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Day 1: Assignment 1 – GOOD WILL HUNTING Scene
Provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character great from a writing perspective.
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12 Replies
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Will comes across as smart (obviously) but more importantly, proud and protective. He tries to mask his obvious interest in Skylar as he timidly looks back to her while verbally assailing the Harvard grad student. He tries not to seem too impressed with himself, almost with an ‘aw shucks’ attitude, and humbly demonstrates fearlessness, as he quietly whispers a threat to ‘take it outside’ if needed. He’s tough and willing to mix it up, if needed. He comes across a protector of his friends, without showing too much disdain for all the college students; he reserves his bile only for the snotty douchebag. And he admits that he might well be the one serving him fries at the drive-in, but he’s okay with that. He is self-confident here. Something that I didn’t see at first is that he shows up like a leader as his boys mobilize behind him when he serves a cold dish of vitriol in the most unassuming way. At first, you think that Chuckie is the alpha dog, but it might actually be Will, as he steps in, without a prompt to confront the intellectual bully. The primary trait that I see is his pride — for himself and his posse.
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Where is the link to Good Will Hunting scene? I don’t see it and can’t find it.
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Lawrence, did you find it? Look up your courses from the menu.
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David,
Love your response! Covers a lot of bases and worded far better than I could. Literate, like a novel.
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Week 1 Day 1 – character traits
WILL: Sees himself as anyone’s equal. A positive trait of loyalty to friends is demonstrated when he steps in to bail out Chuckie from an impending embarrassing situation. We get a hint of a negative trait when he isn’t afraid to duke it out with blondie. We are also made aware that he is well-read and, on top of that, he has a photographic memory. And, those backward glances at Skylar? Am I impressing her?
CHUCKIE: He obviously believes he is a charmer. He’s not afraid to step into any situation with the confidence that he can successfully wing it. However, there is a lack of awareness when his BS is getting out of his depth.
SKYLAR: She comes off as confident in herself with little tolerance for guys who are jerks. She is charmed by Will’s calm but well-substantiated put down of said jerk.
It seems to me they picked the Harvard bar as a challenge to prove you don’t need to be a Harvard male student to hang with Harvard women.
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Day 1. Good Will Hunting
Will: good judge of character; intelligent and well-read; smart with words, weaponizes them; self-confident; no time for idiots; loyal friend.
Skylar: (doesn’t do or say much making it difficult to judge character traits) self-confident; no time for idiots; straight talker; socializes well.
Chuckie: sociable; in his own words, “not a genius”; gullible and easy target.
This is a drama played out in front of two girls on bar-stools who observe the knights with their verbal jousting. The drama begins with Chuckie’s failing attempt to chat them up which is interrupted by a guy who thinks he has the intellectual advantage over the competition. But then Will steps forward to defend his friend, and proves to be much quicker on the verbal trigger and wins the fight.
They picked a Harvard bar because, for Chuckie, there are girls he can chat up and, for Will, there are students he can have a verbal bar-fight with.
END
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Insights: For one, on closer look WILL exhibits a lot more traits than I expected. I am still wondering if that’s just rich and talented writing or planned. Based on just this scene, he exhibits a ton of golden traits. He is altruistic, seems kind, shy and yet not shy of one-upping a blowhard bully; clearly a precocious genius, he must have been self-motivated, is confident, loyal, and doesn’t take himself seriously. From this scene, the only smidge is his contempt for Harvard grads. I don’t blame him though, : D some HU alums are just as annoying as Mark. An insight I also picked from an answer in the last hour I don’t see posted now, Will exhibits disproportionately more traits than the other two. SKYLAR is kind, spunky, non-confrontational, has a sense of humor (re Chuckie), and likely shy and deep, based on her silent admiration noticing Will’s depth. CHUCKIE appears shallow, overconfident, every bit a player, but I suspect if I watch the movie, he will come out way deeper than in this scene where neither guile nor pettiness is beneath him. Again, barely two dimensional compared to like six for Will, and MARK has a single dimension. I am guessing though, the other characters will show more depth as the acts develop. The other big insight for me, I don’t think I am clear if these need to be planned in advanced or decorated post facto. The number of dimensions for traits from just today’s two scenes (cerulean, and this) are mind-blowingly large.
Breakthrough: This came while integrating the opening lecture and watching the scene. {Validation, Insight, Breakthrough} isn’t just a model for us writers learning, but also of these characters on the screen. It will be simpler if I use DWP as an example. (not LADWP!) MIRANDA alters ANDY’s reality forcing an abrupt breakthrough shattering Andy’s cool; and validates her own position and “opera” she orchestrates. These ({B, V}) get inverted by the end of the movie — and that by itself offers a model to plot the emotional arc. Finally, a lot of insight into the scene for us are mediated by the insights of the characters as we watch their reactions. In a smaller measure, the same breakthrough/validation is happening to everyone in the scene, except to Will, with Chuckie and Morgan riding on the wave Will creates.
Rewriting/Rethinking: I will have to revisit this, thinking at the end of the week’s lessons, unless I get convincing advice otherwise. Seems like there are forty variables in a scene from today’s lessons alone that need to settle-in before I try to rewrite/rethink a scene without my head exploding. But I will be trying to rethink. Right now, off to watch the movie in full.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Sandeep Gupta. Reason: disambiguated a few sentences, clarified a concept
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Sandeep Gupta. Reason: typos
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by
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Character traits-
Will’s character is complex with multiple layers. On the surface he is remarkably intelligent but beneath that lies a troubled and emotionally scarred young man. He is loyal to his friend(s) with authenticity and fearlessness. Yet it is clear that he has internal conflict which he must deal with as the movie progresses.
