Title: Creating Original Characters, Themes, and Visual Metaphors for Your Digital Short Film | Creating Powerfully Original Characters | Peachpit
Headings: Creating Original Characters, Themes, and Visual Metaphors for Your Digital Short Film
Creating Original Characters, Themes, and Visual Metaphors for Your Digital Short Film
This chapter is from the book
Creating Powerfully Original Characters
Creating Active Characters
Defining Characters
Writing Exercise 2.1
Project 2.1
Project 2.2
Movie Note
Movie Note
What Does Your Character Want and Need?
Writing Exercise 2.2
NOTE
NOTE
Creating Theme Goals for Your Characters
Writing Exercise 2.3
Project 2.3
Theme Goal Brainstorming Chart
Theme Goals Determine the Climax
Project 2.4
Project 2.5
Creating Mutually Exclusive Plot and Theme Goals
Creating Character Identification
Writing Exercise 2.4
Types of Flaws
Movie Note
Superhero Qualities
Project 2.6
Project 2.7
NOTE
Writing Exercise 2.5
Creating a Character History
Writing Exercise 2.6
Developing Psychological Profiles
Project 2.8
Project 2.9
Writing Exercise 2.7
What Is Your Character Afraid Of?
Ways To Show Characters Overcoming Fears
Types of Fears
Ways a Character Might Overcome a Fear
Project 2.10
Writing Exercise 2.8
NOTE
Adding Universal and Unique Qualities
NOTE
Project 2.11
Incorporating Unique Qualities
Questions to Consider for Unique Qualities
Project 2.12
Writing Exercise 2.9
Creating a Backstory
Writing Exercise 2.10
Characters Making Tough Choices Visually
Project 2.13
Project 2.14
Project 2.15
Incorporate Character Contradictions
Creating Strong and Revealing Character Reactions
Project 2.16
Project 2.17
Character Traits
"The Goldman Five" Character-Trait System
Character-Trait Chart
Project 2.18
Character Trait Chart
NOTE
Writing Exercise 2.11
NOTE
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Content: Characters are defined through their choices, actions, and reactions. Recognize that every character creates his or her own situations (plot) from the externalizations of his or her inner world (character). What a character does is more important than what a character says. Characters need action and behavior to show us who they are. Guidance is good to have bestowed upon your characters, but do not have them become puppets of outside forces. They must act for themselves to show us who they are and what they think is important enough to fight for against heavy opposition. You can define character in three ways, listed here in order of importance: Action. Observing how they react to situations by what they do. Dialogue.