Quintessential characters…
Along with DILEMMA, I’ve also been noticing a concept called quintessentialism…
Here’s the definition of quintessential from Dictionary.com:
1. Representing the perfect example of a class or quality
2. Of, relating to, or having the nature of a quintessence; being the most typical.
What the hell is Unk talking about?
Your characters in your films… They should ideally be the QUINTESSENTIAL example of that type of character… If you have a bum as a character, he should be the quintessential bum.
If you have a rookie cop, he should be the quintessential rookie cop…
*NOTE: Quintessentialism doesn’t necessarily mean “the best” or “the most cliché.” It simply means the very best representation of that TYPE of character.
This should immediately tell you that RESEARCHING YOUR CHARACTERS is very important here.
In other words, you must reveal this characteristic of being quintessential in this person’s actions and dialogue as well as what other people think of them through dialogue.
I have yet to see a screenwriting book mention this but the very best movies I am watching lately seem to SCREAM this element.
For example, let’s take A FEW GOOD MEN.
Tom Cruise’s character is the quintessential plea bargaining Jag officer. This is revealed when Cruise meets Demi Moore’s character for the first time… i.e, “One more and I’ll win a set of steak knives…”
Demi Moore’s character is the quintessential rules of law attorney. She certainly knows the law but she doesn’t know how to use it in court… This is revealed by the two officers that ask her to leave the room… Through dialogue, they reveal that she dragged a case on for weeks when it could have been concluded a hell of a lot faster.
Jack Nicholson’s character is the quintessential commanding officer. Totally ego maniacal and expects to be treated with much more respect than is usually offered up in the military. Again, this is revealed through a lot of his own actions and dialogue where he acts as though he is beyond reproach.
I could go on but I hope you get the idea.
This is a big key in making your characters stand out and thus, making your screenplay and film stand out.
Unk
Give your hero a DILEMMA…
I just thought I would share this…
In my ongoing quest to reverse engineer my favorite films to see what makes them tick, I recently stumbled upon DILEMMA.
I was actually surprised to find out and realize that I didn’t exactly know what DILEMMA means… Here’s the definition as pulled from Dictionary.com:
di·lem·ma n.
1. A situation that requires a choice between options that are or seem equally unfavorable or mutually exclusive.
2. Usage Problem. A problem that seems to defy a satisfactory solution.
3. Logic. An argument that presents two alternatives, each of which has the same consequence.
I’ve really never thought of DILEMMA before… Especially when working with my main characters in my screenplays… Don’t get me wrong… I’ve given my characters dilemmas but truth be told… I’ve never really given the concept of DILEMMA much thought.
To me, a dilemma wasn’t too much of a big deal… Just a choice of whether to do THIS or whether to do THAT.
I am now beginning to realize that the main character’s dilemma is often what separates mediocre films from outstanding films… The more intense the main character’s dilemma, the better the film.
From watching quite a few films in the last several days and mapping out DILEMMA, I am now fairly certain that most screenplays could be drastically improved by making the Protagonist’s DILEMMA enormous…
So out of watching these films, I can easily see that DILEMMA is now defined as a DAMNED IF YOU DO — DAMNED IF YOU DON’T CHOICE.
Or, a situation that you find yourself in where no GOOD CHOICES exist to get you out of the dilemma. Normally, you only have 2 choices and they both suck.
Take for instance, THE FIRM with Tom Cruise… Great dilemma in that story. His character, Mitch has quite a dilemma… Does he stay with the firm and continue to represent mafiosos or does he become a witness for the FBI and lose his license to practice law?
Both choices SUCK.
Now to take this even further…
I’m also noticing that the better films will have the Protagonist come up with their very own 3rd solution to their DILEMMA just as Tom Cruise did in THE FIRM. Remember, he didn’t pick either of the 2 obvious crappy choices and instead, created a separate 3rd choice and got out of the dilemma.
Of course the Protagonist doesn’t have to come up with a 3rd alternative to get out of his or her dilemma… He or she can certainly pick one of the 2 crappy choices and let the chips fall where they may…
Take for instance, Ethan Hawke’s character, Jake in TRAINING DAY. Quite a DILEMMA he has… Does he become a bad cop on the take and go against all his morals or does he turn in Denzel Washington’s character, Alonzo and become a rat cop? Huge dilemma and he chooses to turn in Alonzo.
Most recently, I watched DERAILED with Clive Owen and Jennifer Anniston… Not a bad film but not one I would want to own but I noticed in that film that Owen’s character’s DILEMMA is not nearly as strong or enormous as either of the character’s dilemmas in THE FIRM or TRAINING DAY and I think the film truly suffers from this…
So from what I am able to see from over 25 films so far, DILEMMA can be (it’s definitely NOT the rule) the element that makes your story, screenplay, and hopefully, FILM break out from the rest of the pack… Set up the dilemma of your Protagonist right from the beginning… Probably all the way through the 1st Act assuming you use basic 3 Act Structure…
Upon Act 2, it’s time to keep PUSHING the Protagonist’s DILEMMA back into his or her face every chance you get… Keep it escalating. He or she will run away from making a choice but you, the screenwriter, must make the Protagonist keep facing the dilemma and pushing it until it reaches the BOILING POINT.
