Archive for the ‘screenplay character’ tag

Creating A Strong Goal For Your Main Character

I often read screenplays in which the main character lacks a clear, understandable, and compelling goal that drives the conflict, forces transformation, and pushes the hero toward the climax – which leads to a story that wanders and an audience or reader who quickly becomes bored or confused. The main character needs to have an objective to pursue.

A STRONG GOAL….

IS DRIVEN BY CLEAR & FOCUSED MOTIVATION
The protagonist must be motivated to act to achieve a goal. This motivation can be psychological, physical, or situational, but the audience must clearly understand the motivation. If a reader wonders, “Why is he doing that?” then the character’s motivation has not been established. Frequently, the motivating factor is defined in the inciting incident, when the protagonist is at a crisis point and his entire world is about to change. Something happens that compels the hero to develop a goal and a plan to achieve it.

IS CLEARLY PRESENTED & EASY TO UNDERSTAND
The audience needs to know early in the story (some time in the First Act) what the protagonist’s goal is so they can follow him on his journey. Something may happen later in the story (often around the MidPoint) that forces him to change his goal to what he truly wants or need. For example, in The Verdict, written by David Mamet, the main character’s initial (external) goal is to win the civil case for his client, ultimately the goal shifts and becomes his (internal) need to regain his dignity.

IS COMPELLING
Something must be at stake in the story that is essential to the protagonist’s well being. The audience must be convinced that if the protagonist does not achieve his goal something will be lost (the girl, life on Earth, justice, redemption…)

REQUIRES ACTION TO ACHIEVE
The main character must have a plan and take specific actions to achieve his goal. If he or she doesn’t take action then the audience won’t believe the goal is important to the character and will lose interest. By the MidPoint (at the latest) the hero needs to be acting on the story, instead of his “world” acting on him.

BRINGS THE HERO INTO CONFLICT WITH THE ANTANGONIST
The protagonist’s goals are in direct opposition to the antagonist’s, which creates conflict. A worthy opponent strengthens the hero.

IS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE & FORCES THE HERO TO CHANGE
As the character acts to achieve his goal he will face increasingly difficult obstacles, conflicts, and complications that demand the character to confront and overcome his fatal flaw. In most films, the goal cannot be achieved without the hero changing or transforming in some way.

YOUR TURN: What is your main character’s initial goal and does it change later in the story? What is the motivation that compels your protagonist to develop a goal? Are the stakes high enough to sustain the goal throughout the story? What actions does the hero take to achieve the goal? What fatal flaw prevents him from reaching his goal and how is he forced to confront and overcome that obstacle?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process. Want to learn how to write your first script or adapt a book into a screenplay? I’m committed to helping you achieve your writing goals. My online writing classes provide a focused structure and assignments that produce tangible results.

Understanding What Motivates Your Characters’ Actions

In real life, people act with a reason. And screenplay characters need to do the same. Every character action requires motivation and intention. To create a logical story with strong, identifiable, and understandable characters, a writer needs to be aware of what drives his or her characters’ actions, and create behavior that is consistent with the characters he/she has developed.

So, what motivates your characters to do, say, react, and think as they do?

1. Previous Incidents or Backstory
Past events can influence a character’s actions. In Aliens, the character of Ripley distrusts the “synthetic person”, Bishop, because she previously had a bad experience with a robot (a really bad experience). Ripley’s driven to protect the young child Newt, because she lost the opportunity to mother her own child. How do past incidents or backstory influence your character’s behavior and choices?

2. The Unconscious Dark Side
No one is “all good” or always does the “right thing”. The unconscious dark side of a character can drive him to act in ways that go against his conscious self, whether it be as small as a little white-lie to avoid hurting a loved one’s feelings or as significant as bilking clients out of millions of dollars. What makes the police officer, devoted to justice and helping the vulnerable, take a bribe or look the other way at corruption within his department? The law-abiding, good, decent, and loving father in the film In The Bedroom is driven to kill his son’s murderer in an attempt to alleviate his wife’s suffering. What would make your character lie, cheat, steal, or even kill?

