As of now, I am working on a script that switches between the perspectives of three different characters. How should I approach this? How long should I show each character doing what they do? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I would say that's a judgement call. You have to write what feels right to get the point across, you know?
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Bruce Campbell - "So you want to get into show biz?"
Me - "Yeah, I'd really like to direct movies."
Bruce Campbell - "Cool. Just don't suck."
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Bruce Campbell - "So you want to get into show biz?"
Me - "Yeah, I'd really like to direct movies."
Bruce Campbell - "Cool. Just don't suck."
The main thing is not to leave any single character out so long that the audience forget about them :). That may not seem likely in a movie that's only ninety minutes long, but I've seen movies before where a character appears at the start and reappears almost at the end and I'd completely forgotten about them until then.
Of course if it's a 'twist in the tail' kind of script that might be deliberate :).
quote:
Me - "Yeah, I'd really like to direct movies."
Have you really met Bruce Campbell?
How to switch between alternate stories? I'd say a perfect example of this is Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction is a movie that is very episodic in nature, and usually a new segment can be introduced with something as obvious as an actual Chapter Title popping up, or just finding an interesting segue by introducing the next character into the older character's life and lead it from there.
Watch the movie for more pointers.
My thinking would be to write the amount of time each character needs to tell the story. Yeah that doesn't help but you don't want to puff out a character with boring crap in order to have similar length sections. It's better to simply make sure the characters are very distinct. Distinct in the looks of the actors, the characterization of the characters, and even the clothes they wear.
A character with tatoos, a mohawk and a cross scared into his forehead will not be mistaken for a blonde prom queen with issues keeping her clothes on. A black character who swears ever other word will not be mistaken for a pale geek who stutters and apologizes for saying "Dang". An old man who wears yellow will not be mistaken for a teenager that always wears black.
Sometimes your theme helps these decisions, othertimes it's obvious, occasionally you might have to really work at it.
An example of a tough situation that could serve as an example would be a war movie. All characters tend to be male, of similar age, identical clothing and haircut, and usually foul mouthed. Watch a few war movies and watch how they manage to work with characterization. Watch the LONGEST DAY juggle literally dozens of characters and manage to make it work. If they can do it on a war movie you can do it on a non-war movie.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
It also helps to hire recognizable actors. Hollywood gets away with a lot because nobody confuses Tom Sizemore and George Clooney despite some physical similarities. Yeah that's probably not an option on most films but I thought it worth mentioning.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
I think that mentioning the difference between characters is very important, if they are similiar in appearance then the audience may find it confusing and hard to follow, but if the actors are physically different, be it hair color, race, physical size this will help the audience see the different characters in a short film.
Ross
Marshfield MA, USA
Ross
Marshfield MA, USA
