BSA 204 W7 : Character Development, Action and Objectives

Development and character arcs aren't exactly the same, development is the journey from the start to finish, the arc is a broader overview of where the character is at point A and where they're at at point B.

A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------B

There's also the term "growth", which as I understand it is more of an upward change where they end up in a better place that they started in.

They don't have to become "better" by the end of the film as long as they learn a lesson and change by the end of the film.

There's a loop in storytelling where a character informs action and action informs character, and so on. There could also be a third element to this equation, that being values - which could inform character and could be changed by actions.

There are two things motivating our characters:

External Objectives ("Outer Want")

Internal Objectives ("Inner Need")

The use of need and want display that the internal need is more important than the outer want, they can be both achieved at the same time (hearkening back to last week's stakes intersecting), in Star Wars for example where Luke achieves his outer want (destroying the death star) and at the same time fulfills his inner need (to follow in his father's footsteps).

There is something that Patrick coins as a Lose-Win Character Arc, where the character loses at their external objective but satisfies their internal need, like Rocky. Or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he loses the holy grail but connects with his dad, and what we looked at last year with Little Miss Sunshine.

These films feel more realistic in a way. I've noticed this trend before but had a hard time describing it then, to me these types of movies were always bittersweet films, a term I think perfectly describes the nature of the emotion present.

Movies like Nebraska (2013), La La Land (2017) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

It can also be very unsatisfying if a character achieves their outer want but not their inner need.

We did an activity in class where we had to create a Lose-Win scenario:

1. Devise a protagonist

Sabbath

Born into a cult where men hunt bears, he finds himself the victim of a poor genetic makeup and feels weak. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Tangible short term objective

Kill the bear

3. Potentially long term objective

Wants to become independent - his own man / Be accepted by his father

4. A Location

The Woods, wooden village in middle of the woods

5. Establish an antagonist (gender/occupation/background) at this location with a competing external objective


Viktor Brutus (his Dad) / The Bear

6. Develop the conflict

He goes out to kill the bear, he doesn't do as well as the other kids, he finds a bear - it's a mother bear - it has cubs. He considers killing the cubs, can't do it, the mother bear wakes up and attacks him. Injured, he scales a tree and hides there - I don't know what exactly happens but he forms a friendly relationship with the bear and takes it back to town.

7. Resolve the conflict: what concession/sacrifice does your protagonist make in their pursuit of their external objective/outer want that ultimately fulfils their internal objective/inner need?

He comes back to town, riding a bear - naturally - and kills his dad - with the bear, naturally - and then says "I'm my own man now".

8. Create a Beat Sheet

We didn't get the time to get past beat 4 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Patrick also mentioned this general:

Pyrrhus of Epirus
---->I'll look it up later