How to Create Characters

hello and welcome to the second video in this series covering the fundamentals of screenwriting and storytelling if you'd like to watch the rest of the videos you can find them linked in the description or on the end screen of this video characters create story memorable characters are what keep a story in our minds years after we've seen the film but how do you actually build characters and what should be the main focus when writing a character for a story today i want to explain the fundamental building blocks of creating dramatic characters and in the next video we'll be looking at the different types of character arcs the most fundamental part of your characters will be their beliefs your character's beliefs will define everything else about them what they believe will inform what they want what they believe will influence how they go about getting what they want and what they believe will create some of their strengths and weaknesses in the story in the matrix neo doesn't believe in fate or destiny but neo is looking for morpheus because he is searching for the truth morpheus and his team are those who have found the truth about the matrix morpheus believes neo is the one who will save the humans from the machines and he believes in helping neo achieve this goal even if it costs him his life and there will be blood daniel plainview believes in gaining wealth and power by any means necessary he will trample anyone and anything in pursuit of what he wants in sicario kate macer believes in the role of law and doing everything above board she is a moral person and follows legal structures she believes that without these guidelines we are just like the bad guys beliefs are the core of your characters the beliefs of your different characters becomes the core of your story and ultimately defines the deeper meaning and reason that an audience would care to watch your film the beliefs that your characters hold are what creates the meaning and the theme of your story when you understand what your characters believe about themselves and the world then you can start building the next step the characters want and need a character's want is their visible goal and this is what makes up the main events of the plot the want is external and the audience is usually aware of what a character wants the want will stem from the character's beliefs the character sees themselves and the world in a particular way which creates their wants when neo encounters morpheus he has set down a new path nia wants to find his purpose and find the truth so now he wants to aid in the fight against the machines while he remains unsure about who he is and what he's supposed to do his want is clear daniel plainview wants to become rich he believes these riches will give him power and control over other people whom he despises i have a competition in me i want no one else to succeed kate macer wants to stop the cartel and wants to do so legally and by the book kate believes stopping the cartel will result in greater safety and freedom for the people that the cartel oppress kate believes the cartel must be stopped in a way that is upstanding and legal because playing by the cartel's rules means that the enforcers are no better than the criminals the one is opposed by the external forces of antagonism in the matrix the agents and the machines do their best to stop neo and his allies from getting what they want in there will be blood daniel's biggest antagonist is eli sunday a preacher in the small western town who opposes daniel's control over the townsfolk in sicario kate is surrounded by antagonists and fake allies every main character other than reggie opposes her and her beliefs about how to stop the cartel these antagonistic forces are all directly opposed to the clear goal of the character this is a major dramatic element for your story it is extremely difficult if not impossible to create drama without a character who wants something you can create a story that brings an emotional response but you will not create a dramatic story plot isn't a string of random events nor does it have to be shoving your characters into a formula so restrictive that you can't have any creative freedom plot simply follows the external want of the character as he or she pursues a goal but why does your character want this thing what do they think it will do for them and why are they after it in the first place when trying to understand why a character wants something we need to look at need a need is what the character must discover about themselves or the world to become complete balanced or whole the need also comes from your character's beliefs km wyland award-winning author and writer of creating character arcs writes your character will spend most of the story pursuing his outer goal the thing he wants but what the story is really about on a deeper level is his growth into a place where he first subconsciously then consciously recognizes and pursues his inner goal the thing he needs the need deals with a character's internal struggle the need comes from a false belief about the world wyland refers to this false belief as the lie that your character believes this lie is what stops the character from achieving what they truly need to become complete balanced or whole neo is held back by his beliefs about himself he doesn't believe he is the one he doesn't believe he has the strength to fight the agents or to save zion and these beliefs hold him back kate believes that everything must be done by the book she believes that this way works and that there are no other alternative ways to take down the cartel kate also believes that the enforcers of the law are generally law abiding upstanding people themselves kate's false belief is that the world is black and white and that the legal system works in practice notice how these needs come out of the character's beliefs and these needs motivate the character's outer want wyland writes in order for your character to evolve in a positive way he has to start out with something lacking in his life some reason that makes the change necessary he is incomplete in some way but not because he is lacking something external their need can only be fulfilled by learning the truth so while the characters go after what they want