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The Killing of Abigail Winters

Action Western with a touch of Mystery

Role:

Co-Writer & Story Creator

Assignment:

Personal Feature

Programs:

FadeIn, Twine, Miro, DaVinci Resolve & Audacity

The Feature

A family man rancher and his four man posse find themselves being hunted down by an infamous outlaw as they lie, cheat, and steal their way to a better life.

It's about a man who steps into a world of outlaws and crime in order to escape a mistaken past and earn enough money to leave for safety with his family. Along the way, he meets an arrogant young gunslinger and a wise energetic ex-outlaw that challenge his morality.

Unforgiven meets Oceans 11

Western Drama

Disclaimer:

  • AI has been used as a visual aid for storyboards

  • This is a live page as the title is still a work in progress

  • Restructure of story to be added

Ideation

The script originally started as a short film script. It stemmed from the idea of three lawless cowboys playing a game of poker and all of them finding out the other was cheating.

The thought of it was hilarious at first but then started to take form. What would happen? What kind of characters were they to commit such an act? Were they justified?

That started the proof of concept for the entire script later down the line and the processes that followed to put it in place. Below is the short which was filmed and created with friends (no previous acting experience) in an evening with a Samsung S10 and a Huawei P30 Pro:

The Journey to the First Draft

Now that we had a direction, there were some questions to take care of before even beginning to write.

The three most important questions for a feature needed to be answered:

  • What's the logline?

  • What is it?

  • Who is it about?

These three questions are, funnily enough, answered in the first introduction piece in the grey box.

However, getting to the final draft took weeks, if not months, of pitching, as well as back and forth in deciding the structure of the story.

Each step below was then broken down after the initial three questions were answered:

  1. Who are the characters and what are their motivations?

  2. What will the story flow look like?

  3. What are the fifteen beats?

  4. What are the forty scenes?

  5. Reiterated the questions above and put it to the four-part test

The Story Flow

The above is the original first draft story flow planned during the concept and ideation phase using the 4 act structure which splits Act 2 into two separate acts all together

A lot has changed from this story flow to the current draft.

 

For example, Donna isn't even a character that has been added to the original story flow and was only written in the second draft, hence she is missing from the original story flow but appears in the second draft restructure

The Characters

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JACOB ‘BLAZE’ MONTANA (31): 

Blaze is a family man rancher who finds himself in a difficult spot after being framed for a murder. On the run, he meets a wise old saloon owner and an egotistical gunslinger who will challenge his morality as he attempts to make a better life for himself and his family. ​He has a huge yearning to protect his family and to provide a satisfying and safe life for them even if that means getting into a business that he has no skill for.

TOBIN DUKE (23):

Tobin is a wise-cracking egotistical gunslinger who has become an incredible holder of a weapon at such a young age. Coming from a life of hardship and difficulty, he always found a way to keep himself alive and to keep things moving forward which leads him to get into more arguments than should be necessary, especially with Blaze. His views on society and people are a lot more skewed because of his history. Ultimately, he just wants to be remembered as the greatest gunslinger in the West.

AMOS ‘KERNEL’ KANE (Late 40s/50s):

Kernel is a man who has the most complex moral standing coming from a life as a previous outlaw and working as a lawman for the corrupt Herbert Trumbull. He has found that doing what is right hasn't always been easy, but doing what is easy has led to a life filled with more regret than he wants. His clash with the Sheriff of Little Trees started when he adopted Donna and Kreel Fisher after unknowingly murdering their abusive father.

DONNA FISHER(16):

Donna has always wanted to be taken seriously, especially because of her trauma as a child. She's been protected by so many men in her life that she now wants to take care of herself, and can easily make that a reality. She shares more in common with Tobin in this area but holds the same values as Blaze, making her the glue that stitches together the dynamite trio.

SHERIFF HERBERT TRUMBULL (Early 40's):

The Sheriff of Little Trees has always been surrounded by those trying to make a quick buck and earn a reputation in unseemly ways. This comes to a clash when he meets Kernel who tries to make a difference for the better in Little Trees Town. Seeing him as a threat, The Sheriff does anything he can to make his life difficult and gain anything that can help along the way by any means necessary.

‘WILD' JOHN WINTERS (Late 40s/50s):

John Winters was one of the most revered deputies in one of the most feared gangs a few decades ago but, after meeting his wife and having his beautiful daughter, he changes his ways, and leaves his old life behind to protect his family. After his wife gets sick, he opens a ranch with his daughter but, will soon be thrust into a situation that sees his old life come back to haunt him and lead him to avenge his daughter by using all the experience he has making him the most feared threat to Blaze and his gang.

