11.23.06

Notes notes notes.

Posted in Notes at 2:22 pm by myzodj

Character:

  • Every story starts with a character (a character can make up for weak plot)
  • It is the heart, sould and nervous system of your story
  • Heart: provides emotions (it is through the characters that the viewers experience emotions)
  • No Character = No Action = No Conflict = No Story = No Screenplay

Developing Character:

  • Who is my character?
  • What does he want? (This is the goal)
  • What is her quest? (Things obstructing her from reaching her goal)
  • What drives him to the resolution of the story? (Why is the goal important to the character?)

3 Dimensional Character:

1) Physiology

  • Sex
  • Age
  • Height/Weight
  • Hair/Eye/Skin Colour
  • Posture
  • Appearance
  • Defects/Abnormalities/Deformities/Birth Marks/Diseases
  • Heredity

2) Sociology

  • Class
  • Occupation
  • Education
  • Home Life
  • Religion
  • Race/Nationality
  • Place in Community
  • Political Affiliations
  • Amusements

3) Psychology

  • Sex Life/Moral Standards
  • Personal Premise, Ambitions
  • Frustrations, Chief Disappointments
  • Temperament
  • Attitude towards life
  • Complexes
  • Personalities
  • Abilities
  • Qualities
  • IQ
  • Skeletons in his closet

Interior Component of Life:

  1. Takes place from birth until the moment the film begins
  2. It is the process that forms the character

Exterior Component of Life:

  1. Takes place from the moment the film begins until the film ends
  2. It is the process that reveals the character

*You must create your character in relationship with other things or people so that they can interact in three ways:

  1. So that they experience conflict in achieving their dramatic need
  2. They interact with other characters
  3. They interact with themselves

Storytelling tool 2: Memory

  • Memory is a wonderful cabinet of past experiences which you had experienced or had been told
  • These experiences are points of references to your own past
  • “WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW” – its easier to write because you know what it is and the emotions felt makes it more real.
  • “WRITE WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW” – blending it with what you know will make the story more interesting

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