they must encounter adversity that forces them to question what they believe and their need will only be fulfilled by learning the truth in stories where the main character goes through change their need will be hidden from them as they try to solve their problem by getting what they want wyland writes your protagonist's inner conflict is all about this silent war between his want and his need but it's also the gasoline in the engine of the outer conflict if you have these two elements working in concert you can bet you'll also have plot and character well on their way to perfect harmony as well but while many characters have needs not all do for example in the hunger games katniss everdeen does not have a need within the world of the hunger games katniss is already whole katniss tries to show the people around her that it is possible to stand against oppression and that it is better to fight than to simply give up she has found the truth and then tries to present that truth to the other characters in the world while her surroundings may change and she may have moments where she doubts herself and her abilities her core beliefs hold true this type of character then becomes a vehicle for change in the other characters of the story but just because a character is already whole doesn't mean they are the symbol of goodness daniel plainview has no need within the world of there will be blood daniel is whole he believes that ruthlessness lying and maintaining control will bring him wealth and power and he's right he has no truth he must discover and he makes no internal change throughout the story while it seems as though he has moments where he may change his view of the world he ultimately does not daniel is not trying to convince the people around him of anything however he does reveal a dark truth to the characters around him that it is possible to manipulate and exploit others for your own personal gain rather than positively changing the characters around him the people daniel meet are worse off because of him i'm finished okay so now you have your character's fundamental beliefs their wants and their needs this is how you can begin building a story that isn't simply entertaining but is also deeply meaningful how do films actually wrestle with these different ideas and worldviews they do it by giving different characters different worldviews or value systems that place them in conflict with the other characters when a story uses different characters to stand as different points of view in a philosophical debate meaning in depth is given to the story and to each scene this creates a web of ideas and beliefs that conflict and grow throughout the story neo doesn't believe in fate or destiny but he is searching for the truth he finds morpheus who holds the truth and morpheus also holds strong beliefs about who neo is and that neo will save the humans from the machines trinity believes in neo she believes in the prophecy and she believes in saving zion trinity was told that she would fall in love with the one trinity struggles alongside neo to believe in fate and in the prophecy of the one morpheus believes in neo morpheus believes in the mission morpheus embodies hope he is the strongest in his beliefs that zion will win and that neo is the one cipher is a great fake ally he has seen the reality of the world and would rather exist within the illusion of the matrix cipher believes his personal happiness is more important than any larger cause he would rather accept the beautiful lie of the matrix than the ugly truth of the real world agent smith believes in evolution he believes the machines are stronger and smarter than humanity humanity is nothing more than an afterthought fighting the last remaining scraps of free humanity is nothing but a distraction to him the oracle tells neo that he must make a choice either abandon the idea that he is the one or believe in his fate and in his destiny the oracle is telling neo that he will have to choose what he believes don't worry about it as soon as you step outside that door you'll start feeling better you'll remember you don't believe in any of this fate crap you're in control of your own life remember daniel plainview believes that living to gain wealth power and control are the purpose of his life he believes that his single-minded focus will bring him the wealth he wants hw plane view stands as a possible path that daniel could take daniel can embrace family and leave competition and while it seems at times that daniel does love hw daniel continues to choose to focus on his goal rather than his adopted son eli sunday attacks daniel's character eli sees daniel as a liar manipulator and greedy monster eli wants daniel to crumble and he wants power over daniel eli has some good intentions and beliefs but is also brought down by his own humanity desire for control and contempt for daniel he wants to see daniel humbled not for a religious reason but for his own satisfaction and eli has many similarities to daniel and this is why daniel has such contempt for eli henry plainview is a fake ally to daniel he is another character that represents the family ties daniel might be able to have but henry is a liar and a fraud and his presence does nothing but confirm what daniel already believes about others the times when i i look at people and i see nothing worth liking i see the worst in people and me i don't need to look past seeing them to get all i need william bandy doesn't want money in power he believes in god and he believes that following god and being involved in his community is much more important than any amount of money this is why he becomes a thorn in daniel's side daniel cannot persuade him through the usual means kate macer believes in the rule of law and doing everything above board she is a moral person and follows legal structures her partner reggie believes the same thing and as kate dives into the morally gray struggle at the u.s mexico border reggie tries to keep her from falling into the pit all right we're good just don't keep us in the dark all right i'm afraid of the dark matt is a character who has fully embraced the grey morality of this world yet also believes he is fighting for ultimate good he believes the ends justify the means and to take down monsters who don't follow