Lesson 20

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

Lynn’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment was that I had the important traits (from an earlier SU course), but didn’t really see how they came together in relationships, causing sympatico, conflict, and subtext.

I’m rushing to do this, so I might not have done it right, but I can see how it will be helpful in rethinking and improving scenes and the whole story.

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TAG: A feisty eco-activist falls for a wannabe oil engineer.

LOGLINE (RomCom): Two college students struggle to overcome family fights about global warming, then try to get married during the worst ever Texas freeze.

ELLIE (protag, 20, college student in communications at McGee U in the Rio Grande Valley)

TRAITS: eco-committed, somber/eco-despair/guy-shy (undergirded by father abandonment despair), caring/doesn’t want anyone hurt, hates/fears loud cacophonic noise (such as in big cities)

JIM (protag, 24, studying for Masters in Oil Engineering at McGee)

TRAITS: playboy, happy-go-lucky (covering his father loss grief), into alt energy, loyal to family members

Ellie’s UNCLE LAYO (antag, 60s, alt energy inventor living on an off-grid ranch in the Rio Grande Valley)

TRAITS: misanthrope (doesn’t trust anyone but Ellie), eco-concerned, cantankerous/crude, stubborn

Jim’s UNCLE FRED (antag, 60s, head of his oil engineering firm in Houston)

TRAITS: rudely domineering, hates everything eco, business/money oriented, some family concern.

ELLIE / JIM:

RAPPORT: in the context of her eco-commitment and his alt energy interest AND with her caring (not wanting people hurt) and his loyalty to family AND their father loss issues, despite difference in circumstances and how they handle it

CONFLICT: with her eco-despair and his happy-go-lucky/extravert style (they do a trait/role reversal before the final Act, which still puts them in conflict) AND her guy-shy and his playboy trait

CONTRAST: with her eco-despair and his happy-go-lucky (and her guy-shy and his playboy trait). She trying to save the earth, he’s trying to get the girl.

COMPETITION: with his loyalty to work for Uncle Fred in Houston and her hatred/fear of big cities/cacophony AND her eco-commitment (to help Layo on his off-grid ranch in the Rio Grande Valley) and his loyalty to work for Uncle Fred in Houston (which leads to the big fallout between them at mid-point). Also her eco-commitment vs. him not being very eco-aware creates funny moments for this comedy

SUBTEXT: Ellie into eco-concerns, Jim into woman conquest

ELLIE / LAYO:

RAPPORT: Both are eco-committed/concerned; both withdraw (Ellie from urban & other clatter, Layo as a misanthrope/hermit)

CONFLICT: Ellie caring, Layo misanthrope & cantankerous; Ellie wants to save the earth (using her communications skills to promote his inventions) v. Layo the misanthrope wants nothing to do with people, a total useless wheel-spinning withdrawal

CONTRAST: Ellie caring, Layo cantankerous and stubborn

COMPETITION: Ellie’s strong eco-commitment and caring (and falling for Jim) v. Layo rejecting all human involvement (except Ellie), and especially hating Jim’s Uncle (they have a past) and thus Jim.

SUBTEXT: humanistic eco-concerns v. misanthropic eco-concerns, Ellie (knowing Layo trusts and cares for her) using that to get her way v. Layo’s stubbornness.

JIM / FRED:

RAPPORT: Jim’s loyalty to family members (Uncle Fred, but mainly to his mother, who insists he go along with Fred) & Fred’s family concern.

CONFLICT: Jim’s happy-go-lucky v. Fred’s business/money oriented; Jim’s alt energy focus v. Fred’s hatred of anything eco;

CONTRAST: Fred’s rudely domineering trait v. Jim’s happy-go-lucky & family loyalty

COMPETITION: Jim’s alt energy focus v. Fred’s hatred of everything eco.

SUBTEXT: Jim’s loyalty to family v. Fred’s domineering (taking advantage of Jim); eco-concern v. hate of anything eco; Jim’s loyalty v. Fred’s rudeness.

JIM / LAYO:

RAPPORT: both into alt energy, Layo eco-concerned

CONFLICT: Jim playboy who is taking Ellie away v. Layo’s misanthrope, depending only on Ellie; Conflict re Layo’s hatred of Jim’s Uncle Fred (see below).

