Screenwriting Mastery Forums Character Mastery Character Mastery 4 Week 3 Week 3 Day 3: Turning Points – THE MATRIX

  • Week 3 Day 3: Turning Points – THE MATRIX

    Posted by cheryl croasmun on May 18, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    1. Please watch this scene and provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character great from a writing perspective.

    2. Read the other writers comments and make notes of any insights/breakthroughs you like.

    3. Rethink or create a scene for your script using your new insights and rewrite that scene/character.

    Zev Ledman replied 1 year, 12 months ago 5 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • Steven Delisi

    Member
    May 22, 2022 at 9:02 pm

    How does this Turning Point cause the following:

    Part of the character’s journey.

    – he’s destined to learn the truth about himself

    Changes the character’s life forever.

    – Neo is forever changed after taking the red pill

    Requires them to up their game NOW.

    – he’s about to be used.

    What makes these characters engaging?

    – Neo has no idea he’s being used?

    How are they expressing their profile?

    – He resists.

    Where do you see character depth in this scene?

    – When he resists

    • Steven Delisi

      Member
      May 22, 2022 at 10:03 pm

      This is a tough one for me, but I see some kind of recognition in Neo when he sees the mirror image of himself just before being transported to the ‘real world’. The character depth I see is his fear and yet a determined resolve in place at the same time.

  • Judith Resell

    Member
    May 23, 2022 at 11:52 pm

    I too found this one particularly challenging. As a turning point for Neo, it couldn’t be any more of a drastic change. It ses visually like a complete rebirth into a different sort of existence altogether.

    • Steven Delisi

      Member
      May 24, 2022 at 2:43 am

      Wow, that’s a great insight… that he undergoes a rebirth of some kind.

  • Marti Wheat

    Member
    May 30, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    Week 3 Day 3: Turning Points – THE MATRIX

    How does this Turning Point cause the following:

    · Part of the character’s journey.

    Neo is looking for the truth and takes the red pill believing it will help him find it.

    · Changes the character’s life forever

    The reality Neo finds is terrifying.

    · Requires them to up their game NOW.

    Neo discovers the truth about what’s happening to mankind, including himself, and realizes that if he doesn’t want to be enslaved by the robots forever, he must find a way to escape and save himself and the rest of mankind.

    1. What makes these characters engaging?

    Neo is a reluctant hero. He never asked to be put in this position, but now that he’s there and seems to be the only one who can make effective change, he steps up his game to fight back. Morpheus has been using Neo all along and intentionally shows him reality knowing he will grow into the position of hero and save the day.

    2. How are they expressing their profile?

    Neo really doesn’t have a choice but to fulfill his character’s profile. He knows, and once he knows, he can never go back to not knowing. In the amazing words of Doggett in Orange is the New Black, “Toasts can never be bread again…” Morpheus must express his profile in order to put Neo on his path.

    3. Where do you see character depth in this scene?

    Neo could easily have turned on his heels and run away from the whole situation, but instead, he swallowed his horror to finding out the truth and rose above his fear.

  • Zev Ledman

    Member
    June 14, 2023 at 12:58 am

    1. Provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character great from a writing perspective.

    Neo initially comes off as a quiet, unassuming, anti-establishment, counter-culture person who’s trying to solve the puzzle of what is the Matrix. But, his desire to know the answer makes him willing to take risks. It is this intent to know the truth that makes him take the red pill, changing his world as he knew it, forever.

    That is one of the many qualities that make this character stand out. He knows there’s something not right in his world. And, he’s willing to throw caution to the wind in order to know the truth. Most people would have taken the blue pill and lived in ignorant bliss.

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