rules you must also abandon some of the rules you follow matt believes in being pragmatic and understanding that the world doesn't always fit into a legal system made by people who are thousands of miles away alejandro has also embraced the grey morality but he isn't like matt he only fights for himself and for revenge alejandro works for anyone who will point him toward the people who made him us them anyone who will turn him loose alejandro isn't concerned with drugs or who controls what city he wants justice for his family and he believes that justice comes by killing the man who murdered them in each of these films each character stands to inform and give deeper conflict to the beliefs that battle at the core of the film the characters hold beliefs and make actions that all sit within the themes of the stories the characters in these films don't just exist to make the world more interesting and they don't simply exist to be allies or to simply create roadblocks for the main character each of the characters push the other characters and the audience deeper into the philosophical conflict at the core of the film finally let's talk about getting an audience to engage with a character some writing books and teachers talk about writing likable characters but likable is such an odd word that's hard to define in the context of creating characters the real way you get audiences to engage with a character is to give them a set of beliefs that make sense from that character's point of view of the world the audience doesn't have to agree with the character but they must be able to understand that character's action in regards to that character's world view empathy is found in understanding in his book the anatomy of story john truby writes to empathize with someone means to care about and understand him so the characters beliefs are the core of creating this empathetic connection but there are other ways to add this connection another way to get an audience to empathize is to attach the audience to the elements of a character that they wish they could be or that they see themselves in sherlock is extremely competent and at first glance seems to be able to hold people at a distance without getting emotionally attached to them these elements engage us with a character early on his high competence is admirable and something we wish we could do not only that but his ability to hold people at a distance may not be a healthy way to live but it's something that many people wish they could do to avoid being hurt this unhealthy element of sherlock can engage the audience with the character because it can be something we sometimes wish we could be gangsters are appealing because of their power and control over their world when you see don corleone and the godfather surrounded by his men or henry and goodfellas walking through a club and getting special treatment it's easy to crave that kind of power and attention and this can engage us with the character we may not agree with their methods of gaining power attention and status but we can't help but be drawn to it and there are some characters that do absolutely nothing to win our love like the joker but end up doing it anyways how at first glance the joker is intelligent strategic funny and seems to be indifferent to the world around him his indifference can resonate with the darker elements of our psyche the parts of us that wish we could just stop caring about anyone except ourselves but what's most important is that the joker engages the audience on a philosophical level the joker doesn't want chaos just because he enjoys it he is trying to imprint his belief system onto gotham and prove to batman that his way of viewing the world is correct see they're morals they're code it's a bad joke dropped at the first sign of trouble they're only as good as the world allows them to be many of us have felt this way we see the systems of morality and law around us and wonder if everyone is just faking it because they've never been truly tested we aren't empathizing with the joker because he's a nice guy we empathize because we think he might be right we understand his motives and sometimes what he's saying can resonate with the more cynical elements of ourselves and there will be blood daniel isn't trying to prove anything to anyone else daniel is a single-minded lone wolf he is a nobody from nowhere who desperately wants success while daniel is cold and dark we can understand his desires and we can at some level understand his contempt for other manipulators such as eli negative emotions and negative beliefs are just as powerful a way to attach an audience to a character as positive emotions use them to your advantage understanding the dark side of your characters and your audience will make your stories better empathy is all about understanding why characters do what they do and getting an audience to stay engaged even if they don't agree with every decision the character makes dramatic characters are built upon beliefs want and need getting an audience to engage with a story is best achieved through creating honest characters that the audience can understand and empathize with whether you want to write a detailed outline or immediately sit down and start writing understanding who your characters are is necessary to start your story in the right direction but how do you write characters that don't change like katniss and daniel and how do you create character change over the course of a story next week i'll be looking at the different types of character arcs and how to use them to build compelling characters so be sure to check out the other videos in this series by clicking the playlist and if you like this video leave a like and subscribe for more videos just like this one

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 208,886

Keywords: film analysis, movie review, tyler mowery, nerdwriter, lessons from the screenplay, every frame a painting, screenwriting, script breakdown, writing, workshop, writing course, teach screenwriting, oscar best screenplay, film school, how to create characters, create characters, the matrix, there will be blood, the hunger games, sicario, learn screenwriting

Id: h6Ylv_7BwjI

Length: 19min 2sec (1142 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 22 2020