A lot of people think that great characters only show up for the lucky and brilliant, but that is not true.
- Great characters come from explorations outside the box.
- Great characters are discovered over time!
- Great characters start with simple decisions…and then are elevated.
Knowing that, don’t stress out if a great character didn’t instantly pop into your head. Just keep taking the simple steps we recommend and over time, you’ll discover the characters that will make your screenplay truly special!
So let’s have fun with this!
In general, you’ll want a clear protagonist and a clear antagonist. That makes it easier to market a project, as well as to design and plot out a script’s conflict.
VISION
Today, you are going to make some simple choices about your lead characters. Those choices will be based upon the Transformational Journey and who you perceive these characters to be.
Don’t worry. You can change any of these decisions at any time in the future. But for now, you want to come up with the first thing that pops into your mind as you take each of the steps below.
In other words, don’t let the desire for perfection keep you from moving forward. Make a decision, knowing you can elevate it later.
IN THIS LESSON, YOU WILL:
- Choose your Protagonist and Antagonist.
- Select your Genre.
- Create Part 1 of your Character Profiles.
SELECTING YOUR LEAD CHARACTERS
Below is a list of typical protagonists and antagonists. Use this to start exploring ways to clarify who your lead characters are and how they might act or think.
We’ll add much more to this, so don’t worry if any of these descriptions aren’t a perfect fit.
Types of Protagonists:
- Hero: A valiant champion who seeks out evil / Villains to defeat.
- Explorer: They push the bounds of knowledge, typically in a physical sense.
- Runner: They are fleeing something/someone, as that’s the only way to survive.
- Fighter: A capable warrior who can rise to the challenge of the conflict / Villain.
- Victim: A victim of injustice, who must challenge the abuser to survive or aid others.
- Dreamer: They imagine a brighter future and take action to bring it into being.
Types of Antagonists:
- Villain: An expression of the Hero’s fears. The one who will challenge the Hero to their core.
- Change Agent: Their purpose is to cause change. Teacher, coach, guide, someone who has an experience of the vision.
- Authority: They have a job to do and won’t step out of that box. Cop, detective, soldier, etc..
- Predator: The shark, serial killer, narcissist. They have no empathy. They are there to eat you.
Other Characters:
- Supporting characters: Side kicks, best friends, key business associates
- Minor roles: Characters who are in just a few scenes.
- Background characters: Extras needed to make it work visually.
GENRE DIFFERENCES
The Protagonist and Antagonist will be different in different genres, as the conventions and attractions of each Genre demand different things from their characters.
PICKING YOUR GENRE:
Genre is how distributors (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) classify movies and it is how audiences select movies. For distributors, a single genre is best, two genres okay, but three genres are frowned upon. Having multiple genres actually confuses the situation and makes it harder to sell the movie. I recommend that you choose the main genre and deliver powerfully on it.
Consider your characters based on your Genre choice below.
- Rom-Com / Buddy Movie: They will each be the Protagonist and the other will be their Antagonist and Friend/Love Interest. They will trigger each other and bring out the best in each other.
- Thriller: The Protagonist steps into a trap at the beginning and has no idea what they are up against; the Antagonist set this scheme into motion before the story began. Often, that Antagonist won’t be revealed until the midpoint of the script, and can only be defeated by the Protagonist’s persistence and skill.
- Horror: The Antagonist will clearly be some sort of nightmarish monster (even if it’s a human). Something about the Protagonist will enable them to survive, even as others (or many others) die.
- Action / Drama: Both the Protagonist and Antagonist will be clear. They operate as enemies, causing the appropriate damage for the genre. Action characters are more geared toward physical conflict, while Drama characters will be primarily experiencing emotional and mental conflict.
- Sci-Fi: Big change threatens the status quo of the current world, with or without a clear Antagonist. The Protagonist must either protect against this impending disaster or help herald in the new world.
- Comedy: They’ll follow the same pattern as Action / Drama films, but their conflicts are designed to create laughs.
PART 1 OF CHARACTER PROFILES
Today and tomorrow, you’ll be discovering parts of your characters that will cause these characters to take interesting actions and have great dialogue.
