Shut up and do your ABCs…

In fact, while I’ve been up to other filmmaking errands, I have been giving the subject of characters a hell of a lot more thought.

Let’s face it… Your CHARACTERS are YOUR STORY. I would even take this a little farther and say that your Protagonist IS YOUR STORY.

So just how in the hell do you create characters… Especially your Protagonist, so that actors want to play them? We already know that our characters, even if shooting from the hip, really should shoot from the hip in a way that presents an honest (consistent with character) line of dialogue and or an honest line of action.

Time to go deeper… Back to our ABCs…

A = ACT

Let’s look at the definition… I’ll leave OUT the definitions that do not apply…

ACT:

• anything done, being done, or to be done; deed; performance: a heroic act.

• the process of doing: caught in the act.

• activity in process; operation.

• to do something; exert energy or force; be employed or operative: He acted promptly in the emergency.

• to reach, make, or issue a decision on some matter: I am required to act before noon tomorrow.

• to operate or function in a particular way; perform specific duties or functions: to act as manager.

• to produce an effect; perform a function: The medicine failed to act.

• to behave or conduct oneself in a particular fashion: to act well under all conditions.

• to pretend; feign: Act interested even if you’re bored.

• to feign; counterfeit: to act outraged virtue.

• to behave as: He acted the fool.

• act on or upon.

• to act in accordance with; follow: He acted on my advice.

• to have an effect on; affect: The stirring music acted on the emotions of the audience.

• act out.

• Psychology. to give overt expression to (repressed emotions or impulses) without insightful understanding: The patients acted out early traumas by getting angry with the analyst.

• act up.

• to fail to function properly; malfunction: The vacuum cleaner is acting up again.

• to behave willfully: The children always act up in school the day before a holiday.

• act funny, to display eccentric or suspicious behavior.

• act one’s age, to behave in a manner appropriate to one’s maturity: We children enjoyed our uncle because he didn’t always act his age.

Yow!

Of course we’re talking mostly about your Protagonist but let’s face facts… Your character has to ACT. Too many spec screenplays have the protagonist being a very passive character and unless that act of being passive is consistent with the character, it becomes downright boring when your Protagonist doesn’t ACT.

Let’s talk about PASSIVE PROTAGONISTS for a minute… I’m not saying that your protagonist can’t be passive but if you’re going to make him or her passive, then you’ve got to create the quintessential passive protagonist and paint them on the page for us… That way, when they finally do ACT, their ACT, while still somewhat passive, is a major act for THEM. In other words, be consistent. How many times have I read a spec script with a rogue cop who’s fucking passive almost all the way through the script?

Are you fucking kidding me????? How in the hell did he get to be a rogue cop in the first place? LOL. By ACTING. Through ACTS. Definitely NOT by being passive.

Do you ever wonder what people YOU KNOW are doing at any given moment? I do. I wonder what so and so is doing at Christmas. I wonder what he or she might have thought about a certain movie or book. Why do I wonder that? Because I know these people and I LIKE them.

By the same token, I could give a shit what other people are doing right now. Why? Because they’re boring and because of that characteristic, I can reasonably predict what they are doing right now.

Nothing.

So think about it… I contend that for pretty much the same reasons we wonder what certain other people are doing right now or what certain other people’s opinion is about something are the same reasons we care about the characters on the screen.

Of course the eventual actor on the screen will only ADD to this phenomenon but damn… THAT’S ICING ON THE CAKE, BABY!

It starts out with you and how you create that character… More importantly, your Protagonist. Make us care about your characters. Make us wonder what they would think about something. Make us wonder what they might be doing right now. Do that and we will lean forward in our theater seats and peek over your characters’ shoulders and root for them all the way to the end of the movie.

Make them ACT.

B = BECOME

Definition…

become:

• to come, change, or grow to be (as specified): He became tired.

• to come into being.

• to be suitable or necessary to the dignity, situation, or responsibility of: conduct that becomes an officer.

• To grow or come to be: became more knowledgeable; will become clearer in the morning.

• undergo a change or development; “The water turned into ice”; “Her former friend became her worst enemy”; “He turned traitor”

Don’t just make your characters ACT… Make them BECOME i.e., the character arc. The internal change that they don’t necessarily want or desire but absolutely NEED to be able to move on with their lives. Each ACT from above should be yet another step closer to completing your Protagonist’s evolutionary process. Notice BECOME doesn’t necessarily mean good or bad. Yeah, some protagonists can undergo an evolutionary process that makes them worse than they were at the beginning of the story.

Note that I said, “evolutionary process.” Make each ACT allow your Protagonist to BECOME just a little more and a little more and a little more until, at the end, we can SENSE the transformation. Your plot should SERVE your character’s transformation not the other way around. Remember, your audience doesn’t know SHIT about character arcs… LOL. But they can SENSE transformation.

C = CHARISMA

Definition…

charisma:

• a spiritual power or personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large numbers of people.

• A rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm.

• Personal magnetism or charm: a television news program famed for the charisma of its anchors.

• a personal attractiveness or interestingness that enables you to influence others.

• Extraordinary power and appeal of personality; natural ability to inspire a large following.

How many times have we seen Protagonists that we don’t care about?

Plenty. Let’s put a STOP to it now!

It doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad… They must have charisma.

Let’s take a look at what they say about charisma at Wikipedia:

The word charisma (from the Greek word χάρισμα (kharisma), “gift” or “divine favor,” from kharizesthai, “to favor,” from kharis, “favor”) refers to a rare trait found in certain human personalities usually including extreme charm and a “magnetic” quality of personality and/or appearance along with innate and powerfully sophisticated personal communicability and persuasiveness; in short, charisma is often used to describe a seemingly uncanny ability to charm or influence people. It refers especially to a quality in certain people who easily draw the attention and admiration (or even hatred if the charisma is negative) of others due to a “magnetic” quality of personality and/or appearance. Though the term as it stands is extremely difficult to define, other similar terms/phrases related to charisma include: grace, exuberance, equanimity, mystique, positive energy, joie de vivre, extreme charm, personal magnetism, personal appeal, “electricity,” and allure, among many others. Another term constantly used is the “X-factor.” Usually many of these qualities must be present within a single individual for the person to be considered highly charismatic by the public and their peers.

Despite the strong emotions they so often induce in others, charismatic individuals generally project unusual calmness, confidence, assertiveness, dominance, authenticity, and focus, and almost always possess superb communication and/or oratorical skills. To the early Greeks, charisma was said to be “a divine favor/gift” or “gift of grace,” implying that this “divine quality” was an inborn trait; today however, many believe it can be taught and/or learned, despite the persistent inability to accurately define or even fully understand the concept.

In other words, what I’m trying to say is that your characters… Especially your Protagonist… Has got to have enough charisma to influence me, your reader and your audience to sit forward in my seat and root for him or her until the end of the story.

So quit thinking of charisma in the usual manner… It works both ways in screenwriting. Even your antagonist can use some charisma… Give your antagonist enough charisma and he or she will become one of our guilty pleasures… Take a look at Hans in the original DIE HARD. Wasn’t he almost like a guilty pleasure?

Why?

Charisma.

Here’s another interesting read about CHARISMA.

No, probably not in a screenwriting book… Yet. LOL. But so so imperative to create characters we want to root for or admire.

The ABCs. Learn ‘em.

//Unknown Screenwriter

Labels: action, characters, dialogue, Unk

Posted by scribosphere @ 5:56 AM