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Lesson 2 Assignments
Reply to Post Your Assignments
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21 Replies
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Farrin Rosenthal Solved Character Problems!
Farrin’s Vision: To do what it takes to become a highly paid A-List Hollywood writer whose produced movies will entertain audiences around the world.
What I learned doing this assignment is after we have found and solved all major structure issues, it’s time to address character problems. Reading through my script, I found my Russian characters did not sound like English was their second language. During my high speed first draft, I did not worry about that at all and just wrote their dialogue.
Now, in the 2nd draft, the main character problem is the dialogue is not tailored to each character. So this week, I worked on making the Russian’s English dialogue sound realistic. I could hear them speak in my mind, hear the dialogue in that Russian accent, and now it’s 95% improved! Was really fun to do too.
Like any structure issues I may have missed, I will continue to look for any other character problems and fix all that I find. Second draft is looking pretty good so far.
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Tracy Lawson solved character problems!
What I learned: after I addressed the structural problems, new ways to strengthen the characters became apparent.
In Act 1, I saw an opportunity both for foreshadowing Anna’s uncle’s treachery, and also revealing his own wounds and worries, to make him more human.
In Act 2, I made Anna react more viscerally when she is threatened in a tavern (woman traveling alone = not good) and rather than just throw a drink in the man’s face, she grabs the knife from her place setting and threatens him with it. Then, a bit horrified by her own reaction, she flees. Back on the road, a short flashback reveals a moment from Anna’s past when she could not defend herself.
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Rebecca’s Solved Character Problems
Vision: My success in this program will lead me to be the go-to writer for producers looking for incredible scripts for successful movies enjoyed by a vast viewing audience.
What I learned from doing this assignment is that comparing the problem list to my script, I found several areas that needed improvement. I also learned that this could be fun, and liked the results.
Problem 1: I needed to improve the physickal description of the main characters when first introduced into the script.
Solution: Used character profiles and actor attracter sheets for information in first introductions.
Problem 2: Scenes with little or no involvement with a lead character.
Solution: Cut unneeded scenes that interfere with story flow.Also, to shorten the script. Use a main lead in a scene instead of a supporting character unless that character is vital to that scene. If so, keep it short. I found that replacing a lessor character with the protagonist in one scene created more conflict and interest.
I went through the script and rewrote the problem sections. Looking forward to the next lesson.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Rebecca Sukle.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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CJ’s Solved Character Problems
Vision: I am a confident and empowered writer who embraces challenges and changes and writes produced highly sought-after projects with fresh and exciting ideas.
WIL: As I work through these rewrite processes, I am filing out the story and raising the quality. I needed to turn my antagonist into a 3-dimensional character – initially the antagonist felt flat.
Title: MEMORY HUNTERS
Concept:
In a future with technology to retrieve memories, a Memory Retrevalist, caught in the mind of a psychopath struggles to find a way out before he destroys her mind and kills her.
Check Lead Characters:
B. Weak Antagonist
– Need to work on red herring and relationship with Antagonist
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Jeffrey Alan Chase Solved Character Problems!
My vision: I am an “A” list writer who is known for high concept ideas, great execution, a string of successful movies and is always ready to share his knowledge and do what he can to help another writer on the way up.
What I learned from doing this assignment is: that multiple edit passes are critical for making a good script great. I’ve done a number of passes. I feel my characters are super strong. Still want to tweak a couple of their actions to show some deeper layers. Also need to do several more dialogue passes. Having fun!
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Andrew Kelm’s Solved Character Problems!
Vision: I am going to do whatever it takes to be a great writer of TV and movies who is sought after by people I respect within the industry and has multiple successful TV series produced.
What I learned doing this assignment is… My antagonist is weak. I don’t explore enough of what makes him charming to have people feel for him when he goes down. So I went through a pass for that, made some adjustments, especially at the beginning to try to make it more believable that He and Daphne are compatible.
I focused on:
B. Weak protagonist or antagonist.
- Weak antagonist — I don’t explore enough of what makes him charming to have people feel for him when he goes down.
D. Weak character intros.
- Worked on Daphne’s opening scene to hint at the darkness that will show up later… I want there to be irony and even comedy but with a serious undercurrent — the would pokes through right from the beginning.
