ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 3 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

I see motivation as the end result of weaknesses, values, beliefs, needs etc. You create all these elements and what you see is something that motivation can engage with. Without them, your character is flat and static.

Theoretically, you could wrap other things around the character like, job, clothing tastes, haircut, house he lives in, car he drives, job he has, sexual position he prefers etc etc... but we don't associate with those things on any deep level at all.

Do you think?

12 years, 3 months ago - Vasco de Sousa

It depends on the story. I usually begin with character, more specifically a character flaw.

12 years, 3 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Wow, what a broad based question!

I'd have to suggest you should of course bring all those elements to the story if it is to be worth reading They can all be starting points around which the others can crystallise, at the working stage at least .

I suppose of those 4, for selling a traditional movie script, structure followed by premise is most pressing. Films are sold in markets, dozens of screening rooms, hundreds of buyers. The buyers have to see maybe 5 films every hour, and so will watch 10 minutes and go onto the next one. The screen will empty, leaving a couple of punters to see how the story, characters etc develop. This means you have 10 minutes to sell a film, tops.

If your story is a long, beautiful character development arc, and the first 10 minutes are necessarily slow setup, structuring the flow of time so you have something interesting in the first 10 minutes gives buyers a chance and the audience a promise it's worth their time to sit out. A common and effective move is to start with some upbeat plot point 2/3rds of the way into the story, then do all the backstory, then resolve for instance.

If people care about your protagonist and supporting roles, they will invest more in the film. If they don't, they will walk out of the cinema having gained little other than 90 minutes out of the rain. Take the Transformers films, I barely cared about the humans, couldn't give two hoots about the CGI robots, wished they'd hurry up and 'kill' each other, yet District 9 the 'prawns' were a lot more sympathetic, the story stayed with me more. The stories that I never forget have strong (as in interesting) characters and focus on their personal journey - Amelie, for instance, but if the first 10 minutes hadn't hooked my attention I'd likely never have got to enjoy that.

If you get a stack of scripts from imsdb, and read the first 10 pages, it soon becomes clear how the combination of structure and premise can hook you into a story long enough to start to care about the characters. One of the best examples is the first 2 pages of the 'Fight Club' script - read those pages and you just know the writer is going to give you a rich, humorous story before he sets to work on character. And then delivers on character :)

12 years, 3 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Heh heh far better smarter people than me have an million theories, but for my part, I'd say character starts in humanity. Humanity is the characteristics that I suppose aggregate into the 'flaw' in the above parlance. It's what rounds the character giving you a reason to empathise.

I must say I found Skyfall more engaging than some Bond films as he showed a more human side. The characterisation was still not deep, but fuller.

I'm keen on motivation. If I doubt a characters motivation (whatever it is), I suppose I don't fully trust them, so don't invest. John le Carré does motivation well (well, for male characters, his female ones aren't as convincing), so his human characters act consistently and its generally not a leap. Even better at character is Margaret Atwood - remarkably after every book I feel that the protagonist is so complete that she must be writing herself, then the next time it is again compete but very different. I'd say she's well worth a read for character development.

Just some thoughts, not particularly well structured - but we haven't heard your thoughts ...yet...!

12 years, 3 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Motivation is a good answer. It's what most actor want the answer to when stood before a camera... or hopefully, during prep.

But motivation based upon what? For me, and I agree motivation is partly where character begins, it's in the flaws of the character. The weaknesses he/she has, the psychological and moral needs, the values and beliefs, the ghost. Fundamental qualities we all have but what we dont always get from a character on screen, unless well writen.

Some would say that motivation is desire. The goal the character is trying to reach. But I would disagree and say that the desire is far too external to be motivation. Motivation needs to be deeper. Just because I want to rescue the Princess, doesn't mean that's why I'm motivated. The Princess may be defending a 'cause' that I beleive in and value in society and therefore by saving her I'm helping to keep the cause going. I'm filling a need, a need in myself.

12 years, 3 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Oh yes, stubbornness or consistency is a perfectly decent motivation, indeed a more complicated and personal one than 'get the girl'. In fact, the innate consistency of people to maintain a previously help position is underestimated, which is why car lot pressure salesmen use it against people day in day out

12 years, 3 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Thanks for the answers so far. I'm not asking beacuse I dont know, but more am interested in how others approach the subject.

Vasco - How do, you specifically, develop your character flaws if that is the first thing you do?

Paddy - So one eye on the character and one on the plot? So where does character begin for you?

12 years, 3 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

PS - please excuse the odd run-on sentence above - I am working from a phone today, you can only see a couple of lines at a time.