Lesson 4

[Madeleind Gentinetta]

Madeleine’s Character Depth!

What did you learn doing this assignment?

I found many elements that helped add depth to all my characters.

[Adite Banerjie]

Adite’s Character Depth

What I learned: dig deep into your characters to uncover an intriguing storyline.

Internal Character Depth:
1. Forest Officer:
Motivation: committed to his job as he dreads ending up like his father who could never hold a job.
Dilemma: Breaking the poachers ring vs protecting his family.
Hidden agenda: He’s not told his wife about the dangers involved in his new job.

2. Wife
Motivation: family is top priority
Wound: Her sister’s drowning accident.
Secret: She believes in and is terrified of ghosts.
Subtext: That she will have to pay a price for not saving her sister.

3. Criminal
Motivation: His relatives have been arrested for poaching. He’s fighting for his way of life
Conspiracy: Has a deal going with some corrupt forest officials who want the new Forest Officer out of the way.
Layers: the corrupt officials are using the criminal to meet their own ends.

Character to Character:
Conflict: between the Forest Officer and his Wife about the place where they are staying and his new job; between Criminal and forest Officer; between the Forest Officer and his bosses on tackling the poaching issue.
Intrigue: what’s going on with the supernatural/paranormal activity…the legend about the curse of the goddess…

[Leslie M]

Leslie McGriff

What I Learned from this assignment: is how to go deep into characters and give them depth and make them multilayered and how to tie that in to the hook and premise and conflict.

Manager – Internal Character Depth-

Motivation

Want- to have the group and the diva record a hit album

Need – to regain his self esteem and his sense of self worth by orchestrating a success

Secret – That he has taken the money to pay off his debts and not the studio and weekend expenses

Wound – he lost the home he inherited from his father and his family had to go and live with extended family for six months

Subtext – he is hiding that he didn’t pay for the studio but used the money elsewhere

Layers – that he is also representing the diva, that he had an affair with her while she was married to one of the musicians

Manager Character to character

Conflict – he is in conflict with the band and the diva as they have different agendas and needs

Hidden Agenda – to get an advance from the label to pay for the weekend

Conspiracy – He is conspiring with the diva to have her use the group to record the album and then to dump them for a younger up and coming group once the executives give the green light to her project

Intrigue – His plan to have the diva record, get a green light and then dump the group is hidden under the surface

Character Situation

His dilemma – does he offer more support to the group’s agenda or the diva’s – who is going to give him a better future

Secret Identity – Not applicable

Diva Internal Character Depth

Motivation – wants to make a comeback and get back to the top of her career

Secret – That she has a throat tumor that may cause her to have to stop singing altogether

Wound – Blowing a major audition with a superstar producer because she was frightened and got drunk and the video of that audition went out to the public

Subtext – She is hiding her medical diagnosis

Layers – she betrayed others in a girl group back in the day and locked them out of an opportunity by lying to a producer about their desire for a career

Character to character

Conflict – she is in conflict as she wants to record her old hits and is afraid to stretch her voice into something new, the group wants to record their new music

Hidden Agenda – to use the group and then dump them .

Conspiracy – with the manager .

Intrigue – wants emotional support from her ex and it doesn’t matter that he is married

Character Situation

Dilemma – does she sing and possibly ruin her voice forever wait months and see how the operation leaves her

Secret Identity – Not applicable

Keyboardists Internal Character Depth

Motivation –

Want – to record a hit album of his and his songwriting partner’s songs

Need – to prove to his family that he is not a loser

Secret – that he is trying to use his past relationship with the diva to convince her to record his songs

Wound – the diva cheating on him and ruining their marriage

Subtext – hiding from his wife what he is doing

Layers – the history of what happened with the diva and how he supported her in a way that he doesn’t support his current wife

Character to character

Conflict – between him and the group, manager and diva over the music and what to record

Hidden Agenda – Getting close to the diva without telling his wife what he is doing

Conspiracy – He and his songwriting partner agree that he should try to his past to get close to the diva.

Intrigue – What he is doing with the diva that is against his marriage

Character Situation

Dilemma – should he go further with the diva, does his future lie with her and not his current wife?

Secret Identity – Doesn’t apply

[Dawn Johnston]

Dawn’s Character Depth

What I learned – I’m still working out who the other characters are but I did the exercise with two and learned a little more about them. Breaking up character depth into smaller chunks is an easy way to brainstorm multiple levels for each character and to keep them focused both inward and outward.

Willa – protagonist

• Motivation – her pregnancy is part of an experiment and she wants it to stop. She wants to escape.
• Wound – her own toddler died in a car accident, it was her fault and her marriage eventually broke up because of it
• Dilemma – she’s forced to do the one thing she said she’d never do again
• Dilemma – can she trust herself to look after her new baby while still trying to escape from Swindon
• Layers – she suffers from deep self-loathing but she is also a fighter

Swindon – antagonist/villain/monster

• Motivation – solve the problem of declining population. Out to prove himself.
• Secret identity – He’s doing God’s work by bringing these children into the world
• Wound – He was many times passed over for promotion. Feels he was persecuted because of his religious beliefs (but really he’s a psychopath)
• Secret – he’s figured out a way to speed up gestation. One woman can have many, multiple births.
• Hidden agenda – he keeps the women drugged to keep them docile

• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Dawn Johnston.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Dawn Johnston.

