Characters

A film sets a number of characters in motion.

When we say your story is the story of one character, we mean the main character, otherwise known as the protagonist, but here we generally call him/her the hero.

The hero often has to face one or more opponents, also called antagonists. They create problems that the hero must solve; the antagonist(s) can also pursue the same goal as the hero, which is a further source of conflict.

In his/her conflict with the evil character, the hero is HELPed by a mentor, an older character who proffers HELP and advice. The mentor is like a teacher, a wise or very experienced older person.

The hero can have all sorts of allies. So can the evil character. There are so many types of characters that it would be pointless to make a list. Most important is to understand that each character has a role to play in your story. All the characters exist for a good reason. Whatever their appearance, they bring information or HELP or trigger off situations that force your hero to reveal him/herself, to act and make decisions.

EXERCISE 9 Make a list of the characters in your film.

Give them all a name and particular function (hero, evil character, mentor…). This in itself refers to a culture, era and social class and therefore the characters’ origins. Also don’t hesitate to write about your characters’ past. These biographies can provide very useful information.

Give each character a role in the story. If a character serves no purpose, get rid of it! Rather than create lots of different characters, try to give a single one several functions.

For this exercise, we suggest you use the character cards from the “Project” module

HELP If you’re not careful, you can rapidly end up with dozens of characters and make your story absolutely incomprehensible. The audience won’t have time to get to know so many different faces.

First of all, concentrate on two or three important parts, and particularly on the hero.

Your hero and story are one. This idea may seem strange to you. Maybe you’re tempted to believe one can write a story and then find a hero the story could happen to. But that doesn’t work. A hero lives his/her story; and the story evolves each time the hero faces a situation and solves it in his/her particular way.

Never forget the hero makes a story. Without a hero, there is no story. What makes your hero unique?

Think of a famous actor who could play your hero. You know that the hero will be different according to the actor you choose. Choose the actor you think most suited to the part. As you write, this actor will play your character in your imagination.

What influenced your choice of actor? What is your first impression when you think of this actor? From now on, think of him/her as your hero and no longer as an actor.