F. Protagonist journey not strong.
- The basis of her journey is there, but I would say it is not strongly defined — it’s not impossible to misunderstand yet. So I worked on making the turns sharper, and the reveals more telling.
- First scene – work in flaw
- First beach scene – working on more story of Roy’s progression.
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Leona Heraty Solved Character Problems!
My Vision: To be the best family comedy screenwriter in the industry where my screenplays are produced into fabulous movies, making audiences laugh a lot and making me independently wealthy!
What I learned from doing this assignment is…I really need to revise my supporting characters so they’re not generic and not all the same. I’m making the revisions and I think this elevates the script a lot!
Title: Tara vs. the Termo-Lytes
Genre: Comedy (Sci-fi)
Concept #2: A lost teenage tour guide who’s petrified of bugs must lead her tour group in a battle against mutant killer termites at an abandoned country club.2. Check your lead characters to see if they have any of the problems listed in this lesson.
A. Generic Lead Characters.
Tara Barker—Protagonist
Her character is good but can be better by making her more unique. She is very athletic and is a golfer, surfer and tennis player. She loves wearing a tennis skorts and her favorite color is lime green so she loves wearing a lime green shirt or skorts. She loves the 1960s fashions and hair her hair in a flip. She also uses golfing terms and phrases like “It’s so sub-par” or “You’re so sub-par.”
Note: Find other golfing terms. She listens to surf music in her car and eats Cheez-Its and Skittles and carries extra supplies in her car.
Note: Tara drops Cheez-Its on the paths for breadcrumbs to find her way back, since she has no sense of direction.
Note: Tara runs back to the car to get the box of cupcakes that her Dad, Kent, made at his shop. She uses it to lure/charm Big Betty, who loves sweets.
Big Betty mocks her weak generation who can’t read a map and has to rely on GPS Google Maps to get anywhere. Tara is terrified of ants in the lobby of the country club!
Davy Randall—Supporting Character/Member of Tara’s tour group
His character is good. I’m not going to change anything about him for now.Meg Randall—Supporting Character/Member of Tara’s tour group
Her character is good. I’m not going to change anything about her for now.Joan Barker, Tara’s Mom—Supporting Character
Her character is generic. I will revise so she owns a surfboard shop and she’s a former pro surfer. She’s 50 years old but looks 30 and she loves flowers and gardening as her hobby.Joan is a member of the garden club and is the President of the club and is organizing the annual home garden tour. Her favorite sayings are “Surf’s up, so you better boogie!” and “When in doubt, surf it out!” Marigolds are her favorite flower because of Halloween and the Day of the Dead.
Kent Barker, Tara’s Dad – Supporting Character
His character is generic. I will revise so he’s a professional baker and owns a cupcake shop that does really well. He’s very handsome and masculine, but he wears an apron throughout the movie because “he’s always baking something.” His favorite phrase is “If you’re having a bad day, have a cupcake! It’ll cheer you up!”Max Faber—Tara’s best friend—Supporting Character
His character is generic. I will revise so he’s a football jock with a soft side. He loves Mickey Mouse and Disneyland and isn’t too macho to wear Mickey Mouse ears on “game day” AKA when they go to Disneyland!Max is one of the Three Buddies with Tara and Clare. He is Clare’s cousin, and he has a crush on Tara. The three are childhood friends. He wears a shirt that says, “Don’t be a Meanie!”
Clare Faber—Tara’s best friend—Supporting Character
Her character is generic. I will revise so she’s obsessed with Minnie Mouse and she loves to wear Minnie Mouse Ears on “game day” when they go to Disneyland or just for fun! She has a t-shirt that says, “I’m a Disney Princess.”Clare is Max’s cousin and they’re the same age as Tara, all in the same high school graduating class. She wants to be an actress and star in Disney movies. She has a great singing voice and plans to move to Hollywood.
B. Weak protagonist or antagonist.
I think my protagonist, Tara and my antagonist, Big Betty, overall are strong characters.C. Protagonist Too Good or Antagonist Too Bad.
Big Betty—Antagonist. She has a lot of negative traits but she needs more human and positive traits to make her more multidimentional. She has a great singing voice and likes to belt out rock tunes from the 1970s and she loves sweets. She loves Kent’s cupcakes and is lured into trusting Tara, but Tara is going to try to kill her in the end!