3. How A Character Gains and Processes Information
People experience life differently. Some gain information through direct experience, while some derive information through others’ experiences (note that in films your main characters will most often experience life directly). Some people process information emotionally and base their decisions on feelings, while others process information intellectually and base their decisions on principles and facts. How does your character gain and process information and how does that affect his actions?

4. Personality Disorders or Quirks
Woody Allen’s characters often suffer from neuroses that motivate their behaviors and attitudes. In Lethal Weapon, Martin Riggs’s depression influences his actions – including his willingness to take chances and his flirtations with suicide – and causes conflict with other characters, such as his partner, Murtaugh, who questions Riggs’s sanity (Riggs’s depression is a personality disorder triggered by a past event – his wife’s death). What personality disorders or quirks would explain your characters’ behaviors and choices?

Knowing what drives and motivates your characters’ actions will help you create fully developed, plausible characters, and a solid, logical storyline.

YOUR TURN: What techniques do you use to develop and support your characters’ behaviors and actions?

Already completed your first draft? Looking for professional guidance to ensure a productive rewrite? I offer comprehensive script evaluation, including an analysis and diagnosis of a script’s weaknesses, detailed development notes to solve underlying problems and enhance the script’s natural strengths, and a story map to guide you effectively and efficiently through the revision process. Want to learn how to write your first script or adapt a book into a screenplay? I’m committed to helping you achieve your writing goals. My online writing classes provide a focused structure and assignments that produce tangible results.

Creating The Hero And The Villain

The last post posed the question “Does understanding character archetypes help you write a better screenplay?” Understanding what compels a reader or audience to follow your protagonist on his journey and to root for the antagonist’s defeat does, without a doubt, help you write a better story; one with unforgettable and enduring characters.

Viewers are drawn to the antagonist’s journey when they feel a connection to the character and catch a glimpse of themselves reflected in the hero. Villains enthrall audiences and provide a counterpoint to the hero’s character, clarify the significance of the hero’s journey, and act as a catalyst or vehicle for the hero’s transformation.

UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION

THE HERO’S MOTIVATION
The protagonist is incomplete – he sets out on his journey because he must fill the void he feels. When a hero begins his journey, he is missing something significant. By the end of the story, he is complete.

In Gladiator, Maximus is incomplete without his family and begins the story with a desire to journey home. In Aliens, Ripley is incomplete if she does not act on her maternal instincts – she begins the story learning of the death of her daughter.

THE VILLAIN’S MOTIVATION
Villains may feel superior and desire the accolades the hero receives, but what they crave most is acceptance. They are complex emotional characters, as strong as, or stronger than the heroes they oppose. They believe their actions should be praised. Villains are the heroes of their own movies.

In The Godfather trilogy, Michael Corleone’s goal is to legitimize the family business. In Wall Street, Gordon Gekko comes from a poor background and was forced to attend city college; he contributes $1 million dollars to obtain a seat on the board of a non-profit organization – not because he’s a generous, civic-minded guy – but because he wants to be accepted and legitimized by the upper echelon of society.

CREATING THE HERO
The hero requires a clear goal, obstacles and stakes. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones’ goal is to find the Ark of the Covenant, his obstacle are the Nazi’s, what’s at risk is his life and those of his associates. In Aliens, Ellen Ripley’s goal is to kill the Alien and save herself and Newt, her obstacles are the Alien and the corporate guy Burke, and what’s at risk is her life and Newt’s life.

GOAL + OBSTACLE + RISK

Elements Of A Compelling Hero
* He sacrifices himself in order to feel complete
* He has a clear goal and is determined to achieve it
* He overcomes obstacles that make him stronger and allow him to achieve his goal.
* He risks “all” for the common good

CREATING THE VILLAIN
When constructing the villain, consider his internal and external motivations. In Silent of the Lambs, Hannibal Lector’s external motivation is to be free of prison and to help Clarice, his internal motivation is to be understood and accepted as a brilliant man. In Die Hard, Hans Gruber’s external motivation is to acquire $640 million worth of bearer bonds, his internal motivation is to be respected and accepted as a criminal mastermind.

