Standard 2-point Opposition: Hero Opponent 4-point Opposition Hero Opponent 1 Opponent 2 Opponent 3 American Beauty by Alan Ball Lester (+ Ricky) Carolyn (+ real estate king) (deposed king-trickster) (queen-mother) Jane (+ Angela) Col. Fitts (princess-rebel + princess) (warrior) TV 4-point Opposition Hero 1 Hero 2 Hero 3 Hero 4 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by William Goldman Butch Sundance (+ Etta) (trickster) (warrior + lover) Harvey E. H. Harriman + posse (Lafors) (warrior) (king + warriors) Slumdog Millionaire opponents: 1. police inspector 2. Maman, boss of the child thieves 3. Javed Khan, gangster 4. Prem, the talk show host 5. brother Salim The Philadelphia Story play by Philip Barry, screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart Tracy Dexter (goddess) (lover) George, her fiancé Mike (+ Liz) (king) (artist) Conflict possibilities in the 4-point Opposition Hero Opponent 1 Opponent 2 Opponent 3 The beliefs of the hero have no meaning, and do not get expressed in the story, unless they come into conflict with the beliefs of at least one other character, preferably with all the opponents. Hero’s values 1st Opponent’s values 2nd Opponent’s values 3rd Opponent’s values Key point: by identifying the negative as well as the positive side of the same value, you can see how each character is most likely to make a mistake while fighting for what she believes. The Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa & Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni Within the samurai team Lead samurai + others master swordsman (warrior-king) (artist-warrior) apprentice Mifune samurai (student) (farmer-warrior) Within the world Lead samurai + team bandit samurai (killer-king) (killers) farmers Mifune samurai (growers) (grower-killer) The Godfather novel by Mario Puzo, screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola Within the family Godfather (+Tom) Sonny (king ) (warrior) Fredo (then Kay) Michael (lover) (trickster-warrior-king) Within the world Corleone family Sollozzo (king + warriors) (warrior) Barzini Carlo (+Tessio+driver+bodyguards) (king) (tricksters) Oppositions within the character are based on weaknesses and beliefs. Rick in Casablanca cynic: loves only himself disillusioned idealist: loves a free and just society, but has lost faith jealous romantic: still loves ilsa proud and competitive Don Draper in Mad Men craves happiness, believes in fidelity, but knows it won’t last but cheats on his wife craves the American Dream, believes in meritocracy, but knows it’s fake but hires only 1 woman for a creative position Assignment for next class IF YOU ARE WRITING SCENES FOR YOUR STORY: 1. write the next three scenes in the story where there is dialogue Be sure to start by listing the premise in 1 line 2. write your hero’s weakness in 1 line 3. write the endpoint of your hero’s character change, In other words, his or her self-revelation Assignment for next class IF YOUR STORY IS AT ANY OTHER STEP OF THE WRITING PROCESS 4. Important: state which assignment you are doing 5. follow the instructions for that month’s assignment 6. send in any question you have about story in general or about your story in particular Remember: hand in only 1 assignment at a time. Next class: Wednesday, April 18.