Day 20 Assignment

[Judith Watson]

Judith Watson’s Character Relationships

What I learned was that playing with different traits for each character and adjusting for dramatic relationships gives their relationships more interactions throughout the script. It’s quite challenging to be able to develop good relationships and working with what I did today is a good start, and I found it fun. I found that some of the traits I could use for dramatic relationships didn’t work for the other dramatic relationships issues.

Emily’s beginning traits: creative; gullible; courageous; competitive

Emily’s adjusted traits: creative; gullible; over accommodating; courageous; sensitive to criticism

Eugene’s beginning traits: driven; intelligent; committed; stubborn

Eugene’s adjusted traits: driven; confident; suspicious; stubborn

Rachel’s beginning traits and adjusted traits are the same: judgmental; devious; concealing; bold

Lynn’s beginning traits and adjusted traits are the same: observant; distrustful; morally good; tuned into how people feel

However, I am considering changing her morally good trait.

What I came up with for the relationships. I just did Emily and all the other three characters for the assignment: rapport; conflict; contrast; competition; and ST.

RAPPORT –

EMILY/EUGENE

Creative/intelligent

Eugene sees how much her art means to her and supports her in it.

EMILY/RACHEL –

Creative/concealing

At first Rachel pretends she likes Emily’s work even when she has intense jealousy.

EMILY/LYNN

Sensitive to criticism/caring

When Emily shares with Lynn that Rachel put down her artwork, Lynn being a good friend tells her that Rachel’s opinion stinks.

CONFLICT –

EMILY/EUGENE

Gullible/intelligent

Eugene tries to help Emily see that Rachel is up to no good ad Emily doesn’t see through her deviousness.

EMILY/RACHEL –

Competitive/judgmental

Rachel puts down Emily’s paintings at the gallery show.

EMILY/LYNN –

Gullible/distrustful

Emily balks at Lynn’s not trusting Rachel showing up unexpectedly and uninvited to the art gallery show.

CONTRAST (DIFFER STRIKINGLY)

EMILY/EUGENE

Emily believes her sister’s desire is to reunite and won’t believe Eugene that she has ulterior motivies.

EMILY/RACHEL

Overly accommodating/devious

In an effort to reunited with Rachel, Emily screws herself while believe Rachel’s vow to reunite is legitimate.

EMILY/LYNN

Gullible/distrustful

Emily won’t believe Lynn when she tells her that Rachel is not truthful.

COMPETITION –

EMILY/EUGENE

Over accommodating/driven

Emily and Eugene are competitive in that Emily wants to more attention from Eugene and he is overzealous working in his research job.

EMILY/RACHEL

Creative/judgmental

Rachel puts Emily’s success and artwork down because she wants to same thing.

EMILY/LYNN

Over accommodating/caring

Lynn competes with Emily to be the nicest person.

SUBTEXT

EMILY/EUGENE

Over accommodating/suspicious

Eugene can be suspicious of Rachel but not wanting to upset Emily he could support her I being overly accommodating to Rachel.

EMILY/RACHEL

Accommodating/concealing

There is definitely times when Rachel and Emily are relating that Rachel is concealing the truth.

EMILY/LYNN

Over accommodating/caring

Lynn could be caring to Emily when they are discussing over accommodating Rachel but in reality the subtext is saying Lynn does not tolerate Rachel.

[Edward Lusk]

Ed’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment is the relationship between my protagonist, Henry and antagonist, Alfreda, is not good. At first pass I learned the relationship was not elevated, and lacked enough conflict to be dramatic. I still have not found the right mix of traits, but learned this is the process where I can experiment easily and find a dynamic trait mix to improve the relationship, in this case make it more opposing, less of good rapport to one that is opposing/negative.

HENRY – Adventurous, Impulsive, Stubborn, Determined

SAMWISE – Irritable, Humble, Evasive, Wise

ALFEDA – Insecure, Martyr, Confrontational, Loyal

EZRI – Scrupulous, Polite, Intelligent, Dismissive

HENRY/SAMWISE

Rapport: Samwise a humble, wise, elf, an irritable mentor when to come to the young Henry, impulsive and stubborn. Henry wants adventure, Samwise wants to avoid it.

Conflict: Henry’s impulsiveness conflicts against Samwise wiseness when it comes to Henry’s split second decisions giving little thought to the outcome.

