEEVA

"Okay! I'll tell GIbbs. We will be there soon, hold on!"

Blog #9: Defining Relationships Between Characters

Gibbs and Abby sitting together at Abby's home in the middle of the night

ABBY

"Gibbs, I am really scared about this whole thing. Who is this man and why is he stalking me? If it isn't my ex, who could it be? I did nothing wrong, why do I deserve this?!"

GIBBS

"Abbs, all you can do is relax,  you did nothing wrong and worrying about this is only going to make it worse. We are all working on this and I won't leave your side until you leave for court, I promise."

ABBY

"You always have the right answers. I don't understand how you went through three wives. You are like a pineapple, your'e rough and tough on the outside and nice and loving on the inside."

GIBBS

"Abbs, you're like my daughter, I want to protect you. Let's stop talking about this. Should I go make coffee."

Blog #8: Effective Dialogue

1) make use of sharp, lean dialogue that moves the story along.

2) Identify the characters by their dialogue; be able to create an image of who they are through how they speak.

3) Make it seem like the reader is eavesdropping.

4) The right words are not readily available for us or the character. Take the "rag bag" and let the un- conscience kick in.

5) Learn about people from other people not from what we have read.

Blog #7: Pieces of the Hollywood Formula

“Opening Scene”

            It begins with Abby sitting in bathrobe in her study, reading Moby Dick. It’s raining fairly hard which is odd for February in Washington D.C. (Flash to stalker). The stalker is walking rather relaxed, yet determined. (Flash to Abby). Abby begins to fall asleep in boredom, regardless of the fact it was eight in the morning. (Flash to Gibbs). Gibbs is at NCIS, in his office, working on a recent case, but he is struggling as he has not felt right all morning. Something is wrong and he does not know why. (Flash back to stalker). The Stalker begins to walk faster and toward Abby’s front door as he is whispering to himself in a raspy voice, almost demonic. (Flash back to Abby). Abby is completely asleep in the chair. (Flash to Gibbs). Gibbs gets out of his chair and heads toward the hallway, destined for the bathroom. The team all look at each other confused. Gibbs rarely acts this way and they are concerned. (Flash back to stalker). The stalker is walking up her steps and eventually reaches the door; he smashes the glass, cutting his hand, as the house alarm goes off. (Flash back to Abby). She is jolted awake and looks out the window to see a man running away from her house and off, down the road. She runs toward the phone, ready to call Gibbs.

“Antagonist Returns / All is Lost”

            After putting Abby’s ex-boyfriend in jail for stalking her, things for Gibbs and the rest of the team could not be any better. Abby returns to work and has more personal time to plan for her testimony in a court case where she witnessed a murder. One night while Abby was playing the mafia wars game “Cantankerous Mafia Rampage” before she went to bed, she gets a call from the stalker and realizes that the ex-boyfriend could not be the stalker and she hangs up in order to call Gibbs. He leaves his house in a panic so he could get to her house as soon as possible. Luckily, since Gibbs doesn’t care what other people think about him, he came all disheveled. Gibbs and Abby stay up together all night drinking coffee, watching old T.V shows and talking about Gibbs past, as Abby has been continually interested in Gibbs pre-NCIS days. Gibbs does not let Abby know it but he is seriously concerned for her because they put the wrong man in jail, and he has no idea who the killer could be. He calls McGee while Abby was in the bathroom and tells him he wants him to reopen the investigation and run some of the fingerprints through the databases again just to make sure they did not miss anything. McGee agrees and heads in to work at 4 am. Abby decides she should start getting ready for the trial she is supposed to testify in because she had witnessed a murder the month prior. She is to be picked up by a federal agent at eight, and Gibbs decides he will stay until she leaves.