HENRY WAYNE DUTTON (38):

When Henry's father is brutally murdered, Henry, as a young boy, makes it his life goal to go after John Winters in an attempt to calm the anger in his heart. Upon setting up his plan, an unforeseen trip sees John leave the ranch to his daughter. Disappointed by the change in scenario, he strikes murder against Abigail and frames Blaze in the process but must face the consequences further down the line.

ALDRIDGE ‘AL’ FORGER (35):

Al has been given everything he wants in life by his father. When he hears about an opportunity to double his estate funding, he banks it all on a high-risk poker game. After being humiliated by Tobin, he alerts Herbert Trumbull to the proceedings and allies with him to take down Tobin and the One Shot gang.

JAMES SHERIDAN (28):

James is a wild-life photographer and academic with a knack for archaeology. Unfortunately, this doesn't pay the bills efficiently and thus, he enters into a high-risk poker game to help him keep going with the last of his funds to allow him to pursue his passion. When he is granted a lifeline with gold bullets from Wild John's revolver, his luck starts to go awry as he is captured and tortured for information about Blaze.

MOSE ‘KREEL’ FISHER (21):

Kreel, although a bit dimwitted, has always had his heart in the right place whether that's taking beatings in place of his sister or helping Kernel to hatch plans to help Little Trees Town, he's always in to help those around him. He is the victim of crossfire when he tries to help Kernel in a tight situation with The Sheriff and ultimately succumbs to death much to the dismay of his little sister.

LILY MONTANA (35):

Lily has only ever had eyes for one man, and when Jacob promises her the life she's always dreamed of, she goes with him all the way. This is especially true when things become difficult after Blaze is framed for Abigail's death and becomes a wanted fugitive. Protecting Riley in a deadbeat town where not too much happens, she shows her grit in supporting her husband and child. Lily becomes the final victim in the cycle of revenge when Wild John takes her life in his final moments.

RILEY MONTANA (8):

Riley is a happy-go-lucky kid with a lot of his father's features. He is put into a world of confusion and chaos after Blaze is framed for a murder and he must abandon the life he knows to stay safe. He eventually learns of his father's decisions and stories after his mother is murdered in front of him.

ABIGAIL WINTERS (29):

After losing her mother early on in her life, Abigail helps her father to establish a successful ranch. She is never pressured into marriage or learning skills to better suit a woman and is instead pushed towards the lifestyle that her father sees for her. Learning valuable skills, she becomes the second in charge of the Winter's Ranch and establishes her personality as close to her father's as possible by never backing down. During an untimely visit from a stranger, she is murdered in place of her father.

The 15 Beats

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The 40 Scenes

The 40 scene board is here to help with structure and gauging character arcs that had been implemented into scenes. I was so intent on starting the first draft that this board was somewhat made in a hurry and needed to be restructured for the third draft.

 

Here's how it made things way more difficult and cost a lot of time:

  • There's only 39 scenes in the board for starters

  • The structure is all over the place with a lack of understanding for character development and their effect on each other

  • Some acts had way more going on than others​

  • The theme dropped and picked up throughout the story

  • There was no flow between the conflict of characters and their motivations within scenes which needed to be written down in the >< areas

  • It clearly showed the inexperience of writing a full feature with the inability to dig into characters and their motivations as well as their emotions

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Reiteration

The reiteration comes down to looking through the last couple processes and making sure everything is ready and there's enough content to go before starting to write. This follows four steps that go over what's been put down and I do it to really make sure there's confidence before starting to write the idea

01.

Here's a great idea, killer title, killer logline, and it's been pitched to friends and strangers. Everyone is excited to watch your unreleased movie!!!

02.

Research is done on the genre. I know what the film is most like and screened every relevant film from the last 20 years. There's something NEW!! Well, it's the same, but different!

03.

Figured out the perfect hero to take this journey. Given the hero the most conflict, primal goal, and a big bad to stop him.

04.

The film has gone through the 15 beats and put the final or almost final scenes onto the Scene Board! Tried many ideas, themes and stories and whittled it down to 40 actual scenes

01.

Pitching the logline took several attempts as well as getting the idea down past the few scenes that had been fabricated to mind. Eventually, it was settled with the following:

"A family man rancher and his four man posse find themselves being hunted down by an infamous outlaw as they lie, cheat, and steal their way to a better life."

02.

Films, tv series, and games that are similar that were viewed during this period:

  • Slow West

  • Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2

  • GTA V

  • Django Unchained

  • The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

  • The Good, the Bad and The Ugly

  • Unforgiven

  • Oceans 11

  • The Magnificent Seven

  • The Mandalorian

  • The Walking Dead

03.

