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Copyright | People's Post and Telecommunications Publishing House Crocodile Knight - Script Creation Strategy and Survival Method
Author | Pen Densham translated | Xu Jingjing
I believe creative actors prefer to play roles that challenge their artistic nature. Despite Mel Gibson's success as an action hero in Mad Max and Lethal Weapon films, he wanted to play Hamlet.
Character tools
"The worst person in the world" or "I like it"
In Hollywood, it's often the reason movie stars make promises to a movie that they get investment. People who lack imagination will keep repeating the same thing. Studios will also repeatedly give movie stars the same type of role. It's possible that this is the role that the actor wants to play, or that this is the role that the studio thinks will sell well.
But the secret: studios compete with each other for these artists. Movie stars are one of the main baits to attract audiences and the box office hope of film studios. In order to attract these movie stars, film studios need to have good stories with brilliant characters. Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for playing an autistic person in Rain Man.
Forest Whitaker won the Oscar for playing an eccentric dictator with extraordinary charisma in The Last King of Scotland. Charlize Theron won the award for playing a tense and mad female killer in Monster. Sean Penn won the Oscar for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, the first politician in American history to openly admit to homosexuality.
So, how do we, as screenwriters, create complex characters that attract great actors? Emotionally rich, more captivating traits, or is this entirely an opportunity for movie stars to spark their nature and create a unique character?
People have different characteristics, and in fact there is no wrong way to describe people. But when we begin to outline the protagonists and villains, we see them as genres before we see them as living people. For me, this also happens a lot, so in order to break the rules, I try to free my mind and emphasize originality and authenticity. I would ask myself questions. Who will be the least obvious and distinctive person to take on this challenge? What's the weirdest world my favorite character is in? What kind of eccentricity, or mutilation, or multiple personalities would make a dull person attractive?
I use a two-way association method, choosing two or more contradictory character types and combining them together: prostitutes must be transformed into detectives. The firefighters decided to go singing a play. The teacher must become a knight. Puppies transform into human form. This can collide with quirky or stunning discoveries.
I made a list of examples of human nature and emotions and tried to brainstorm ideas: incumbents/unemployed vagrants; introverts/extroverts; paranoids/saints (see chapter 16).
I admit to spending a lot of time online and looking for weird things like "the worst guy in the world" or "Top 10 Things I Like About My Friends." I also enjoy reading case studies in psychology. They are important documents of human experience, full of everyday anecdotes from real people, which can open our minds to find new possibilities, render or shape character types into unexpected and real people.
"Although it is true that there is procrastination, I am mainly against the accumulation of databases."
I often look back at the five stages of grief proposed by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross to see if they can help me create real character behavior. Elizabeth decided to study people with terminal terminal illnesses and to comfort and understand the dying patients and the families of those who were about to die. The set of innate emotional stages she proposes seems enduring and essential in helping people face loss and grief.
Rejection - anger - frustration - negotiation - acceptance
They are equivalent to stitching together a roadmap of real reactions, and as screenwriters of fictional stories we need to give realities to a person's reaction to loss, injury, or change. Lovelorn. Someone stole their treasure. Their leader was killed. When characters manage to deal with their situation, we can add complexity, refuse, curse, try to forget... Then start accepting.
It's human nature, and it can also make fantasy or sci-fi stories more believable. If someone is seduced by a ghost or abducted by an alien, no one will immediately accept that these plots are the reality of the moment. We can use some or all five stages to get the character to take the viewer through the phenomenon of exclusion together to finally believe in its authenticity.
When I explore new ideas, I feel a strange sense of hope and fear, and I tell myself that it's important to have fun creating, to think of writing as exploration and discovery—to let the results then come naturally. Sometimes, I wonder if all of this research is a drag, whether I should punish myself or whether it's a valuable time for me to feed the subconscious mind to unearth more complex and interesting human hybrids. While it is true that there is procrastination, I am mainly against the accumulation of databases.
Establish a welcome ceremony in your mind so that the character can speak
Surrender to them and let their voices ring in your ears. Writing smoothly makes you feel like you're being guided, listening to your inner dictation. My imaginary observations of human nature seem to be influenced by my own past pain or heavy emotions. I find that guiding writing is more poetic, insightful, and aware of the human condition.
Don't let your chattering inner criticism demarcate the wrong or right. Don't question how weird, contradictory, crude, or bad the material is. I found myself that during the writing process, the brain was basically unable to judge quality. My principle is that no one can read my work unless I actively choose to share it with others. This idea liberated myself and my personal traits were reflected. Charismatic characters are not shaped by the next norms, but from breaking our limitations.
After that, I was often amazed at how wonderful—even remarkable—my work was. When you liberate yourself and create characters with your heart, you are expressing your original voice. This will be imprinted, its uniqueness, potential and complexity, which other artists aspire to perceive and use to take their skills to a higher level.
"I think your words are poetic. I'm honored to star. ”
As soon as I find my characters, I firmly believe that they will grow and change as the story progresses. Generally speaking, artistically gifted actors will learn about their backstory, the inner monologue of the characters they play. They derive satisfaction from enriching the character's personalities, habits, and emotions. Knot processing generates emotional changes, and establishes the core of emotional logic with a deeper solution that actors take as their foundation.
Luckily, I wrote a character named Ship in the script for Red Dust, which is different from morgan Freeman's previous roles. As a black male servant at a brothel in London in the 17th century, Hip has a rich backstory, having been the lover of the lady boss and now obeying her because she knows enough secrets to hang him. When faced with casting issues, I am an untested director, especially in need of stars, otherwise MGM would not have cast this film.
I asked myself who I would like to work with, and it occurred to me that someone was on my mind. I worked with Morgan Freeman on Robin Hood and felt he was a great artist and a very compassionate man. So my partner John sent the script to Morgan. I still remember getting a call from him. I was well prepared for a polite greeting. Morgan was heard say, "I think your words are poetic. I'm honored to star. You can tell someone about the character Morgan Freeman took. "My heart is about to jump out. It was this call that started my journey to make Red Dust.
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<h1>Crocodile Knight</h1>
<h1>Scriptwriting strategy and survival</h1>
Sketching the whole picture of professional film screenwriters Encouraging creators to write hard and strive for originality Other screenwriting books are the films of theoretical scholars summarizing others This book is the author's summary of his own films
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The Chinese Simplified edition of this book is published and distributed by the People's Post and Telecommunications Publishing House authorized by MICHAEL WIESE PRODUCTIONS, the agent of BIG APPLE AGENCY. No part of this book may be copied or excerpted in any way without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
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