-
Day 5: What I learned.
Post the answer to the question, “What I learned rewriting my scene/character…?” and post
-
7 Replies
-
As I arrived at the profound statement at the end of insights and breakthroughs, “Darn, this matters like crazy for that one cray-cray scene that we somehow always see set immediately past the …”
I have to rethink depth and fictionalize aspects for characters that so far I thought I knew because I knew them. Meh. Dull life has consequences, I guess.
-
Week 1, Day 5
What I learned from rewriting my scene is that I can put in a lot more drama by playing on the character’s wounds. The Good Will Hunting scene showed me that I need to increase the volume in terms of how the characters speak to one another. The tone in the scene I re-wrote was far too polite and restrained and therefore lacked drama.
Incidentally, as I chatted with one of the characters in my script today, he told me he didn’t want to go back to the States. He wants to stay in Mexico (wise choice!). I never imagined he’d say that. But it will make for a more interesting resolution.
END.
-
Karyn L.
What I learned from this assignment:
I can really see the power in character flaws and wounds. A perfect character needs to be human and express strengths and weaknesses. It gives the audience a connection to the character, albeit hero/heroine or the nemesis. Relatability provides the audience the ability to understand emotions, actions, and reactions to situations in the story.
-
I am grappling with why my villain does what she does and how she goes about doing it. This is the question. I brainstormed yesterday over this question and did not come up with anything brilliant. Today, I presented a different question: What is my villain’s wound? Again – not spectacular results – but I was glad to have this different question to brainstorm… coming at it from a different angle.
-
Wow, I had to take a beat and go back several times to this scene. What learned is that there can be several character wounds, and it could take some emotional escalation to get to them in a scene. It’s really critical to go back and rework my characters to create scenes where the wounds can be exposed, not just through the dialogue. In Good Will Hunting, Will’s fear of abandonment is so strong and his wound is so deep that he is willing to pass on his relationship to avoid the risk of being hurt again. Really good writing.
-
What I learned rewriting my scene/character…I needed to make the antagonist, Big Betty, more interesting by showing her wounds about the loss of her parents. This adds depth and irony, that a bug can have wounds too. She’s still a mean, nasty Termo-Lyte, but at least there’s a reason for her meanness and revenge.
I want to reveal Big Betty’s deeper wounds when her parents were killed by Round-Up and she had to raise herself, being the oldest, and her siblings. It’s ridiculous and somewhat comical, but it gives more insight into her revenge when on mankind, especially Tara, because Tara is the reason Big Betty’s parents were killed.
-
I learned that writing imperfect characters, with several flaws and fears, increases the chances of having a really profound script. Too often, writing “nice and normal” characters leads to a slow, boring script that can drone on and on. Emotional conflict creates interest. In this scene, Will moves his emotions from loving, relaxing to anger, aggression – culminating in a huge lie, “I don’t love you.” Will’s classic fear of rejection confirms his attitude of “reject first, before I am rejected.
Skyler portrays complete vulnerability – she’s open and honest, but Will doesn’t believe her. Will projects his deceitful nature, to hide, lie and exaggerate, on Skyler and she’s dumbfounded because of it. Still, she begs for his love, and he attacks her more for her vulnerability.
Watching this scene reminded me that most people are deeply flawed – I rewrote a scene showing more the flaws of my characters, vulnerability is key – and it reads now with added curiosity and emotional depth.
Log in to reply.