EXTERNAL MOTIVATION + INTERNAL MOTIVATION

Elements Of A Captivating Villain
* He has a clear goal, which he attempts to achieve without regard to the well being of other characters or the morals of society
* He longs for legitimacy
* He is multi-faceted
* His evilness is identifiable

(Note: sometimes the antagonist is not a separate character but the shadow side of the hero. This post focuses on constructing the antagonist as a villain.)

Check out AFI’s 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains for a list of memorable good guys: Indiana Jones, Ellen Ripley, Norma Rae, Harry Callahan, Clarice Starling, Erin Brockovich and Karen Silkwood… and the worst of the bad guys: Hannibal Lector, Norman Bates, Nurse Racthed, Michael Corleone, Gordon Gekko, Hans Gruber, and Verbal Kint.

8 Techniques for Revealing Character

No plot or screenplay structure will ever make a reader laugh or cry.  It’s the characters that inhabit your script that keep an audience engaged in the story: who they are, what they experience and how they change.  As a writer, you must SHOW who your characters are by constructing scenes that reveal your characters personality on the page and that create an emotional response for the reader / viewer.

For instance, with the character Erin Brockovich, screenwriter Susannah Grant reveals the character’s desperation, as well as her sense of responsibility to her children, and her ambitious / go-getter nature though a series of scenes that show Erin struggling to provide for her family and interviewing for jobs that require experience well above her skill-level; culminating in a scene where she demands a job at Ed Masry’s law firm (and gets it!)  The reader takes that journey right alongside the character – they feel her desperation, they worry about her children, they empathize with her efforts, and they are relieved when she finally succeeds.

Here’s a trick I use to help with the process:
Draw two columns on a sheet of paper (use separate sheets of paper for each character).  Label one column: “What I know about my character that is important to the story”.  Label the other column:  “How I will reveal it in a scene”.

HOW TO REVEAL CHARACTER:

1. THROUGH ACTIONS AND DECISIONS
Actions provide insight into a character’s mind – without the character having to tell us how he feels or what he thinks.  How a character acts or reacts or what decision he makes when faced with a dilemma reveals much about character.  When threatened by the villain does your protagonist go to the cops, run and hide, or stand and fight?

2. CREATE OPPOSITES
Surround a character with opposites.  You can contrast him against other characters (Martin Riggs and Sergeant Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon), against his environment (Truman Capote trying to “survive” in Kansas while researching his book in Capote), or even against himself (In The Godfather, Michael Coreone’s inner struggle to be ‘good’ is revealed by contrasting it against his ultimate decision to kill his father’s would-be assassins.)

3. USE HABITS, MANNERISMS AND QUIRKS
Billy the Kid’s gregarious laugh in Young Guns, Rusty in Ocean’s Eleven eating junk food in almost every scene, Verbal’s stutter in The Usual Suspects, Caroline Burnham’s incessant gardening in American Beauty, and Melvin Udall’s obsessive-compulsive behavior in As Good As It Gets.

4. HOW HE / SHE LIVES
Where he lives (a mansion on the hill, a tenement building, or stylish urban apartment), how he dresses (Armani suit, surfer shorts, or Dockers), how he conducts his day (drinks day-old coffee from the percolator, stops at Starbucks, has his espresso delivered on a tray by his personal chef.)

5. HOW OTHER CHARACTERS FEEL OR INTERACT
Who he associates with (socialites, criminals, teenagers), what type of relationships he has (familial, casual, intimate).  Do other characters fear him, respect him, envy him, love or hate him?

6. NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
A few short, meaningful sentences introducing a character can effectively evoke a picture in the reader’s mind.  From Erin Brockovich:  “How to describe her?  A beauty queen would come to mind – which, in fact, she was.  Tall in a mini skirt, legs crossed, tight top, beautiful – but clearly from a social class and geographic orientation whose standards for displaying beauty are not based on subtlety.”

7. WHAT OTHER CHARACTERS SAY
In The Usual Suspects, what Verbal has to say about Keyser Soze to Agent Kujan helps reveal the character’s powerful and deadly nature.  In Silence of the Lambs, both Crawford’s and Dr Chilton’s warnings to Clarice about Hannibal Lector reveal his brilliant mind and terrifying personality.

