Sunday 23 September 2012

BASED ON LOCATON


STORY #
Title: Anya

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

1-Sentence Summary:
A young maiden discovers the mysterious world of spirits and decides to help their realm from chaos.

Synopsis:
Anya, a young teenage maiden, who lives in Syracuse, wants to venture out of her confined world that her parents have forbidden her. She has tried several times to run, but always ends up being caught. One day, however, while she was picking up berries in the woods, she bumps into an injured woman, who has horns and ears of a ram. Anya soon realizes that the woman is one of the zodiac signs, Aries. Aries then tells her about her situation that an evil goddess, Eris, who has caused discord to the spiritual realm. Determined, Anya decides to help out even if she is just a mortal human. She meets the rest of the zodiac signs and she tries her best to receive acceptance from them. They venture out and struggle through tribulations that Eris puts to slow them down from fulfilling her desire. Finally after many obstacles, Anya and the zodiac signs were able to defeat Eris when Anya suddenly receives power from the higher gods. She then is appointed to become the guardian of 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus.

Storyline:
This story takes place in Syracuse, Greek period. An era when people feared and worshiped their great gods. Few of which is the zodiac signs, as known as the horoscope that we know of today. However, the mortal people did not adore all gods. In the deep sky of constellations, lives the goddess of discord and chaos, Eris. Upset about the fact that the people despair her, she plans to pull discord to appease her grudge. But that is just the beginning of the story.
A young maiden runs for her life and heads to the dense forest to hide. She squeezes herself into a tiny spot and covers herself with shrubs and leaves, she pants for air and her heart pounds harder every breath she takes. Then suddenly, she felt a strong hand wrap around her waist area and carried her on his shoulder. She tried to escape from his grasp but was unable to do so. Not for long, she arrives to the village.
“Anya! This is the umpteen times you have tried to run away from home!”
“But Mother,”
“No buts! Now go back home and finish up your chores!”
Anya. A rebellious young maiden living in a quiet village. Always wanting to get out of her comfort zone. But growing up in a traditional culture, she is not allowed to do so. Anya hated her routine and mundane life. But all this is going to change.
Days after her attempted escape, Anya goes out into the woods to collect berries for her parents. She hated doing all this chores as it is against her personality. As she walked deeper into the woods, she heard rustling noises from the bushes. Out of curiosity, she followed and investigates. Not before long, she sees a silhouette of a woman staggering towards her. Instead of being scared, Anya walks towards the silhouette and finds out that the woman is badly injured. The woman collapses and reveals her bizarre feature. She has horns and ears of ram! Anya soon realizes that this woman is one of the twelve zodiac signs, Aries. She carried the injured Aries and tends to her wound in an abandoned hut. Aries wakes up Anya by her side, bandaging her wounds.
“Where am I? Who are you?” Aries whispered
“ I found you injured when I was collecting berries in the woods”
Both started to converse and soon Anya discovers that the goddess Eris is about to pull discord to the human race and the zodiacs have been defending every wave of attacks that Eris ordered. However, Aries was unexpectedly got struck down with a huge blow and falls down to Earth to seek sanctuary.
“I have to go back. The others need me!”
“ Take me with you! Maybe I can help.”
“But, you’re just a mortal human. The immortal world is no match for you”
“ I don’t care, I can’t just do nothing after knowing what is happening. Please, let me follow you.”
After much discussion, Aries agrees with Anya and brings her to the spiritual world.
Both arrived the spiritual world to meet up the rest of the zodiac. However, Anya’s presence was not pleasing to the zodiac gods. But with a not giving up spirit, she tries to get acceptance from the gods by tending to their wounds from the after battle. On the other side, Eris finds out that the zodiac signs have a human in the midst of their presence and kidnaps Anya as hostage to slow down the zodiacs from fulfilling her desire. However, Anya did not give up and tries everyway of making Eris stop her plan.
The zodiac tries to rescue Anya at the final battle. Without any hesitation, Anya attempts to distract Eris that almost caused her to lose her life. However, the higher gods protected her and bestowed her with power and managed to defeat Eris. Soon after the battle, Anya is summoned to meet the higher gods and is appointed with a position as the Guardian of Ophiucus, for her possess the characteristics of the zodiac and has proved to the gods of her worth.

