I've been burying my head in revising the movie script for the past two months. There is only one goal: to make the characters vivid, true and lovely.
The following are 13 personal notes that I groped in the dark. It was not taught by the master, nor was it tested by the market. So it is possible, capable, right, wrong, right!
1. What do you think of your role?
This is a question that needs to be thought over first.
What do you like about TA? Did the audience see it?
What do you hate about him? Did the audience see it?
What attitude do you want to take to describe him? Is this how the script is written now?
Ask yourself more directly and nakedly: Do you have true feelings? Did you put yourself in the character's heart? Do you love TA? Are you moved?
If you don't think this question well, nine times out of ten, you will forget it, make the fatal mistake mentioned at the end of the article, and treat the role as a person.
Understand the role
The process of going deep into the play is the process of cultivating feelings with the characters and gradually understanding TA. Uncover TA's life a little bit and understand ta's psychology a little bit.
Take the character I wrote this time as an example (with a prototype)—
At first, I heard his anecdotes and was deeply shocked by his omnipotence. Then I began to think, what kind of person is he?
I was puzzled when I heard that he was rich and young, but he insisted on being single. Obviously, he can live a chic life in another traditional sense. Why not?
Then I chatted with him, and gradually understood his world outlook and way of thinking, and at the same time felt his inner obstacles.
I began to feel contradictory: on the one hand, I thought he was having a good time, but it was actually quite good; On the other hand, I am anxious for him and want to help him out of the closed life;
I think this gradual and in-depth cognitive process should also be reflected in the play, so that the audience, like me, will be curious, confused and understand the role and eventually sing.
Gradually, when you know the role to a certain extent, you will feel that he is in front of you, and you know what TA will do and say. For you, TA is real, whether there is a prototype or not. What you introduced is not a virtual character, but a friend around you.
3. A porter of a good story
When I interviewed the role prototype, I found many surprising truths, and the details were vivid and infectious, which exceeded the imagination of the screenwriter.
Even, I think writers are just porters of good stories. People who don't do field work bet their "treasure" on their talents. This is extremely risky, because genius is rare.
The real genius screenwriter is the reality itself.
If there is no prototype, you can imagine having friends with similar roles around you. For example, if you want to write about obsessive-compulsive disorder, think about what your obsessive-compulsive friends will do.
4. Have a stable and clear world outlook
Generally speaking, the protagonist's personality and world outlook need to be distinct and full of existence, so that the audience can clearly perceive his position.
The ideal effect is that in a specific situation, the audience can predict the choice of roles. For example, Du is stubborn and proud. When he was bullied by the Japanese army and threatened with death, we can basically guess that he would not give in easily. At this moment, the play came into being-what will happen if he doesn't surrender?
If you set a situation (such as tempting and threatening with a lot of money), but you don't know how your role will be chosen, it means that his worldview is not clear enough.
Often ask yourself if you can predict the choice of roles, which is the way to test whether the roles are clear.
Give me the best example of taking a clear stand-
On the right side, the bitch is greedy for money and lustful, unscrupulous and loyal to the cold law;
The heroine of the morning drama on the left is gentle, simple and kind;
Their conflicting ideas supported the story for two whole seasons.