3 Act Structure for Bon Jovi's It's My Life

Summary
A teen boy rushes hastily to meet a girl at a live Bon Jovi gig through many obstacles that could cost him the time needed to get there on time.


ACT 1
A boy lives his ordinary life, doing his homework in his room.
His girlfriend calls him to hurry to the live gig she was in.


Scene Breakdown
Sc. 1 - Day. Int. Boy's bedroom. 
          Boy works in his room, watching the live gig.
          Mom calls to take out trash, because it's his chore. (voice only).
Sc. 2 - Day. Int. Boy's bedroom (Boy) / Day. Int. Tunnel (Girl)
          Girlfriend calls, asks him to go to the gig.
Sc. 3 - Day. Int. Apartment
          Boy comes down the stairs, getting dressed.
Sc. 4 - Day. Int. Apartment.
          Boy kisses mom, takes trash bag.


ACT 2
The boy overcomes a lot of obstacles to reach the gig on time. 
The girl calls again, asking where he is, making him to need to rush more because he ran out of time. 


Scene Breakdown
Sc. 5 - Day. Ext. Apartment Stairs.
          Boy goes down the stairs hastily.
Sc. 6 - Day. Ext. Stairs, Alley.
          Boy drops down the stairs into the ground, still holding the trash bag.
Sc. 7 - Day. Ext. Alley.
          Boy gets into the trash compactor truck, throws trash in, and gets in as well.
Sc. 8 - Day. Ext. Front of cafe.
          Boy jumps out from the trash truck, bumps into a woman taking a walk with her            
          dogs.
Sc. 9 - Day. Ext. City streets.
          Dogs chased the boy. Boy slides down the stairs. Met four 'Elvises'.
Sc. 10 - Day. Int. Under bridge.
            Boy jumps off ledge.
Sc. 11 - Day. Ext. Streets.
            Boy met a group of runners. Grabs a drink from one of them.
Sc. 12 - Day. Ext. Streets.
            Girl calls him, causing him to panic and run faster to the gig.


ACT 3
He succeeded to reach the Bon Jovi gig on time, and enjoys it with his friend(s).


Scene Breakdown
Sc. 13 - Day. Ext. Streets.
            Boy almost got hit by a car. Jumps off the bridge (takes shortcut to save time).
Sc. 14 - Day. Int. Tunnel.
            Boy gets trapped in a traffic jam. He decides to jump on top of the cars.
Sc. 15 - Int. Gang's car.
            Boy drops inside a gang's car through the car's sunroof.
Sc. 16 - Int. Tunnel.
            Boy gets out from the cars, pushed by the gang members. He runs to the crowd.
Sc. 17 - Int. Tunnel.
            Boy meets the girl. They hugged. Mission accomplished.

Week 5: One Sentence Summaries

Bon Jovi - It's My Life
An ordinary boy, does whatever he can to overcome obstacles reach his beloved in the concert of his life.


Pixar's For The Birds
Group of little blue birds on a wire work resiliently to exclude an odd blue bird trying to fit in others' humor.


Pixar's Knick Knack
A lonely snowman; trapped in a world just for him, trying to savor the sunny world outside.


Fantasia Flamingos
A merry flamingo; inseparable with his yoyos, who wants to stay out of the boring routine of his kind.


Jurassic Fart
A pig is powerful enough to defeat two dinosaurs with his own mighty 'gas'.

Exercise 2: Story 3

Matrem

An inch away from the end of his life, an old man recalls his regret of being a man without love for a mother.

 

Today is the last day of my life.

I can feel my last breath drawing near.

As I look through the bars of my ward’s window, I can feel the wind carry all my memories of this one hell of a ride.

. . .

It was a blue afternoon.

I was lying face down on the sand; being a sea turtle.

The pleasant breeze of the nonchalant, ever-rolling waves clasped my small body.

The bright sunlight bathed me.

I was enjoying the heat, until a shadow approached me.

A shadow of my mother.

She hugged my body tightly while saying this, “It’s just the two of us now, honey.”

And then she burst into tears.

. . .

Ah, what a painful past indeed.

How can it not be?

I’ve only had 7 years to spend with my father.

His face was literally clouded from me.

. . .

“Stop bugging me, Mom!”, I said as I scurried away to my room upstairs, slamming the door which bears a lot of signs of eviction to anyone whom desires to enter my private sanctuary.

Yes, my mother was included.

I was being so young, and foolish.

Growing up without a father to look up to.

As a guy, I don’t like to be asked frequently about my day.

My days were all bad.

My looks were also bad.

I might look fierce, with all this studs on my clothes and pierced metals on my body, but it’s actually just a statement to tell everyone not to mess up with me.

I don’t have anyone to stand up for me.

I can’t afford to lose.

I was just scared of everything.

And I was ashamed of it.

I don’t like to share all this to you, Mom.

I’m a disgrace.

It’s better for you to stay away, I want to look tough under this puny façade.

I’m sorry that you have to cry again, but I’m helpless.

I need a man to teach me to be a man.

. . .

I looked at the clock once more.

How many minutes do I have left?

. . .

My adulthood was a mess.

The shame I felt growing up, became something too familiar to let go.

And it includes you, Mom.

I always shove my shoulders standoffishly when you tried to console me.

I lied to you so much and I deafened myself so that I am impervious to your advices, and tears.

I felt so content with myself until that day, when there’s only one left of the two of us.

The day when I realized that I was the worst man ever lived.

And this is true.

I lived the last years of my life in remorse and misery.

I am nothing without you..

. . .

Time is running out.

I am scared, yes I do.

But I’m also delighted.

In any moment, I will detach myself from this shriveled, wrinkled shell of what used to be a man.

I close my eyes.

I know I will see you again, Mom.

And you won’t be the one crying this time.

Analysis

Done approximately 2 weeks past, just scanned it and amazed at how messy I can be

Mr. Twit's Character Analysis

The Little Prince's Character and Side Characters Analysis

Exercise 2: Story 2

 DESIDERIUM

A lonely man, struggling for life, working for his personal hell, found what hatred has taken from his life.

9.00 AM

Torture begins.

I’m here surrounded by these dreadful sounds of shrieking lactose-dependent weaklings.

It’s never my preference to even look at this place, yet here I am, earning every penny from wiping the streets of this amusement park.

They said that this is where the magic begins.

Not for me.

12:00 PM

It’s noon now; too much heat for me to handle.

More kids. What a nuisance.

What is so bloody great about “It’s A Small World” anyway?

It’s only a bunch of scary dolls. Gives me the creeps.

And, for the love of God, why do I have to always, always lose this freaking pendant? My father - God bless his soul – must be crying in heaven right now.

12:30 PM

Still no sign of it… Hey wait a second - what’s that shiny thing? There it is!

12:35 PM

I am losing it. I lost it.

How could he do this to me?

This little runt is just brilliant. Kicking THE ONLY THING LEFT that reminds me of father to that railway just when the tram is about to come!

He destroyed it. And now I have to help him find his parents.

After what he’s done!

Curse this lame employee-pin-pointing-uniform!

13:12 PM

Name’s Marlowe.

Peculiar 8 years old – the same age as I when father died.

It’s already 40 minutes now, we’ve searched but they’re nowhere in sight.

It hurts me to really look at this place.

There’s the bench where we used to sit every June while we’re waiting for mom to bring us ice cream.. and there’s Space Mountain, our favorite ride.

Blimey, kid! Why do you have to lead me through all these?

13:23 PM

Why is he being more and more similar to my dad?

He throws a quick smile after every sentence, and he has father’s brown eyes and chestnut hair too..

13:24 PM

We passed the Columbian Ship where dad took a picture of us every year to compare how much we’ve grown together.

Sigh..

It’s funny how my past flashes into my eyes so easily now, considering that one and a half hours past, the only thing that clings me to these memories, after mom left me, was just a tiny gold-emblazoned pendant that now is no more..

13:30 PM

I began to enjoy this company.

Weird.

I hated children.

A child traded father’s life for his.

He made father fell.

It was his fault.

He thought he could fly? Oh please.

But this kid.. He’s different.

He’s so warm.. The warmest person I’ve ever met since father died.

No..

He was the only one.

I clutched his hands tighter this time.

14:00 PM

We found them.

Ah.. They look so happy together.

Did we look that way 50 years back, father?

I keep thinking about that while watching their backs, after heaps of gratitude and happy tears.

I shed some too.

14:01 PM

Marlowe? He’s back!

Seeing his little feet marching towards me..

What’s this feeling?

The feeling of an embrace.

I forgot that long ago.

“Thank you, Mr. Sweeps..”

Those four words, whispered to my ears..

They made me realize..

This is what I’ve lost all these years.

My memories.

My love.

My friends.

My hatred and loneliness confined me from the world.

I forgot what’s important.

He died a good man, my father.

He died because of love.

And I know he wants me to do the same.

Give love.

Is that why You took him early, God?

I bet You did.


Brainstorm Page 

Character Design - Week 2 Posted

An antagonist character design from my notebook.

Exercise 2: Story 1

The Girl Next Door

"A confused romantic adolescent, in the dark within his mind - trying to figure out the truth of a painful 'dream' ."

It was a very boring Sunday morning in the breezy Malibu neighborhood. The clock shows that it’s still 9 in the morning.  Annoyed by the fact that he woke up super early – at least for him – that day, Jake tried to fall back into sleep, but he couldn’t. After some minutes of this bizarre morning insomnia, he decided to look out through his white wood-paned window.  

The warming rays of morning sun bathed the whole neighborhood, accompanied with the sound of running waves and the breeze of the sea. “What a wonderful day.”, Jake said to himself. He stared blankly into the scenery until he heard a sound of what seems to be a revving truck engine. This immediately snapped him into his senses and as he turned to see who’s car that was, he found himself looking down on a moving truck, with a beautiful damsel coming out of it. What a wonderful day indeed!