This is actually easy to do. Just think about the protagonist’s journey and the antagonist opposition to that journey. Then fill in any blanks you can, knowing that you can change them later. For any you don’t discover today, just know that they will come to you as you take future steps.
- Role in the story: Protagonist, antagonist, love interest, etc. Plus, you want to give us a few words about who this character is in the story — disgruntled priest, unemployed construction worker, etc.
- Age range and Description: Teen, 20’s, 30’s, etc., plus a very brief physical description combined with some kind of insight into who the character is.
- Internal Journey: The character arc that shows a change of mind and emotions.
- External Journey: The character arc that shows an action and experience change.
- Motivation: Their want / need. Their want is usually to achieve a goal. Their need is a base internal state that is missing for them — like safety, love, belonging, recognition, or others.
- Wound: A deep seated emotional trauma that continues to haunt the character. Much of their life may be about somehow resolving this wound.
- Mission/Agenda: Mission: A special assignment or objective a character takes on. Agenda: A plan; something being promoted. In both, you are looking for the character’s purpose that is usually covertly hidden.
- Secret: What are they hiding that affects the story in an important way?
- What makes them special? The one thing that completely separates this character from all others. Their uniqueness.
EXAMPLE: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
CLARICE STARLING
Role in the story: Hero / Dreamer. Ambitious yet naïve FBI recruit trying to make a name for herself. Innocent woman in a tough man’s world.
Age range and Description: Female, Mid 20’s, physically fit, southern accent.
Internal Journey: From feeling helpless (unable to save the lambs) to having the strength to take down a serial killer.
External Journey: From a timid agent-in-training who is manipulated to a well-respected FBI agent who brings down a gruesome serial killer.
Motivation: Advancement in the FBI
Wound: Her father’s death, represented by the slaughter of the lambs and her inability to save them.
Mission/Agenda: To find out who Buffalo Bill is and stop him.
Secret: Her failure to save the lambs.
What makes them special? Her ability to be vulnerable and stand her ground in the midst of a psychopath.
DR. HANNIBAL LECTER
Role in the story: Predator. Psychiatrist / imprisoned serial killer who trades profiling for a chance to escape.
Age range and Description: Male, 40’s, immaculately groomed for jail uniform, and his face hasn’t seen the sun for many years.
Internal Journey: No real change.
External Journey: From solitary confinement to escaping to the Bahamas!
Motivation: Mind games. To be able to kill again.
Wound: Kept in solitary confinement for many years.
Mission/Agenda: To escape.
Secret: Miss Mofit.
What makes them special? His brilliance at manipulating smart people and controlling situations even though he is restrained.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Listen to the 3 minute Empowerment Audio FIRST.
2. Pick the type of role your Protagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.
- Hero
- Explorer
- Runner
- Fighter
- Victim
- Dreamer
3. Pick the type of role your Antagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.
- Villain
- Change Agent
- Authority
- Predator
4. What other characters might be necessary?
- Supporting characters:
- Minor roles:
- Background characters:
5. Pick your genre.
- Rom-Com or Buddy Movie
- Thriller
- Horror
- Action
- Drama
- Sci-Fi
- Comedy
6. Fill in whatever answers come to you about your lead character profiles.
- Role in the story:
- Age range and Description:
- Internal Journey:
- External Journey:
- Motivation:
- Wound:
- Mission/Agenda:
- Secret:
- What makes them special?
7. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
To get AI Feedback:
Complete this assignment and click “Mark Complete.” Then click “AI” in the left hand column and enter your assignment into the feedback window titled “Assignment Submission Area”. Click Submit. The feedback will show up below this lesson in the next minute.
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As always during this class, don’t worry about being perfect or even good on your first try. Just fill in whatever blanks you can and then allow your Creative Mind to process the rest.
Remember, we are putting a puzzle together, so it is alright to not know the answers and keep moving forward. Just know that as you continue to take steps, this will all come to you…and you’ll love the end result!
Tomorrow, we’ll add a few more Profile Components and do something that makes it easy for you to discover real depth with your story people.
Have fun creating your main characters!
Hal
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