CONTRAST: Jim happy-go-lucky v. Layo’s cantankerous & stubborn

COMPETITION: Jim playboy v. Layo misanthrope

SUBTEXT: Jim’s wants to do right by his family and wants to establish a family with Ellie v. Layo hermit, depending only on Ellie.

ELLIE / FRED:

RAPPORT: Ellie not wanting to hurt anyone pulls along with Fred, whatever his horrible traits are; Ellie caring & Fred with some family concern.

CONFLICT: Ellie eco-concerned v. Fred hating everything eco, but it’s mainly in action/subtext. Ellie, not wanting to hurt anyone, avoids conflict with Fred until close to the end.

CONTRAST: Ellie caring, Fred domineering & rude

COMPETITION: Ellie wanting Jim and Jim to get into alt energy as he desires v. Fred hating all eco-things and being domineering and business/money minded.

SUBTEXT: Ellie wants Jim and wants him to get into alt energy buts has to blossom out with finesse to handle Fred, so it seems like she’s caving to Fred (going over to the dark side).

LAYO / FRED:

RAPPORT: both engineers; both with similar personality traits — cantankerous, domineering, rude, crude (history — they went to college together and… good times & bad)

CONFLICT: they developed a strong hatred of each other decades ago over their differences re alt energy and eco-things, and… Their conflict drive a chasm between Ellie and Jim (a comedic Romeo & Juliet type thing).

CONTRAST: Layo into alt energy v. Fred hating eco-things; Layo living a poor hermit v. Fred business/money oriented

COMPETITION: Layo promoting alt energy v. Fred promoting oil

SUBTEXT: the hatred turns out to be more than just disagreements over pro-eco v. anti-eco, there is something underlying it and how they turned out to be so mean….

[Brenda Boddy]

BRENDA BODDY – character relationships:

What I learned: It felt like a lot of work, but I feel like substituting traits that created both harmony and discord with the protagonist (and even each other), made for a more exciting read.

Logline: An old-fashioned lawman wakes up a hundred years in the future in the body of a corrupt BORTAC agent (Border Patrol Tactical Unit).

Essence: Each scene tries to contrast the way Justice would do things during his time with the way a law unit would work today.

While the criminals might change…Justice’s TEAM, his wife, and his daughter are all equally important.

JUSTICE (Protagonist): Old-fashioned, confident, stubborn, emotionally guarded.

MASON (Partner): Rule-follower, excitable, socially awkward (nerd), oversensitive.

The Old-fashioned and Rule-follower will mesh when going after criminals, but confident will war with excitable when Mason and Justice are in trouble.

MISTY (Team Partner and love interest): Fiercely competitive, sassy, impulsive, not afraid to get her hands dirty.

Justice’s confidence will mesh with Misty’s not afraid to get her hands dirty when catching criminals. His old-fashioned values will war with her competitive nature and impulsive nature (sleeps with who she wants, smokes, drinks).

NINA (Team partner at BORTAC): High maintenance, spoiled, caring, good friend.

Justice will find Nina’s caring interest in him and her ability to ‘be there’ as a friend, easy to work with. He will find her modern high maintenance (hair, nails), and spoiled, self-centered ways to be hard to understand.

KENZI (wife of old Justice): Resilient, Compassionate, Oppressed, Angry.

New Justice will understand Kenzi’s resilient and compassionate nature. He will be at odds with her Oppressed and Angry traits (both directed at him and what she believes he has done).

SAMANTHA (Daughter of old Justice): Anxious, depressed, protective, vengeful.

Justice will be able to understand and work with Samantha’s anxious and depressed traits, coaxing her forward. He will find her protective of her mother and vengeful toward him as a result.

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

Don’t know if it’s appropriate to post announcements, but the HOLLYWOOD CLIMATE SUMMIT (Jane Fonda will be speaking) will begin June 21st to 24th. Too late I think for in-person attending, but I think virtual attending may be open: https://www.hollywoodclimatesummit.com/

Their Climate Pitchfest (which was supposed to be part of it) has been postponed until the WGA strike is over. I was a semi-finalist last year, and from the 2022 Summit got my idea for “Weathering It,” which I’m using in this course and have entered in their 2023 Pitchfest. I think their gist is they want to see more positive portrayals that inspire action than the typical apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic climate (cli-fi) eco-doom movies. My thinking, even if climate change is just mentioned a bit, that could do more good than, say, “Day After Tomorrow,” etc.