“Big Battle”

            The vehicle arrives promptly at eight and Abby says goodbye to Gibbs and that she will see him at work the next day. Gibbs agrees, wishes her luck and heads toward his car. He waits in his car until they leave. Gibbs met the driver but did not see the driver’s badge, however, he trusts him because of the government vehicle. Abby and the driver strike up a conversation immediately and enjoy each other’s company. They discuss her work as the man is truly interested in her and her profession. McGee calls Gibbs and tells him he had a breakthrough and he has a picture in the data base. McGee sends a picture to Gibbs via e-mail and lets him know it. They hang up so Gibbs can access the picture through his o-Pad. Abby and the man continue their discussion as she gets more detailed about how she got to NCIS. Gibbs opens the e-mail and recognizes the picture as the driver of the federal vehicle, the one with Abby. Gibbs immediately calls Abby. As she is searching for her phone, the driver becomes agitated and snatches it out of her hand and chucks it out of the window. She is scared and reaches for the door handle and it was gone. Gibbs call McGee to have him track Abby’s phone as Gibbs turns around and begins driving in the direction of Abby’s house. The driver pulls over in Riverside Park, a few miles from NCIS. McGee calls Gibbs quickly and finds out that the phone is just outside Riverside Park. He rapidly drives that way, scared. Abby and the man are fighting aggressively; she does not want to die. Gibbs finds the phone in the street gutter. Gibbs soon sees the van and drives toward it. He hears loud screams and immediately becomes concerned. At that moment, the van door flew open and the stalker falls out of the van with a taser in his back. Abby is sitting there giving him repeated shocks, making sure he is down for good. Gibbs looks at Abby and smiles.

Blog #6: Story Outline

Set Up:

            At the start of the script, The NCIS investigative team, consisting of Gibbs, Zeeva, McGee and Tony, is sitting at their desks working on the most recent case. It is a quiet day in the office since today is President’s Day, and most of the others in the building are out. Gibbs on the other hand likes having his team work on days that are observed so they can take days off when they please. The Forensic Specialist for NCIS, Abby, is out today because she witnessed a murder and is supposed to testify in the case the next day and she was preparing her papers.

            The phone rang at Gibbs desk, but since he was in the bathroom, Zeeva answered the phone. Abby was on the other end, frantic, asking for help because she is being stalked and the stalker just tried to break into her home. Zeeva desperately searches for Gibbs as she leaves the others wondering. She meets up with Gibbs in the hallways and tells him what’s wrong. He bolts for the office and collects his things. He heads for the elevator then yells at the others to hurry up. One of Gibbs worst nightmares is unraveling before his very eyes; Abby’s life is at risk.

Inciting Incident:

            Upon the arrival of Gibbs and the crew at Abby’s home, they try to find any clues as to who was trying to get Abby. They found a minute amount of blood on the glass of her front door. Abby, of course, has an idea as to who the stalker could be. Her ex-boyfriend John, who is obsessive and has creepy tendencies. They all get back into the car and leave for NCIS as they now will analyze the blood for a DNA match. Gibbs is going with his gut instead and is heading out on his own to find the ex-boyfriend.

Rising Action:

1)      Gibbs is on a hunt to find the ex-boyfriend and cannot find him anywhere. He eventually finds him at work and begins his interrogation.

2)      The blood is dropped in the lab along with other viles, no longer can use the blood for testing dues to contamination.

3)      The boyfriend mysteriously disappears after Gibbs goes looking for him another day.

4)      The ex-boyfriend calls Abby to warn her of her stalker. She gets mad at him and they argue on the phone. Then as she starts to leave the lab, he asks her where she is going, she turns around to find he was outside her window. She calls for Gibbs.

5)      After the ex-boyfriend is caught, he is brought to interrogation and explains his theory of who Abby’s stalker is and has evidence through pictures he took.

6)      Cyanide is exposed in Abby’s lab through an opened package

Climax:

           

Gibbs lets the ex-boyfriend go because they can’t keep him for too long without a lawyer. Gibbs goes back to his desk, to investigate on who the man in the photos is. Abby is to be taken to the courthouse to testify in the case of the murder she witnessed. She goes to the NCIS garage and gets in the van with the driver. She strikes up a conversation with the seemingly nice man. Her phone rings, it is Gibbs, and he knows who her stalker is. At that moment, the drivers hand shoots over to Abby’s phone and he throws it out the window. She is terrified and tries to jump out of the car but finds the door handle is missing. This is her stalker, and the murderer of the trial.

