Yo Writers! How can I develop great and interesting characters in a short film?

[Lunar_Wolf]

Base them on real people.

 

[Manic]

Base them on real people.

But for god's sake, give them names drastically different from the people you based them off of. You might think it's cute to base your characters off of your friends Mark, Alex, and Rodney and then rename them Mart, Alan, and Ronny, but your friends will figure it out within the first 5 minutes. Then they'll kick your ass.

 

[Cunning Stunts]

Base your characters off Hype members.

As odd as this might sound, this is actually a great idea. I do stuff like this when I write my own screenplays and/or comics: I base them off twisted versions of situations I've witnessed, been a part of, or read/heard about. As for characters, I tend base them off of certain attributes (characters have more room to blossom if you do not base them entirely on one person, plus you can avoid lawsuits more easily this way, as the character won't be as recognizable) my friends or famous people seem to have.

Especially since you're working with criminals, sit down for an extended period of time for each character- give it a day, a week, two weeks, etc., per character- and look up a certain mental illness, or extravagant feature that people might have. Also, you've got to give most, if not all, of them a criminal record. Or, perhaps, go the opposite route (similar to the movie Juice), where all of the characters are new to the criminal world, become overzealous, and mess up the entire situation. In which case, you would have to detail why which characters want to rob the store/bank, why another character may be pushed into it against his own will, why another has other intentions over financial gain. Vastly different characters can create awesome conflicts.

I'm sure you know this rule already, as you're a filmmaker, but keep in mind the reason we find these stories so engrossing: because they're about extraordinary people in extraordinary situations (they might seem ordinary at first, but as the rising action progresses, you'll see the more admirable or disgusting attributes of each character/plot line start to reveal themselves). Again, you're dealing with criminals, so try something like making one of them a newbie on his first criminal act, and the rest are hardened criminals. Perhaps he's the one that causes the botch that forces them to take refuge in the store/bank they're robbing? Perhaps there is one particular nut-job with anger issues who gets mad because a clerk back-talks him, so he cuts one of her hands off? Perhaps there is another who wants this to go as cleanly as possible, but has a certain "tick" that has never been revealed to his cohorts, but the "tick" is triggered, causing him to make the situation go awry.

If you want a great example of a similar situation with a great cast of characters, watch Reservoir Dogs.

Just my two cents. I'm no professional or expert by any means, but this is how I work.

But for god's sake, give them names drastically different from the people you based them off of. You might think it's cute to base your characters off of your friends Mark, Alex, and Rodney and then rename them Mart, Alan, and Ronny, but your friends will figure it out within the first 5 minutes. Then they'll kick your ass.

This can also lead to lawsuits if you depict said people in a light they don't like.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

But for god's sake, give them names drastically different from the people you based them off of. You might think it's cute to base your characters off of your friends Mark, Alex, and Rodney and then rename them Mart, Alan, and Ronny, but your friends will figure it out within the first 5 minutes. Then they'll kick your ass.

I changed my friends name from Bart, to Bort

 

[Manic]

There's this TV show called NCIS about a team of people who investigate crimes within the US Navy. There's a computer forensics guy on the team named Tim McGee who's secretly a best-selling author. He based his characters Tibbs, Tommy, Lisa, Jalmer, and Amy off of his co-workers Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, Palmer, and Abby. About half of the characters were ready to kill him after they found out. Especially Palmer, whose character in the novels was a necrophiliac (in reality, Palmer was secretly using the morgue as a place to have sex with a living co-worker).

 

[Maximus One]

To my knowledge what most writers do when developing characters is basing their personality traits and mannerisms and behavior patterns off either people they know or make character alegories of famous people or historical figures. Using classic Jungian or mythological archetypes works as well.

 

[CelticPredator]

Reservoir isn't that hard of a word

If you aren't good at spelling...might as well quit writing

I us teh spel chek. lol.