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

Forgot to mention, virtual attendance is free.

The sign up link is: Hollywood Climate Summit (swapcard.com)

[Jeremy Cooke]

Jerry’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment was the importance of developing the character traits in identifying relationships, sources of both conflict and ally-ship, amongst the players.

Doctor: Generous, educated, reckless, liberal.

Sub-text: It’s easy to earn hated when you’re the best.

Cook: Deceptive, possessive, revenge-oriented, cautious

Sub-text: The Cook knows enough to pick her battles.

Emma: Kind, insecure, poorly educated, formal.

Sub-text: being nice and stupid isn’t a recipe for success.

Miss Delacherois: Educated, shallow, snobbish, cruel.

Sub-text: She may be a bitch but she’s top bitch around here.

Doctor/Cook

The Doctor’s ambitious and reckless nature will cause conflict with the Cook’s more cautious nature.

The Cook’s revenge trait may conflict with the newcomer Emma’s insecurity.

Doctor/Emma

Emma is a good foil for the Doctor’s generous nature and her poor education will allow him to show off.

Emma has lost one husband and her security. A country Doctor may enable her to gain security for herself and Charlie despite the competition from Miss Delacherois.

Doctor/Miss Delacherois

The Doctor will see a potential rapport with Miss Delacherois in his ambition to climb in society however it may lead to conflict when he realizes that Miss Delacherois is after much the same from him.

Miss Delacherois’s shallow nature and cruelty towards her inferiors will conflict with the Doctor’s generous and liberal nature.

[Anna Burroughs-Merrill]

What I learned doing this assignment? My characters have changed over the prior 4 seasons, so its only natural some of their traits would adapt to the current circumstances. I’m not going to post my entire character-to-character worksheets as they’re like 20 pages long 🙂 just the summary.

• Mikhail: change deadly to driven = before Mikhail avoided being “the leader”, but to get back his son, he will align with and lead whoever will help him do that.
• Ninsianna: change vengeful to ruthless = vengeful mothers don’t always stop and think about how to get what they want, whereas ruthless mothers will meticulously plot and then carry out their plan.
• Aturdokht: change vengeful to resourceful = whereas in past seasons she wanted revenge against the man who killed her husband, Mikhail is the only person who is capable of defeating Moloch. She begins to secretly help him track them.
• Moloch: change evil to megalomaniac = it’s really hard to depict “evil.” Oh, let’s just strangle some cute kittens, and then kick the dog, and murder a few random women, la-la-la. Whereas megalomania is so much more concrete to depict.

[Alfred Dunham]

Alfred Dunham’s Character Relationships

What I learned…

For me, this was a breakthrough. It brought together theories from several different sources. The number four (and multiples of it) seems to play a great role in story structure. This unites Plot and Theme with Relationships (Character).

I played with multiple changes to tune in what I was looking for. And I don’t know if this is the final adjustment, yet.

CHARACTERS

1. Jake – Main Character/Protagonist (pursue)+Reason Character (logic)

Traits: logical, honorable, impetuous, irresolute.

Subtext: Jake is a successful, surgeon who has regrets and sadness.

2. Rose -Influence Character/Guardian Character (help) + Sidekick (support)

Traits: supportive, kind, cheerful, fearful.

Subtext: Rose grew up in fear, and it hasn’t gotten better.

3. Ian – Antagonist Character (hinder) + Skeptic (oppose)

Traits: obstructing, scheming, boorish, hotheaded.

Subtext: Ian has a dark, hidden past that has rendered him a failure.

4. Nadia – Contagonist Character (hinder) + Emotion (temptation)

Traits: tantalizing, persuasive, smart, frustrated.

Subtext: Nadia is frustrated in her wants and desires and fears.

RELATIONSHIPS

TRAITS

JAKE: logical honorable impetuous irresolute.

ROSE: supportive kind cheerful fearful.

IAN: skeptical scheming boorish hotheaded.

NADIA: tantalizing persuasive smart frustrated

Jake/Rose

Rapport: Logical Supportive

Conflict: Irresolute Fearful

Contrast: Impetuous Cheerful

Competition: Honorable Kind

Subtext: Jake is a successful, surgeon who has regrets and sadness.