Falling Action:

Gibbs is obviously concerned for Abby’s life and gathers the crew to chase the van down. It is clear that the driver a.k.a. the murderer is not going to the courthouse. He is trying to kill Abby so she can’t testify against the killer. Gibbs gets a pin on Abby’s cellphone and finds that she is at the shipyard. When he arrives he finds the phone in the road and then notices the van parked around back. They hear screams and run over with guns in hand to rescue Abby. They open the van’s side door and the killer falls out, with a knife in his arm and a taser clip on his back. Abby is alright, shaken up, but alright. Gibbs in relieved that she is safe and they call the police to take the killer away.

Resolution:

            The ex-boyfriend is brought back into the interrogation room to discuss his stalking ways and the photos that he took. Gibbs presents a suicide note that the ex-boyfriend wrote to make it look like Abby killed herself. He wanted to make sure that if she was going to be killed, he wanted to be the last one to see her. He is clearly obsessed and needs help. Abby takes the week off of work to recuperate from the tragedy. The killer goes to jail for life and the ex-boyfriend is sent to a psychological center to help him with his mental disorder. Abby’s life is safe again and the investigative team returns to normal. They finish the case they had been working one and everything remains normal in NCIS, for now that is.

Blog #5: Revised Story Concept

An investigative team is trying to stop a stalker who is stalking one of their own; however, someone must reveal their true identity before somebody ends up dead.

Blog #4: Story Concept

An investigative team is at odds with a stalker who is stalking one of their own, however, someone must reveal their true identity before somebody ends up dead.

Inspiring Six Word Memoirs

1) " My greatest release is forgetting everything."
- This memoir made me feel partially connected to the writer. I felt this way because this is what I wish I could do. I over-think things constantly and never let anything go. I hold a grudge like it’s my job and I don't and can't forget about anything. Once I have experienced something, large in scale or small, I never forget. Sometimes not forgetting things is a good thing, but in others, it is annoying because it causes me stress. If I were able to just forget about the small things in life, I know that working through stress would be much easier for me.


2) "Write, Submit, Rejection, Submit, Publication, Finally."

- I like how this entry is cut up and forced me to pause when I read it. It allows me to feel like I can hear the writer speaking. I liked this memoir because I goes along with a theme that I live my life by. That this is to never give up. I feel as though this is an extremely important theme in life because if you give up, you are missing opportunities that could bring great things. Just because a failure occurs that could cause you to be upset, does not mean you should let it get the best of you, try again and a different result could occur that makes you happy. Perseverance is something that I believe will get someone far in anything they do, school, and work and in life in general.


3) "Overnight success took thirty-five years"

- This entry made me think about how unrealistic the whole "overnight success" thing is. Unless one of your very wealthy family members died and you inherited a lot of money, you are not going to get any money overnight like that. However, being successful does not always mean having a lot of money. You could be successful at what you do as a job, as a parent, a leader, anything really. From this quote I am assuming the man/woman is referring to money. In anything that you do in life, practice makes you better. Time also makes you better due to experiences gained through mini-failures. This memoir just re-iterates my feelings about being successful; you have to work for it! It may not be easy but it is worth it in the end and if you are patient enough and worked hard enough, everything you did will pay off for the outcome.


4) "My six words grew to thousands."

- I really enjoyed this entry because of how true the statement is. In my opinion, it is very difficult to express or tell a story in very few words. I feel as though you are only touching on a certain part of something that you have encountered. For example, turning fifty, you were not and are not going to be fifty forever. This entry also relates to me with writing in general. When I am told to be concise or make it short and sweet, it drives me crazy because I always have so much to say and never want to miss a detail. I assume that is something that I will have to work on and get over as my writing career progresses.


5) "Recovering perfectionist, still not good enough."

