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Lesson 3
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Subject line: Madeleine’s Right Characters!
What did you learn doing this assignment?
I knew that my story is set in one place, but its narrative structure is a farce, meaning that there are many people. I realize this would not work for the Covid-situation, but I still want to do this screenplay, although it has more than a handful of people. The fact that it plays in one location, although there are many people, is still interesting enough for producers.What makes these characters the “right ones” for this story?
Because the main topic is a dysfunctional family, each person in the story is a dysfunctional character with different wounds that lead to their specific dysfunctional behaviors. So, I would say that all my characters are “right ones” for this story. Of course, they can be worked on and elevated in many ways. -
Leslie’s Right Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is that once the hook and the characters are right, the rest flows easily. I learned that creating a strong hook that has conflict in it makes the whole project open up organically for me.
List your Concept Hook and Contained Setting.
HOOK: A failing r and b group’s last chance at making it big depends on a washed up, selfish egotistical diva who is their former lead singer
CONTAINED SETTING: Remote mansion/recording studio
1. With each of your main characters, ask how can they uniquely fit with the Hook?
Manager – trying to make the group’s success happen and also please the diva. He is managing them both.
Diva’s ex husband –(keyboardist) – is part of the group and is desperate to make it again as he is dead broke
Diva’s brother – a leech who wants to suck away her money and success and wants to make sure that no one gets too close so he is trying to make the arrangement work for his own benefit
Guitarist – wants his music to be recorded
Bassist – thinks the group should fire the manager and let him manage the group
Drummer- has been in love with the diva for years but hiding it, wants to please her and will go against the group if need be
Back up singer – the keyboardist’s wife wants her husband to regain his self esteem and artistic drive.
2 Thinking about the conflict that hook creates, how does each main character enhance that conflict?
Manager – he is caught between looking out for the group and the diva
Diva’s ex husband – want to use his past with the diva to convince her creating conflict with his wife and the rest of the group
Diva’s brother – is in conflict with the group and the manager as he is trying to manipulate his sister to do what will benefit him
Guitarist – opposes what ever decision is made against recording his music
Bassist – created conflict over the manager and the whole deal
Drummer – will make decision that will bring him closer to the diva and keep everyone else at a distance
Back up singer – in conflict with the entire idea
3. How can these characters create conflict for each other?
This is answered above.
Each has agreed to the deal of recording with the diva, but each has their own personal agenda in addition to the group goal. The past of the keyboardist and the diva bring them into conflict as there are unresolved issues. Now he is married and is wife is standing by his side but he is also interested in using his past close relationship with the diva to get her to allow them to record their music that she will sing, and his wife is not sure of how far he will go to make that happen. The drummer is in conflict with the group since he’s there for love fundamentally and the back up singer is in conflict with the diva, the manager and her husband.
4. Tell us what makes these characters the “right ones” for this story?
They are all in the right place – the recording studio which forces them to confront each other, their shared past, their triumphs and the decisions that led them to failure. The manager is torn between the group and the former diva so he is perfect as he has innate tension in his goal.
The diva and her brother have their own dynamic and is echoed in the conflict between her and the group about money and power.
The musicians are holding onto their dreams again after having let go, but are caught between being responsible for their own futures and handing it over to an egocentric diva who cares only for herself. Or a manager who is also trying to make a comeback.
They are right because they have a deep and rich history, there is a current conflict and a lot at stake for each character.
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Adite’s Right Characters
What I learned doing this assignment: Starting with a hook first makes it easier to create the ‘right characters’ for the story.
1. Concept Hook and Contained Setting:
A forest officer’s wife is alone with her sick infant in an old haunted house that they have recently moved into. A criminal with revenge on his mind is on the prowl.
Contained setting: an isolated haunted house on the edge of a lake as it pours relentlessly, virtually cutting it off from help.
