Star Wars: Creating Unforgettable Supporting Characters

the Star Wars universe a place that contains some of the most rich and memorable characters to ever hit the big screen some of the most iconic adventures of a generation took place within this fictional world and it all started with one movie George Lucas's Star Wars the original Star Wars films seemed so enormous yet they only go to one planet a moon and a Space Station this movie created an entire universe and only 121 minutes how did it seem so much bigger one of the reasons Star Wars feels so large is because of its diverse number of supporting characters the supporting characters in the film help bring the universe to life and were a major component in creating the illusion of massive scale so how do you create memorable supporting characters today I want to look at some of the attributes of great supporting characters and how the original Star Wars film use these attributes to its advantage one of the most important things you need to do is to give your character at least one defining characteristic choosing just one important characteristic is usually the best way to go because if you add too much depth you can take away from the story this could be a specific personality trait or it could be something like an exaggerated physical feature Star Wars does this in many areas across the film Admiral Maudie is quickly shown to be arrogant in content this station is now the ultimate power in the universe this makes him stand out against the generally forgettable Admirals around the table what Sears him into our minds is when he begins to badmouth Vader and Vader promptly puts him in his place mati is characterized by one specific character trait arrogance he is purposefully a one-dimensional character because he only exists to further our understanding of Darth Vader this scene shows the audience how Vader deals with insubordination and how much power he has over the leading members of the Empire second give your characters a distinct way of communicating or speaking nothing is more boring than characters that all sound the same even if your story takes place in a small geographical location people always sound different some talk fast so I'm talking long drawn-out sentences some people barely say two words some have thick accents Star Wars takes this to the next level many of the characters don't even speak languages we can understand Garen dn't is the Imperial spy who sends the stormtroopers after our heroes on Tatooine not only does Garen didn't have a distinct look he also has a very distinct language the audience must decipher what he is saying only by the actions made by him and the characters he is around third giving their character a place makes them feel real attaching a supporting character to a place means you have to spend less time using dialogue to explain character if they are always seen in a particular atmosphere then conclusions can be made about the type of character they are the best example of this in Star Wars is the most Eisley cantina the people within the cantina give us a snapshot of the world of Star Wars contained in a single building space pirates moisture farmers musicians smugglers they're all here more importantly it's a place they would all be it gives each of these characters depth even if we only see them in a single shot but it also gives us a glimpse of the galaxy all of these characters are from somewhere else they all seem as though they could tell stories for hours and yet very few of them interact with our main characters forth creating minor characters that serve as small barriers to your main character can be crucial these characters don't even have to be related to the main antagonist of the story what they do is add small amounts of pressure to the main character these situations can reveal how the main character acts in moments of conflict do they act irrationally and get angry diesel do they take annoyances in stride do they act like these annoyances don't exist Star Wars uses this type of supporting character more than anything else in fact right after Han Solo finishes talking to Ben and Luke we see him in a situation with one of these small antagonistic characters Greedo Greedo finds Han because Han owes Jabba the Hutt a lot of money and now Greedo is here to collect the bounty this interaction shows us that Han is a morally grey character he is prone to lying and his word doesn't seem to mean much to him when Han agree to sit down at the table we learn even more han keeps the conversation moving just so he can get to his blaster once he does that he finishes the conversation han knows how to handle people for good or for bad and he knows how to get himself out of a bad situation even if he isn't prepared these revelations about Hans character healthy audience understand why he makes certain decisions later in the film and the stakes are higher and the same Cantina Luke has an altercation with two characters at the bar which ends in Ben having to plot his lightsaber and defuse this situation the audience gains more knowledge about how Luke handles conflict and the protective nature of Ben Kenobi this moment also helps to solidify the relationship between Luke and Ben v some supporting characters exist to give the main character and emotional attachment just as you can use supporting characters as small antagonists you can also use supporting characters to show how the main character deals with people he or she loves Luke loves his aunt and uncle and he is loyal to them but at the same time he struggles with his uncle take these two over to the garage buddy I want him cleaned up for dinner he won't abandon them yet he is always looking further looking towards other adventures when they die it releases Luke's ties to Tatooine and strengthens his resolve against the Empire sixth supporting characters can also be used to attach the audience to a person or group of people the Jawas are a great example of supporting characters that combine outstanding physical traits with one personality trait they interact heavily with our main characters in the beginning and helped us understand Luke's home planet we spent a large amount of time with the Jawas compared to other minor characters our attachment to the childlike mannerisms of the jaw was further our distaste for the Empire when they are slaughtered seven create an origin story for the character keep in mind this can go poorly very quickly there needs to be a balance between too much information and too little also keep in mind that film is all about showing a character through action not spitting out large amounts of expositional dialogue if you can reveal a character's backstory in their actions towards main character then you're well on your way to creating a memorable supporting character right before the climax of the film Luke reconnects with an old friend from back home Biggs I got stories to tell you they have a short chat and it becomes clear that Biggs and Luke both dreamed of going to the rebellion together Biggs went first and Luke finally caught up this small encounter shows how long Luke has been interested in the rebellion and gives a glimpse of the type of people he was associated with all of these points can help create wonderful supporting characters but the most important thing to remember is that supporting characters only exist to support the plot and main characters if they do not do that in some way then they should be pulled from the story no matter how interesting they may seem the intelligent and specific use of supporting characters created the illusion of massive scale for Star Wars and helps pave the way for future sequels at the end of this film its audience was hungry for so much more this was just a small piece of the universe of possibilities that Star Wars had to offer and we've kept going back ever since thanks for watching

Channel: Tyler Mowery

Views: 13,059

Rating: 4.9731545 out of 5

Keywords: star wars, screenplay, character development, tyler mowery, causbury, film analysis, the nerdwriter, every frame a painting, film-drunk love, lessons from the screenplay, seven tips, videography, cinematography, film school, tutorial, education

Id: bL3CLhZwlcc

Length: 8min 14sec (494 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 28 2016