Linda Seger Esquemas
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Transcript of Linda Seger Esquemas
5/17/2018 Linda Seger Esquemas - slidepdf.com
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Creating unforgettable characters
Linda Seger (1990)
5/17/2018 Linda Seger Esquemas - slidepdf.com
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/linda-seger-esquemas 2/21
1. Researching the character
2. Consistencies and paradoxes
3. Creating the back-story
4. Psychology
5. Relationship
6. Supporting and Minor characters
7. Dialogue
8. Non-realistic characters
9. Stereotyping
10. Solving character problems
5/17/2018 Linda Seger Esquemas - slidepdf.com
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1. Researching the character
General research: think about what you already know about itThe context: it shapes your character (historical period, location, culture,
occupation)
Specific research: the news things you have to imagine about itWho, What, Where, When, Why
It paves the way for the imagination
to give the character life
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2. Consistencies and paradoxes
Getting the first idea from observation or experience (author’s identification)
Creating the first broad stroke – physical description (must be evocative and actable)
Finding the core of the character – consistency (predictability)
Finding the paradoxes within the character to create complexity (conflict)
Adding emotion, attitudes and values to further round out
Adding details to make the character specific and unique (imperfections)
Breaking up the character’s soul’s unity
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2. Consistencies and paradoxes
Adding emotion, attitudes and values to further round out
Deepen a character’s humanityemotion
attitudes
values
Opinions, point of view, how it looks at life
Something the character brings into situationsStrong in comedy
Believes, values at stake. The character must
Communicate its values, it doesn’t discuss them
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3. Creating the back-story
Character’s biographyThe information may never be conveyed to the audience
What the actor needs to know to play the scene
The sense memories. It is not important what happened to the character but how he felt about it
You want to get more of the character as you would do whit a new friend
Don’t get stuck with the past: it’s no dramatic (drama happens at the present time)
It helps to keep up the character in unusual or incredible situations
5/17/2018 Linda Seger Esquemas - slidepdf.com
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4. Psychology
Inner back-story
The unconscious
The character types
The abnormal
You have to track down the past inner
experiences of the character
Your character’s behaviour, gesture and speech
come from the unconscious
Knowing types will help you to orchestrate
Conflicts. People usually have greatest conflict
with their opposite
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4. Psychology
The abnormal
Normal behaviour line
maniac
paranoid
psychopath or sociopath
depressive
schizophrenic
Anxiety neurotic
EXTRAVERTEDINTROVERTED
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5. Relationship
The couples: you have to set the qualities for the most sizzle(love affair, friendship, partnership, etc.)
Character have something in common
that brings them together
There is a conflict between the characters and
this provides most of the drama
Characters have contrasting qualities (opposite)
The characters have the potential to transformeach other – for better or for worse
1
2
3
4
CONFLICT
The television series may run for five
to ten year, delaying the resolution of the relationship
In television series changes are
minimal. In films and novelstransformation may be massive
attraction
conflict
contrast
transformation
Drama is essentially relational
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5. Relationship
Midnight Run
Their contrasting qualities include choice of jobs,
relationship to their spouses, moral choices
and even eating
Jack (bounty hunter) Jonathan(bookkeeper)
Fatal attractionDan
Beth Alex
The most workable triangles
occur when each character
exercises wilfulness and
intentionally
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Give further depth, colour and texture to the story6. Supporting and Minor characters
Helps define the role and importance of the protagonist(children for te Mother, Secretary for the CEO, etc.)
Can be a catalyst figure, giving out information that moves the story forward(children for te Mother, Secretary for the CEO, etc.)
Contrasting the character with the protagonistPhysical (heavy and slim), Attitudes (passionate and cold)
They can be similar (occasionally)
They can have their own paradoxes and personalities
They can be character types (instantly recognizable to audiences)
Give them part of your attention. Invent some little details
The function
How to fulfil the function
Details
You must know:
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7. Dialogue
It has a beat, a rhythm, a melody
Tends to be short, and spare (character do not speak for more than two o three lines)
It is like a tennis match (constant exchange of power – sexual, physical, political, social, etc.)
Conveys conflict, attitudes and intentions (do not tell it: reveal it)
It is easily spoken (it makes good actors)
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7. Dialogue
Text
Sub text
The lines spoken by the character into the script
What the character is really saying beneath and between the lines
energy
plot
drama
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7. Dialogue
Bad dialogue
PRODUCER
Well, come in. It is a real
pleasure to meet you. You know, I
liked your script very much – it
is really very good.
YOUNG WRITER
Well, thank you. It is my first
script, and I’m really very
scared about what you’ll think
about it. I’m from Kansas, and I
have never been to a big city
before, and I feel really lucky
to meet someone like you. I have
admired your work for so many years.
PRODUCER
Oh, that is very nice of you to
say that. Let’s talk about making a deal.
wooden
boring
The lines says what they’re thinking
No difference between the characters
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7. Dialogue
There are tens of things to do before you write the dialogue
You have to translate real talk into fictional dialogue (stylized, compressed)
For a good dialogue you must sense the character as an actor does
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8. Non-realistic characters
One-dimensional, they personify one quality.Symbolic character
One dimensional
symbolic characterMulti dimensional
character
Mars Stepford Wives
Everyman
Superman
Batman
Joker
Clark Kent
Bruce Wayne
Scarlet
Rick
Taxi driver
Villains and superheroes are often symbolic characters
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8. Non-realistic characters
Choosing one or two attributes that will begin to definethe identity of the character
Non human character
Most animal characters are likely to not change at all in the story
Emphasizing the associations that the audience brings to
the character in order to expand on this identity
Creating a strong context to deepen the character
The process of associating a quality to a non human character is the same
of the one used in ads for associating a quality to a brand
Most of the strength for the non human character comes from the context
Lassie
Rub Tin Tin
King Kong
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8. Non-realistic characters
Character in magical context Fantasy character
Merlin
Wicked Witch of the West ( Oz )
Mermaid ( Splash )
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8. Non-realistic characters
Must add an understanding of the audience Mythic character
A mythic story represent the meaning in our own lives
You are talking about real heroes
The hero is transformed in the course of his journey
They need enough dimensionality to seem like real
human beings
There must be a sense of mystery (past, dark side, etc.)
The hero is not just a person: he’s an idea.
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9. Stereotyping
Get rid of the stereotypes!Usually you tend to stereotype who is different from you
(ethnic minorities, different sexual orientation, religious groups)
You do not need a stereotype in comedy: you want character type(The character type doesn’t suggest that everyone in a certain group has the same characteristic)
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10. Solving character problems
Some advices for breaking through
– free writing
– hidden agenda
– other person reading
– what if?
– gender switch
You can solve problem if you realize where they come from
Un-likable characters – You must come to a term with your own psychology
Vague character – improve the research and add some details
General problem – it is a story problem, not a character problem