Jake/Ian

Rapport: Irresolute Skeptical

Conflict: Logical Scheming

Contrast: Honorable Boorish

Competition: Impetuous Hotheaded

Subtext: Jake is a successful, surgeon who has regrets and sadness.

Jake/Nadia

Rapport: Logical Smart

Conflict: Irresolute Persuasive

Contrast: Honorable Frustrated

Competition: Impetuous Tantalizing

Subtext: Jake is a successful, surgeon who has regrets and sadness.

Rose/Ian

Rapport: Supportive Scheming

Conflict: Kind Boorish

Contrast: Cheerful Hotheaded

Competition: Fearful Skeptical

Subtext: Rose grew up in fear, and it hasn’t gotten better.

Rose/Nadia

Rapport: Supportive Smart

Conflict: Fearful Tantalizing

Contrast: Cheerful Frustrated

Competition: Kind Persuasive

Subtext: Rose grew up in fear, and it hasn’t gotten better.

Ian/Nadia

Rapport: Boorish Tantalizing

Conflict: Scheming Smart

Contrast: Hotheaded Persuasive

Competition: Skeptical Frustrated

Subtext: Ian has a dark, hidden past that has rendered him a failure.

SUMMARY

Jake is an honorable man who is logical and listens. Rose is supportive and cheerful, so she and Jake get along nicely. Jake does have a tendency toward impetuousness, and that can be upsetting and fearful to Rose.

Jake’s impetuousness also gets him into trouble with Ian, especially when it finds Ian’s hotheadedness. And that further aggravates Rose’s fears.

Jake is irresolutely sad and lonely, following his wife’s death, and he discovers many regrets, which include, as a physician, his inability to save his wife and having sacrificed having children for his career.

Rose and Nadia become Jake’s second chance at life – to get it right, but Ian will have none of it and will kill if he must. Age differences, a sham marriage to Ian, and heartless immigration laws add to insurmountable odds against their finding happiness, apart or together.

Ian is not a nice man. He rubs everyone the wrong way. He mistreats Rose, but she is so afraid to rock-the-boat, she goes along with his scheming and tries to get along, which only emboldens him to get worse.

Rose’s daughter is very smart and attempts to get into Ian’s good graces by matching his boorishness point for point with her tantalizing persuasion, but underneath it all, she is frustrated and angry. Much of this frustration is taken out on her mother. Rose’s kindness and cheerfulness are read, by Nadia as weakness — her inability to stand up to the bully who is Ian.

[Beth Zurkowski]

Lesson 20 Beth Zurkowski character relationships

What I learned doing this assignment
was my characters sucked but they are doing better now that I know
what traits to use.

Compare the traits of your four main characters and elevate those
relationships.

Select your top four characters
and list their name and four traits each.

Nova

concealing

hotshot

fearless

caring

Takeesha

knowledgable

helpful

negative

competitive

Benny

opinionated

skeptic

selfish

nerd

Max Kim

attention driven

protective

skeptic

charismatic

Put the characters up against each
other in pairs as I’ve done with Jack above.

Nova’s caring pairs up with Takeesha’s
helpful great rapport.

Nova’s hotshot pairs up with Takeesha’s
negativity for conflict

Nova’s fearless pairs up with
Takeesha’s competitive for competition.

Nova’s concealing trait pairs up with
Takeesha’s knowledge for contrast.

Subtext: Nova and Takeesha are best
friends with trouble spots.

Benny’s skeptic and Max’s skeptic pairs
up for great rapport.

Benny’s selfish and Max Kim;s attention
driven pairs up for conflict.

Benny’s opinionated and Max Kim;s
charismatic pair up for contrast.

Benny’s nerd pairs up with Max Kims
imagination for competition.

Subtext: Benny and Max Kim are great
buds.

Nova’s hotshot pairs up with Max Kim’s
attention driven for great rapport

Nova’s Hotshot pairs up with Benny’s
opinionated for great conflict.

Nova’s fearless pairs up with Max Kim’s
attention driven for great contrast.

Takeesha’s knowledge pairs up with
Benny’s nerd for great repport.

Nova’s concealing pairs up with Benny’s
selfish for conflict.

Takeesha’s negative and Benny’s
opinionated pair up for conflict

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[Jack Sherry]

Jack’s Character Relationships

What I learned from this assignment is that doing this exercise gives me ideas that will make my story much better.

