He should be trying to kill my protagonist, but instead he's killing me. I have a comedy screenplay that I have been trying to write for years, but I stagnate (writer's block?) because I can't flesh out this character because I can't even decide what his villainy is. This may sound strange to some, but it's not. I have my main character well sorted. I have his journey discovered and what he has to do and his obstacles....(namely this bastard villain), but I just find myself unhappy with every iteration. My protag is a pizza delivery boy...well man. The Pizzeria he works at is a main focus point in the story. I have thought of all sorts of food business villains from competing Pizzeria to Ice-cream van operator, but I can't decide on the actual criminal behaviour ie is it drug peddling? But drugs are so passe and boring. I really want an interesting crime to be taking place, but nothing, just nothing is interesting me. I don't expect anyone to come up with the answers for me and maybe this isn't even something I should be posting, but I thought maybe if I wrote this, maybe it might shake something loose. I just want to finish this damn screenplay.
Screenwriting : The villain is killing me. by Cherie Grant
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I think if your protagonist has a clearly-defined goal/goals....then the antagonist should have some clearly-defined reasons/motivations for trying to defeat the protagonist from achieving those goals. The more complex the goals, the better (obviously), from external and internal standpoints. Back stories might help contribute to those conflicts between the two as well. I'm sure you could think of 100 reasons why two men would be at odds with each other, when you think about their pasts, their present situations, and their future aspirations. I grew up in a pizzeria....pizza wars are very real, and can involve other conflicts, too, like ex-lovers and being former schoolmates and winning awards/competitions and having a supplier cut off your competitor and unions and getting corporate accounts and our kids are dating or my widowed father is dating his widowed mother or I just can't stand him because I have my own insecurity issues.....make it saucy and spicy! Good luck!
I know it sounds like cheating but think of your favorite villan - even if it's silly cartoonish villan or like controversial anti-heroesque villan. Jot down notes on them, then compare them to your character. If at the very least, you might be able to fill in the blank. Also helps to think of the worse Boss/manager/teacher etc you ever had and make the villain an almost spiting image of them (physically or otherwise) then let the hate FLOW..... For example, if I make my villain a bald guy, with a gray goatee, a fat gut, a penchant for wearing pin-stripe shirts and name him Kevin....he's lucky I don't kill him off by page two...
BTW Cherie, I started screenplay about a year ago about bunch of Millenianals who deal marijuana out of a pizza place. Sort of axed for the same reason - I don't think pots that bad anymore, but it's comedy so I don't want to make harder drugs look innocent. The whole Joke was a bunch of guys dealing pot and the overzealous sheriff actually make the town REALLY dangerous with his insane rhetoric (he actually horrifies a group of DEA agents when he begins ranting about "rampant Marijuana overdoes in Colorado")
Thanks for your replies Bill and Daniel. My villain isn't really interested in my protag until my protag thwarts him unknowingly. So I need to find his crime before I bring protag into it. So I read what you wrote and pondered. I have just spent three hours contemplating my villain and nothing else...well except I did tweet a bit, watch a horse video on Facebook, put the laundry on, made a cup of coffee using my Italian stove-top coffee maker and my fair trade Ethiopean Yirgacheffe beans, took laundry out only to realise I washed a good cardigan in with my jeans and caused it to 'pill' and screamed and swore loudly for five minutes, put some incence on to burn in hope its mysticness might dislodge something from my brain and resisted calling a friend for a chat 'just because'. I have written a seven line paragraph. Still not furthered my discovery of said character. Not really. But I am working on it. I'm going back to it now....oh is that the phone I hear?
I've said this before on other post. I don't know IF it will help you, Cherie, but hope it does. This is a quote and forgive me, but I don't know who said it. "As writers we need to be in love with something and then find characters whose problems, goals and plans dramatize that passion. " Bill gave the best advice the villain / antagonist objectives are complete opposite of your hero /good guy/ protagonist. The villain, the most vicious he/she is, the more your audience will hate him or maybe even love him, if he shakes things up and make's your nice guy, finally wake up and fight, even if he's a skinny, honest to God, good guy, who's had enough with the abuse of others. I'll give you an example: When I first saw Carrie I was glad in a strange way, that she did what she did and that was Stephen King's goal. Maybe bad example. Good luck.
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Cherie - you have a Bialetti? Mama mia....I'll be right over!
Food business: he's trying to pass of "Early Girl" as an heirloom tomato. Or he forges "food art" from grand masters. Or he's messing with babyfood. Google GERBER - there was a huge crime yrs ago with strained apple juice for babies. Big scandal. Good luck.
Hi Cherie! I'd love to read your script, and try and help you with a direction in exchange for you reading mine, and doing the same. Message me if you'd be interested!
Or maybe your antag is just a nut (of some kind) and the protag is mistaken identity. The antag could believe your protag has done something, or represents something, that the antag is totally against. Or, if the antag must already be an outlaw, maybe he's on the run and the protag has prevented him/her from getting away. Just spit-balling (which was really fun in 4th grade).
Ditto, what Bill said. :-)
If, in your case, Cherie, you have a protagonist's agenda clearly driving your movie, then you can retrofit a villain's agenda or antagonist's agenda specific to blocking the protagonist from achieving his agenda. (In other movies, the protagonist may be large reactionary to a villain's/antagonist's agenda.) I'm being very reductive here, but I agree with Bill. In your particular situation, that is what I would certainly recommend.
Think in reverse. What did the protagonist do to cause the antagonist to become his target in the first place. Villains most often believe that what they are doing is right and justified, no matter how wrong it is morally. Darth Vader saw himself as a bringer of order to the galaxy, regardless of how many fools he had to choke using the force or cut down with his light saber. Its only the rest of the galaxy that didn't agree with his self assessment. Think about someone who did you wrong and how you would have liked to have gotten even with them. Bring out your inner bad guy (uh...girl...woman...whatever).
Thanks guys for taking the time to post here. I appreciate it. I have taken on board all your posts and considered their validity. It's hard to help when you're only given a little information. Joe, it is well past idea stage and is a story at 80 pages. I have a lot of information on the story and characters and I have even written the ending for the most part. All I was stuck on was one character's criminal background, which informs much of the story. I have had a small break-through, but whether it sticks who knows. Jordan I would normally be happy to swap, but the screenplay is unfinished so it might be hard to traverse and I also don't write in a linear fashion.