Lesson 3

[Hiram Taylor]

HIRAM TAYLOR – CHARACTERS FOR HORROR

What I learned doing this assignment is how to create a group of characters that fit my concept in easy steps.

TITLE OF MOVIE: MINDBENDER

Concept: How do you kill an invisible monster that whispers non-stop in a sinner’s head until the person kills themself in a gruesome way to make the voice stop?

Cast: 8 sinners in a silent monastery who cannot get an unseen monster out of their head.

PATTERN A: Put 8 characters together and kill them one by one.

Protagonist:
Name: Elias.
Character Description: A young man with piercing blue eyes. His wiry frame is cloaked in roughspun wool, his long limbs betraying a restless spirit. He struggles with the requirement of absolute silence in the monastery and no communication at all with his fellow monks.
Journey: A blizzard left him lost and near death, stumbling upon the silent monastery as a beacon of salvation. Now, bound by the oath of silence, he wrestles with isolation and struggles to find meaning in a life devoid of fellowship.
Character Arc: As the monastery falls prey to the entity’s influence, Elias must overcome his self-imposed silence. He rediscovers the power of his voice through courage and hope, reuniting the fractured monks and guiding them against evil.
Wound: Elias carries the physical scars of the blizzard, but the deeper wound lies in his silenced voice. He yearns to share his stories, to connect with the world but feels trapped by the oath he took to find sanctuary.
Antagonist:
Name: The Unnamed One
Character Description: Not a creature of flesh and bone, but a void unseen, a writhing mass of whispers. It seeps into minds, amplifying doubts and fears, turning brother against brother, and silence into screams of torture and suicide.
Conflict: The Unnamed One feeds on the monks’ isolation and broken vows. It twists their memories, turning past grievances into festering wounds, shattering their unity and making them vulnerable to its growing influence. Whispered stories of details only the victim knows about crimes they have committed ultimately drives each person to take their own life in a horrifying way.
Additional Characters:
Brother Mathias: The stern but compassionate Abbot, struggling to hold the monastery together as cracks appear in their silent devotion.
Brother Silas: A young monk haunted by guilt over a past transgression, easily manipulated by the Unnamed One’s whispers.
Brother Banner: A herbalist gifted with a quiet strength and unwavering faith, offering Elias solace and a potential ally.
Brother Corvus: An aged monk, rumored to hold secret knowledge of the monastery’s past and the Unnamed One’s origins.
Brother Peyton: A skilled sculptor, his hands now frozen in fear by the whispers, but with a hidden resilience waiting to be awakened.
Brother Richard: An unhappy man, scowls and groans that reveal his attitude towards the other monks. He is the cook.
These eight characters, bound by silence and threatened by the unseen, can weave a chilling tale of faith, fear, and unspeakable horror.

[Aaron Clow]

Aaron’s Characters for Horror

What I learned doing this assignment is… This exercise is useful in more clearly defining traditional character types for purposes of creating a horror narrative. I might need to fine tune these characters down more, and tighten up some of the narrative around the police and investigation, since it’s not really their story, but at least I’ve found it’s kind of easy to start getting carried away with the different character types. There are always new characters to be found (and killed off).

Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen: The concept revolves around whether making a tribute to one’s own family is justified if it’s going to destroy another family. The group I’m sending “through the gauntlet” are the outsiders who don’t understand the nature of the game reserve.

The Dying Pattern of this movie: Most characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two will die. This occurs at random times throughout the film, starting with one hunter almost killing his friend accidentally. It’s possible I will try to write all the deaths as accidental, meaning the “monster” would not be directly responsible for any of them. Still thinking about that.

Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.

The developer is a natural leader who rarely thinks of the implications of his developments – he is not necessarily an amoral person, he is on auto pilot, particularly after his family’s sudden death – and is using work as a crutch to get over his despair.

His assistant is a friend from childhood who comes into the area as a foreigner, but who also has a friend who is a local and who understands the game reserve.

The assistant is the innocent, while the assistant’s local friend is the moral one and red herring – he always claims to stand for what’s just, but he might also have something to do with the monster.

The assistant is a possible bridge to morality between the developer and the local.

There are several characters who are Monster Bait – the hunters who first see the monster and almost get killed at the start of the film, the surveyors who disappear into the game reserve and are never seen again.

The local police chief begins an investigation into the disappearances, tries to be helpful to the developer – his quest is to keep the peace, but he does complain that he’s not getting paid enough to do this work and continually notes that his life in town was quiet before this development came in. He initially seems lazy but his curiosity is piqued by the murders and the developments he finds in the woods. He asks a friend from the state police to get involved as a favor, as the state is reluctant to get involved due to resistance from a local group of environmentalists. All “Monster bait.”

• This reply was modified 9 months, 2 weeks ago by  Aaron Clow.

[Selma Ahmed]

Selma’s Characters for Horror
What have I learned is that there are groupings of characters that fit neatly into categories. Once I realised what mine was, I remembered horror films with similar groupings…
Concept/mock logline: In 2024, Julie Device, a single mother of two, faces a terrifying ordeal when Elizabeth Device, who was hanged for witchcraft in Lancashire, England, in 1612, returns seeking vengeance on her descendants. Julie must fight to save herself and her children from Elizabeth’s horrifying retribution.

1. SELECT THE GROUP
C. SOCIAL GROUP: Family

2. DYING PATTERNS
B. The characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two die.
3. WHO IS GOING TO EXPERIENCE THIS HORROR?
LEADER: Grandmother – matriarch of the family; brings out the relic that bring Elizabeth, the witch, to life — so a poetic victim.
RESCUER:  Grandmother’s daughter, Julie, generic mother figure who must save her family, save her daughter from being transported to 1612.
MORAL ONE:  Julie’s son, Richard, resourceful, inventive, he is the second victim.
Love interest: Richard’s girlfriend.
COMPLAINER: Julie’s boyfriend – doesn’t believe what’s going on, he creates / alleviates some Horror situations
OUT OF CONTROL: Julie’s friend who has a plan that makes things worse
Innocent/ Sacrificial lamb/carrier: Jenny: The witch is after her…

[David Wickenden]

Assignment #3 Characters for Horror

What I learned doing this assignment is…?

This assignment helps settle the characters into roles that actually helps create a beginning map of the story.

The Dying Pattern A Put 6-8 characters together and kill them off one by one.

I have a group of professional soldiers and one civilian

Leader: military leader due his experience.

Out of control/ carrier: this guy is a psychopath that opens fire first and asks questions once the dust settles. He causes the conflict.

Complainer: Always bitching and complaining. Scared shitless unless he has his buddies with him; then he’s a barnyard rooster.

Lovers: Two lesbian soldiers—tough as nails—trying to prove they are equal to the men.

Moral One: Good soldier but only kills when he has to. Protective of the others.

Innocence: A teen they find in the lab, scared out of his mind.

2 monster bait