8. DIALOGUE
Your character’s individual ‘voice’ can convey education, upbringing, social standing, temperament and much more.  Rocky’s, Hannibal Lector’s, and Forrest Gump’s distinct voices effectively reveal character.

Understanding The Narrative Throughline

What’s driving your screenplay?  And why do you need to know?

Understanding what drives your script helps you determine the essential foundation of your story (or throughline) and allows you to strengthen the script by incorporating elements (scenes, sequences, and characters) that “serve” your story.

There are three-types of screenplays:
1. Character-Driven
2. Theme-Driven
3. Plot-Driven (also called Premise-Driven)

CHARACTER-DRIVEN
Character-Driven screenplays are essentially about the transformation of a character or a group of characters.  The natural throughline (or organizing principle) is the character arc of one or more of your characters.  Juno is a character-driven film.  There’s a theme and a premise, but the engine of the movie is Juno’s realization (transformation) that she’s not as mature as she thought, adults aren’t necessarily any more mature than teenagers, her parents are pretty wise and cool after all and, she’s actually in love with her best friend, her baby’s daddy, Paulie Bleeker.  If your script is character-driven your protagonist needs to have a compelling transformation.

PLOT-DRIVEN
Most action-adventure films are all about the premise.  Sometimes they have a vague underlining theme but few action protagonists experience any type of character transformation (James Bond is the same guy at the start of every film and the end of every film, from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace). If your script is plot-driven, you’ll need to have an exceptional premise – think Aliens, Ocean’s Eleven, Terminator, Jurassic Park, and Die Hard. An amusement park with dinosaurs– that start killing the tourists!  The most incredible Las Vegas casino heist ever – with escalating obstacles, complications, and life or death stakes!  Who needs character arcs?

THEME-DRIVEN
Theme-driven films are the hardest to pull-off successfully without sounding like you’re giving a lecture.  In a theme-driven film, the premise and characters are secondary to the message the screenwriter wants to convey.  If your script is primarily thematic, you must select elements that best illustrate your message but that also work on their own terms.  One such film that pulls this off brilliantly is the Oscar-winning western, Unforgiven.  The film Unforgiven has wonderful characters and a compelling plot, but every element in the script serves its central theme, which is:  violence doesn’t solve anything and actually makes things worse.  All of the elements in the film are carefully chosen to illustrate that point – the sheriff whose methods of “keeping the peace” are often more vicious than the crimes he prevents, the “eye-for-an-eye” vengeance that leads to suffering rather than justice, and the horror of wanna-be gunslinger when he’s faced with the reality of actually killing a man.

THE KID
That was… the first one.

MUNNY
First one what?

THE KID
First one I ever killed.

MUNNY
Yeah?

================

THE KID
(breaking down, crying)
Oh Ch-ch-christ… it don’t… it don’t seem… real… How he’s… DEAD… how he ain’t gonna breathe no more… n-n-never.  Or the other one neither… On account of… of just… pullin’ a trigger.

MUNNY
It’s a hell of a thing, ain’t it, killin’ a man.  You take everythin’ he’s got… an’ everythin’ he’s ever gonna have…

THE KID
(trying to pull him-self together)
Well, I gu-guess they had it… comin’.

MUNNY
We all got it comin’, Kid.

How To Create Your Main Character’s Backstory

Your character’s backstory is comprised of those incidents that define his current situation, thoughts, feelings, and motives and occurred before the first page of the script.

Backstory is not necessarily told in the pages of the screenplay.  A good writer will embed aspects of the backstory throughout the script and reveal them as the story progresses, never having to inform the reader of the character’s backstory through heavy-handed exposition.

All we need to know about the backstory of the character Frank Morris (played by Clint Eastwood) in the film Escape From Alcatraz is summed up in this brief exchange of dialogue:

CHARLEY BUTTS
What kind of childhood did you have?

FRANK MORRIS
Short.

