Study Task 4: Essay Synopsis and Quotes

Characters make a story. Without great characters a story will fall apart. We as an audience need strong characters to connect to. That doesn't necessarily mean the character(s) have to be physically or emotionally strong, however they do need to be fleshed out so that we can really understand and empathise with their person, making the narrative memorable. The viewer need to know the character, and to really know someone takes time to grow with them as they develop. So how does strong character development aid viewer investment in a narrative? That is what I will be exploring in this essay,

My core researches sources are:

Story By Robert McKee

'We cannot ask which is more important, structure or character, because structure is character; character is structure. They're the same thing, and therefore one cannot be more important than the other' p.100

'TRUE CHARACTER is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature' p.101

'Pressure is essential. Choices made when nothing is at risk mean little' p.101

'Choice under pressure will strip away the mask of characterisation, we'll peer into their inner natures and with a flash of insight grasp their true characters'

Developing Characters for Script Writing By Rib Davis

The protagonist - and where possible other major characters as well - must develop through the script, and the means of that development taking place is conflict.

We allow the audience to learn about our character from what they say about each other and from what they say about themselves, but most of all we learn from the choices they make.

Aaron Sorkin Teaches Screenwriting (Masterclass)

Intention and Obstacle. That’s what creates friction and tension, and that’s what drama is. If you don’t have that, then it’s journalism.

My ideas in terms of case studies are to look into the character development in Breaking Bad, since there is already a lot written about that because of it's critical acclaim. Then, using that, I really want to do my own analysis of the character development in Black Sails as this doesn't have as much written about it due to it being a bit more off the radar. However I personally believe the character development in Black Sails is stronger and so I want to evidence that myself.

In my practical research I will be showing the physical side of character development. How the internal character changes manifest into an external appearance. I will show characters like Walter White, Captain Flint, Long John Silver, Tyrion Lannister and Jamie Lannister as they all have quite significant changes to their appearance as their character changes.

Study Task 2: Reading and Understanding Texts

The text that I read for my subject was Robert McKee's Story. This is a very definitive book on the craft of storywriting. I specifically read the sections about character in which he makes some very interesting and useful points.

'True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.'

This will be a really good and useful quote. In this section he was pointing out the difference between characterisation and true character. He is saying how all characters have the key observable qualities and then who they really are as a person. Their decisions under pressure show the audience what they are really like. And when other characters and they acknowledge it, that is when they develop from it.

'The finest writing not only reveals true character, but arcs or changes that inner nature, for better or worse, over the course of the telling.'

This quote stresses the importance of character arcs to make the writing of a much higher standard. This all links to my theme very well since it is talking specifically about how characters need to arc and that it can be for better or worse. The characters I will be looking at (Walter White, Long John Silver, ect.) are not what we would class as good people. They go down rather destructive paths and become darker. McKee's point about revealing true character implies that this dark nature was there all along, it just took the pressure of a situation to force the character to reveal it.

Study Task 3: Images and Theory

How strong character development creates viewer investment in the narrative?

This question allows me to really explore the parts of character writing that I really want to be able to craft myself. I can also look into audience investment and engagement with narrative in general and in relation to characters specifically. 

There have been a few things I've been gradually researching into, the main one at the moment is a video masterclass by Aaron Sorkin. He talks about a great many tips, tricks and formula's to writing stories and characters. In one part he spoke about the fundamental base of drama being intention and obstacle. He talks in great detail about how every character needs to be moving for something and there needs to be something else, no matter how small, stopping them from doing so and that is the basis of writing a drama. From this, good character development will ultimately be when there are multiple events of intentions and obstacles, and these events make the character change the way they would try to overcome them. This is a good springboard idea as it is very simple yet very relevant. 

Some keywords to do with the idea of character development are:
Emotion
Connection
Growth
Evolution
Change
Strengthening
Adapting
Familiarity
Arcs


John Silver - Black Sails
Rick Grimes - The Walking Dead

Tyrion Lannister - Game of Thrones

Jamie Lannister - Game of Thrones

Walter White - Breaking Bad