Contrast:Henry’s adventurousness might contrast against Samwise’s humbleness. He goes along for the ride not the glory.

Competition: Henry’s determined to get things done, Samwise is evasive when it comes to committing to taking his part

Subtext: The age difference is reflected in their relationship, Samwise is a good mentor, humble and wise, if Henry was not so stubborn and impulsive.

HENRY/ALFREDA

Rapport: Henry’s adventurousness and impulsiveness only adds to Alfreda’s insecurity. She deals with it by lashing out (confrontations) , playing the victim. All her hard work being ruined by an impulsive boy.

Conflict: Henry’s stubbornness and Alfreda’s loyalty is in opposition. Alfreda’s loyal to Santa and North Pole traditions, while Henry stubbornness to return to sleigh, causing a conflict of interest.

Contrast: Henry’s impulsive, adventurous, nature leaves Alfreda feeling insecure about her own loyalty and position. Has she missed out?

Competition: Henry is determined just as Alfreda is confrontational. They set out to win for their own purpose and neither will back down.

Subtext: Alfreda’s the victim here. Her loyalty to the North Pole is being overshadowed by Henry’s adventures and stubbornness to give up. She needs validation and not getting it.

HENRY/EZRI

Rapport: Henry is taken down a notch when it comes to Ezri discounting his adventures and using her intellect to strike at his impulsive decisions.

Conflict: Henry finds his impulsive needs, compared to her polite, thoughtfulness.

Contrast: Henry determination slowed by Ezri’s scrupulous needs, she needs details first , Henry just wants to go. If Henry provides details they dismissed by the smarter Ezri.

Competition: Henry is stubborn when it comes to accepting Ezra’s intelligent views. Just because she’s right doesn’t mean he will go along with her. He’s determined to show her wrong. Ezri is too polite to correct him.

Subtext: Girls are smarter than boys but boys seek adventure more than understanding.

[Kristina Zill]

KZ’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment is that I can set up naturally occurring conflict through the careful calibration of character traits. However, I think that it’s much easier to do in retrospect with a scene from a show such as LOST, rather than trying to think it up ahead of time. This is a work-in-progress. I’m not sure that I totally get it yet.

Oliver
•empath
•emotionally wounded
•questing for self-knowledge
•vain

Tony
•outgoing
•concealing
•playful, creative
•moody
subtext: Tony is used to throwing people under the bus to save himself.

Michelle
•perceptive
•manipulative (changed from imperious)
•Drama Queen
•nosy

Detective
•investigates
•insecure
•introvert
•Dunning-Kruger (draws wrong conclusions, thinks he knows what he doesn’t know)

Oliver / Tony
• Rapport: Oliver and Tony are both artists, bond aesthetically
• Conflict: Tony’s moodiness can activate Oliver’s emotional wound
• Contrast: Put Oliver’s empathic tendency next to Tony’s need for self-preservation
• Competition: Put Oliver’s vanity together with Tony’s self-preservation instinct

Oliver/ Michelle
• Rapport: Oliver’s empath to Michelle’s perceptiveness
• Conflict: Oliver’s emotional wound with Michelle’s nosiness
• Contrast: Oliver’s quest for self-knowledge with Michelle’s Drama Queen
• Competition: Oliver’s vanity and Michelle’s manipulativeness

Tony / Michelle

• Rapport: Tony is outgoing and Michelle is a Drama Queen
• Conflict: Tony’s concealing with Michelle’s nosiness
• Contrast: Tony’s moodiness with Michelle’s _________ (change a trait?)
• Competition: Tony concealing and Michelle’s perception

Michelle / Detective

• Rapport: Michelle is naturally nosy and the Detective investigates for a living, so they have the same impulse in that department and both want to solve the mystery.

• Conflict: The Detective is insecure, which Michelle uses to manipulate him

• Contrast: Detective is an introvert, while Michelle is dramatic

• Competition: Michelle is perceptive, whereas the Detective draws the wrong conclusions

[Paul McGregor]

Paul’s Character Relationships.

5. What I learned from this assignment was that I had never given any thought to the importance of the interplay of traits between characters. I will now go back to my script and review all my characters’ traits with this in mind, not just the four listed below. This exercise will also impact the story, as my characters will now do more extreme things, in line with their new traits.