When Big Betty is happy, her blue beehive changes into rainbow colors but when she’s angry, it turns a bright orange. She says silly 1970s phrases like, “Cut me some slack, Jack” and has a unique phrase, “I look fan-tab-u-lous!”
D. Weak character intros.
Tara—Protagonist.
She has a strong intro, however, I added more humor by making her drop her phone when she’s up in the tree and the police officer picks it up and talks to her Mom and relays the messages.Big Betty—Antagonist
I think her character intro is weak. I will revise so she grows bigger and taller after the green goo cover her and she immediately dances around and starts to belt out a disco tune, like a Donna Summer or Gloria Gaynor song! This will add humor and some cheesiness.E. Characters not in action.
Tara and Big Betty are constantly in action and in almost every scene. This is an action-packed sci-fi comedy.F. Protagonist journey not strong.
Tara’s journey is strong. She has to overcome her extreme fear of bugs when she does battle with Big Betty and the Termo-Lytes, and she regains her lost sense of direction, which is really a new belief in herself and her abilities and goals.
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G. All the characters seem the same.
The supporting characters needed elevating so they’re not generic, so I’m making the revisions.H. Lead characters not present.
Tara and Big Betty and Davy and Meg are in almost every scene and they all take action in these scenes. However, I will revise the obstacles for Tara, Davy and Meg to overcome so they’re even more difficult and dangerous.-
This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Leona Heraty.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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VISION:
I want to be a great award-winning writer, known for my new genre, who creates the most beautiful films that inspire others to feel deeply, pause, and ponder ways to make the world a better place as I make happy money to continue.
THE NUN AND THE WITCH Genre: (mystical /Sci-fi )
Concept: A dedicated nun destined to become a saint in this lifetime, bonds with her soulmate – the village witch to help battle the evils of hatred consuming the heart of humanity knowing that time is running out.
I strengthened both lead characters.
I gave Lunea an impactful monologue.
I put more subtext between the protagonist
I strengthened the Old One and tweaked other characters.
I personally love this process and know my writing can always get better and by staying focused on what is assigned he keeps me on task.
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ASSIGNMENT 6.2
JACK P’S SOLVED CHARACTER PROBLEMS!
MY VISION: I will do whatever it takes to write a produced script that is recognized by the industry and leads to multiple successful movies.
WHAT I LEARNED: My script is a spiritual romance without a discernible antagonist. The protagonists are in a love/hate/transformative relationship so they switch back and forth from being protag to antag as the story progresses. The opening scene is benign on the surface, with a lot of subtext and hidden conflict for the female lead, playing off her initial meeting with the male lead. There is an incident that triggers much of the inner turmoil for the female early in the scene. I think the female character has a strong intro, not so much the male. While I am pondering strengthening the male character intro, nothing is coming to me. It seems like a natural progression for his time in the spotlight to come later. Maybe that will change in the next draft.
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Tom’s Solved Character Problems!
My Vision: When working a project with a producer, I quickly generate viable alternatives.
Doing this assignment, I learned I can make any scene better by adding action.
I added more action to scenes with the Protagonist and Antagonist.
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Amechi’s Solved Character Problems!
MY VISION
I am going to be in the top 1% of action/comedy writers in the industry who writes major action films.What I learned doing this assignment is
For this pass I focused on C, D, and F, and tried to elevate those as much as I could.
C. Protagonist Too Good or Antagonist Too Bad.
I lightened up a couple of scenes with my antagonist and gave her a couple of empathetic moments earlier in the story.
E. Characters not in action.
Converted a couple of talking heads scenes into stronger action scenes by adding an action that gave some conflict.
F. Protagonist journey not strong.
The course of the journey needed a few more testing points in the middle. There’s still some work to do there as I refine this.
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BOB SMITH’S ACTOR ATTRACTORS
My vision for success after this program:
I want to become a great writer who delivers entertaining, informative, and uplifting movie scripts that sell and get produced.
What I learned from doing this assignment is…?
How fun it is to map a way through the script to make characters attract actors.
