Romantic Screenplays 101 (14 page)

17. Greatest Fear:

18. Sees self as...

19. Is seen by others as...

20. Sense of humor about...

21. Basic Nature:

22. Ambitions:

23. Philosophy of Life:

24. Hobbies:

25. Music, art, reading preferences:

26. Dress & Grooming Habits:

27. Favorite Colors:

28. Typical Day:

Story

29. Present Problem:

30. How will it get worse?

31. What is the best that can happen?

32. What is the worst that can happen?

33. What trait will be dominate thus be vital to story?

34. Why is this character worth writing about?

35. Do I like/dislike this person? Why?

36. Why will this character be remembered?

Fundamental to Story

What is Character’s TANGIBLE OBJECTIVE/Heart’s Desire/Goal?

* * *

From Chapter 3 of
Intro to Screenwriting

To create any credible, come-to-life, well-rounded fictional character you need to start with a Character Profile that outlines each primary and secondary character’s essential background and current status. This is a viable tool for fleshing out every fictional character needed for short stories, novels of any genre or length, stage plays and screenplays.

Some seat-of-the-pants writers do not think profiling is necessary. They may even proclaim profiling stifles their creativity. For the majority of prolific and selling writers, profiling is absolutely essential for credible storytelling. Whether prose or cinema, stories are about people. Those people deserve to be birthed as complex, fascinating persons who confront dramatic challenges and live experiences that mold them into better human beings. Since no storyteller has the luxury of a time-consuming, mind-numbing flow-of-consciousness depiction from birth to the current story, profiling allows the writer to paint character history and motivation before writing their current situation. The character has the opportunity to emerge from the vague shadows of the author’s imagination to become a vital, living person. The profile provides a palette the writer can utilize to paint shades of personality and select details relevant to the story.

Yes, most writers learn more about the cast members when creating their dialogue and actions. Sometimes a writer may even find secrets erupting that deepen or change the initial Character Profile. If that’s so, why go to all the trouble of documenting a Character Profile in the first place?

A written profile provides four things:

1)
Consistency
that allows the writer to predict reactions and puts the writer in control thus preventing Writer’s Block, a wandering storyline, and inconsistent details,

2)
Complexity
that allows the writer to provide meaningful motivation, avoid stereotyping, and create audience questions

3)
Individuality
that allows the writer to demonstrate unique characteristics relevant to this story from unseen past to quirks or habits

4)
Exaggeration
that is credible, interesting, powerful, yet arouses audience concern.

KINDS OF PROFILES

A variety of profile methods and forms exist. Some identify only family and home life based on the principle that humans act and think based on their history. Others go more in-depth into the psychology and internal life of a character. One writer copies any profile method she encounters into a single, massive 100+ page program. Preparing for a project, she wanders through the various elements, filling in what comes to mind about the fictional person living in her mind. She then prints out just what she has completed. While she is writing the project, if she uncovers an area not explored, she goes back and fills in that portion of the profile.

The 36-Step Character Profile here has proven to be broad enough yet succinct enough for the majority of storytelling purposes. This profile form creates a clearer, more vivid awareness of this person just as if You-the-Writer is asking questions of him or her. In turn, that awareness gives the character access to your imagination and he or she talks to you while you are writing.

One popular exercise in film schools is to write an interview or conversation with this fictional person. The writer tunes into the voice of the character which in turn makes the writing flow as the writer lives with the characters experiencing the story.

THE THREE-PART PROFILE

Note the divisions of this form: Personal History, Psychological Profile, and Roles in Story’s Conflict. Let’s begin with Personal History.

BIRTHING CHARACTERS

Writers give birth the easy way because they imagine these humans into the world. An imaginary glimpse steps into the spotlight as a fictional character on a mission. Writers can change the characters to fit the story, even tweaking true-life personas to fit a story (Abraham Lincoln and vampires, anyone?). Book editors and studio executives generously apply that concept. Don’t cringe. That is the reality of this collaborative medium. Not all changes in fundamental characterizations are bad. Consider how a truly good actor’s research can change his character’s affect. The ethnicity or race or even gender of a character can be manipulated to enhance a story for drama or even for box office draw.

Remember two things about profiles: First, every facet can contribute a possible conflict and / or subliminal characterization. Second, every facet does not need to be used in the story, however much you researched it. The writer should only use those elements that impact
this
story. More is audience overload, less is audience ignorance.

The vital rule is to evolve a dramatic person who will charge life and make the audience care what he or she does. Deep personal pride and intensity about some ideal or issue is necessary.

GENERAL BACKGROUND DATA

As you fill in the blanks, remember everything delivers subliminal thought associations to the audience and, most importantly, expectations.

1. Name:
Evokes images, cultures, ancient meanings, as in “A Boy Named Sue” or a recognizable Russian first name and an Irish last name, a child repeatedly being told to live up to his name which means “Warrior.”

2. Age:
Life stage evokes expectations of certain behaviors, knowledge, attitudes.

3. Height & Weight:
Again cultural expectations, voluptuous versus starvation-thin, tall and muscular versus small and wiry, extraordinarily tall woman, short-man syndrome.

4. Hair:
Color, style, especially if it characterizes as in U.S. Marine cut or matted and filthy, ditzy blonde or temperamental red-head, prematurely gray.

5. Eyes :
Unusual coloring, telling characteristic or expressive habits.

6. Scars / Handicaps
: History of incident or development creates expectations.

7. Birth date:
Era or circumstance can impact or typify social status as in FAR & AWAY, life-stage expectations.

8. Birthplace
: Again reflective of social status in the eyes of audience, as in the each of the players in the original HIGHLANDER movie.