Top 5 Characters

SARA – Intelligent city girl, determined, distrustful, introverted

THATCHER – Laid back country boy, introverted, smart, sneaky

VICKY – Jokester, extroverted, concealing, mystical

TAMMY – Charming, deceptive, controlling, sabatour

LOUIS – Loner, playful, needy, used to getting what he wants

PAIRS

PAIR #1 – Sara/Thatcher – Thatcher wants to know why his father left their waterfront condo to Sara, his father’s law clerk. He takes her for a boat trip ostensibly to show her the area, but really to quiz her (sneaky – competition).

Contrast – He is a laid-back country boy. She, a driven city girl.

Rapport – They both want to save the bay from development

Conflict – Thatcher really wants the development to happen so he can have a better job

Competition – Thatcher and Sara compete with each other as to their relationship with Thatcher’s father who is Sara’s boss

Subtext – Each of these two don’t know who their real family is

PAIR # 2 – Sara/Vicky – Vicky, Sara’s mother, is a used car saleswoman, always joking, trying to look smart by using big words (that comically don’t apply to the situation).

Contrast – Sara is introverted, wounded because she was raised without a father, introverted. Vicky is her extroverted, funny mother.

Rapport – They both want each other to do well in life

Conflict – Sara, a straight-laced lawyer, plays by the rules. Vicky, a used-car saleswoman, doesn’t.

Competition – They compete in their ways to save the bay – Sara with legal arguments, Vicky with political pressure

Subtext – Vicky has been lying to Sara about who Sara’s father is

PAIR # 3 Vicky/Louis – Louis is a wealthy NY banker who wants Vicky as a girlfriend. Vicky sees Louis as a rich playmate but learns his secrets and uses them to save the bay.

Contrast – Louis is very successful, smart. Vicky is not successful, uneducated.

Rapport – They are attracted to each other and use each other for sex and self gratification.

Conflict – Vicky learns Louis’s mega yacht is the real reason for the new development on the bay – to widen the inlet so his yacht can come into the bay to his dock.

Competition – Vicky competes with Louis’s ideas of how to enjoy life

Subtext – Vicky and Louis each get what they really want from each other

PAIR # 4 Thatcher/Tammy – Tammy is Thatcher’s mother, who wants the condo complex torn down so she can own the building that will be built for the Coast Guard Station and rent it to the government.

Contrast – Thatcher is a laid-back fisherman. Tammy is a go-getter real estate broker.

Rapport – They both secretly want the development.

Conflict – Thatcher learns the judge was not his real father.

Competition – They compete for the truth.

Subtext – Tammy cares more about wealth than her son.

[David Penn]

David’s Character Relations

What I learned from this assignment is the value of having characters who create conflict with one another

EMILY: timid, low self-esteem, nurturing/sweet, nostalgic. Subtext: hidden ambition she’s squelched

DEAN ANDREWS: arrogant, highly intelligent, vengeful, moralistic. Subtext: he pushes students to help them

STEVE: charming, intelligent, roguish, pretentious. Subtext: he uses his charm and intelligent to sleep with women

BECKY: outrageous/rebellious, honest, comical, loyal. Subtext: pretends to be rebellious, but is a lawyer/loyal wife

Put the characters up against each other in pairs as I’ve done with Jack above.

With each pair, tell how their traits cause each of these states:

EMILY/DEAN ANDREWS

Rapport: They both have a fondness for the past and nurturing, though his is understated.

Conflict: He bullies her, uses intellect as a weapon. Takes advantage of her timidity and low self-esteem. She’s about family, he’s about books.

Contrast: Intelligent vs not so much, arrogance vs sweetness, accomplished vs not so much

Competition: They compete for the house, both nostalgic but in different ways

Subtext: Dean doesn’t think she deserves the house. Her hidden ambition comes out.

EMILY/STEVE

Rapport: Emily indulges Steve in his pretentous ways, admires his confidence/intellect

Contrast: Steve looks down on Emily, intellectually superior, she’s nurturing but it’s not reciprocated

Contrast: Intelligent, accomplished vs. not so much; she’s sweet vs. his pretention

Competition: affection of Lindsay, which he seems to be winning

Subtext: They’re going diff ways: she needs to do her own thing, he’s going to seduce other women

EMILY/BECKY

Rapport: they’re both loyal friends- loyal and nostalgic traits, her outrageousness plays well with Em’s timidity, Em’s sweet/nurturing ways and Becky’s comical ways is a natural fit

Contrast: Becky’s outrageouesness sometimes too much for Em’s timidity, her honesty too much for Em’s low self-esteem, Becky calls EM out on her quitting ways

Competition: Who’s more loyal friend? Who has better life?