ACTOR ATTRACTOR #1
MOVIE TITLE: “Angels in Gangland”
LEAD CHARACTER NAME: LOU TASCA (PROTAGONIST)
1. What makes this character the most interesting character in the movie?
He is an aging mob soldier who was passed over for promotion to caporegime and Underboss of the Giordano family. We see this gangster killed but he can’t get on the train to the World to Come unless he follows the directions of his spirit guide, whom he knew in life (Rabbi SOLOMON LEVINSKY) who gives him a mission that will redeem him: He must return to New York’s gangland and convince his slayer (CARLO VIZZINI) to do what he should have done, namely, quit the mob and join the Witness Protection Program. IOW, be a rat, and do good.
2. What makes this character the most-interesting character in the movie?
We see a brief glimpse of his gangster life until it is ended by gunshot by Carlo,
who immediately regrets his action. Then he is a spirit between two worlds, who
then returns to earth and awkwardly haunts his killer with a proposition: I’ll leave
you if you quit the mob and turn state’s evidence in the Witness Protection
Program.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead takes in the movie?
He crashes Carlo’s 30<sup>th</sup> Birthday Party and first tells him to quit the mob, but Carlo’s fearful reaction only brings him into danger that he is insane and his own boss TONY RIZZO may have to kill him because his craziness may draw heat from the cops. He also spirit possesses Carlo, like a dybbuk but to be benign in order to open the way to make Carlo’s choice to quit the mob more easy.
4. How is this character introduced that could sell it to an actor?
He is introduced leaving a mob-owned (i.e., TONY RIZZO, owner) strip club
with Carlo who in an alley shoots him, he immediately appears in a dark place
between two world and announces, “My name is Lou Tasca. I was a gangster,
now, I’m dead. This is my story, the movie unfolds..
5. What is this character’s emotional range?
From sorrow, to sarcasm, to desperation, to being a caring person.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
He is stuck in gangster-think even when being tossed gems of wisdom from his Rabbi-spirit guide.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?
With his Rabbi-spirit guide who not only guides him in trying to convince Carlo to quit the mob but wants the collateral good of getting his son Sam (Carlo’s friend and fellow wiseguy to also quit the mob. Also, Lou’s relationship with Carlo whom he is trying to get to quit the mob.
8. How is this character’s unique voice presented?
He is determined to get Carlo to quit the mob and starts to appreciate the good.
9. What makes this character special and unique?
Being a spirit of a criminal he has a transformational journey from criminality to beneficent actor through the guidance of Rabbi Solomon.
ACTOR ATTRACTOR #2
MOVIE TITLE: “Angels in Gangland”
LEAD CHARACTER NAME: RABBI SOLOMON LEVINSKY (PROTAGONIST)
1. What makes this character the most interesting character in the movie?
He is the spirit guide of a slain gangster (Lou Tasca) who fascilitates his mission to persuade his slayer (Carlo Vizzini) to leave the mob and enter the Witness Protection Program. Solomon also seeks a collateral good, that if Lou could persuade Carlo to quit the mob, perhaps Solomon’s son and Carlo’s friend fellow weiseguy SAM LEVINSKY to do the same. In other words, he is a sage and a mystic, teamed-up with a Cosa Nostra made man. .
2. What makes this character the most-interesting character in the movie?
He is a Rabbi, sage, and mystic teamed up with a Cosa Nostra made man. .
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead takes in the movie?
He is the first to meet newly-dead Lou Tasca to explain the world between two world in which he is stuck and how he must rectify his life of crime by getting Carlo to quit the mob, and thus gain his entrance into the World to Come. He teaches Lou also the special art of spirit possession in which he can be a benign help to him. He keeps having to correct Lou’s gangster impulses and nurture the malefactor to become a noble mensch and rescue his son from a life of crime as well.
4. How is this character introduced that could sell it to an actor?
He is shown in life caring for a dying mob associate and extolling his own Uncle
Max who was in the mob of Meyer Lansky who we see cracking Nazi skulls at
the Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden (1939) and running guns to the
Haganah in Israel’s War of Independence (1n 1948) – these stories which
Solomon told to Sam, as tales of how a Jewish gangsters protected the Jewish
people but it has the reverse effect of inspiring Sam to join his friend Carlo in
becoming an associate of the Giordano crime family.
