TWFTV Creating compelling Characters Dr John Quinn

1.Understand the theory/techniques related to character choice and development. 2.Be able to identify those techniques at work in TV. 3.Be able to apply the techniques of character creation to your team bible and episode. Session outcomes:

Source material: Field, Syd. (2005) Screenplay: The foundations of Screenwriting, Dell: New York Vogler, Christopher (2007)3 rd ed. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic structure of Writers, Michael Wise: Studio City, CA

Screenplay – external details (showing the thoughts/emotions/memories through pictures) The work is only the starting point for an adapted screenplay – nothing more! You are not obliged to remain faithful to the work – and that includes the characters Syd Field - Adaptation

Original material is just that – material Its up to you what you do with it – but you must think of structure …add characters/scenes/incidents/events all in the name of creating an effective screenplay When adapting, your making dramatic choices – very important when choosing characters Change/remove/add characters to turn up the emotional conflict Characters are the central devices in film

The plot of a story is the actions the character makes when faced with a choice or obstacle –Structure is the order those in which those choices are faced –A symbiotic relationship of character and structure So a good story needs 3 dimensional/well rounded characters! –Audience must be able to empathize –Could your story survive with out a certain character…if so why is that character in the story? Stuarts’s take: Character

ACTION is CHARACTER –What a person does is what defines them not what they say How do you create/develop a character? –You have to create the context of the character –That is the space that will hold the content of the character Think coffee cup – holds the lovely hot rich coffee Field on Character

How do you start to create the context of the character? –You start by defining the need of the character! –What does the character want to achieve/gain during the course of the screenplay? Next create a biography for the character –Internal aspects of character –The character’s history right up to the beginning of the film –Know the character – clarify the need Field on Character

Drama is conflict –The clearer you define the characters (bio), the easier it is to create obstacles to them achieving their need –This is generates conflict and drives the drama –Define the need then deny it What else is character? Character is personality visually manifested –Personality is the characters point of view –Look for ways to support & develop the characters POV and reflect this through their actions

Character is attitude –This is the opinions of the character –Again reflected through actions Personality and attitude shape behaviour Character is behaviour –Behaviour is action –Establish behaviour with dramatic situations

Three dimensional/well rounded characters –Know your characters – make them your best friends –Always know how they’d react –If you don’t know your character your in trouble Character functions & categories Protagonist(s) –The character you want your audience to focus on –Through whose POV they experience the film –Who will travel the greatest journey in the story –Who the audience identifies with –Who is on screen for longest time –Drives the plot General Thoughts on Character

Secondary characters –Interact with the protagonist –Mirror the plot –Help the protagonist grow –You must know them too! –They must have a story Minor Characters –Aid the story telling –Provide info – open/close doors –If the story works without them cut them! –Give them a story too!

Like Field, Vogler suggests character is central to the structure of film. Story telling consciously or not follows ancient patterns of myth – the monomyth The structure of the monomyth is created round the central character – the hero The monomyth is essentially a series of obstacles for the hero to overcome in order to complete her journey –achieve her aim Christopher Vogler

The Hero’s Journey The hero’s journey consists of 12 stages and can be separated into 3 acts: –Act 1: 1.Ordinary world 2.Call to adventure 3.Refusal of the call 4.Meeting with the mentor 5.Crossing the first threshold

–Act 2: 6.Tests, allies & enemies 7.Approach to the innermost cave 8.The ordeal 9.Reward –Act 3: 10.The road back 11.Resurrection 12.Return with the elixir

The journey can be an external or an internal one But the hero must grow and develop through the suffering of an ordeal What else does Vogler say about character Monomyth is constructed around recurring characters They come from a deeper source – the collective unconscious Stories become emotionally effective when they are centered on the map of the psyche All characters in the monomyth are anchored around the hero – they are functions

The archetypes Carl Gustav Jung Collective unconscious Ancient patterns of personality that are the shared heritage of human race The archetypes operate on several levels in the story Archetypes as functions Archetypes are not rigid character roles but functions performed by the characters (often temporarily) to achieve certain effects in the story

Archetypes are flexible character functions –Vladimir Propp Allows character in stories to manifest more than one archetype Archetypes in this function are like masks A character wears the mask of an archetype to advance the story

Archetypes as facets of the hero’s personality –The other characters in the story represent possibilities for the hero –The hero learns from interaction with other characters fusing all the character traits into a complete human being who can complete the quest. –Every character the hero meets serves as a function driving the hero towards growth Archetypes as emanations of the hero –Archetypes are personified symbols of various human qualities –Stories are metaphors for the general human condition –Being born, growing, struggling, learning, becoming an individual & dying

Common Archetypes –Hero –Mentor (Wise old man/woman) –Threshold guardian –Herald –Shapeshifter –Shadow –Ally –trickster

Two questions to ask when trying to identify the nature of an archetype: 1.What psychological function, or part of the personality does it represent? 2.What is its dramatic function in the story?

Archetype Hero –Psychological – search for the self (the ego) –Dramatic- audience identification Mentor –Psychological- the god within us/the higher self –Dramatic- teaching/gift giving Threshold guardian –Psychological- Obstacles/internal daemons –Dramatic- Testing Shadow –Psychological- the dark part of ourselves/destruction –Dramatic- Challenge the hero

Adapting page to screen is like apples and oranges Character and structure are symbiotic Character is action Character drives plot Know your characters Know their function in the structure of the screenplay Conclusion

Know how the characters are related to the protagonist If you don’t need a character cut them – adaptation Characters should reach out to us on an emotional level Characters are the central devices in the screenplay Choose the characters wisely –The are the film