1. 4 main characters:

President: power-mad / risk-taker / self-centered / soft-centered.

Vice-President: two-faced / scheming / charming / ambitious.

Hamza: Conscientious / loving father / alcoholic / cautious

Dilbara (Hamza’s wife): Fanatical / cold / scheming / scornful

PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT

Power-mad Ambitious = competition.

The president is aware that his V-P wants his job, and it is her ambition that gives birth to the plan that could destroy his presidency, clearing the path for her to take over.

Risk-taker Scheming = rapport

The scheming V-P comes up with a plan than is high-risk, but she knows that the president has a proclivity for risk-taking and exploits it.

Soft-centered Charming = sub-text

He is easily won over by female charm, so there is the suggestion that may be that was the V-P’s main qualification for the job.

Self-centered Two-faced = contrast

He is too preoccupied with himself, that he fails to notice other people’s traits, so he fails to see that he is being betrayed by the V-P.

HAMZA DILBARA

Conscientious Scornful = contrast.

Hamza always invests himself 100% in any project, but his wife, Dilbara, remains aloof from situations because she is scornful.

Loving father Cold = conflict

Because he loves his daughter so much, he resists Dilbara’s plan to put her out for adoption by the president.

Alcoholic Fanatic = conflict

Dilbara, a fanatical muslim, cannot accept her husband’s taste for alcohol, but it is the only thing that keeps him from despair and divorce.

Cautious Scheming = competition

Hamza has learned not to take risks, perhaps because the Chinese Communist Party is not an enemy you can take risks with, and Dilbara’s schemes involve too much risk for him.

4. Changed traits.

PRESIDENT V-P

Replace SCHEMING with TREASONOUS. She is willing to be part of a plot to get rid of the president, not just be the naive facilitator of the plot.

Replace CHARMING with MANIPULATIVE. Her default function is manipulation and she will play on the president’s POWER-MAD nature to make him blind to the risks he is taking.

HAMZA DILBARA

Replace ALCOHOLIC with UNBELIEVER. Hamza has lost his muslim faith and his taste for beer is just one of the symptoms. This will heighten the conflict with his wife Dilbara whose whole mission is to orchestrate a second 9/11.

END

[Sandra Nelles]

Sandra’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment was how to create and change the character traits so they naturally cause drama in the character relationships to add more interest to the story.

BEN: Conservative, Committed, Competitive, Covering Up

SAMANTHA (SAM): Adventurous, Playful, Charming, Impulsive

JARROD: Charming, Clever, Self-serving, Deceptive

ROBIN: Ambitious, Snobbish, Driven, Manipulative

BEN/SAM

RAPPORT: Both Ben and Sam share a love for birds. Ben’s committed trait and Sam’s adventurous/charming trait work together to restore the bird sanctuary.

CONFLICT: Ben’s conservative trait and Sam’s impulsive trait creates disagreement and conflict.

CONTRAST: Ben and Sam are opposites on most things, except for their love of birds.

COMPETITION: Ben is competitive and wants to win, whereas Sam is playful and wants to have fun.

SUBTEXT: Ben is covering up that he would like a more fulfilling job and relationship. Sam would like to find true love.

BEN/JARROD

RAPPORT: Ben and Jarrod are coworkers on the same team. Ben’s committed trait and Jarrod’s charming/clever traits build the rapport to work together to get the job done.

CONFLICT: Ben is conservative and does things ethically, whereas Jarrod is deceptive and unethical which creates arguments on how to complete projects.

CONTRAST: Ben is committed and looks at what is best for the team and company, Jarrod is self-serving and looks at what will benefit him the most.

COMPETITION: Both are competing for a promotion. Ben’s committed/conservative traits has him work hard, fairly and honestly. Jarrod’s clever/deceptive/self-serving traits have him wanting to win at any cost, including eliminating the competition by setting Ben up to be fired.

SUBTEXT: Ben is covering up feeling stuck in an unfulfilling job and marriage. Jarrod is hiding his affair with Robin (Ben’s wife).

BEN/ROBIN

RAPPORT: Ben is committed to his marriage with Robin. Robin puts on a false front to manipulate Ben to get what she wants.

CONFLICT: Ben’s committed, conservative and competitive traits clash with Robin’s ambitious, driven and manipulative social climbing traits. Disagreements arise when she pushes him to get a promotion so they can get a bigger and more expensive house, and he tries to reign in her spending.

