Linda Seger Esquemas

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Creating unforgettable characters

Linda Seger (1990)



1. Researching the character

2. Consistencies and paradoxes

3. Creating the back-story

4. Psychology

5. Relationship

6. Supporting and Minor characters

7. Dialogue

8. Non-realistic characters

9. Stereotyping

10. Solving character problems



1. Researching the character

General research: think about what you already know about itThe context: it shapes your character (historical period, location, culture,

occupation)

Specific research: the news things you have to imagine about itWho, What, Where, When, Why

It paves the way for the imagination

to give the character life




Getting the first idea from observation or experience (author’s identification)

Creating the first broad stroke – physical description (must be evocative and actable)

Finding the core of the character – consistency (predictability)

Finding the paradoxes within the character to create complexity (conflict)

Adding emotion, attitudes and values to further round out

Adding details to make the character specific and unique (imperfections)

Breaking up the character’s soul’s unity




Adding emotion, attitudes and values to further round out

Deepen a character’s humanityemotion

attitudes

values

Opinions, point of view, how it looks at life

Something the character brings into situationsStrong in comedy

Believes, values at stake. The character must

Communicate its values, it doesn’t discuss them



3. Creating the back-story

Character’s biographyThe information may never be conveyed to the audience

What the actor needs to know to play the scene

The sense memories. It is not important what happened to the character but how he felt about it

You want to get more of the character as you would do whit a new friend

Don’t get stuck with the past: it’s no dramatic (drama happens at the present time)

It helps to keep up the character in unusual or incredible situations



4. Psychology

Inner back-story

The unconscious

The character types

The abnormal

You have to track down the past inner

experiences of the character

Your character’s behaviour, gesture and speech

come from the unconscious

Knowing types will help you to orchestrate

Conflicts. People usually have greatest conflict

with their opposite



4. Psychology

The abnormal

Normal behaviour line

maniac

paranoid

psychopath or sociopath

depressive

schizophrenic

Anxiety neurotic

EXTRAVERTEDINTROVERTED



5. Relationship

The couples: you have to set the qualities for the most sizzle(love affair, friendship, partnership, etc.)

Character have something in common

that brings them together

There is a conflict between the characters and

this provides most of the drama

Characters have contrasting qualities (opposite)

The characters have the potential to transformeach other – for better or for worse

1

2

3

4

CONFLICT

The television series may run for five

to ten year, delaying the resolution of the relationship

In television series changes are

minimal. In films and novelstransformation may be massive

attraction

conflict

contrast

transformation

Drama is essentially relational



5. Relationship

Midnight Run

Their contrasting qualities include choice of jobs,

relationship to their spouses, moral choices

and even eating

Jack (bounty hunter) Jonathan(bookkeeper)

Fatal attractionDan

Beth Alex

The most workable triangles

occur when each character

exercises wilfulness and

intentionally



Give further depth, colour and texture to the story6. Supporting and Minor characters

Helps define the role and importance of the protagonist(children for te Mother, Secretary for the CEO, etc.)

Can be a catalyst figure, giving out information that moves the story forward(children for te Mother, Secretary for the CEO, etc.)

Contrasting the character with the protagonistPhysical (heavy and slim), Attitudes (passionate and cold)

They can be similar (occasionally)

They can have their own paradoxes and personalities

They can be character types (instantly recognizable to audiences)

Give them part of your attention. Invent some little details

The function

How to fulfil the function

Details

You must know:



7. Dialogue

It has a beat, a rhythm, a melody

Tends to be short, and spare (character do not speak for more than two o three lines)

It is like a tennis match (constant exchange of power – sexual, physical, political, social, etc.)

Conveys conflict, attitudes and intentions (do not tell it: reveal it)

It is easily spoken (it makes good actors)



7. Dialogue

Text

Sub text

The lines spoken by the character into the script

What the character is really saying beneath and between the lines

energy

plot

drama



7. Dialogue

Bad dialogue

PRODUCER

Well, come in. It is a real

pleasure to meet you. You know, I

liked your script very much – it

is really very good.

YOUNG WRITER

Well, thank you. It is my first

script, and I’m really very

scared about what you’ll think

about it. I’m from Kansas, and I

have never been to a big city

before, and I feel really lucky

to meet someone like you. I have

admired your work for so many years.

PRODUCER

Oh, that is very nice of you to

say that. Let’s talk about making a deal.

wooden

boring

The lines says what they’re thinking

No difference between the characters



7. Dialogue

There are tens of things to do before you write the dialogue

You have to translate real talk into fictional dialogue (stylized, compressed)

For a good dialogue you must sense the character as an actor does




One-dimensional, they personify one quality.Symbolic character

One dimensional

symbolic characterMulti dimensional

character

Mars Stepford Wives

Everyman

Superman

Batman

Joker

Clark Kent

Bruce Wayne

Scarlet

Rick

Taxi driver

Villains and superheroes are often symbolic characters




Choosing one or two attributes that will begin to definethe identity of the character

Non human character

Most animal characters are likely to not change at all in the story

Emphasizing the associations that the audience brings to

the character in order to expand on this identity

Creating a strong context to deepen the character

The process of associating a quality to a non human character is the same

of the one used in ads for associating a quality to a brand

Most of the strength for the non human character comes from the context

Lassie

Rub Tin Tin

King Kong




Character in magical context Fantasy character

Merlin

Wicked Witch of the West ( Oz )

Mermaid ( Splash )




Must add an understanding of the audience Mythic character

A mythic story represent the meaning in our own lives

You are talking about real heroes

The hero is transformed in the course of his journey

They need enough dimensionality to seem like real

human beings

There must be a sense of mystery (past, dark side, etc.)

The hero is not just a person: he’s an idea.



9. Stereotyping

Get rid of the stereotypes!Usually you tend to stereotype who is different from you

(ethnic minorities, different sexual orientation, religious groups)

You do not need a stereotype in comedy: you want character type(The character type doesn’t suggest that everyone in a certain group has the same characteristic)



10. Solving character problems

Some advices for breaking through

– free writing

– hidden agenda

– other person reading

– what if?

– gender switch

You can solve problem if you realize where they come from

Un-likable characters – You must come to a term with your own psychology

Vague character – improve the research and add some details

General problem – it is a story problem, not a character problem

Linda Seger Esquemas

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