9
. Parents & Childhood
: Foundation of character’s life expectations either as exemplary or in defiance, indulged vs. disciplined, deprivation vs. intellectually stimulated, talent encouraged vs. abusive.

10. Education:
Forced feeding of information and social interactions, as in royal guard of Montezuma versus contemporary, orphanage-reared U.S. Navy SEAL.

11. Work Experience
: Similar to Education category in impacting social and cultural expectations and attitudes. Bailin in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was “just” a Medieval bastard blacksmith. Seen in the Director’s Cut—but left on the cutting room floor for the shorter theatrical release–were the exposition scenes explaining that Bailin had gone into battle with his lord (his uncle) where he learned to use a broadsword and how to build battle machinery.

12. Home & its physical environment:
A reflection of personal priorities and opportunities.

One issue not specifically addressed in this profile is ethnicity. However, you can infer it from the birth and childhood information Ethnicity need not be an important issue unless it impacts the plot. That doesn’t mean in the rewrites the powers-that-be won’t change it. This profile information is for you and for the initial story concept. You are not casting, merely stating who you envision the character to be. If an A-List actor reads a script and wants a part, depending on a lot of factors, the-powers-that-be may totally rewrite the original author’s vision to suit that actor who has box-office draw. Will ethnicity be a turn-off? Usually not. Professionals in the industry know a script can be changed. When they see an ethnic description, they will be reading to see if they believe the ethnicity in action, attitude, and dialogue’s diction and syntax. If it is not integral to the story, then it is an item up for revision.

IN-DEPTH PERSONAL DATA

Now that you know where the character came from, you can move into where the character is at the moment of the story. You flesh out personal data with the kind of information your closest confidants know about you!

13. Best Friend:
Who and why? “You are known by the company you keep.”

14. Male and / or Female Friends
: Again the choices reflect needs met and subliminal reasons. These are the comparison-contrast personas to the main characters.

15. Enemies & Why:
From frivolous to vicious, no one relates positively to everyone else. The why-factor can create a variety of complexities and complications in
this
story.

16. Hobbies:
What entertains, distracts, attracts, challenges, and why? Even ancient peoples carved, painted pottery, told stories. Why? Sometimes hobbies can be avocations or even obsessions the character works to support. Highly valued or sacred, hobbies can be identified as vulnerable weaknesses the character will strive to protect.

17. Music, art, reading preferences:
Tastes reflect satisfaction of needs, even peer or social pressure related, but what if the preference is an oddity, adversity or a consuming passion? How often have hidden passions motivated abhorrent actions?

18. Dress & Grooming Habits:
Direct correlation to self-image and preferences. Changes or inattention to a previous habit can provide a visual clue to the audience. It can also be a succinct and convenient tool of contrast and contradiction.

19. Typical Day:
From beginning of wake-up ritual through the mundane meals and work routine to night’s sleep patterns, every moment of the typical day presents an opportunity for something to go awry, to frustrate and rattle the character…forcing a change that will become the story. The majority of these matters are glimpsed and taken for granted, not camera-focused. They provide background exposition only, requiring very little space in an actual script.

UNDERSTANDING EQUALS MOTIVATION

The essence of character profiling is to create a realistic, credible fictional character or to make fictional suppositions about a real-life person. The only person you can truly profile is yourself. Even then you probably will not be 100% truthful or totally knowledgeable. After all, don’t we learn more about ourselves every day we live?

Documenting the backstory and personal data of a character can certainly be as flexible as our own self-awareness. Watching TOP GUN we understood a boy’s dream to be a fighter pilot like his old man. But why did he have to overcome the bad reputation? How crucial was that backstory to the character’s motivation? Therein you discover the subtle need of both character and writer to overcome stereotyping. That one backstory element gave the character consistency, complexity, individuality, and exaggeration that carried the story forward.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING

An in-depth psychological profile can take the creator and the audience into the realm of multidimensional characterization. It is not a difficult process and can be downright fascinating for one simple reason: Curious human beings want to know why people do what they do! They want to understand themselves, family members, co-workers, criminals, politicians, friends and enemies. As the creator of characters, you get to answer those questions for your story.

You made a start with the character’s history. The psychological profile builds on this, and goes one step further, actually delving into three key areas for storytellers: 1) self-awareness, 2) social status, and 3) motivation.

You probably expected a mention of “normal” and “abnormal.” However, each of the three profile areas can have these two behavior variations, demonstrating a complex character who vacillates this way and that, outspoken and obvious here, brooding and private there. The fun of fictional characterization is choosing what is going to dominate in any given situation. Drama results when the writer’s choice raises the stakes in the story, jeopardizes something valued and creates more audience questions that have to be answered. The writer stimulates the audience to go questing with the characters. Those kinds of stories get screenplays sold and made into movies.

SELF-AWARENESS

Psychologists tell us it is normal to have conversations with ourselves, whether within our thought processes or right out loud. This is a part of self-perception. Sometimes we’re mad or ashamed, sometimes proud or self-righteous. The list could go on and on. When you are writing a character, you need to go inside the mind, the emotions, the soul of that human being and figure out the self-image talking in that character’s mind. Then you write the actions and dialogue consistent with that perception. You consider the character’s history then add the salt and pepper of normal and abnormal self-concept. This singular approach to characterization will prevent you from writing stereotypes. So, you ask yourself “This character sees himself as....”