5. What is this character’s emotional range?
In contrast to Lou’s mobster coarseness, Solomon is rabbinically gentle but firm. His emotions range from sorrow to prayerful to desperate.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
Exasperation with the spirit of slain mobster Lou Tasca.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?
With his charge, the spirit of slain mobster Lou Tasca. He is invisible to all other character but he does spy upon them.
8. How is this character’s unique voice presented?
He is determined to make Lou a noble mensch – as hard as it is to do so.
9. What makes this character special and unique?
He is spiritual yet not aloof. An earthy rabbi even as a spirit. He is a Rabbi but also worked as an accountant in the crime-ridden New York Garment District and had an Uncle Max who was in the mob with Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky.
ACTOR ATTRACTOR #3
MOVIE TITLE: “Angels in Gangland”
LEAD CHARACTER NAME: TONY RIZZO (ANTAGONIST)
1. What makes this character the most interesting character in the movie?
He is a Caporegime (Captain) of a crew in the Giordano crime family the spirit guide of a slain gangster (Lou Tasca) who fascilitates his mission to persuade his slayer (Carlo Vizzini) to leave the mob and enter the Witness Protection Program. Solomon also seeks a collateral good, that if Lou could persuade Carlo to quit the mob, perhaps Solomon’s son and Carlo’s friend fellow weiseguy SAM LEVINSKY to do the same. In other words, he is a sage and a mystic, teamed-up with a Cosa Nostra made man. .
2. What makes this character the most-interesting character in the movie?
He is a Rabbi, sage, and mystic teamed up with a Cosa Nostra made man. .
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead takes in the movie?
He is the first to meet newly-dead Lou Tasca to explain the world between two world in which he is stuck and how he must rectify his life of crime by getting Carlo to quit the mob, and thus gain his entrance into the World to Come. He teaches Lou also the special art of spirit possession in which he can be a benign help to him. He keeps having to correct Lou’s gangster impulses and nurture the malefactor to become a noble mensch and rescue his son from a life of crime as well.
4. How is this character introduced that could sell it to an actor?
He is shown in life caring for a dying mob associate and extolling his own Uncle
Max who was in the mob of Meyer Lansky who we see cracking Nazi skulls at
the Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden (1939) and running guns to the
Haganah in Israel’s War of Independence (1n 1948) – these stories which
Solomon told to Sam as tales of how a Jewish gangstes protected the Jewish
people but it has the reverse effect of inspiring Sam to join his friend Carlo in
becoming an associate of the Giordano crime family.
5. What is this character’s emotional range?
In contrast to Lou’s mobster coarseness, Solomon is rabbinically gentle but firm. His emotions range from sorrow to prayerful to desperate.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
Exasperation with the spirit of slain mobster Lou Tasca.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character has?
With his charge, the spirit of slain mobster Lou Tasca. He is invisible to all other character but he does spy upon them.
8. How is this character’s unique voice presented?
He is determined to make Lou a noble mensch – as hard as it is to do so.
9. What makes this character special and unique?
He is spiritual yet not aloof. An earthy rabbi even as a spirit. He is a Rabbi but also worked in the crime-plagued New York Garment District.
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Erik Has Solved Character Problems!
My vision is to achieve true excellence as a screenwriter which causes me to be a consistently working writer, with actual movies made from some of my scripts, and to become wealthy as a screenwriter, develop relationships in the movie industry where I am recognized as a truly original writer, and to become indispensable in the market in which I want to write.
What I learned doing this assignment… It is best to assume that improvements can be made, but it is just as important to be confident in your judgement when you believe that some areas are great as they are. Some are obvious, such as whether lead characters are present in at least 90% of scenes, but most others require a lot more thought and creative problem-solving, such as whether the journey is strong enough.
Areas I improved: Character introductions and Protagonist journey
I can’t quite tell if we are supposed to post the beat sheet again. I am posting just the beats that I improved for the character problems. Made a couple other small changes, but they don’t really show explicitly in the beat sheet. Also I made changes for character journeys in Act 4 in the previous lesson–go figure.
1. INT. ORPHANAGE – ARTS & CRAFTS ROOM – DAY
BEGINNING: A bunch of orphans engage in drawing their idea of what kind of a house they would want to live in. Always-eating orphan PENNY’s, 8, drawing is great and advanced (and foreshadows Amanda’s place) but she becomes bored. Orphans MARA and JESS seem to be buddies. They stare at Penny, the “different one”.