Skylar is strong willed, ambitious and determined – contrary to Will’s traits. She is drawn to Will’s intellect and his vulnerability. Her character brings in the romantic moments of tenderness and intimacy and provides an important element in Will’s personal growth.
Chuckie is Will’s loyal friend who provides humor and a grounded perspective. He adds depth to the narrative and enhances the themes of friendship, personal growth, and the pursuit of one’s potential.
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Character Mastery: Week 1, Day 1—Good Will Hunting
Karyn Laitis
What I learned: I learned more about great repartee and intellectual sparring to establish character dominance. And I would think great monologues could be very attractive to actors.
Traits:
Will (Matt Damon)
An unkempt preppie.
An observer of the dynamics of the bar before committing.
Plays it safe with relationships.
A natural genius.
Wickedly protective of friends.
Bostonian accent
Chuckie (Ben Affleck)
An awkwardly charming smooth talker.
A good wingman at phishing social connection.
Boastful, but lacks the education substance.
Proud of his genius friend, Will.
Skylar (Minnie Driver)
Highly educated and confident.
Secure and open to new people.
Amused by Chuckies antics to impress.
Uncomfortable with the conflict with Chuckie and other preppie.
Impressed with Will’s intelligence and masterful way he minimized the preppie.
Drama—Trigger:
Intellectual sparring between Will and preppie
Why group picked Harvard Bar:
Pick up educated women and punctuate the
difference between being well-educated (Will) and well-schooled. -
1st time – what traits do I see or hear:
Will: Wicked smart, Loyal to his friends, Uses his wits or his fists
Skylar: Kind, Likes to laugh/go along, Defends the “weak”
Chuckie: Ladies man, Friendly, Doesn’t know what he doesn’t know
What drama did the writers create to trigger and deliver these traits?
They wanted to put Chuckie in a situation where Will had to defend him with his “smarts”. They also needed to introduce Skylar – and show how she can be fun and compassionate. The Jerk graduate student – interfering with the pick-up – allowed all of this to happen.
They picked a Harvard Bar – because they wanted to meet smart girls? Different girls? I think, in the previous scene, they picked a fight and didn’t want to go to their usual place so there wouldn’t be repercussions. (they all have some sort of cut or bruise on their face from fighting)
1. They took Will’s knowledge to an extreme. He didn’t just banter about the topic – he gave a complete rundown of the history and an analysis of all the historians who discussed the topic – even quoting and reciting the page number from a specific book. He’s not only smart at math – he’s smart about everything. He’s a genius. He also understands what it is to be a decent human being “Don’t do that”. Finally – even though he’s super smart and can quote all these books and has all this knowledge, he understands that it’s more important to be “original” and have your own thoughts and think your own mind.
2. At first Chuckie doesn’t realize he’s being made fun of – but when he does, he starts to get mad and that’s when Will steps in. His last line “How do you like me now?” as he stands behind the power of Will – is great.
3. The final line “My boy’s Wicked Smart” sums up what the scene was – a fight – Will uses his brilliance as a weapon. This is his character – he’s always fighting.
4. Right out of the gate we see how kind Skyler is – we know right away that she’s “on” to Chuckie – but she plays along. It’s funny how she finishes his line for him “Come here often” – which flips it and makes him answer the question. She doesn’t do it on purpose – but he takes the bait anyway. She can handle herself and doesn’t need the “jerk’s” help.
This was a wonderful way to introduce these characters. It’s an unforgettable scene. The friends behind “the Jerk” at first lean in – enjoying him making fun of Chuckie – but then when Will takes over they are all sort of dumbfounded at his brilliance. The first background friend walks away and the others soon follow.
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WEEK 1 – DAY 1
GOOD WILL HUNTING
WILL
Trait – smart, engaging, reckless, friend indeed
Drama to deliver traits – a boy girl thing leads to confrontation
Why Harvard bar – to reveal the depth of Will’s ingenuity, in spite of his running from the teacher.
Harvard sets a standard or bench mark as far as Will’s intelligence goes. And spotlights the extent of Will’s possibilities, if his potential is fully explored.
INSIGHT
We are made aware of the depth of Will’s intelligence
BREAKTHROUGH
He reads too, self educates himself.
He’s aware of his potential and intelligence but something, maybe a wound holds him back from embracing it as a life choice.
FROM A WRITER’S PERSPECTIVE
We show his potential
But leave a question as to why he’s not embracing it
The negative way and reason his positive trait -intelligence comes out of him
Will’s got an inner fight swelling inside him to battle – physically and mentally
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Chuckie : clueless, lightweight, knows his standing far as Will is concerned
Skylar : confident, knows what she wants, willing to put herself out there
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What I learned
I’m working on my scene and:
Opposite character traits complement/foil each other
I’m adding depth to my main character
And also working on how I can leave a question for audience to wonder
And hint on a bigger inner wound or turmoil
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The most amazing element was a young actor’s ability to write and act in an intellectual brilliance, emotional depth, and personal growth that makes his character so compelling.
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