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Characters: Creating Characters | ||
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Defining characters by territoryA character's personality at any time is partly dependent upon the situation they find themselves in. Robin Hood survives well in Sherwood Forest because he commands the territory. His skill as an archer and leader might easily get him a good position in the King's army, but the situation would not allow him to exploit his daring and rebel attitudes. Again, Sherlock Holmes would certainly have been employed by the police, but he would not have been allowed to use his methods that sometimes bordered on crime. Sherlock Holmes territory was a conceptual one where he was 'at home' with his own methods. He was also a loner. James Bond is also a loner. One cannot imagine him being part of a team. His pattern of working is based on being fully equipped for all occasions either with his skills or with the various gadgets he has. A character's attitudes at any time are determined by the territory they are in, both physically and conceptually. These are: Home: Anywhere you are confident. In your house, among friends, or familiar territory. Doing the things you know about. Neutral: Where you are off familiar territory but can cope easily with the situation. Hostile: Where you have to be careful about what you are doing or saying. The process of growing up is essentially being able to move further away from our home territory. This is not just location, but 'intellectual territory' as well. We are happier with people who talk about the things we are familiar with and nervous when we are not sure of our ground. We all attempt to define 'our territory' in various ways. By showing that the territory is 'ours' we are able to dominate the situation. A child will say to another "it's my ball, you can't play unless you do as I say." The bully says "I'm the strongest. Do as I say. "The boss says "I'm the higher rank, do as I say." The beautiful woman says "If you want me to be nice to you, then do as I say." It is usually much more subtle than that, but we learn the rules of the pecking order as we go along. When we are on familiar territory we know whom we can boss and whom we must obey. When we venture onto new territory we have to watch how others act to find our position. Characters act according to the nature of the territory they are in at the time. Adventure stories take place in dangerous territories. Horror stories in the realm of unknown territories, science fiction into conceptual territories. The audience learns about the territories by seeing how the characters react.
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Defining characters by performanceA hundred actors could play Hamlet, saying the same words in the same situation, yet everyone does it differently. The director will have cast the actor who performs it best to his interpretation of the scene. To do so, he will have a mental image of what has to come across to the audience. That image of your characters has to be clear in your mind. If you don't have such an image then you will have to search for one. Collect pictures of someone who represents what you want. Try to imagine them in a variety of situations that they might be in. The image has to somehow sum up the character with looks, movement, mannerisms, etc., in such a way that what they do seems natural in the story. ACT THEM OUT. It is most important that you have your characters clear-cut in your head before you go further into other developments.
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Email: stan@makemovies.co.uk. Page last updated:
© 2002-2009 Stan Hayward. All rights reserved.