How to Create Dramatic Characters

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 this is the first video and a two-part series I'm doing on creating characters today I want to explain the fundamental building blocks of creating characters and in the next video we'll be looking in depth at the different types of character arcs and exceptions to the rules let's start by looking at how to build dramatic characters first let's talk about a character's want a want is the characters visible goal and it's what makes up the events of the plot the want is external and the audience is usually aware of what a character wants maybe the character wants to become a great musician maybe she wants to kill the alien on her ship maybe he wants to figure out whether or not someone is guilty or maybe he wants to stop feeling the pain of a past relationship the one is opposed by the external forces of antagonism in whiplash Fletcher puts Andrew through all sorts of intense pressure Andrew wants to become a truly great musician so he continues to fight as hard as he can through everything Fletcher throws at him in Alien the xenomorph moves through the ship ripping crewmembers to pieces ripley must find and kill it if she is going to survive in 12 Angry Men almost all of the members of the jury are ready to deliver a guilty verdict so they can just be finished with jury duty juror 8 must convince them to take the trial seriously and take a good look at the evidence 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 without character want 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 one 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 need is what the character must discover about themselves or the world to become complete balanced or whole km Weiland 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 and that need comes from the lie your character believes this lie is what stops the character from achieving what they truly need to become complete in whiplash Andrews lie is that he believes becoming a great musician will give him true purpose and meaning in life an eternal sunshine of the spotless mind joles lie is that he believes totally erasing the memory of a relationship is better than dealing with the pain after it ends Wilin rights 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 so while Andrew focuses on being the greatest musician he possibly can be and Joel tries to save his memory of Clementine these external goals will not make the characters whole as they believe their need can only be fulfilled by learning the truth in stories where the main character goes through positive change their need will be hidden from them as they try to solve the problem by getting what they want Weiland writes your protagonists inner conflict is all about this silent war between his Blunt and his need but it's also the gasoline and 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 one in need are intertwined the characters want is usually a symptom of whatever is missing inside of the character there are many stories in which it characters want changes a character can have a different immediate want in each scene while working towards his or her ultimate want in whiplash Andrews ultimate want remains the same to become a great musician however in each scene he has a different one that works as a smaller goal on the way to the larger one Andrew wants to get in to Fletcher's band after he gets in Andrew wants to become the main drummer when his spot on the band is challenged Andrew wants more than anything not to lose it to a lesser drummer your character can also make major changes in their ultimate want in Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind joel initially wants to remove his memory of Clementine but once the process has begun his want for the rest of the story changes now he wants to save his memories of Clementine a character can be confronted by multiple different forces of antagonism which change his or her specific want however if your character goes through change the overarching need is usually the same from beginning to end throughout the entire story Joel's need is to realize that relationships are a natural beautiful part of life even though people aren't perfect in whiplash Andrews need is more complex and not entirely obvious this is something I'll cover in depth when talking about character arcs and part two so now that we have an understanding of these two fundamental building blocks of dramatic character let's talk about how to get an audience engaged and interested in your particular character the word likeable has been overused in screenwriting circles instead of using likeable I'm going to use the word engaging a character is engaging when we are interested in his or her struggle and want to know what will happen next one way to engage an audience with a character is to give that character or personality traits that endear us to him or her Paddington is friendly helpful considerate and positive Captain America is brave never gives up and puts the lives of others before his own if you are building a traditional protagonist many of these positive character traits can help the audience engage with a character but this doesn't work for all types of characters giving a character endearing or positive characteristics doesn't necessarily mean we will care for them if that were the case why do we initially engage with Sherlock Holmes why do we engage with gangsters and mob bosses audience engagement doesn't come from singing character do something nice or admirable it comes from seeing a part of ourselves in that character or seeing something we want to be this is empathy in his book Anatomy a story John Truby writes to empathize with someone means to care about and understand him one of the ways to get an audience to empathize is to attach the audience to elements of a character that they see themselves in or wish they could be 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 in my herbal and something we wish we could do not only that with 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's something we sometimes wish we could be gangsters are appealing because of their power and control over their world when you see Don Corleone in The Godfather surrounded by his men or Henry in Goodfellas walking through a club getting special treatment from everyone it's easy to crave that kind of power and attention this can engage us with the character but there are some characters that do absolutely nothing to win our love like the Joker but end up doing it anyways how does this happen at first glance the Joker is intelligent strategic funny and is completely indifferent to the world around him his indifference can resonate with the darker elements of our psyche the part of us that wishes 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 prove to Batman that his way of viewing the world is correct you see there involves there it's a bad joke we've dropped at the first sign of trouble 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 darker elements of ourselves in Nightcrawler Lou isn't trying to prove a particular worldview to the audience but we still empathize with him Lou is an outcast he's a loser who's trying desperately to become successful so what'd he say I could start tomorrow or even why not tonight no we know how it feels to be trying our best at something yet still get constantly rejected so when Lou begins to become successful we may not approve of his actions but we feel vindicated watching him win negative emotions are just as powerful away to attach an audience to a character as positive emotions use them to your advantage understanding the dark side of your audience will make your character stronger 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 want and need getting an audience to engage with the story is best achieved through creating characters that the audience can understand and empathize with external plot and internal character journey will only be great if you have done the work to create strong dramatic characters with once and needs 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 great characters that don't change like Paddington and Lou and what is Andrews need in whiplash does he really discover a truth at the end of the film and part two I'll dive deeper into these questions as I'll be taking a look at the different types of character arcs and how to use them to build compelling characters hello and thanks for watching if you're a screenwriter I'd like you to join the writers room it's a Facebook group for screenwriters to connect give and receive feedback and encourage one another and the writing process I hope to see you there what did you think of this video let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for part 2 coming soon [Music]

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 376,153

Rating: 4.9826021 out of 5

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, creating characters, how to write characters, creating dramatic characters, dramatic characters masterclass, screenwriting masterclass, whiplash, the dark knight, charlie kaufman, km weiland, john truby, behind the curtain

Id: 4BxfV1sBRJs

Length: 11min 18sec (678 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 18 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/AugustKellerWrites]

“What’s my motivation”

[u/jeffislearning]

Good stuff especially the last bit by Kaufman.

[u/GeorgePantsMcG]

Who is this guy? A screenwriter? Has he written anything?

[u/sometimesimscared28]

!remindme

[u/thebitterdictator]

!remind me

[u/Loves2Spludge]

I've never understood why Harmon gets credited with this story circle thing when it's basically Joseph Campbells 'Heroes Journey'? Has he stated that he invented this or is it just people misunderstanding where it came from originally and Harmons never taken credit for it? Or am I just being completley ignorant here?