With shocking awe, Jake rushed to find his cleanest T-shirt and shorts, hastily running downstairs and out to ‘help’ his neighbor move in. Her name was Abigail, and she has the most charming smile in the world. Her hourglass body was framed with long golden locks of hair, and this was more than enough to make the stunned Jake to fall in love with her.

Day by day, Jake and Abigail grew even more attracted to each other, and Jake confessed his love at last. They became avid lovers. For them, only love matters, nothing else does.

After some months together, Jake started to feel that Abigail was being scarily weird. She doesn’t like to see anyone near him, even the boys that he used to play with. His friends started to go away from him, as if someone had blackmailed him. Frustrated with the fact that he’s got no one besides his horrible girlfriend, he tried to reason with Abigail.

That night was decorated with the dripping sound of water going down to earth. The two lovers were tightly embracing each other. Jake was afraid to bring up that appalling subject, but he brought that anyway. Annoyed by the promptness of Jake’s accusation that she’s blackmailing his friends, Abigail became furious.

The next thing Jake knows, he saw his girlfriend crying furiously - her black mascara tainted her tanned cheeks – and he saw a glistening silver object coming out from her hands. “If I can’t have you for myself, no one can, and now.. no one will!”. Jake felt massive stabs all over his body. The impact on his body is too much, he can feel his consciousness drifting away, vanishing into oblivion.

Jake found himself waking up on his room, feeling fine. He didn’t remember a single thing about last night. After a while, everything flashed so fast in the back of his mind. He scanned the room and found blood. Suddenly he felt a severe pain in his head, and in the bottom of his heart. The blood was not his.

Lesson 2

1 
SENTENCE 
PITCH
 
The important thing to remember is that a good pitch is a description of what actually happens. It's a one sentence description of the plot,not the theme.



LOGLINE
 
A brief summary of a television program or film, often providing both a synopsis of the program's plot, and an emotional "hook" to stimulate interest.



SYNOPSIS
 
A brief summary of the major points of a written work, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.



CHARACTER
 
BIO
 
A detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death), biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events.



STORYLINE
 
A collection of plots and sub plots that form the story from start to end.


SCENE 
BREAKDOWN

 
a) An analysis of a screenplay in which all of the production elements are reduced to lists in order to schedule and budget the production
b) A director’s creative analysis of the dramatic action, reciprocal struggle, theme, and design elements of a screenplay.



BEATS
 
Specific, measured, and spaced to create a pace that moves the progress of the story forward. Audiences feel uneven or erratic beats. Uneven beats are the most forgettable or sometimes tedious parts of a film. Erratic beats jolt the audience unnecessarily. Every cinematic genre has a beat that is specific to its development. Action film has significantly more beats (usually events); drama has fewer beats (usually protagonist decisions or discovery). Between each beat a sequence occurs. This sequence is often a series of scenes that relates to the last beat and leads up to the next beat.



PLOTS

 
A literary term defined as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, or by coincidence.


SUB PLOTS
A secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist.


TURNING 
POINTS
 
A moment when the course of events is changed



SCRIPT
 
A script is a document that outlines every aural, visual, behavioral, and lingual element required to tell a story.


All situations/plots can have these: 


HOOK / TEASER
A literary technique in the opening of a story that "hooks" the reader's attention so that he or she will keep on reading. The "opening" may consist of several paragraphs for a short story, or several pages for a novel, but ideally it is the opening sentence.


MOTIVE
A reason for a character to do something, esp. one that is hidden or not obvious.


CONFLICT
The struggle found in fiction. Conflict/Plot may be internal or external and is best seen in (1) Man in conflict with another Man: (2) Man in conflict in Nature; (3) Man in conflict with self.


DRAMATIC SEQUENCE
Sequence of events in which o ne thing leads to another and so on.


CLIMAX 
Point of highest tension or drama or when the action starts in which the solution is given.


RESOLUTION
A resolve or determination. 


OUTCOME
A final product or end result; consequence; issue.

PARADIGM

diagram of a script/template

                    


ACTS 

Act1 

Beginning setup

Act2

Middle confrontation

Act3

Ending solution

SET UP

Where all of the main characters and their basic situation are introduced, and contains the primary level of characterization (exploring the character's backgrounds and personalities). 

CONFRONTATION 

The bulk of the story, and begins when the inciting incident (or catalyst) sets things into motion. This is the part of the story where the characters go through major changes in their lives as a result of what is happening; this can be referred to as thecharacter arc, or character development.

RESOLUTION

When the problem in the story boils over, forcing the characters to confront it, allowing all elements of the story to come together and inevitably leading to the ending.-wiki

PLOT POINTS 

In television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that digs into the action and spins it around in another direction. It can also be an object of significant importance, around which the plot revolves. It can be anything from an event to an item to the discovery of a character or motive. The plot point is usually introduced at the exposition of the movie. 

MOTIVE

Want to achieve something.

CONFLICT

Necessary element of fictional literature. It is defined as the problem in any piece ofliterature and is often classified according to the nature of the protagonist or antagonist.

DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT

Drama to entertain

References: Wikipedia and Dictionary.com, plus lecturer's description