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WEEK 1 DAY 1 — What did you learn?
You’ve watched today’s scene and read the group’s insights. Then you rewrote a scene/character using those insights.
Tell us what you learned by taking those steps!
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19 Replies
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Hi Cheryl.
I have not received an email (if that’s the method) with the lesson, nor the opening audio.
Please advise! Thanks
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Hi, Steven – I received the email, but the course isn’t listed in my classes, so I can’t access the recording or the lesson. Unfortunately, no one at S-U monitors these chats for questions. Submit your request to support here: https://screenwritingu.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Cheers,
Kristina-
Hi Kristina!
I just now figured out the access issue … simply by logging out & back into my account. The link to the class showed up 🙂
But thank you for your help too … will use that if anything else!!
– Steven
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Thanks, Steven! That worked for me too. See you in class! 😀 KZ
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I liked the techniques used to bring out the character traits: power struggle underdog versus the apparent topdog, then the reversal of the struggle whereby the one with the power is now the underdog as a new topdog comes into the picture. The conflict brought out the traits: first a bluffer trying to pick up a girl, then an arrogant fellow who thinks he has all the power, then the protagonist–showing his loyalty to his friend–steps in to save his friend and defeat the foe with words…..(and possibly to impress the girl at the same time). Fun powerful scene: a three way conflict…reveals the protagonist’s secret genius, the girl and the possible future for him and the girl, the nature of the friendship and their opposite capabilities, and the arrogant elite world they are in.
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I learned that it is a real skill, an art, to convey to the audience key character traits that need to be conveyed in order for the movie to proceed. And these moments have to happen at a certain time in the story’s set-up. And, if it is done well, and timed well, and if the character is a unique, exceptional individual, you as a writer stand the chance of having a good story. Character is immensely important, and so too are all of the other components, but if the character is presented and written well, it will make the rest of the task that much easier.
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What I learned:
A well written character has traits that are layered and they are revealed to us one after the other … and maybe the deeper ones via triggers from other characters actions or behaviors.
In the end of the scene, Will concedes his social status (after the arrogant guy reminds him of what a degree means in society) and so Will proposes they can “settle it outside”… the guy backs down. Will was willing to resort to brawn over brains (deeper character) … because inside he feels defeated. * So the guy’s final blow about Will’s status, triggers a deep wound & reveals his low self esteem.
My very new script:
My protagonist Darby has a deeper wound than the one on the surface … the one seemingly about being a capable woman in a narrow man’s world (she’s a narcotics detective), might be covering something about how she really feels about herself. I’m working on what her wound is and what triggers there will be.
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Every line of dialogue is important to push the theme of the scene forward. Use the character traits to express the emotions that are needed in the moment. Elevate.
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In the Harvard bar scene, we learn a bit about Will and his friend. One, Chuckie and his buddies stick out to the grad school community, no matter how much they try to blend. Two, Will is not only smart, but can battle toe to toe with a grad student at a deeper level than just text book, yet Will is stepping in to not only intellectually defend Chuckie, but also willing to do it physically if necessary – blue-collar friends thick and thin. What we also learn is that Skylar doesn’t out-right reject Chuckie, even thought it’s obvious he’s handing the two ladies a pretty thin story, which gives us the hint that she doesn’t mind mixing it up with the blue-collar kids.
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What did I Learn?
This is only my second class, so I always have a tough time articulating what I learned. More of a sponge at this point. I did immediately make two quick edits to my screenplay in an attempt to make the characters deeper. I’m looking forward to this class, and hopefully these teachings will elevate my characters to a whole new level.
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I was reading online some other quotes from later in the movie and thinking how this scene also helps set up some of those later confrontations. Will is booksmart but his actual life experiences have been limited – – he’s not been outside of Boston; has been anxious and unwilling to let anyone truly into his life that he can experience love and loss. The scene with Sean (Robin Williams) where he lambasts Will by saying he realized the cocky responses mean nothing because Will, while he can recite the picture, can’t cite the smell or actual experience of being in the Sistine chapel, smelling its smells, experiencing its sights. And for Will to have his breakthrough, he must open himself up to potential loss and experience life.
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What have I learned? Certain aspects of each character are essential, like their traits and future, and need to show up in the character’s actions and dialogue. This is what producers are looking for right up front when they read a script.
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What makes the character of Will especially compelling is the
incongruity of his scrappy blue collar persona and his erudite mind.
This mismatch adds interest to the story. I noodled around to see if I
can make one of my characters embody two jarring traits. Jury’s still
out. -
My insight for today was that planting a seeming contradiction in your character’s core traits sparks a drive in your audience to understand how that contradiction came to be, which can make the characters and story very compelling. I realized that my main character has a similar contradiction to Will’s — they are both exceptionally gifted people who have nevertheless made the seemingly passive, but in fact active if unconscious decision not to pursue the levels of success they are capable of achieving. I also realized I had “given away” the answer of why my protagonist is like this in the opening scene, and that if I instead held that information back and revealed it in the lead-up to the climax, the curiosity about what mysterious turning point moment in my character’s past had brought about that unexpected reluctance to step into the limelight would get my audience much more fully engaged in the story. Thinking about this gave me a new idea about how to more fully flesh out what it was that had driven my main character away from the future you would otherwise have expected them to pursue.
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I was also sparked by @C A Holmes to think about my characters’ vulnerabilities. I realized that vulnerabilities seem to come from having either a strong desire for something, or a strong desire to avoid something — either way tied to a fear of either getting or not getting that thing. My protagonist’s vulnerability is a fear of causing pain to others; my antagonist’s vulnerability is a strong craving for love/approval.
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I wrote a full page on character traits for the 3 characters, wrote out how the drama was created by the writer. I then read what others have posted and learned that what I saw and what they saw in part, was quite different. With this in mind I rewrote my scene more aware of what an audience might glean from my scene.
i concluded that no one was right or wrong, but that we perceive life differently, at different times.
doing the exercise added clarity to what I already knew and boosted my confidence.
Thank you!
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What I learned from this scene it that, when my character is in a confrontational situation she damn will better proceed with confidence and knowledge that she’s right and needs to stand her ground.
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It’s a great lesson in making verbal aggression more interesting than a fistfight or shootout and in using an incongruent behavior to make the lead character a paradox who is instantly fascinating.
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What I learned is that character traits help to add dimension to characters and bouncing these traits off each other can lead to more intriguing scenes.
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