CONTRAST: Ben is a conservative/committed nice guy and Robin is a snobbish/ambitious social climber.

COMPETITION: Ben’s competitive/committed traits wants to keep things safe and comfortable. Robin’s snobbish/manipulative traits wants to keep growing and moving up the social ladder faster.

SUBTEXT: Ben is covering up that he is really unhappy in his job and relationship. Robin has outgrown Ben and is hiding her affair with Jarrod.

[Ed Preston]

Lesson 20: Assignment

Ed Preston, Character Relationships.

What I learned doing this assignment: Changing character’s traits creates new dynamics and new possibilities (or impossibilities) for interesting scenes and plot lines, etc and so forth.

Characters (these men are WW1 soldiers)

Archie: optimist, methodical, timid, overly trusting

Harry: cynical, pragmatic, wry, complainer

Alfred: patriotic, reliable, hasty, short tempered

Cappy: brave, impulsive, joker, annoying

ARCHIE / HARRY

When tackling a task together, Archie’s optimist trait and Harry’s pragmatic trait suggest rapport.

Conflict will likely arise whenever Harry’s cynicism and Archie’s overly-trusting nature emerge – and collide – in the same situation.

They will contrast whenever cynical, complaining Harry scorns the optimism of Archie.

Competition – Harry’s pragmatism will usually enable him to prevail in any competition with methodical Archie.

Subtext: These guys will usually get along providing there’s not too great of a gap between Archie’s optimism and Harry’s cynicism.

ARCHIE / ALFRED

Archie’s methodical trait and Alfred’s reliability suggest a good basis for rapport.

But they might have problems when Archie’s methodical trait and Alfred’s hastiness lead to conflict and competition.

Subtext: Mundane, day-to-day stuff is fine, but don’t put these two in a challenging situation.

ARCHIE / CAPPY

Archie and Cappy will probably enjoy rapport most of the time because Archie’s patience and optimism will be a buffer against Cappy’s less endearing traits.

Conflict is likely to arise between Archie and Cappy any time Archie’s timidity holds him back in a situation where Cappy’s bravery wants them to go.

As for competition, unless it’s a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race contest, impulsive Cappy will win every time.

Subtext: Not many sparks fly in this pairing.

HARRY / ALFRED

Harry and Alfred will find rapport in situations that draw on Harry’s pragmatism and Alfred’s reliability.

Conflict, however, can arise when Harry’s cynicism and Alfred’s patriotism collide.

The strongest contrast will be evident when Alfred’s reliability and Harry’s tendency to complain result in Alfred doing something not particularly pleasant while Harry complains about it.

In competition, Alfred will likely win because his hastiness and reliability will get things done while Harry is being cynical and complaining.

Subtext: When these two are in agreement on a task, it will get done.

HARRY / CAPPY

Harry and Cappy will have rapport in situations that call for bravery and pragmatism.

They will conflict and contrast when Harry is busy complaining and Cappy wants to joke.

In competition, depending on the situation, Cappy’s bravery and impulsiveness might win while Harry is deciding on the most pragmatic approach, otherwise Harry will win because Cappy’s impulsiveness causes him to make a mistake.

Subtext: If Harry and Cappy like each other, they’ll get along, otherwise friction will result.

ALFRED / CAPPY

They will experience rapport especially when Alfred’s patriotism and Cappy’s bravery are called upon, otherwise they’ll get along only when Cappy’s unappealing traits are under control.

There’s lots of potential for conflict here, since Alfred’s short temper could be triggered by Cappy’s impulsiveness and tendency to joke.

Competition – about equal.

Subtext: Once they develop mutual respect, they could very well become friends.

ELEVATIONS:

ARCHIE / HARRY

Change Harry from complainer to cooperative.

ARCHIE / ALFRED

Change Archie from timid to decisive.

CAPPY / ARCHIE

Change Cappy from joker to melancholy.

ALFRED / CAPPY

Change Alfred from hasty to thoughtful.

[Amechi Ngwe]

Amechi’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment was to do a contrast/compare pass on my characters traits to make sure that their traits are designed for them to have interesting relationships that will continue to create conflict between them.

