Blog #7: The Hollywood Formula

Opening Scene:
My opening scene takes place in a giant forest; it's early spring so the ground is clear of snow but the trees still stand bare of leave. The scene features Asteria (one of the three main characters) engaging in a foot race with her pet wolf, Argo. The camera follows the two of them as the dash through the forest, Asteria demonstrates incredible skill & agility as she manages to keep up with the wolf. Even though Argo wins the race, his margin of victory is small. The pair are then met by Penthesilea, the warrior Queen, who hints that there is an approaching conflict. This scene draws the audience in with and exciting race and a curious hint of approaching conflict.

Setting Up the Story:
The audience is then introduced to the rest of the cast. They meet Lysipite and Hipp who are training in the center of the camp. The competitive nature between Lysipite and Asteria is made very apparent as they are always making sly comments toward each other. Asteria is also set up as short of the "big sister" figure to Hipp. The conflict is also set up between Penthesilea and Ares. Ares has repeatedly made advancements toward Penthesilea. She has continued to reject his affections because she knows he's only being greedy and he doesn't truly love her. After the third and final attempt Penthesilea threatens to kill Ares if he barges in to her camp again.

Inciting Incident:
After being rejected yet again Ares is enraged, mostly because he is a selfish God and he thinks he can have whatever he wants. So, taking things to the extreme, he decides to punish all of the Amazons by killing them all. He leads his army to attack the camp. A battle ensues between Ares army and Penthsileas warriors. However there are just to many soldiers for the warriors to handle and they are slowly over-powered. The final blow was when Ares kills Penthesilea, this murder is witnessed by all three of the young warriors who, realizing the battle is lost, flee into the forest before they too are killed. Seeing their whole tribe killed over Ares' hurt pride enrages them and they vow vengeance.