The premise of characters are simple yet fit the bill:

  • A family man rancher that will do anything to do right by his family

  • A once feared outlaw now a family rancher that will do anything for his family

  • The Big Bad is almost the main character except better and able to do everything he cannot

  • Only through meeting other characters challenging his integrity can he grow

  • A difficult decision has to be made

  • The theme: The cycle and cost of revenge

04.

Although the 15 beats and 40 scenes had been completed, there were a lot of issues we had which became apparent down the line however it fit the structure for what was needed:

  • Themes of revenge, family ties and moral integrity were implemented​

  • All characters had a story flow in place to hit the character curve aimed for

  • The story made sense when viewing the board as a whole

Time to start writing!

The First Draft

Eureka!! Wait...it's garbage...?

  • Everything was all over the place, barring the initial short film portion of the script

  • A total neglection of the structure put in place as I decided to just write without reference

  • Characters needed more depth (they were samey and flat)

  • Dialogue was stunted all the time

  • The title actually sucked!

  • It genuinely felt like an idea document more than a draft as seen in the notes below

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Story Theme and Character Conflict

At the stage of finishing and reading the first draft, it became clear just how important it was to reiterate and revisit what the themes of the story are, what each character is trying to achieve through it, and how that fits back into the theme

Theme

Two vitally important themes drive every single character within the story:

  1. The cycle and cost of revenge

  2. Attempting to co-exist and make decisions in two polar opposite worlds

With these ironed out, we take a look at how this relates to each story-driving character and their arc below

Character Conflict

Blaze Montana

Blaze is a character trying desperately to show he's hardened and can fit into the outlaw lifestyle but at his core, he'll always be a family man rancher who's doing what he can to take care of his family. He's the only one in the story that finally breaks the cycle of revenge amongst all the characters even after his former mentor, John Winters, takes the life of his wife.

Tobin Duke

Tobin's inability to let Al live changes the story in a pivotal moment and is a prime testament to the cost of revenge and being unable to let things lie. Ultimately he lays his life on the line in an act of selflessness which sees a total character cycle loop to what the audience first experiences from him. The band of outlaws seem like a dysfunctional group in the beginning but slowly help each other grow into the people they want to be and this is especially prevalent for Tobin.

Amos Kane

Kernel and Sheriff Trumbull's conflict is the biggest catalyst for the theme of revenge and the cost it takes to complete the duty. They both end up dying on the same day, moments apart, after a lengthy escape sequence. Kernel is a complicated character who drives himself to fit into a society that has long since passed his ambitions of returning to the life of an outlaw. His character follows a flat line as he never changes his ways which has a negative impact on his family.

Donna Fisher

Donna is the only character who finds herself stuck in a world without her own choice. She uses the situation to learn skills to help her achieve her goal and complete her character arc by the end of the feature. Her life is filled with others attempting to keep her safe when all she wants to do is keep herself safe. She has the largest character arc and is the true hero of the story.

Wild John Winters

John's life changes drastically when he meets the love of his life and father's a child but he always finds his old life coming back to haunt him even after several years as a rancher. After his daughter is murdered, he slowly descends back into his psychopathic ways and stops at nothing to kill the man responsible for his dismay.

Herbert Trumbull

Every action the Sheriff of Little Trees Town takes is heavily contrasted with Kernel's perspective. Their moral grey areas and clashing of ideologies see a negative impact on all of those around them. Their inability to leave each other be, ultimately costs them their lives.

Al Forger

Al is an early catalyst for striking revenge on the One Shot gang and lights the fire that sees Sheriff, Wild John and him ultimately make an alliance. Even though they seem like a functional group in the beginning, their own desires cost them in the long run, and even more so for Al when Tobin pays back that resentment with a life-ending bullet.

Henry Dutton

Henry is the catalyst for the entire story and theme kicking off. Unable to let the pain and anger in his heart subside, he takes the life of the one closest to his end goal. He is also the breaking point of the story theme when Blaze decides not to go after him after seeing his wanted poster.

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The Second Draft

Also known as The Real First Draft

  • Better title after working through several to fit the story better

  • Added scenes that were forgotten about to get the structure organised in accordance to the beats and scenes

  • Still areas and especially characters (DONNA & WILD JOHN) with work and rewrites to do

  • Loads of feedback here! As much as one can get! (A huge thank you to those that took the time to help me out)

  • Feedback allowed for flow of ideas and a better restructure in the third draft. No preciousness showed during the revision

  • Did a lot better with character development and building their motivations

The Beats & Scenes (Revisited)

Work In Progress

The Third Draft

Work In Progress

  • Coming Soon!

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© 2025 by Xande Gomes. 

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