Introducing the Characters without Actually Doing So

[Nick]

Something that I have always admired in some films and television shows (particular those by Joss Whedon) is how he never tells us who the characters are - we learn this and we get our own feelings about the characters, not "This person is the hero and this guy here - he's the villian" like many other shows and movies.What do you think is the best way to write this way? Especially with time restraints in movies where you don't have a series of episodes to explain the characters.

[whistlelock]

Well, I'd advise getting ahold of as many Whedon's scripts as you can to see how he did it.

Then copy the style.

Then adapt it to your own.

[dpaterso]

This is kinda obvious and basic, I know, but characters are defined by their actions, and who they associate with.

Sometimes it's fun to try sketching some scenes without dialogue. Make your characters work for their money. :)

-Derek

[scripter1]

I agree. Define your characters by actions. By the choices they make.
The associations they form. The way they respond to things going on around them.

As far as actually writing them, you do however have to create some short little blurb that introduces the character and gives the actor/reader a starting point to form an opinion.

And to learn how to do that read scripts. Lots and lots of scripts.

[zahra]

James Moran, who wrote 'Severance', says he struggled to intro the geeky guy, but in the end simply wrote that he had a travel pillow. I so see what he means - I mean, real men don't do travel pillows:) - but you've got to be brave enough to trust that someone reading the script will get it. I myself find defining characters in the opening scenes one of the most difficult things in screenwriting ever. I've got the lead in one of my horrors bolting out of a corporate graduate recruitment lunch, then browsing a second-hand bookshop, and cut to her using it to make a wedding present for her dad. The book, the wedding present and the fact her dad's getting married are all germane to the story, but I hope the sequence pinpoints the fact that this woman is impulsive, tends to run away from trouble and is looking for a life less ordinary. Hope.

[clockwork]

A lot of wonderful characterisation can be found in the little things. You have to know what your people are doing at any given moment, particularly when they're not speaking. Are they standing/sitting? Who or what are they looking at? Are they paying attention, looking at their shoes, immersed in listening?

Make a point of highlighting these non-verbal actions from time to time - it could save you bags of setup and create a sense of character you would otherwise have to fudge with two or three lines of dialogue.

ETA - the Severance example is a good one.

[WarrenP]

Are you talking about introducing characters, or building them? Many of the suggestions here are very good, I agree with and use them, but some of them are building techniques, over the course of pages, scenes, and so on... The closest in my mind to a character introduction is the example with the travel pillow, is that more what you had in mind?

My goal (which I find I rarely meet) is to try to describe the introduction of a main character in two words. But this is only if I find that I'm not in a position to build the character over the course of sequences, etc... Bare with me for a moment.

If I have a character who is an accountant, for a quick example, that alone is boring. I need to find a way to not only make him more interesting, but make the reader want to know about him. so, how in two words, can I describe him, accurately, and make the reader want to know more?

Ex-con accountant? Mafia accountant? Corporate accountant? Reluctant beancounter? And so on.. now these help, but they are still weak. Next I'll try to add a bit more layer, but something about him personally, along with the job-thing. These might (emphasis added!) be more interesting to the reader:

Ex-surfboard-champion accountant? Skydiver accountant? Autistic accountant? Hippie accountant? Prodigy accountant? Religious accountant? If the personality injection isn't working, then I might take it to a descriptive line. However, I'm in the action and show camp, I only do this when it "feels" right, as I am a big believer in the "if it's not on the screen, don't put it on the page" ideology. So, these are rare, as in I could probably count them on one hand from hundreds and hundreds of characters.

But, the rules are made to be broken, so do what feels right on that. it can be fixed later anyway. Here is the introduction of Neil McCauley, from Heat:

"A bus pulls in on Beverly. NEIL McCAULEY and a nurse get off. Neil carries a paper bag and wears pants like a hospital attendant. Neil is an ice-cold professional: very big, very tough. At 42 his short black hair is graying. he spent eight years in McNeil and three in san Quentin. He got out and hit the streets in 1987. Four of the McNeil years were spent in the hole. Neil's voice is street, but his language is precise, like and engineer's. He's very careful and very good."

A good character introduction (and the other intros are the same), but one that would get cut and ripped apart on most boards, and in most books, because you can't film it.

As far as Joss, I've only watched Serenity, so I may not have the best grasp of his work, but I thought the hero and villian roles were very clearly told to us right away.

HTH

[zahra]

Warren, I know what you mean. I think we all would prefer the 'two words' intro that nails the guy right there. And then, of course, you build and layer to buggery. Opening with an action scene and having each character react in his own way/with his own comment is one I see a lot. I liked the opening of 'The Game' (bored spitless by the rest of it) with Michael Douglas in his office. I think the real nailer of him and his life was that when one of his minions wished him Happy B'Day, his assistant was the one who answered, 'Thank you.' What a way to show an insulated, isolated, powerful, lonely guy! The rest of the intro was good, also, but pretty much standard. The Happy Birthday bit me.

[zahra]

[quote=clock_work9;1318537]A lot of wonderful characterisation can be found in the little things. You have to know what your people are doing at any given moment, particularly when they're not speaking. Are they standing/sitting? Who or what are they looking at? Are they paying attention, looking at their shoes, immersed in listening?

Make a point of highlighting these non-verbal actions from time to time - it could save you bags of setup and create a sense of character you would otherwise have to fudge with two or three lines of dialogue.


Absolutely right.