Character Building Blog Post
The first step on my production timeline is learning about character building. Please share any suggestions/resources on how to begin character building. I will be building my character this weekend and next. Here are my takeaways.
Notes on Character Building:
- Look into people 3 dimensionally.
- It’s not just a “character in this film,” in a superficial story. You should see your character as a real person
- What happened to my character along the way that forced him/her to make decisions, venture into different junctures? That is a key question to ask
- Take your character through crisis. Events that make them question who they are and their place in the world.
- Intentions vs obstacles. There’s always something standing in your way
- The tactics to achieve what they want defines the character
- They may fail at first. But there’s a romance for trying for honorable things and failing. It creates a natural sympathy with audiences
- Characters try to pursue their desired intention through normal ways then they have to resort to complicated ways
- Conventional vs unconventional.
- A character finds the success they want at the beginning of the story, but success always comes with a cost.
- Human relationships are most important
- Rather than tell the audience who the character is, tell the audience what the character wants
- The human heart is in conflict with itself
- How does this person define themself?
- How do others perceive the character? Their decisions?
- A character should have a distinct name
- Unique mannerisms, the way he walks, the way he talks, facial expressions
- Physically describe your character
- Facial details
- The description needs to be woven through and integrated seamlessly into your prose, to give a sense of flow and immersiveness.
- Want is external, need is internal
- Want drives the characters intentions
- There’s always obstacles to the wants. A character knows their want at the beginning but doesn’t know their need
- A character often times find out what they really need to achieve something later
- Need is the emotional drive, which creates an emotional ending. It’s the emotional pull
- Wants is specific to a character, need is universal i.e. Everyone needs connection
- The journey teaches us about our own wants and needs
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