MIDDLE: HEADMISTRESS DAPHNE surveys them and criticizes Penny for drawing something too fantastical or “impertinent”. Penny contradicts her.
END: They finish up, Penny scurries off to the kitchen looking for the chef. Daphne calls out for Penny. Catches up with her and scolds her for always having to find her / her “hiding” all the time.
4. EXT. ORPHANAGE / CITY ALLEY – CONTINUOUS
…She hits the back alley… and comes face to face with orphan MARA, who smiles big at Penny, then seems to go into a quiet surveying mode. They turn down a crossing alley—and see some scruffy-looking menacing-looking man blocking their way, seeming to come for them. Their way is blocked in the other direction by construction….
8. INT. MALL
…They make their first tentative steps, navigating a sea of people. Mara protests that they need to go back but is fascinated rather than scared. Penny leads Mara to believe that they are just in the mall until the “dangerous man” from the street is gone.
52. INT. SUBTERRANEAN COMPLEX – INTERCUTTING WITH AMANDA’S APARTMENT SCENES.
BEGINNING: The kids question Mara as to why she is there.
MIDDLE: The kids are moving on but one agrees to stay down there with Mara for the night. Mara feels more self-assured with Amy’s company.
END: Amy tells Mara how easy it is for her to go back into the mall and get help. Mara acknowledges that they decided not to do that. Mara goes to sleep with a blanket on the tatty couch.
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ASSIGNMENT 6.2
JACK P’S SOLVED CHARACTER PROBLEMS!
MY VISION: I will do whatever it takes to write a produced script that is recognized by the industry and leads to multiple successful movies.
I absolutely love discovering and solving character problems!
WHAT I LEARNED: My script is a spiritual romance without a discernable antagonist. The protagonists are in a love/hate/transformative relationship so they switch back and forth from being protag to antag as the story progresses. The opening scene is benign on the surface, with a lot of subtext and hidden conflict for the female lead, playing off her initial meeting with the male lead. There is an incident that triggers much of the inner turmoil for the female early in the scene. I think the female character has a strong intro, not so much the male. While I am pondering strengthening the male character intro, nothing is coming to me. It seems like a natural progression for his time in the spotlight to come later. Maybe that will change in the next draft.
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John T’s Solved Character Problems
Vision: become a reliable box office success and entertain audiences all over the world.
What I learned doing this assignment is that by coming up with Phil’s words and actions that can be interpreted in two ways, one bad, one good, his character becomes more engrossing and mysterious with a lot more subtext.
Improvements:
First and foremost, expand Phil’s ambiguities, his dialogue and actions – most everything he does and says can be viewed as innocent/plausible or murderous/covering his track.
-When he keeps a file on the murders, is he planning the next one or solving the last?
-Was he getting off on Megan or rebuffing her sexual overtures?
-Does he really thing he’s talking to his dead wife or just following the therapy prescribed by his shrink?
-Is his sour nature sinister or is he still mourning his wife’s passing?
-Is he hanging out with FA’s to pick his next victim or is her protecting them?
FO’s talk about what a yeller he is, behind his back -Is he a pyscho screamer on the job or just safety conscious?
-hiding evidence or bolstering his innocence?
-Is he leaving the scene or arriving on the scene?
-Is he taking (bidding) murder trips or tracking the killer?
-Is he sitting a trap for his next victim or for the killer?
-Are the flashbacks about him or about the killer?
-Is he using a camera to film his victims or catch the killer?
Is his impatience pyschotic or just normal impatience -Does he fit the killer’s profile to a T or is it coincidence?
-Is he making or following the trail of evidence?
-Is he blacking out when killing or does he have a vitamin deficency?
-Are his mannerisms pyscho behavior or idiosyncracies?
Frequent object of Louise’s affections. Is he leading her on or just being fatherly protective and oblivious to her overtures?
Aggravates FBI Ben because of murderous hate or because he resents the politiciation of the Bureau?
Love/hate relationship with his shrink -is he going to kill her or marry her?
Harbors weird fascinations or just a geeky stamp collector?
Is he embarrassed/shamed by sex or is he just modest?
Is he a knife maniac or does he just get a little too excited during training?