For 3 Act Structure, that means by Act 3, your Protagonist must now make a decision from the 2 crappy choices or in fact create a 3rd alternative choice.
In other words, no more running from the dilemma. Your hero must now CHOOSE.
If the dilemma you put your hero in is HUGE enough, you should have a very interesting story… And, it doesn’t have to be physical… It can certainly be character driven…
Hope this helps with your screenplays…
Unk
Audience Identification…
Take a look at just about any film where you walk away saying, I didn’t get it and I’ll show you a film and most likely a screenplay where the writer failed to connect US to the characters in the script.
Great screenplays often translate into great films. There, I said it. Deal with it. In all great films, we must identify with, at the very least, the main characters.
How do we accomplish this?
By creating a character and story where we the audience feel as though what is happening to that character could just as easily happen to us… i.e., Audience Identification.
One of the best ways to do this is to develop your characters around people you know. If you don’t know anyone, develop your character around people you’ve read about, seen on television or at the movies.
When writing a screenplay, if you simply take the time and effort to create characters that we all know and can identify, sympathize, and empathize with, you’ll go far in getting your characters to GRAB the audience. You want the audience to GRAB onto your characters and NOT let go. You want them to care about your characters enough so they invest themselves into the rest of the ride i.e., your story, screenplay, and hopefully, completed film.
If you can in fact accomplish this, your audience will experience emotion so powerful that they cease being mere audience members and become willing participants of your movie.
Steps to creating powerful characters…
First and foremost, you must KNOW your characters. You must know them as well as you know those people within your inner circle of family, friends, and associates. Chance are that you know someone in your life well enough to be able to predict their answer(s) to common, everyday questions… Cool. That’s a good start.
But what about the hard questions?
Do you know what your brother or sister would say or how they would react if for instance, you told them you were Gay? That you’ve been screwing around on your spouse? That you have an alcohol or gambling problem?
Would your parents answer the same as your brother and sister? As your other friends and associates?
Hell no.
So now you’ve got an idea what I’m talking about here. Everybody is different and so are their answers, their actions, their emotions, their reactions, their EVERYTHING.
But what if you don’t want to write about your friend that works at the post office? He’s boring!
Five words… Emotions.
LOVE (HAPPINESS)
HATE (ANGER)
FEAR
BETRAYAL
HUMILIATION
Chances are that unless you’re a recluse, you’ve probably experienced at least one of the above EMOTIONS in the experience you call your life.
Remember the old saying… Write what you know?
Write about the EMOTIONS that we all experience at one time or another and will continue to experience throughout the rest of our lives.
Making the audience of your story, screenplay, and film identify with your characters is really as easy as making sure your characters CREATE, or are SUBJECTED TO, the above EMOTIONS.
Have you ever felt humiliation? Probably. Have the rest of us? Probably. Subject your main characters to humiliation and we will INSTANTLY RECOGNIZE the same humility they are experiencing. Somewhere in the back of our minds… Deep in our subconscious, we will remember feeling the same exact way or a feeling SO CLOSE to what we are seeing that we will want to see what happens next.
Where do these emotions come from?
Insecurity.
There, I said it again. That’s right… We’ve all got ‘em. Yeah, even YOU back in the corner over there. No matter the race, color, creed, geography, background, environment, or national origin, we’ve all got one thing in common.
INSECURITY.
Give your characters some insecurity or insecurities and force them to become emotional about them. From these insecurities, spring EMOTION and EMOTION is how we protect ourselves.
Think about it… I yell at you — you yell back at me. Emotion. I say I love you, and you say you love me. Emotion. I say I hate you and you humiliate me… Emotion. LOL.
People lash out in their own emotional response to stay safe… To not get hurt or to be hurt as little as possible. What do we call that?
SURVIVAL.
We can’t help it. We all want to survive. We all must survive. It’s embedded into our DNA — we can’t help it.
Remember, when writing what you know, sure… Go ahead and write about your town, your friends, your job… Whatever. But when you’re writing your characters and their decisions and reactions to conflict, be sure to dig down DEEP into your soul and pull out those insecurities you’ve been hiding down there. Figure out what they are and give them to your characters.
Hell, for that matter, borrow some insecurities from everyone you know… The more insecurities the better!
To summarize…
When any of your characters come up against the following threats:
fear
hunger
loss
wild animals
natural disasters
monsters
ghosts
embarrassment
*NOTE: Add your own story element here…
The audience will most likely identify with your characters if they react with emotion to this conflict. Their emotions are OUR EMOTIONS.
By the same token…
When any of your characters yearn for any of the following:
love
companionship
food
revenge
*NOTE: Add your own story element here…
And finally, when any of your characters demonstrates:
sickness
abuse
humiliation
shyness
being orphaned
courage
loyalty
humility
kindness
*NOTE: Add your own story element here…
Audience Identification is guaranteed…
Unk