2. How the characters will uniquely fit with the hook:
a) Forest Officer is away on a job. His earlier actions have exposed his family to a dangerous criminal.
b) Wife is alone, scared, emotionally vulnerable, but will do anything to protect her baby.
c) A sick toddler
d) Criminal – a forest dweller whose poaching business has been wrecked by the forest officer and will not stop till he has abducted the child to demand a huge ransom.
e) Ghost – the ghost who haunts the house.
f) Rain – makes the situation worse and prevents the Forest officer from getting help for his family.3. How does each character enhance/cause the conflict
a) Forest officer is called to deal with a work situation and leaves vulnerable wife alone with a sick baby. His assistant is supposed to be with her but he can’t make it because of the rain.b) Her fear of ghosts and the surreal environment makes her even more anxious even as she is dealing with a sick child.
c) Criminal’s actions rattle her and she locks herself in the attic where she encounters the ghost.
d) Child’s crying alerts the criminal and in her anxiety she drops her phone in the water (and ruins it) which is beginning to seep inside the house, cutting herself off from help totally.
e) Wife’s past involving her sister’s death bring things to a head.4. What makes these characters right for this story?
The combination of setting, hook and the paranormal angle enhances the characters’ fears and motivation and raises the stakes for all.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Adite Banerjie.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Adite Banerjie.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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Dawn’s Right Characters
I did this assignment with the two main characters (I’ll do it with the others once I have more of a plot) and I was able to enhance them with secrets, and goals and resentments that directly come from the hook – and now they are even more opposed to each other because of it, and more solidified in their own stances. They each have a good reason to feel the way they do, and to take actions according to their beliefs.
What I learned is that this is a great way to efficiently check to see if your characters have motivations and conflicts that come from the hook, and if not, it’s easy to then brainstorm those changes. Doing it this way means the conflicts that arise throughout the story will have a direct and meaningful impact on the characters.
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SU Contained Lesson 3
Griff Lambert’s Right Characters
What I learned doing this assignment: It’s easier to suss out character motivation when backing into a strong hook.
Logline/Hook: A reclusive computer programmer buys a suburban house next door to some purposeless and rowdy renters who become hell-bent on ruining his life.
Genre: Uncomfortable Dark Comedy – Streaming Episodic
Contained Setting: Side-by-side suburban ranch houses.
Characters:
Rami: A well-educated computer programmer from Uzbekistan who went to school in the UK. He just wants to keep his head down and get his project completed. Neighbors Kim and Jo will not let him do that. But Rami and Jo make a connection that will change all their lives.
Jo: A sexy college-educated girl who just stopped trying. Rami moves in and at first, Jo buys into all of Kim’s stereotypes about him. But Jo’s curiosity is awakened and she comes to see Rami as a person, not a stereotype.
Kim: Average American, who loves sports, trucks, barbecue, and porn. He used to work, but then he discovered a disability hack and hasn’t worked in years. He applies every trope and stereotype to Rami as soon as they meet.
Byron: A wanna-be cop and general busybody who drags Kim and Jo down into the paranoid mud puddle of his life.
Incidental characters: Firefighters (4), local police (2), and an FBI guy. Probably also a FedEx or UPS delivery person.
1. Why are these the right characters?
Rami – Just wants to be left alone to work on his “projects.”
Kim – He’s home all the time playing video games so he has nothing better to do than scrutinize the new neighbor.
Jo – Kim has stopped seeing his wife as the sexy co-ed he married, leaving her bored and ripe for causing/getting into trouble.
Byron – Didn’t have what it takes to be a cop, but he does “cop stuff” as a hobby to salve his considerable ego.
These characters will all collide, and it won’t be pretty.
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Lesson 3 – Cindi’s Right Characters!
What I learned doing this assignment: It’s important to design the main character to deliver on the concept and the conflict.
1. Concept Hook and Contained Setting: A nurse works alone overnight in an old psychiatric hospital. She realizes that she’s not alone when she runs into the psycho janitor. The psycho janitor thinks he’s alone, he’s doing something shady. Contained Setting: A rundown old psychiatric hospital located at the edge of a small desolate town; all rooms, wings, hallways are locked and require keys or a security pass to enter.
2. How the characters will uniquely fit with the hook: They both don’t want each other to be in the building.
3. How does each character enhance/cause the conflict: The nurse has to trust the psycho janitor since he is the only one with the keys, or she has to find a way to get the keys away from him. The psycho janitor is paranoid and thinks the nurse wants to kill him.
4. What makes these characters right for this story? They are both stuck with each other in the building and they both have their own agenda as to how to get rid of each other.
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