Subtext: Switch it up; they each want what the other has

DEAN ANDREWS/STEVE

Rapport: Both intellects, successful

Contrast: Steve’s morally loose, dean’s not; Steve’s charming, dean’s not

Competition: Over who’s more intellectual; over who has more power

Subtext: Dean acts like ahole but helps; Steve feigns helping to seduce girls

DEAN ANDREWS/BECKY

Rapport: successful, smart

Contrast: Dean’s quiet, Becky’s loud

Competition: who has more power, influence

Subtext: They both have soft spots, good hearts deep inside

STEVE/BECKY

Rapport: both smart, successful

Contrast: Becky’s on surface, Steve sly; Becky’s honest, Steve full of shit

Competition: Over loyalty to Emily

Subtext: opposites, Becky loves husband, Steve cheats

[Jo Nickel]

Lesson 20

Jo—Character Relationships

What I learned: This was a review as I have done this exercise in another class.

Script: “Old Money”

Character Traits:

Grace Hilliard: miserly, strong-willed, leader, adventurous

Madeline Hunter-Kennedy: spendthrift, seductive, protective, hypochondriacal

Iris Lynch: philanthropic, artistic, dreamer, gullible

Character Pairs

1a. Grace/Madeline

Traits: Grace=miserly, strong-willed, leader, adventurous

Madeline=spendthrift, seductive, protective, hypochondriacal

Rapport: Madeline is always up for a new adventure that Grace suggests, as it enables her access to new and exciting men.

Conflict: Money—Grace accumulates money; Madeline trades money for love and neat things so they will have heated disagreements on where to travel based up how much it costs and if there are men there. They will call one another out ie: Madeline will call Grace “money bags” and “too tight.” Grace will advise Madeline that Madeline is always broke because she spends too much of her money on junk she doesn’t need.

Contrast: Graces hides her Wealth. Madeline flaunts her possessions to give others the idea that she is wealthier than she really is.

Competition: They compete over men in order to make fools of them.

Subtext: Grace and Madeline secretly hate men and enjoy destroying their egos, although they use different methods to put them in their place.

Improvement: Changed Madeline’s trait of judgemental to hypochondriacal

1b. Grace/Iris

Traits: Grace=miserly, strong-willed, leader, adventurous

Iris=philanthropic, artistic, dreamer, naïve

Rapport: Grace is the leader and Iris is along for the ride

Conflict: Grace is miserly and Iris is philanthropic. Grace accumulates money whereby Iris gives her money away to any good cause she can find.

Contrast: Grace makes the decisions, Iris is along for the ride

Competition: Grace sees the world as it is, Iris sees the world as it ought to be

Subtext: Grace sees Iris as the daughter she never had and Iris replaces her dead mother by allowing Grace to dictate her life.

Improvement: Changed Iris’s trait of gullible to naïve

2a. Madeline/Iris

Traits: Madeline=spendthrift, seductive, protective, hypochondriacal

Iris=philanthropic, artistic, dreamer, naïve

Rapport: Iris accepts the protection that Madeline provides her. They agree that the purpose of money is to use it in a way that pleases oneself.

Conflict: Madeline relies on her RN training to heal. Iris read the stars and her Tarot cards to initiate healing.

Contrast: Madeline is experienced in male/female relationships whereas Iris has never had a relationship with a male.

Competition: Madeline tends to treat Iris like a child so Iris reminds Madeline that she (Iris) is 65 years old.

Subtext: Madeline protects Iris as she would a younger sister. Madeline secretly enjoys men falling all over themselves when she flirts with them. Iris doesn’t pay attention to men as she likes women but was overprotected by her mother so she never had romantic love from a female partner.

Improvement: Changed Madeline’s trait of being judgmental to being a hypochondriac.

[Brian Walsh]

Lesson 20: Dramatic Character Relationships

Brian G. Walsh’s Character Relationships

What I learned doing this assignment was the character traits (and subtext) can provide exciting opportunities to enrich the story.