CHARACTER STUDY


Book: “The Twits” by Roald Dahl

1 sentence summary:
A hideous, vindictive, spiteful couple known as the Twits live together in a brick house without windows with their abused, mistreated family of pet monkeys, known as the the Muggle-Wumps, and they continuously play practical jokes on each other out of hatred for one another, till one day the monkeys decided to play alliance with a Roly-poly bird to escape the grasp of the twits.

Character bio:

Mr. Twit
- Horrible person, having hair that covers his entire face, with the exception of his forehead, eyes and nose.
- His hair, which he falsely believes makes him appear "wise and grand”, is spiky and hard.
- Because he never washes it, his beard holds scraps of food dropped there while he ate, including tinned sardines, Stilton cheese, and corn flakes
- Occasionally, he licks these scraps out and eats them.
Instead of wiping his mouth with a cloth, Mr. Twit simply wipes it on his sleeve.
- Mr. Twit is a beer drinker - even drinking at breakfast.
- He is known to seem very quiet when he is plotting evil tricks, the victim of which is usually his equally unpleasant wife

We can easily identify Mr. or Mrs. Twit as the key character because the author, successful manages to picture out how both the Twits look like, how they behave and how the story revolves around them. These characters are crucial in the story because they are characters that also help to bring out both their own characteristics and other supporting character’s characteristics. I would say that the author is successful in using these characters to tell his story. The idea of The Twits was triggered by Dahl's desire to "do something against beards", because he had an acute dislike of them. The first sentence of the story — "what a lot of hairy-faced men one sees nowadays" — is a genuine complaint. However, it seems it was written with the view that children enjoy being disgusted — and frightened. Whatever the truth in this theory, it has remained popular amongst children and due to its shortness is occasionally seen as a good "starting point" by British parents — and primary school and teachers — when introducing children to Roald Dahl's stories for younger readers.


The Little Prince

1 sentence summary:
A man’s plane crashes into the Sahara dessert, and meets the little prince, who introduces home asteroids, and explores the others, but only receives disappointments and takes his own life.

Character bio:
- Frequently perplexed by the behavior of grown-ups,
- The prince symbolizes the hope, love, innocence, and insight of childhood that lie dormant in all of us.
- Though the prince is sociable and meets a number of characters as he travels, he never stops loving and missing the rose on his home planet.



I can easily identify the little prince as the key character because of how the story and the other characters always revolve around him. These characters are crucial in the story because they are characters that also help to bring out both their own characteristics and other supporting character’s characteristics. I think the author successfully managed to bring out the characteristics of the little prince by having supporting characters to help bring out his characteristics of the prince such as hope, love, innocence, and insight of childhood that lie dormant in all of us. The title character of The Little Prince is a pure and innocent traveler from outer space whom the narrator encounters in the Sahara desert. Before the little prince lands on Earth, Saint-Exupéry contrasts the prince’s childlike character with different adult characters by having the prince hop from one neighboring planet to another. On each planet, the prince meets a different type of adult and reveals that character’s frivolities and weaknesses. Once on Earth, however, the little prince becomes a student as well as a teacher. From his friend the fox, the little prince learns what love entails, and in turn he passes on those lessons to the narrator.
The little prince has few of the glaring flaws evident in the other characters, and he is immediately shown to be a character of high caliber by his ability to recognize the narrator’s Drawing Number One as a picture of a boa constrictor that has eaten a snake. Nevertheless, the prince’s fear as he prepares to be sent back to his planet by a snakebite shows that he is susceptible to the same emotions as the rest of us. Most notably, the prince is bound by his love for the rose he has left on his home planet. His constant questioning also indicates that one’s search for answers can be more important than the answers themselves.

