Story document
Reading the three-week X-ray calendar as a story, not a schedule. The people in it are characters, not workers.
Pinned Oct 4, 2026
Week 1, “the week we built the machine” (setup). Week 2, “the week the Studio goes live” (rising action). Week 3, “the week the world answers back” (resolution). The three-act shape is right. The cast needed work.
Around her, three smaller mirrors:
No villain needed. The antagonist of these three weeks is the terror of being seen. The Studio asks each character the same question: are you still willing to be seen when being seen stops feeling good?
Sally, the protagonist
Her contradiction (wants to be heard / terrified of being heard) is the whole story. The notebook under the mattress is Chekhov’s gun: Week 1 hiding, Week 2 singing, Week 3 choosing to show.
Mike, the apprentice
Observer → participant → leader, but he needs a dramatic test. The Week 3 all-hands has to be earned, not scheduled.
Hank, the hunter
The only character with a real arc, but it’s missing the middle: rejection. Let the comedy be caused by failure, then the signing pays off emotionally too.
Dave, the mentor
Has a theme but no movement. The moment that matters: he fails at music in front of Sally, and she watches him survive being witnessed.
Dinesh, the camera
Films everything, sends footage to his sister. He should quietly accumulate evidence of transformations the characters haven’t noticed themselves.
Chadwick, the steady hand
Give him a relationship, not an activity.
Marty, the armor
The beat that lands: everyone expects a joke, and for once he doesn’t make one.
Mateo, the counterpoint
Sally’s afraid to sing where people hear her. Mateo plays accordion in the plaza for indifferent tourists. Just let her see it. No lesson needed.
Pinned during the late-night session, Oct 4: