DESN3020 Cinematics CLASS 02

Who are you? And what are you doing here????

Cecil, intrepid Ghost Hunter: Rocket 5 knows all about him!

Stories have been capturing our attention and imagination for about as long as people have been people. Story telling is an art and an extremely lucrative business. When crafting your cinematics, remember to think of why and who along with the how and what.

Week two in Cinematics land brought some more structure to the groups, with rough ideas cementing into actual story concepts.  Conversely, some groups threw out their initial offerings in favour of shinier new ideas. Please remember to choose your concept quickly. By now you have to make your final decision. Script is due soon, with the Storyboard hot on its heels! 

The following notes have been provided by our esteemed leader Jean-Paul Amore, and are a fantastic read on character development and character-centered storytelling!

Developing Characters

How to begin:

• Put in as much time as it takes to develop characters that are really original and interesting!
• Creating differences between the characters in your story allows for conflict and relationships to be developed.
• Start by writing a bio / fact sheet for each of your main characters.
• You can start by drawing character sketches if you prefer
• Often writers choose to script a scene between a few characters to plot out how they’ll react to each other / various situations

• Actors sometimes improvise scenes out loud to further develop their characters.
• Think of your characters as real actors.
• Get to know them so you know what they’ll do.
• Lucky for us our “actors” won’t come with “riders” which demand fresh-cut flowers daily and a bowl of ALL green M&Ms

Types of People:

• For ages, people have been characterized by types and personality traits
• In the Middle Ages there were thought to be 4 types of personalities (based on the 4 ‘humors’):

• Black Bile (melancholic, sentimental, thoughtful) –read: Emo

• Blood (sanguine, amorous, joyful) –read: the Latin Lover

• Yellow Bile (easily angered, obstinate, stubborn) –read: the hot-head

• Phlegmatic (calm, cool) –read: the Zen Master

Humorism(from Greek and Roman physicians)

Another method links personality traits to parts of the body:

• Head (soul, the link to spirituality)
• Pituitary (integrated mental, emotional, and physical)
• Throat (conscious creativity, intellect)
• Heart (greater love, good will to others, self-sacrifice)
• Solar Plexus (aspiration, group power, personal power)
• Sacral (sex, money, fear)
• Root Centre (survival)

• Carl Jung classifies people as the introvertor the extrovert
• Then classifies them further into those who experience life mainly through sensing, thinking, feeling, or intuition
• People have been characterized as being dependent, independent or interdependent.

• Basically whether we believe in any of the above methods, they may help in developing new character concepts

There are other norms:

• People are often in conflict with their character “opposite”, or “foil”
• However, some people seek out others that complement their strongest traits
• Usually people are a combination of 2 or more types
• People rarely fit into exactly one description… if they do, they’re probably quite boring!

Classic Comedy Character Types:

• Comedy is most often based on character type and conflict between types.
• Often a stereotype, or exaggerated model that we recognize and understand
• In short format pieces this helps because it saves storytelling time –we know the character and don’t require a whole lot of set-up or back-story
• Inflexible types are great for comedy, they often have a comic defect
• Think of Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and Barney Stinson
• Comedy stemming from character allows for sustained humor

 

Classic Roman comedy types are still used today:

• The Blockhead –The village idot. We’re all smarter than him (Homer Simpson)

• The Nave –The kid who’s always in trouble (Bart Simpson)

Other classic types include:

• The Fish out of Water –The misfit (Shrek)
• The Naïve –Forever innocent (Winniethe Pooh)
• The conniver –Not innocent, but reallyguilty (StewieGriffin)

• The Zany –Wild and crazy (Quagmire)
• The Poor Soul –The underdog. Works best as a child or animal (TweetieBird)
• The Coward –The Scardycat. Always the chicken (Scooby Doo)

Classic Comedy Types vs Negative Stereotypes:

• Be careful to avoid negative stereotypes.
• In a global marketplace, where the audience is diverse, a little bit of P.C.nessis just common sense.
• When you write about someone of the opposite sex, someone older or younger, someone with disabilities, someone from another culture or lifestyle than the one you know, consider carefully what you write!
• Think of characters as multi-dimensional to avoid falling into the trap of stereotypes
• What does the character do in his/her spare time? How do they interact at work? At play?
• When you’re writing a scene, or developing character consider who would be in that location in real life.
• Setting a scene in NYC or Boston vsDelhi or Beijing will change who should populate your scene.

• Value diversity!

 

Make minorities active, not passive. If you do cast a minority as victims, let them overcome this by themselves.

• Never forget the whole Jar Jar debacle!

Both heroes and villains come in many diverse types.

• You may want to create a character and assign a gender or race later
• The key is not isolating minority characters
• Do your research before you develop and write characters that are different from what you know!
• Get to know people and understand their customs, behaviours and preferences
• Don’t be afraid of a point of view. Let characters stand up for their beliefs and experiences for new insights.
• Remember that not all women and men are the same and we cannot assume so when creating characters of different genders
• Remember how boring 50’s television was? Mad Men makes that culture interesting by pinpointing the darker underside of 1950’s American culture.

Everyman vs. One-of-a-kind:

• An everyman is someone who represents us all. We can all identify with some aspect of his character.
• Real people are a combination of the qualities we all possess and specific unique traits

Characters too should be a combo of the universal qualities that make us similar and the unique traits that make us one-of-a-kind.

Complex and Original Characters:

• If you want to develop characters for a game/series/feature that you hope will become a classic, then you will want to develop more complex characters than the ones we just listed.
• Unique characters that we can still relate to in some way are generally the ones that stick around.
• Give those characters a complete personality and attitude towards other characters.
• The more personality and individuality the better!

Starting a Profile:

• Not every one of the following questions will apply or be necessary for each character you develop.
• The most important thing is to delve into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of your characters.
• That’s the key to good writing!
• Tapping into your own emotions (they’re buried deep down there somewhere) may just help you hit the sweet spot when writing and understanding a character.

Some prefer to write character profiles in the first person, like an autobiography

Personality, attitudes, temperament

• Name
• Gender
• Age
• Appearance –height, weight, hair/eye colour, physique, characteristics etc...
• Movement –like a dancer or like a zombie…
• Mannerisms
• Voice –diction, vocabulary, power, pitch. What does your character say and how?
• I.Q., abilities, talents, qualities
• Ambitious? Loyal? Sensitive? Inferior? Optimisitic? Shy? Sloppy? Eager?
• Flaws, bad habits, weakness
• Biggest secret? What happens if it comes out?
• Biggest fear? Why?
• Biggest disappointment
• Most embarrassing moment?
• Worst thing that ever happened to him?
• What makes the character angry? Ashamed? Frustrated?
• Is your character a lone-wolf? Does he belong to a group? Which one?
• What makes your character laugh?
• How do they relax?
• Motivations? Goals? Ambitions?

What is your character’s spine? What’s his unchanging driving force throughout life

• Does your character put his own self-interest first or that of the group?
• What allegiances does your character have?
• What hard choices / crises does your character face in life?
• Values? What’s important to your character?
• What are your character’s current circumstances? (Rich/Poor, good luck / bad luck)?
• What effect do these things have?
• What threats/opportunities does your character have?

Situation

• How did your character get in the situation he is currently?
• What kinds of changes has your character been going through?

Starting a Profile:

• Birthplace?
• Ethnic background?
• Social, economic, political, cultural background?
• Education
• Occupation (research this well if you pick one)
• Lifestyle
• Family
• Siblings? Parents? Husband or Wife?

How did your character grow up?

• With love? Closeness? Neglect? Abuse?
• How did your character’s family affect his self-image?
• Hobbies, amusements?
• What does your character read? Watch? Surf?
• What sports, games or hobbies does your character engage in?
• What makes him funny? Attractive? Interesting?
• Give your character one dominant trait, with a couple of other supporting traits 
• What era does your character live in? 

Setting or place

• What kind of people would be in this setting?
• Where was your character before they were here?
• Is your character settled or on the move?
• How has your character’s previous settings changed your character’s outlook?
• What sounds, smells, tastes are in your character’s surroundings?
• Again, you don’t need to answer every single question above, but take the time to get to know your character. Use a Character Profile to help you explore personality.

Types of Characters

• Different stories have different types of characters.
• Realistic characters are found in many modern stories and in multidimensional dramas. We can see what motivates them, and they act like people we know.
• The classic hero is found in classic tales, often in oral histories.
• A classic story is supposed to teach us an important truth.
• Classic heroes have some realistic traits and others that were more symbolic and make him larger than life.

A hero usually starts out from humble beginnings, he is an adventurer and usually receives a call to action to set out on a great quest.

• The hero will usually encounter an old wise prophet / teacher to help him in his quest.
• The journey, which usually has plenty of roadblocks along the way, makes the hero wiser and stronger.
• Classic Heroes and Heroines are found in myths, westerns, crime, war stories, science fiction, comics and children’s stories

Pick up Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” for an in-depth analysis of the classic heroes journey and comparisons between many classic plots (from Beowulf to Star Wars, Theseus and the Minotaur to Lord of the Rings)

Fantasy characters are romantic, often living in magical worlds with powers that can be used for good or evil.

Nonhuman characters often personify human traits.

• Winnie-the-Pooh is always hungry, Scooby Doo is always scared etc...

Symbolic characters are meant to represent an idea or trait.

• Usually they’re one-dimensional and stand for broad themes like love or evil, justice or fear.
• We find them in myths, comic book stories, fairy tales and other fantasy.
• There are no grey areas with these characters

Everyman represents the ordinary man or woman or kid. Less specific and more symbolic.

• This type has more than one trait, but is generalized –we should always be able to see a bit of ourselves in this character.

Taking your Character Further

Consider other ways to develop characters.

• Is your character like anyone you know? Who?
• Stay away from characters that have been overdone.
• Is this character a combination of people? Juxtaposing traits gives you something we wouldn’t expect
• Quality characters are often more complex. They have more staying power.
• Make a list of the inconsistencies with your character –what’s illogical, surprising or unpredictable about them?
• These unique traits and idiosyncrasies should remain constant throughout

Do you really understand your character?

• How are they different / similar to you?
• If you still don’t quite “get” your character, do more research.
• Then exaggerate and make your character larger than life! (Think James Bond or Superman)
• What behavioural tags does this character have? These are repeated actions that are specific to that character. (Think of a nervous tick etc...)

Set up relationships and explore how your characters behave

There might be 2 stars. What brings your characters together and keeps them together?

• Find a balance between too much conflict and too much attraction between your main characters.
• Avoid using too many characters
• Can we identify with this character? We need enough information about a character to empathize.
• Do we really respond strongly for or against this character as a person

If you have to have an unsympathetic character who’s not a villain, start by showing what made them this way.

Avoid showing your protagonists a complete misfit in the beginning. Your audience must like them and admire them enough to want them to recognize their flaws and change.

A monstrous antagonist requires a stronger hero to beat him, but you may want to add those shades of grey, a wisp of human kindness where you least expect it.

Give your villain emotions and feelings to make him somewhat vulnerable

Motivations keep villains from becoming cardboard.

• In a very short story you may need a very cardboard villain, as there is not much time to develop one fully.

A funny villain isn’t very frightening. Watch out for bumbling antagonists. They need to be at least as strong as the hero to make it a fair fight.

More to think about

• Today’s characters should be able to extend across media.
• Think in terms of film, TV, DVD, the web, games, toys, books and mobile apps.
• If your character is for a series or a game, is your character interesting enough to not become boring?
• Is there some mystery or intrigue there to explore?
• For short plots, your characters should have only 2 or 3 major traits.

Certain formats call for simple character styles (visually)

Blossom from the Power Puff Girls

• So now you’ve developed your characters (that was easy)!
• Is a character missing? Someone to set your character off? Take the plot in another direction?
• The way your characters react is the way you get to know them and test their relationships.
• Any character that is too similar to another one shouldn’t be there.
• Let your characters evolve as you work with them. Changing one piece of the puzzle usually means adjusting others.

Keep your characters consistent.

• They must remain true to their core traits and to what has made them who they are. Keep their choices consistent with their values.
• Put your best character in the right context for them.
• The concept and the character should be a tight fit.
• Stories should stem from the personalities of the main characters.

Your character in a story! 

• Characters have conflicts with one another in dramas and do funny things in comedies because they are different.
• Their values in life must be different.
• Values indicate a theme.
• The theme centres on the core values that are expressed in a story, the basic message or lesson the protagonists learns.
• Your character should reveal something about the theme to us (but preferably not in words).
• Your audience should be able to tell right away who the major characters are and be able to tell them apart easily by name, sight and personality (although evil twins are always a fun twist!)
• You may want your less important characters to help in defining the role of the hero.
• Is your hero a leader? A father figure? A class clown?
• Minor characters can help us understand the star’s role in his peer group in the story.
• All characters need a story function or they shouldn’t be there.
• Character information is usually sprinkled throughout the script, not given out all up front. Use only the essential and be concise.
• Use conflicts, contrasts, reactions, or visual symbols to convey information and define character.
• Think in terms of scenes. What are your characters’ goals in each scene? Which character is driving each scene? What are your characters’ feelings in each scene?
• Is there a broad enough range of emotions (or a glass case of emotion) in your story? What conflicts do characters go through to reach their goals?
• As all this information about your characters comes to light, the choices become ever more difficult leading up to what is called the critical choice, near the end of the story.
• These choices make your characters drop their masks, they react instinctively, revealing what’s been hiding beneath.
• Anything that you’ve discovered about your character in developing them that doesn’t relate to this critical choice is unimportant and doesn’tbelong in the story!

Story Documentation:

Development “Bible”

• You are familiar with this concept from your work last year on the “Toonbox” asset development projects.
• Bibles are usually extensive design documents that outline story and plot as well as characters and general style guidelines.
• These are important to develop and should be used as a guide throughout the development process to stay true to your original vision.

Basic Writing Structure:

Differences in story structure

• Structure exists to help you write a better story, but differences in length mean differences in the complexity of your structure.
• Differences in type or genre can also make a difference in complexity and style.
• Generally, for example, action / adventure shows require more plot than gag-driven comedy shows.

Basic structure

• All stories must have a beginning, middle and end (duh!)
• The star or hero must have a goal or motive and someone or something must oppose that goal.
• These are the basic musts, but of course different variations and types exist (such as experimental genres or more abstract attempts at telling a tale).

Normally scripts use the 3-act structure:

• Act 1
• This ends after the problem has been set up (a damsel is tied to the train tracks)
• Act 2
• This ends before the climax (the train is fast approaching)
• Act 3
• Resolution (the hero frees the damsel just in time)

Sometimes a 2 act structure is used, but still the basic 3-act highlights are spread over the 2 acts.

Creating the story

First Method

• Who is your protagonist? What flaws do they have?
• Go to the end of your story. What does the character learn about themselves here?
• Back to the beginning. What does your protagonist want?
• Who can best attack the star’s character flaw?
• What’s the catalyst or inciting incident?
• Make sure all story points are related and tied together so that you’re telling only one story.
• The star or hero develops a game plan to reach their goal. The villain attacks over and over.
• There is usually a major reversal or turning point
• In act 2, new info is coming out. Our hero has to revise their plan because it’s not working
• There’s another turning point towards the end of act 2, spinning the action around again
• The major crisis is the lowest point in the story for the hero. It’s the reverse of what the hero wants. This crisis might be the turning point at the end of act 2 but it can’t come too soon or the 3rdact wildrag.
• In act 3, the hero comes back and tries harder. This is the biggest battle.
• It’s best when it’s a physical battle, and a battle of values.
• The hero wins. This is the climax. Everything must build up to this point.
• Resolution time! Wrap up quickly!
• This method works best for longer material. There are the general steps you can work with

Second Method

• Same method as the first but if you don’t yet know your characters, the steps will be in a different order.
• Maybe start with a theme or lesson, then go back to creating a protagonist.

Third Method

• Some longer stories have all the previous elements, but have several plots (an A and a B and sometimes even a C plot) 
• The subplot should start after the main plot, interweave and wrap up close to the main plot.

Fourth Method

• More used for writing sitcom style pieces. They have less action and more clever dialogue

Fifth Method

• Some writers work very differently. They feel plot gets in the way of the gags and the laughs.
• This is more common in slapstick comedy and brief sketches.
• They start with the star’ goal or opposition and develop an escalating conflict
• Exaggeration, surprise and imagination are key to making this method work.
• Gags and laughs drive this method for developing plots

Story Theme

• The lesson the protagonist learns –the central method or values of the story.
• Not all stories have themes, but many of the best do.
• Something for the audience to think about later.
• Helps us understand something new about the world, we recognize our own problems and root for the character to work through theirs.
• Think of a theme as one value coming into conflict with another and winning
• A theme is felt, not indoctrinated or preached. People don’t want to be preached to, but want characters that show what they value and stand for by what they do.
• Value are mostly expressed through action, but they might come out through verbal conflict as well.
• Conflict and opposing values and themes are at the heart of any story

The Premise:

• One you’ve brainstormed and mapped out your story, put the basic gist of your story into words
• Write a descriptive paragraph that sums up the major themes, climaxes and intrigue of your story.
• Catch people right off the bat with a catchy title and scintillating first few sentences.
• It’s all about economizing and making the most of each word.
• Be succinct!
• Make it fun to read, clear and make it sell your idea!

The Outline:

• The outline is a plan.
• The premise is expanded so that the structure is complete.
• It’s tempting to skip this step, but don’t!
• It’s a narrative description of the action –a blueprint.
• Indicate scenes and pacing, reveal through action, character and a little dialogue.
• Use some basic camera direction
• Emphasize action rather than description

Structure planning

• What are the main points of the story? The skeleton?
• What scenes are absolutely necessary?
• After you have the skeleton, you fill in the minor points
• Break your story up into beats. What basic elements or events do you need to tell the story?
• Many outlines are written in master scenes.
• Number your scenes for easy reference
• Tell us the setting up front in ALL CAPS, and use ALL CAPS for first character appearance.
• Make revisions!
• Once the outline is approved, you’ll go on to write the full script

Next up in Cinematics:  storytelling and scriptwriting!