Collaboration: Film Lecture 5 - Storytelling and Character Depth

 Plot vs Story

*Do the events cause the characters to respond or do the characters cause the events?*

Speed - A film that is more plot based.

Twelve Angry Men - Based more on the story then plot.

Rambo: First Blood (1982) is a story driven by character depth, bringing up the internal vs external struggles.

Rambo 3 is a story driven by action, losing the character depth.

Generism - Generic characters are not captivating and will not hold a audience. Examples of this is the storm troopers and the crew of Star Trek. Who are the Storm Troopers? 

Character Depth

Backstory - everything we know about the character before we meet them. This can be accent, clothing, etc. does the audience need to know everything about the character?

Origin Story - the events that causes them to evolve to who they are now. 

learning about the inside and outside a character is good for character building. Whats is on the inside can be opposite of what is on the outside. 

The Outside vs The Inside =  The characters is insecure about their weight - baggy clothes on the outside.

Flaws - These can define a character. 

 - Minor flaws such as fears, behaviors and emotional hang ups. 

 - Major flaws can lead to a hero's downfall and a hero has to overcome. 

 - Tragic flaws in a exceptional character that will bring them to their downfall and won't let go.

Characters Wants and Needs:

A want is the goal of the films protagonist, the need is the overcoming of internal struggles.

Characters dropped into worlds will inherit the world rules around them. Batman is a crime fighter to solve the crime problem of Gotham City, but if he wasn't batman who would he be? would he become a criminal to fit into the world dynamics?

The background/environment can also seen as a character, they can take on emotional traits.

Objects can also do the same thing, growing to become a character - Wilson from Cast Away (Wilson is the externalization of his inner monologue).

Protagonist and antagonists should be opposite but equal in status. 

Characters change as they go thought their journeys, leading to character arcs. These arcs lead to all characters of the story to having a emotional growth. Although, they change throughout the film, when they go into a scene they should change though out that scene. No character goes into a scene flat and leaves flat.

To help gain a sense of character, we can take a photo of a person and see where we go in developing them. This can help create unique personas and world building.

Flushed Away

  

  An adventure based animation with equal plot to story, Flushed Away follows the journey of Roddy James and Rita Malone as they make their way though the London sewers. Both starting with their own goals, they end up finding companionship in each other and overcoming the dastardly deeds of Mr Toad and his flunkies.

  Our main protagonist is Roddy the Rat. A pampered pet from a rich home, he has no-one to call his friend or family. Giving us his backstory in the opening scenes, its made obvious that he has been modelled around a love for spy films and a lavish life style. Seen cruising around in his car, its notable that his entourage of doll-like friends do not give him the fulfilment he needs in battling his loneliness. On seeing Rita's large family, he is first flummoxed by their outlandish behaviour and close-knitted relationships, but grows enjoys their company. This means his inner want is to gain companionship and to be accepted.

  In terms of Roddy's origin story, its all starts with the arrival of Syd the sewer rat. Seemingly disgusted by him, Roddy made the fatal error of trying to rid of him by tricking him into the "supposed" Jacuzzi. This lead to our protagonist being flushed away himself. Roddy's longing for company is not enough to forgot about his own personal hang ups against the sewer class, seeing Syd as too much of a ruffian to be his friend. As Roddy changes in his journey, he gives up his lavish lifestyle to become a part of the sewer clan, loosing his posh persona and showing growth in his humility.

  Being the embodiment of his upbringing, Roddy is styled to dress in a suit and combed back hair (replication of James Bond). He speaks in a posh tone but has a cowering personally. In meeting Rita, her street wise personality and courage rubs off on him, helping him to overcome his fears and hang-ups. His way of dressing doesn't change too much over the course of this feature (apart from loosing his jacket), which keeps his connections to his origins.

  Our villain is known as The Frog (called the boss by his minions), is a lot like our protagonist. He has a posh personality and believes himself better then others, this comes down to his seemingly once royal connections. Toad is a show-off, collecting trinkets to extenuate his "riches and class". His hatred comes from being cast away as a young frog by his royal "companion", being replaced by a rat and forming a personal vendetta. His outer desires is to become the ruler of the sewers and replace the rat population with his own spawn. However, like Roddy, Toad's inner wants is nothing more then be loved and to be accepted. 

 Toad comes across as overpowering at first to Roddy. He is the big powerful overlord of the slums that threatens anyone who opposes him and has a small horde of cronies to do his bidding. But, when looking closely at these two characters, we can tell they are on equal grounds. Nether has powers that gives one advantage over the other and both have similar traits in personality/ desires.

  This films secondary character, Rita, is the representation of a street wise adventurer. She is tough, quick witted and will take danger head on to reach her goals. To begin with, she is resentful of Roddy. Being polar opposites, Rita has her own hang ups about the class hierarchy between them, her only agreeing to help him for her own personal gain. As the story evolves, she softens to him. She accepts him for who he is and helps him to grow as a individual. Her outwards want is to gain riches, but her inner want is to find a better life for her family.

Rita's boat, the "Jammy Dodger" has its own personality. It's a chugging fishing boat that seems to reflect Rita's rough and ready upbringing, acting as a extension of her personality. The house of Rita's family is the same, taking on the rocking of the boat she loves so much. The arm that is attached to the "Jammy Dodger" allows a form of communication, bringing a likable connection for the audience.