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Week 4 Day 2: Character Profile in Dialogue — MOLLY’S GAME
1. Please watch this scene and provide your insights into what makes this scene great from a writing perspective.
2. Read the other writers comments and make notes of how you will increase the amount of profile that shows in your character’s dialogue.
3. Rethink or create a great scene filled with character profile dialogue for your script using your new insights and rewrite the scene. Then post the answer to the question, “What I learned rewriting my scene…?” and post it in the 6 PM daily post here.
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4 Replies
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William Whelan – Character Profile in Dialogue.
What I learned from doing this assignment is to reveal character in dialogue in my screenplay
Scene arc: Father approaches Molly on park bench, father says he’s there as a therapist, Molly goes to leave but father insists she remain, father confesses to his infidelity, reconciliation between father and daughter.
Situation: Meeting between father and daughter in park.
Conflict: Father/daughter
Entertainment value: The suspense of the confrontation and then the healing/reconciliation process.
Moving the story forward: Confrontation, confession, healing reconciliation.
Setup/payoffs: Father appears to be therapist; father also needs therapy.
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- What makes this scene great?
Reconciliation of father and daughter.- Notice the difference in their
dialogue. Father goes from recrimination to empathy; Molly goes from
resentment to empathy.- What parts of his profile do
you see coming through? Father goes from therapist to patient, What parts
of hers? Molly goes from patient to therapist when she forgives her
father.- Interesting dialogue that makes
this scene powerful. “Why didn’t you love me as much as my brothers?” “I
knew you knew.”- What insights did you have into
Character Profile Dialogue? Characters reveal internal/external dilemmas
through dialogue. - What makes this scene great?
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Mary Emmick – Character Profile in dialogue
What I learned rewriting my scene is the importance of revealing character through dialogue in my script.
What makes this scene great from a writing perspective is how through the scene the father and Molly reveal their character through dialogue. Molly meets her estranged father at a skating rink. She is in trouble with the law and her father, a therapist, wants to help her. She wants to leave, but he insists she stay.
She tells him that drugs caused her to get into crime. He tells her he knew that she knew he was cheating on his wife. She showed contempt towards him for years because of this. They reveal their problems through dialogue. Molly forgives her father. This meeting between them was therapy for her father. The reconciliation and healing between them begins.
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Why this scene is great from a writing perspective:
Character Profile: Larry is portrayed as authoritative, caring, and protective, while Molly is depicted as defiant and resistant.
Scene Arc: The scene follows a well-crafted arc, starting with a daughter who despises her father and progresses to the father helping his daughter see the truth. The shift from conflict to resolution is well-executed.
Situation and Conflict: The setting, an ice-skating rink in the cold, adds to the tension. The conflict revolves around Molly’s legal troubles and her initial resentment towards her father, creating a compelling dynamic.
Entertainment Value: The use of a therapy session to condense three years of therapy into three minutes is a powerful technique. It delves into psychological aspects and exposes the characters’ vulnerabilities.
Moving the Story Forward: The scene propels the story forward by transforming Molly’s perception of her father. She comes to understand and accept him as her ally, providing her with strength to face the challenges ahead.
Unique Dialogue: Specific and interesting dialogue is highlighted, showcasing the verbal exchange between Larry and Molly. The use of sarcasm, confrontations, and revealing questions adds depth to the characters and the scene.
Insights into Character Profiles: The dialogue provides insights into the characters’ backstories and histories, unveiling Molly’s defiance as a teenager, her privileged upbringing, and Larry’s shame and regret over his affairs. The flashback video adds layers to Molly’s character.
Overall, Character Profile Dialogue works when you have two characters who have a deep history and a strong conflict between one another. One is trying to break down the walls, the other wants to keep them up. By utilizing dialogue, in this type of situation, you begin to understand each character’s point of view and can make the transition along with them. In this case, for Molly, it was from hostility to understanding.
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I found this example fascinating. It was taking off masks. Dad enters as a therapist and finishes as Dad. Molly tries to hide but is forced/given the opportunity to ask the question she has dealt with for most of her life. Backstories give light to the differing attitudes. Flaws and wounds are exposed with explanations for their sources.
Dad approaches with his professional traits as a “head doctor”, and that works because Molly resents him as her father, not as a therapist. However, he reminds her that he is her dad, and he takes that relationship very seriously, even to the point of vengeance for those (other than him) who caused her harm. In both roles he commands the upper hand until Molly consoling him shows her strength, probably practiced through the pain of her resentment for her father.
The three minute therapy clarified Molly’s needs. Molly responded to her father’s need by extending her embrace.
The writer sustained the tension and raised the stakes with each revelation, This was confrontation, not reading about each other.
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