Class started by going through some of our fifty-words stories…
Title The Little Rat
Author Annabelle
Main idea Birthday girl’s mischievous brother took a bite of the cake ornament and stuck it back into the cake.
What works: Clear description.
What doesn’t: No anticipation of what is going to happen next as it is not very surprising for younger brothers to be mischeivous.
Title Granny
Author Qinghong
Main idea Nicky was visiting his dying grandmother.
What works: Good visual description of the room.
What doesn’t: Poor continuity of tenses.
Title Speed demon
Author Sin
Main idea The driver was ecaping from somewhere swiftly and got into a car accident and died in the end.
What works: Able to feel the raising tension. Well written with short and descriptive sentences.
What doesn’t: Character remained rather anonymous.
Title The Wedding
Author Caleb
Main idea Photographer, Liang, is at Jessica’s wedding, remembering how marriage was like.
What works: Able to understand what is going on at the wedding and the characters involved.
What doesn’t: Story very vague. Does not seem to focus on any particular person as the main character.
So, does the plot or the character comes first? Personally, I thought character comes first, because every plot is about a character. No? Ryan says plot comes first! Hmmm…
Every story starts with a character. The character is the heart, the soul, and nervous system of your story. (I like how this can be linked to the characters in Wizard of Oz! (;) It is by the characters’ action where viewers will experience emotions and relate to them.
Without character, you have no action.
With no action, you have no conflict.
Without conflict, you have no story.
Without story, you have no screenplay.
When developing a character, we should ask ourselves
- What do I want him/her to be? (personality)
- What does the character want?
- What is the character’s quest? How is it going to be done?
- What drives him/her to the resolution of the story?
ESTABLISH YOUR MAIN CHARACTER
1. Characters should have these 3 dimensional structure:
1. PHYSIOLOGY(Physical Appearance)
2. SOCIOLOGY(Interaction)
3. PSYCHOLOGY(Thoughts)
1. PHYSIOLOGY
• Sex
• Age
• Height and Weight
• Colour of hair, eyes and skin
• Posture
• Appearance
• Defects, Abnormalities, Deformities, Birth Marks, Diseases
• Heredity
2. SOCIOLOGY
• Class : lower, middle, upper
• Occupation: type of work, hours of work, income, condition of work, attitude towards organization, suitability for work
• Education: amount, kind of schools, marks, favourite subjects, poorest subjects, aptitudes
• Home Life: parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated / divorced, parents’ habits, parents’ mental development, parents’ vices, neglect, character’s marital status
• Religion
• Race, Nationality
• Place in the Community; leader among friends, clubs, sports
• Political Affiliations
• Amusements: hobbies, books, newspapers, magazines he/she reads
3. PSYCHOLOGY
• Sex Life, Moral Standards
• Personal Premise, Ambition
• Frustrations, Chief Disappointments
• Temperament: choleric, easy-going, pessimistic, optimistic
• Attitude Towards Life: resigned, militant, defeatist
• Complexes: obsessions, inhibitions, superstitions, phobias
• Personality: extrovert, introvert
• Abilities: languages, talents
• Qualities: imagination, judgement, taste, poise
• I.Q
• What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide
2.SEPARATE THE COMPONENTS OF HIS LIFE INTO 2 BASIC CATEGORIES:
A) INTERIOR (What happens before the story)
B) EXTERIOR (The plot)
Character psychology and interior is different but they influence each other.
A) INTERIOR
• The interior life takes place from birth until the moment your film begins.
• It is a process that forms character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]
• How old is he when the story begins?
• Where does he live?
• Does he have siblings?
• What kind of childhood did he have?
• What was his relationship to his parents?
• What kind of child was he?
• Is he married, single, widowed, separated or divorced?
EXTERIOR
• The exterior life takes place the moment your film begins to the conclusion of the story. It is a process that reveals character.
• Who are they and what do they do?
• Are they sad or happy with their life?
• Do they wish their life was different, with another job, another wife?
YOU MUST CREATE YOUR CHARACTERS IN RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PEOPLE OR THINGS
ALL DRAMATIC CHARACTERS INTERACT IN 3 WAYS:
1. They EXPERIENCE CONFLICT in achieving their dramatic need.
[Eg, they need money – how do they get it? Rob a bank? Rob a person? Rob a store?]
2. They INTERACT with OTHER CHARACTERS.
[Either in an antagonistic, friendly or indifferent way]
3. They INTERACT with THEMSELVES.
[Eg, he must overcome his fear of being caught to pull off the robbery successfully]
We then watched the few minutes of Taxi Driver. My group worked on the exterior. We felt that the character was rather contented with his job. He observes people and by the way he speaks about them, he seems to be cold towards people. By the look of his apartment, he seems quite a loner too. The other things he does: Takes pills, porno theatre, drives cab, write diary.
Memory is a storytelling tool. ‘Your memory is a wonderful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told. These memories are points of references to your own past experiences.’ So by writing what I already know, I can relate better and convince the writer. However, we should write what we also do not know…
Memory play an influence to the film!