LOGLINE


Action
-Samson, gifted with supernatural strength by God, performs heroic feats such as wrestling with a lion, slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass and destroying a pagan temple, faces his finale when God gives him the very last strength to defeat the Philistines.

-A man, who is wrongly accused to have murdered his wife, runs for his life to clear his name while he is highly wanted by the officials.

-Its takes place during the Japanese occupation, when two best friends fight for their country and one was sacrifices to save his friend from turmoil.

-A group of heroes called the Justice League is formed to defeat the evil group lead by Lex Luthor

-Beowulf, who is the king of the Danes, travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts.

Romance
-Every summer, both Odette and Derek’s parents would meet and spend their holidays together, hoping that they would fall in love someday, as they watched the children grow up from being rivals to a loving couple.

-Carrie gradually finds her “Prince Charming” after many failures from her previous relationships.

-A young couple from different worlds, meets each other and falls in love even under the circumstances of their parents’ disagreement, but was however separated due to their different social background culture

-A sweet couple, which met since they were kids, faces many life obstacles together such as relationship problems, unable to conceive and illness

-A French poet falls in love with a woman, which a duke has great desire for her, but overcomes the situation thick and thin

Sci-fi
-It is the year, 2145, when Earth’s resources was depleted completely, and soldiers venture out to the unknown planet, known as Sparxia, that has been told to have bountiful minerals that can sustain the survival of human kind.

-After many years, Earth has completed turned into an inhabitable planet, leading mankind to co-habit in unknown planets with dangerous aliens

-Scientists have discovered a way to go back in time through a time machine and resist temptations to change history that may cause a difference in the future

-Scientists discovered that there is a probability of having another world out there beside our own, parallel worlds that co-exist with us and tries to merge the worlds into one

-For many years we have thought that we were alone in the galaxy, but soon scientists discovered tracks on planets of living organisms, but finds out that it is more than meets the eye

Adventure
-Young Morris is staying at his Aunt’s house for the summer, when he finds a mysterious being, known as a sprite, hiding away at the attic of the house, and how they both discovered each other’s worlds that are far beyond imaginations.

-A young maiden, whose job is a fairy doctor, along with a young dashing Earl-wannabe man, to find back a precious star that the fairy world had so treasured it.

-A brave female, fire sprite, along with her other elemental sprites, must defend their village against the gigantic machines that is cutting down their forest that they call home.

-A group of retired outlaws, seeking retirement with on final score, namely the robbery of a railroad office containing a cache of silver

-An archeologist discovers a new finding and only finds out that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Drama
-A losing coach with an underdog football team faces their giants of fear and failure on and off the field to surprising results.

-A recently orphaned boy, whose parents were killed in an automobile accident, lives with his Uncle and Aunt in a small town, with a dream of building a soapbox derby racer he and his late dad had designed to become a champ.

-Under the new Communist regime, Jacob is dismissed from his post as the teacher and preacher in his village, and was imprisoned when he breaks a strict law, however manages to make peace and finds freedom.

-Ray is forced to choose between his job as a cameraman and stepping out from behind the lens to help the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and decides to open his eyes to his own humanity.

-A young man who was hungry to be great was crushed when he confessed his involvement with gambling and is banned for life from the sport that gave his life to and his question “Can God ever forgive me?”

STORY BASED ON ITEM


STORY #
Title: Memories
Genre: Drama
1-Sentence Summary: A granddaughter tries to tread back to her dying granddad and fulfilling his final wishes

Synopsis: A granddaughter volunteers to fulfill her granddad’s final wish before he passes on. She will have to depend on his old yellowing photos and takes pictures of places that he has been and people he had met.