Though readers and moviegoers may never know the complete details of your character’s backstory, you, as the writer, must know them intimately to effectively create the world of your character, the choices he will make, and the journey he will take.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER’S BACKSTORY:

1. Physiology – age, sex, appearance

2. Sociology – class, occupation, education, home life, religion, political affiliation

3. Psychology – sex life, moral standards, goals, personality

To create your protagonist’s backstory you need to write a thorough, detailed biography of your character and define the major incidents from his past that affect whom, and where, he is today.

Your character’s biography traces his life from birth to the time the story begins and may include:

* Name
* Birthplace
* Age at the time of the beginning of the story
* What his parents do for a living
* What his relationship is with his parents
* His relationship with his siblings (competitive? supportive?)
* How long he has been married and where he met his spouse
* What his early life and school years were like (was he an honor student, active in clubs?)
* Characteristics – athletic, mischievous, serious, extrovert, introvert….
* College or other major experiences
* His occupation and the evolution of his professional life
* His relationship with his boss and co-workers
* His dreams and goals – and whether they were achieved
* Any travel experiences
* Political and religious views
* Sexual attitudes and ideas
* His hobbies, interests, and desires
* Idiosyncrasies
* His physical description
* General description of his living situation
* Personal motivations
* His dominant, core trait
* His fatal flaw
* Any life changing or defining events

After creating your main character’s biography and backstory, write a “Day in the Life of…”.  Have a full understanding of your character before sending him out into the world (or onto the script page).

STAY-TUNED: In my next post I will discuss Story vs. Plot.

What is High Concept? And Does That Mean My Little Character-Driven Script is Conceptually Low?

The term ‘high-concept’ may fall in and out of favor, but it remains the standard for what Hollywood looks for in a film premise. ‘High-concept’ basically means the concept is the highest appeal. It is easily understood and creates immediate excitement. If a film executive hears your idea and asks you what it’s about or has no emotional reaction, then your script is not high-concept.

Does that mean your little character-driven script will be ignored by studios or production companies because it’s ‘low-concept’? (Okay, I’m not sure that term actually exists, but you know what I mean.) An idea is irresistible because it is appealing (and, thereby, highly marketable). The key is to make your soft-concept seem high-concept:

EMPHASIZE THE UNIQUENESS OF THE STORY
A lonely, fatherless, young boy claims to see dead people (The Sixth Sense).

HIGHLIGHT THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF YOUR CHARACTER(S)
A sassy, confident, independent-minded teenager takes control of a challenging situation when she faces an unwanted pregnancy (Juno). A failing success coach, a renowned, gay, suicidal professor, a pot-smoking grandfather, a self-imposed mute teenager, and a scattered mom take a road-trip to get an 8-year-old, overweight, beauty queen wanna-be to a pageant (Little Miss Sunshine).

SHOWCASE AN INTRIGUING DILEMMA
An apprehended outlaw is given only nine days to kill his older brother or else his younger brother will be executed (The Proposition).

AVOID A PREDICTABLE PLOT (REVERSE WHAT IS EXPECTED)
A beautiful American tourist falls in love and moves-in with a charming Spaniard and then stays when his crazy ex-lover returns to the house… and their bed (Vicki Cristina Barcelona).

CREATE AN UNKNOWN WORLD
A simulated reality created by sentient machines (The Matrix). The ancient Roman Empire (Gladiator). The rise of an organized crime family (The Godfather).

PUT YOUR CHARACTERS IN AN UNEXPECTED ENVIRONMENT
An uneducated, single-mom, blonde-bombshell goes to work in a corporate law firm investigating a complicated case of industrial poisoning (Erin Brockovich).

CONTRAST YOUR CHARACTERS
A Chinese Imperial Guard hooks up with a dim-witted cowboy/train robber to rescue a princess (Shanghai Noon).

INCLUDE A TICKING TIME-CLOCK SCENARIO
A Civil War veteran must deliver a vicious outlaw alive to the train that will take him to trial (3:10 to Yuma).

ADD ANOTHER LAYER (OR TWIST) TO THE IDEA
An FBI trainee hunts a serial killer with the assistance of a deadly psychopath who becomes her mentor (Silence of the Lambs).