CHARACTER TRAITS
ED – 1. Superior 2. Bully 3. Manipulative 4. Arrogant
RIZ – 1. Inferior 2. Intimidating 3. Romantic 4. Impatient
STONE – 1. Inquisitive 2. Realist 3. Pushy 4. Elegant
BETTY – 1. Loyal 2. Professional 3. Nostalgic 4. Secretive

PAIRS

ED & RIZ
ED – 1. Superior 2. Bully 3. Manipulative 4. Arrogant
RIZ – 1. Inferior 2. Intimidating 3. Romantic 4. Impatient

RAPPORT: Both string willed with their bully and intimidating traits.
CONFLICT: Ed’s bully trait with Rio’s intimidating trait.
CONTRAST: Ed’s superior trait with Riz’s inferior trait.
COMPETITION: Fighting for power and influence. Ed can slowly manipulate while Rio will work to get what he wants quickly (Impatient)
SUBTEXT: Ed tries to manipulate while Riz uses fear.

Change Riz’s impatient trait to SCARED

ED & STONE
ED – 1. Superior 2. Bully 3. Manipulative 4. Arrogant
STONE – 1. Inquisitive 2. Realist 3. Pushy 4. Elegant

RAPPORT: Ed’s arrogance about the way things are can work with Stone’s realist trait.
CONFLICT: Ed will try to bully his way out of control but Stone will be pushy to get answers.
CONTRAST: Ed tries to manipulate but Stone is inquisitive and pushes to find out the truth.
COMPETITION: Manipulative vs Pushy again.
SUBTEXT: Manipulative vs Pushy

CHANGE Ed’s ARROGANT trait to LIAR would provide more conflict with Stone’s inquisitive, realist, and pushy traits.

ED & BETTY
ED – 1. Superior 2. Bully 3. Manipulative 4. Arrogant
BETTY – 1. Loyal 2. Professional 3. Nostalgic 4. Secretive

CHANGE ED’S ARROGANT TRAIT TO LIAR

RAPPORT: Ed’s Superior trait can work well with Berry’s professional trait, and his bully trait can also help in those settings.
CONFLICT: Ed’s lies won’t work with Betty’s professional trait.
CONTRAST:
COMPETITION: Ed trying to be superior when Betty is loyal to their company.
SUBTEXT: Ed works to manipulate people but Betty can choose to expose his secrets or keep secrets of her own.

Ed’s Liar trait with Betty’s secretive trait.

RIZ & STONE
RIZ – 1. Inferior 2. Intimidating 3. Romantic 4. Impatient
STONE – 1. Inquisitive 2. Realist 3. Pushy 4. Elegant

RAPPORT: Their romantic and elegant traits can work together when they’re in sync.
CONFLICT: Riz is impatient and Stone is pushy.
CONTRAST: Riz wants to romanticize events and the past while Stone is inquisitive about the truth and a realist about what they mean.
COMPETITION: Riz is intimidating to get what he wants while Stone is inquisitive to find out what is really going on and using that to her advantage.
SUBTEXT: Riz feels inferior to things and people while Stone is pushy to get what she wants.

RIZ & BETTY
RIZ – 1. Inferior 2. Intimidating 3. Romantic 4. Impatient
BETTY – 1. Loyal 2. Professional 3. Nostalgic 4. Secretive

Change Riz’s inferior trait to disloyal.

RAPPORT: The nostalgic and romantic traits could work here.
CONFLICT: They could fight about loyalty and what the events of the past mean to the present and future.
CONTRAST: Riz is disloyal to the company while Betty is loyal to it.
COMPETITION: As they both chase power, Riz fights for himself while Betty goes for power and influence of the company overall.
SUBTEXT: Riz intimidates people while Betty works in secret.

STONE & BETTY
STONE – 1. Inquisitive 2. Realist 3. Pushy 4. Elegant
BETTY – 1. Loyal 2. Professional 3. Nostalgic 4. Secretive

Stone’s elegant trait changed to

RAPPORT:
CONFLICT: Stone being real about the truth while Betty is loyal to people who have done wrong and willing to keep secrets.
CONTRAST: Stone willing to admit faults and wrongs while Betty is professional and willing to keep secrets to preserve the glory of the company’s past.
COMPETITION: Stone is a realist about the future but Betty is nostalgic about the past.
SUBTEXT: Stone wants to be real, and pushes for that while Betty wants to keep secrets to preserve the company’s reputation.