If you’re writing a script with a group of characters (a team of doctors, football team, group of teenagers, superheroes, etc.), add a serious character(s).
I’ve seen movies where everyone was the comic relief, and it pulled me out of the stories. It’s like every character was trying to out-funny each other.
And it doesn’t have to be a serious character(s). It could be a nervous or quiet character(s).
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I most certainly agree. Each character should have a distinct quality and something they are only known to do. But you still need a protagonist that leads the stories. Comedy should be natural and not forced. I also believe that one of the biggest mistakes that people make is focusing on being comedic and constantly telling jokes. Yet the most important aspect of any genre is creating the story.
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Great points, Mone't Weeks! "Each character should have a distinct quality and something they are only known to do." That's a problem I see in a lot of Horror movies. The characters just feel like they're there to be there.
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Exactly. It was one of the many powerful skills that my consultant taught me, how building each Characters Arc is of vital important. Once I truly learned this art, my whole world opened up and I was able to build new and exciting worlds within my screenwriting.
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Same here, Mone't Weeks. Do you ever give your antagonist or other major characters character arcs?
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Definitely! It is ironic because many times as screenwriters we will solely focus on making the Protagonists Arc so great and being powerful, but when we get to the Antagonist, we make them weak and opposite. Sometimes there is no real arc for the Antagonists at all. I have learned that all of the key players in the story must have a Character Arc. The Antagonist should be strong enough to consistently challenge the Protagonist. As screenwriters we never really know what a character is made of until we put them under pressure, so there must be a lot of pressure and opposition. I think it is always better and brings balance
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I saw a movie a little while ago where the secondary antagonist had a character arc, Mone't Weeks, and he was more developed than the main antagonist. I don’t usually see secondary antagonists with character arcs.
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I have experienced it as well. Perhaps it's the equivalent of a screenwriter rushing through the story and trying to get where they think is the most important part of the script, but they leave out all the great elements that took place prior. I believe viewers want to go on a journey and the wonderful thing about screenwriting is we that can allow them to go on the journey with our characters. It’s important to invest in building these characters. Creating believable characters and believable dialogue. When you think about it if the screenwriter doesn’t care enough about their characters, why should the viewers who are watching care?
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Great points, Mone't Weeks! What's one way you make a character or dialogue believable?
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It depends on what I’m writing. But most of the time I use characters based on the people that I know or have encountered and some of the things that I’ve heard over the years. But I also free up my mind, allow myself to enter into the world of “creative licensing”, and I somehow end up on the road that leads to the nether regions of my mind. It is there in my writing where all of the new characters emerge. I begin to develop new narratives featuring characters and concepts that are entirely new to me, representing work I have not previously encountered. If I am writing Comedy, which is my absolute favorite to write, I measure the authenticity of the characters and dialogue if it makes me laugh while I’m writing. I of course also write Drama as well and because it is far more intense, I allow myself the same freedoms. I’ve found out that when we are patient with ourselves and the screenwriting process, the buried treasures that lie dormant within us will come to the surface. Many times characters have also emerged from my personal experiences and pain. After all, some of the greatest freedoms that we will ever have in this life is as an artist of any caliber and especially and actor or screenwriter. You can be whoever you want to be as well as your characters, live vicariously through them, and even create the world that you want to live in. Or you can rewrite the past or propel your characters into the future. Either way you are creating these dynamic characters and producers and viewers want to get to know these characters. Why recycle the same characters or the same tropes when you can create brand new characters and introduce a world that has never been seen before.
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Those are great ways to make characters and dialogue believable, Mone't Weeks! Thanks for the ideas! Something I do to make characters believable is give them personalities, flaws, strengths, story goals, life goals, secrets, etc.