- This memoir is me. I am a perfectionist and know it, it drives me crazy. I have to have things my way and perfect all the time, otherwise I feel as though I have to fix it and make it the best it can be. I push myself to do well and study like a maniac, staying up late many nights just to make sure I go over everything. Once I feel I have done enough, I go to bed confident, and wake up a nervous wreck. I feel as though I missed something, or that I will forget the content, all that studying just doesn't seem like enough. This entry speaks to me and makes me realize that I am not alone in my madness. I would love to not feel this way about everything but honestly I cannot imagine myself accepting things that I have not tweaked to make perfect. The funny thing I am nowhere near perfect but for whatever reason I try to be every day.

Goals for Growth

Hey Again,  
      I am taking Creative Writing to become a better writer, obviously, therefore I have some areas in writing that need some help, done by growing as a writer.
        The first area that I would say I need to improve on would be in variety. I tend to write about the same type of subject...every time I write. It's not that I have the same story line, characters or anything like that; it’s that the theme and tone of my pieces are all very similar. For whatever reason, I tend to write thought provoking or mysterious occurrences, which works for me every time (or at least I think it does) but I think it is time for a change. I want to be able to subconsciously come up with a story at any time on various occasions that has a different tone and theme as the previous pieces. I am not sure exactly how to do this but I think that as long as I take my time in thinking about a story, at least for now, eventually ideas will come to me more quickly and perhaps by then my growth will be sufficient enough.
         The next area in which I am weak as a writer is in my thoughtfulness. I usually write quite blank mindedly, not really giving what I am writing about a lot of thought, which in turn makes what I write kind of dry. For whatever reason, I have a hard time expressing my voice in my pieces, I kind of "tell it how it is" as plainly as i can and am very vague, expecting the reader to catch on to what I am hinting at. I truthfully do not know why I tend to do this but it kind of frustrates me. It frustrates me because I feel like I am boring to read. I also tend to be very conservative on how deeply I think about subjects or topics of discussion because I do not like to make people angry, which in turn leads to vagueness, and eventually confusion or frustration from the reader because I am vague. I want the reader to be able to know how I feel about something, yet I do not want them to be annoyed by my opinion. I guess I am going to have to write it and leave it for what it is worth. If someone does not like what I wrote, then I guess they shouldn't continue reading anything that I write from that point on but I am willing to take constructive criticism as a way to grow as well.
Until the next time,
                       - Ryan

Welcome Entry!

Hi All!
        This blog will include most of the writings that I will do in Creative Writing and possibly some unrelated to class pieces that I feel like doing. I tend to write short stories more than any other type of writing but I do dabble with poems occasionally. Who knows, maybe by the end of this class I will be able to comfortably write all different kinds of pieces but we'll see. At this point in time I am completely engulfed with school work but I am sort of okay with it because oddly enough I enjoy school. I do not like going outside of my comfort zone in life, and in writing, mostly because I hate making a fool of myself.
        Mystery is my favorite genre of writing, I think that is because it makes me think ahead and assume various things. I also like stories that deal with problems in society like racism, sexism and other social breakdowns; there is something about overcoming a problem and squashing an evil character that I enjoy.
        My all-time favorite writer is J.K. Rowling. I think she is a genius. I am in awe over how creative she was/is and also by the fact that she was able to create a series of stories that flowed together amazingly with no error or confusion as to what was missed or why one thing is the way it is. And to think, it all started on a napkin....
        My problem when it comes to writing is that I have trouble starting something, either I am unmotivated or I have little inspiration. The strange thing is that once I start I am able to just go, which I would definitely categorize as a strength, however, then I can't stop. If I am doing a timed assignment, when I run in to the aforementioned type of situation, I end up wrapping up the piece quite chopping and abruptly. I absolutely enjoy writing as a whole. To me, as a quiet and reserved person, it is a way to express myself and not feel as though someone is going to judge me for something I have done, because I only have to show what I write to who I want to.
        I am taking Creative Writing in order to be able to learn how to be, well, creative and to learn how to write in many different styles/types of writing, which in turn I can express myself through.
        You can expect to see a lot of pieces in this blog as the year progresses, perhaps every weekend I will update it or when I am supposed to!