 

[CelticPredator]

As odd as this might sound, this is actually a great idea. I do stuff like this when I write my own screenplays and/or comics: I base them off twisted versions of situations I've witnessed, been a part of, or read/heard about. As for characters, I tend base them off of certain attributes (characters have more room to blossom if you do not base them entirely on one person, plus you can avoid lawsuits more easily this way, as the character won't be as recognizable) my friends or famous people seem to have.

Especially since you're working with criminals, sit down for an extended period of time for each character- give it a day, a week, two weeks, etc., per character- and look up a certain mental illness, or extravagant feature that people might have. Also, you've got to give most, if not all, of them a criminal record. Or, perhaps, go the opposite route (similar to the movie Juice), where all of the characters are new to the criminal world, become overzealous, and mess up the entire situation. In which case, you would have to detail why which characters want to rob the store/bank, why another character may be pushed into it against his own will, why another has other intentions over financial gain. Vastly different characters can create awesome conflicts.

I'm sure you know this rule already, as you're a filmmaker, but keep in mind the reason we find these stories so engrossing: because they're about extraordinary people in extraordinary situations (they might seem ordinary at first, but as the rising action progresses, you'll see the more admirable or disgusting attributes of each character/plot line start to reveal themselves). Again, you're dealing with criminals, so try something like making one of them a newbie on his first criminal act, and the rest are hardened criminals. Perhaps he's the one that causes the botch that forces them to take refuge in the store/bank they're robbing? Perhaps there is one particular nut-job with anger issues who gets mad because a clerk back-talks him, so he cuts one of her hands off? Perhaps there is another who wants this to go as cleanly as possible, but has a certain "tick" that has never been revealed to his cohorts, but the "tick" is triggered, causing him to make the situation go awry.

If you want a great example of a similar situation with a great cast of characters, watch Reservoir Dogs.

Just my two cents. I'm no professional or expert by any means, but this is how I work.



This can also lead to lawsuits if you depict said people in a light they don't like.

I like this. A lot. Great advice.

Same with everyone! Thanks! I will start writing in a week or so....i'll post it up here so you can pick it apart.

 

[Paradoxium]

Whilst somewhat unrelated yet related, good post production and sound can make or kill a indy short.

 

[CelticPredator]

Indeed. Indeed.

 

[CelticPredator]

Uh...heres my work. Feel free to crit it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CelticPredator

 

[Cunning Stunts]

You dont need to see the bank robbery because it isnt the main part of the story. Its the event that spawns it. Kinda like Res Dogs (cant spell for **** ok? ).

Just for the sake of avoiding looking like a copycat, I'd at least show what went wrong, if not the whole bank robbery.

 

[CelticPredator]

Maybe in a Alien 3 esq opening? Show many thing happen at once, quick cuts, overlayed with a title sequence?

 

[Cunning Stunts]

Write a number of different possible openings down. A great opening to a movie can engross your viewers from the start, which will immediately give them that, "What's gonna happen next?" feeling. That's always a .

 

[Paradoxium]

Uh...heres my work. Feel free to crit it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CelticPredator

- Invest in a boom pole or make your own
- learn some After Effects
- Don't use copyrighted music, try composing your own or getting someone to do that.
- What camera are you using?

This is what I qualify as a good fan film (500 budget), and they are not film students
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1UPMEmCqZo

 

[Manic]

- Don't use copyrighted music, try composing your own or getting someone to do that.

A continuation of that...

If you have limited or no music skill, look into Sony Acid and Sony's Sound Series. The Sound Series is a bunch of free to use audio samples. They're sometimes grouped into music types. I think there's a Soundtrack disc they sell specifically for scoring movies.

 

[CelticPredator]

I use adobe premiere....I dont like AE.

But yeah, i'm learning how to compose. Obviously this new one will have my own music.

I agree, I need a mike, and I need to invet a Dolly.

The camera I used for the zombie, and western was this...

But the rest i used a camera that i have no idea the name.....

 

[Majic Walrus]

Have talent.

No one said /thread after this? Why did you fail me internet?