Police Detective Marie DuClaire

Traits: Intelligent, Ambitious, Courageous, Compassionate, Vengeful

SUBTEXT: Marie is a workaholic who is struggling to balance her career with her personal life. She is also dealing with the trauma of a previous case, which has left her feeling haunted and afraid. She is hell-bent on finding out who killed her twin and will break any law to accomplish that. She has no intention of arresting the killer. She intends to murder him.

Retired Police Detective Bill Ryan

Traits: Wise, Experienced, Trustworthy, Loyal, Secretive, a Loner

SUBTEXT: Mr. Ryan is a wise and experienced man who has seen it all. He is also a bit of a cynic, and he doesn’t believe in the goodness of people. He is self-deprecating despite his impressive record and won’t talk about his personal life. His big secret is that he is the biological father of Marie and her sister.

Dr. James Smithers

Traits: Brilliant, Manipulative, Cunning, Sociopathic, Thrill-seeker

SUBTEXT: Dr. Smithers is a master manipulator who is able to control and exploit others. He is also a sociopath who lacks empathy and remorse.

Police Lieutenant Oscar Klein

Traits: Impatient, Demanding, Dictatorial, Loyal, Nostalgiac

SUBTEXT: Klein wants respect and to be liked by his charges but doesn’t know how to get it. His job makes him behave in a way he doesn’t like. He wishes he could show more understanding because he cares about his people but believes it would make him feel weak. He wants everyone to think well of him but believes the only way he can do his job effectively is by being bossy and demanding. He believes people will take advantage of him if he shows emotion and will believe he is soft.

Police Detective Marie DuClare & Retired Police Detective Bill Ryan:

Rapport: Marie’s intelligence and ambition is aided by Ryan’s experience and wisdom.

Conflict: Marie’s vengeful nature will bring her into conflict with Bill’s secretiveness.

Contrast: Marie’s compassion is contrasted by Ryan’s loner trait. Marie is quick to show her feelings but Bill is uncomfortable with such displays.

Competition: Marie’s ambition, courage and vengeful nature is combated by Ryan’s experience, wisdom and secretiveness. She pushes him to take chances and break rules while he taps into his wisdom and experience to encourage her to do things by-the-book to protect her job.

Subtext: Marie’s workaholic nature and willingness to break laws in order to get the truth comes up against Ryan’s wisdom and experience. He doesn’t want her to destroy her career but Marie only cares about solving her sister’s murder.

Police Detective Marie DuClaire & Dr. James Smithers:

Rapport: Marie’s intelligence matches well with Smithers’ brilliance. They work well together and enjoy conversing.

Conflict: Smithers’ manipulations push Marie’s buttons, specifically her vengeful and courageous nature. He uses cunning to push her ambitious and vengeful nature into taking chances, which fees his own thrill-seeker trait.

Contrast: Marie’s compassion is diametrically opposed to Smithers’ sociopathic tendencies.

Competition: Marie’s ambition and vengeful nature pushes her to solve the crime. Smithers uses his cunning and manipulative talents to try to stymie her.

Subtext: Marie’s intelligence and desire for revenge challenges Smithers’ cunning in trying to keep secret that he murdered her sister and several other women. Smithers enjoys manipulating people but this is life or death for him.

Police Detective Marie DuClare & Police Lieutenant Oscar Klein

Rapport: Marie’s tendency to bend rules to get the truth dovetails nicely with Klein’s nostalgia for “the good old days” when cops had more leeway and could get away with a lot. Marie’s loyalty to her sister is something Klein appreciates, but he can’t openly acknowledge it because she shouldn’t be working on it. This prevents him from specifically ordering her not to work on it, which he rationalizes because she wasn’t assigned to the case. But he knows she is investigating it and will look the other way if she finds and kills the murderer. She doesn’t know it, but he will even help her do it.

Conflict: Klein is impatient. Marie’s obsession with a case that isn’t assigned to her is affecting her ability to close other cases.

Contrast: Klein’s dictatorial nature grates on Marie, who desperately needs to find her sister’s murderer.

Competition: Klein is impatient. The amount of cases solved reflects on his record. Marie’s ambition often causes her to set things aside while she pursues hunches, delaying resolution of her cases.

Subtext: Marie’s workaholic nature compliments Klein’s worries about the cases he oversees. He lets her get away with things because he knows she works harder than anyone else and is trying to solve her sister’s murder.