Does he hang out on the streets to kill criminals or is he just unlucky?
Did he go crazy after his wife’s murder or is he just sad?
Does he alway answer honestly (and it comes out wrong or duplicitous) or is he fiendishly evasive?
Are the witnesses against him arguing with Megan being truthful or creative?
Is he genuinely frustrated his gangbanger hasn’t been caught or is he making it up?
Is he giving himself away or just careless with his (double meaning) answers?
Is he usually truthful or usually lying?
Is he pyscho crazy or just mildly passive aggressive?
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KRISTIN’S SOLVED CHARACTER PROBLEMS!
VISION: “I want the personal, professional, and financial freedom and joy that come from writing so well that I’m in demand, selling beyond my wildest dreams, and making worthy projects—on a big scale and with my active, collegial participation.”
WHAT I LEARNED: I didn’t read ahead to this assignment, and basically did Assignments 1 and 2 at the same time—because my structure’s main problem was character related. Therefore, these two things went hand in hand. I can also see, however, if I had NOT had such bad structure problems, then this character list would have been helpful in other ways.
Basically, the characters I had already in place were not generic or weak or too good/bad, but I wasn’t USING them well enough. They were in action, but their actions were much more effective when the various layers that informed their actions were in better play—and when the character I really was missing finally had a much larger role. So… now so much better!
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Terrie’s Solved Character Problems
Vision:
I get paid to write screenplays that get made into crowd pleasing successful films using a process that allows me to keep up my equestrian hobby.I also struggled with this lesson. I think I may need to re do this module later – I know that’s not the process but it seems like I wrote the first draft so fast that I’m not happy with some story points – which is a bit different than the structure.
What I found/did :
a. generic lead characters – I don’t think I have this.
b. weak protagonist / antagonist – rom/com so they are protagonist/antagonist to each other.
c. protagonist too good/ antagonist too bad – the male lead needs to be more goofy but I think I need to do that when I elevate scenes
d. weak character intros – this is not a problem
e. characters not in action – did what I could here.
f. protagonist journey not strong – there’s basically an action plot with this so I think I’m okay on this
g. all the characters seem the same – I need to make sure they dialog is very distinct.
h. lead characters not present – not a problem if anything I need some scenes with the ‘bad guys’ or with the ‘good guys’ that are the actual lead characters. right now one or both of my leads are in every scene.
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Sandra’s Solved Character Problems
Vision: I am doing what I love to do as a writer with several successful produced movies.
What I learned doing this assignment is new ways of looking at my characters and solving problems. This was a great lesson.
Improvements Made:
Antagonist too Bad: I gave the antagonist more balance by showing him with his family and being kind and generous at times.
Weak Character Intros: The lead characters were good and I made them better. Several of the other characters introductions were weak or non-existent, so I added more.
Characters not in Action: I had several ‘talking head’ scenes, so I added more action, especially for the main characters.
Protagonist Journey not Strong: I had lots of conflict and challenges, so I added more depth to Acts 2, 3, and 4 to show his changes from the old ways to the new ways.
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Linda’s Solved Character Problems!
Vision: Audiences around the world view and love my meaningful screenplays—one of the most satisfying and energizing accomplishments of my life.
What I learned from doing this assignment is that some of the points in the lead characters’ profiles aren’t strongly coming through in the script. I want to work through the upcoming character lessons before deciding to keep, change, or heighten these traits in the script.
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Solved Character Problems!
Vision: I want to be a professional screenwriter recognized by the industry as the go-to for family-friendly scripts and have multiple successful movies produced.
What I learned is to make sure my main characters are always present in some way.
The main character problem in my script is that Claire isn’t present for long stretches. In the storyline, she is out of town for job training. I need to add more scenes with her, showing the challenges of returning to work after being a homemaker and stay-at-home mom for so long, so that when she returns home to battleAlellx, the audience is rooting for her.
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Jane’s Solved Character Problems
MY VISION: I will make my living as a screenwriter by selling my own narrative scripts and successfully fulfilling writing assignments.
By doing this assignment I discovered the “backbone” of each of the characters and found many scenes where just a few tweaks brought them around to what they would actually say and do when measured against who they are. I found it kind of fun and it felt like ironing out the creases in the story. Very helpful lesson to do.
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