Storyline:
Moxie’s granddad, Phil, is dying due to is old ripen age. He has lived a long blessed life and people that knew and loved him mourn for his impending departure. Moxie was the apple of the eye to Phil, and asked Moxie to fulfill his final wishes, to bring
back those precious memories he treasured most. Moxie packed her bags and set off without any hesitations. All she had was a simple digital camera and some old yellowing photos that her granddad had kept dear.

She sets off to where the first photo was taken in, a picture of a beautiful meadow with a young girl dressed in a school uniform. She questioned the people who might know of this place as that meadow has been replaced with industrial buildings. After many trials, she managed to find a relative of that girl and heads to the countryside to meet her. She was already an old woman who owns a humble farm field and remembers Phil, as he was her first love interest. She remembered him as a young and dashing boy who would protect her from the neighborhood bullies. Moxie could picture those memories, but however has no time to settle down for time was ticking away. Moxie takes a picture with her and continued her journey.

The next photo was a picture of two teenagers and one of which was her young granddad. However, she recognized the other person next to him, who happens to be her classmate’s granddad. Immediately, she contacts her classmate and meets up at his home area. They met up, but were however too late as his granddad had already passed on many years ago due to cancer. However, he had kept a baseball with a signature on it, that his granddad had kept. It was precious to his granddad because he spent his prime years with his best friend, cheering for their favorite baseball players. Nevertheless, she took the ball with permission and takes a photo with her classmate and continued.

Moxie continued her journey related to a picture of bowl of ratatouille. It was the last and hardest picture to accomplish. She tried to do research online and got a list of places that used to sell ratatouille. She searched high and low for that would lead to any results, but to no avail. On the verge of giving up, she calls her family back to ask
of her granddad’s condition. His health is deteriorating, fast. Desperate and worried, she asked her parents if they knew anything about the ratatouille. They answered back, saying that they vaguely know of it. They said that he used to go to eat the
ratatouille in his hometown when times are low, from a young chef that he regards as a good friend. It was better than nothing, her research shrunk down and she heads to Phil’s hometown. After asking the neighborhood, she found out that that chef has
retired and has inherited his restaurant to his sons. They are in the city area near where her family is staying. She immediately rushes back and searches for the restaurant. She managed to find the restaurant and pleads for the chef to cook up the ratatouille before they close for the day. Touched her story, she got what she needed and quickly dashes for her granddad.

Panting and perspiring, she finally reached back on time. Phil is gasping for air, and spasms at each wave of attack. Moxie knead next to Phil, she takes out the pictures and items that she had collected on her journey that may satisfy him. Phil, looking at
the pictures, led out a tear of joy. Seeing his old flame and doing well and still as beautiful as she was. Though he is sadden by the fact that his best friend has left before him, he is happy to see his grandson and the baseball that they used to treasure
so much back in the old days. Phil chuckled, remembering those silly, good old times. And lastly, Moxie tried to feed Phil to the ratatouille she bought. Phil took a bite and savored each flavor. He is satisfied to be able to taste the same taste that he used to have when he was much younger. Before his final breath, Phil cupped Moxie’s face and said to her, “Well done, my child. You’ve done well.” Phil breathed his last and his hand drooped down.

Everyone mourned for his passing. At the wake, Moxie placed all of his yellow photos and the photos she had taken on to his grave tomb. Precious memories. Never forgotten or forsaken. Cherish the people you love and are close to you.

CLASS BLOG

What kind of heroes or heroines do you like?
Stereotype heroes, saves the day, damsel in distress situations.. but unique ideal role model
Example: the avengers, typical save the day story but unique
Like Ironman aka lord of sarcasm

What kind of villains do you like?
Any type of villain. Villains that will make me hate him or her.

What kind of stories do you enjoy? Why?
Adventure, Action, Fantasy. Stories that will take my breath away. Why? Because it gives me adrenaline and anticipation.

Notes: knowing what you want and your target audience (TA) want in a screenplay helps you write your stories/create memorable characters