[Griffith Lambert]

SU CONTAINED

Lesson 4

Griff’s Character Depth!

What I learned doing this assignment: The characters will reveal themselves in this exploration.

Rami: A talented tech engineer from Afghanistan, educated in London, so he has an international aspect on living in the United States.

Kim: A bright but ultimately lazy American with vague notions of patriotism. He prefers to game the unemployment and disability system rather than work a job.

Jo: The Homecoming Queen who never grew up. A promising marriage to Kim devolved into her participation in Kim’s schemes and conspiracy theories.

Byron: A wannabe cop who couldn’t hack the police academy and has focused instead on “security” fueled by a feverish imagination.

Internal Character Depth – RAMI

<div>
Motivation: Bought a house so that he can bring his sister
to live in the US.
Secret: He can never go home.</div><div>

Wound: Rami’s family, besides his sister, was killed in
a US military action.
Subtext: Distrustful of American agencies of all kinds.
Layers: Feels that the US owes him for the tragedy of
his family.

</div><div>

Conflict: Living and working in the US while resenting
what happened to his family.

</div><div>

Hidden Agenda: Get as much out of the “system” as he
can.

Conspiracy: Would consider “payback” if the opportunity
arose.
Intrigue: Rami and Kim share a common notion of somehow
gaming the system.

</div><div>

Dilemma: Dependent on his visa status to continue
earning enough to bring his sister.

</div><div>

</div>

Internal Character Depth: KIM

· Motivation: Doesn’t want to work. Rents the house he and Jo live in.

· Secret: He is using false disability claims to get income from the state.

· Wound: Kim failed at all his past endeavors, couldn’t provide for Jo as they had hoped.

· Subtext: Blames everybody but himself for his shortcomings.

· Layers: Festering guilt at having under-achieved, thinks Jo resents him.

· Conflict: Suspicious of the new neighbor, Rami.

· Conspiracy: Out to prove that Rami is not what he seems.

· Intrigue: Allows Byron to fuel his base instincts of paranoia.

· Dilemma: Afraid that Jo will leave him if he does not come up with a plan to improve their lives.

Internal Character Depth: JO

· Motivation: Has settled into Kim’s scams to avoid productive work.

· Secret: She had much better prospects before marrying Kim.

· Wound: Jo’s wealthy parents were opposed to marriage to Kim and they have cut her off.

· Subtext: Jo has given up on improving her situation. She is adrift.

· Layers: Jo continues to take care of herself with a vague notion that “something will come along” to improve her life.

· Conflict: Kim has lost interest in her. They have no sex life.

· Hidden Agenda: Escape.

· Intrigue: Jo doesn’t share Kim and Byron’s racist take on Rami.

· Dilemma: Curious about Rami but can’t allow herself to be found out. Hates Byron.

Internal Character Depth: BYRON

· Motivation: Impress Kim with his knowledge of law enforcement “tricks.”

· Secret: He keeps a huge stash of weapons, many illegal.

`Secret Identity: Thinks of himself as a kind of private detective.

· Wound: He didn’t make it in the legitimate law enforcement world.

· Subtext: Nobody can challenge his “invincible ignorance.”

· Layers: Byron has long lusted after Jo.

· Conflict: Byron suggests Kim work with him to reveal Rami’s real identity.

· Dilemma: Rami’s tech-savvy thwarts Byron’s lame attempts to spy.

[Cindi LeRoy]

Lesson 4 – Cindi’s Character Depth!

What I learned doing this assignment: discovering what’s beneath the surface of a character engages the audience.

With each of your characters, go through all of these questions to see which might fit for your story.

Internal Character Depth

1. Nurse:

Secret: She wants to get the keys away from the psycho janitor. <div>

Subtext: She’s scared of the psycho janitor because he’s unpredictable
and acts crazy.
Layers: She considers drugging the janitor or maybe she will bribe
him with drugs.

Character to character

Hidden Agenda: She’s locked inside the building with a psycho janitor
and wants to escape without him.

Character Situation

Dilemma: She needs to talk with the psycho janitor, but she can’t
interact with him without upsetting him. He gets defensive, angry and acts
crazy because he’s paranoid.

Internal Character Depth

2. Psycho Janitor

Secret: He set up living quarters in a storage room. He knows
his way around the building.
Subtext: He thinks this is the nurse who tried to ‘hurt’ him
with a needle. </div><div>

Layers: He carries a knife. He’s paranoid, thinks people want
to kill him.

Character to character

Conflict: He’s paranoid of nurses. He becomes angry, has an
explosive temper. </div>

Conspiracy: He has an agreement with the hospital administer to
live in the storage room as long as he spies on the workers.