Character Development

In films, there is usually at least one character that is easily relatable to the audience. This character is normally the protagonist, but there can be exceptions.

In the beginning of the film, Mean Girls, the protagonist, Cady, is portrayed as being easy to identify with. It is her first day at a new school, and it is made clear that she feels isolated. 


She doesn't make any friends on her first day, therefor has to eat lunch, alone, in the bathroom, as there is nowhere for her to sit in the cafeteria. In this scene, it would be easy for anyone who has felt isolated/alone to identify with her. Especially for someone who feels that way in a particular social environment. 

In the film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, everything works out for Ferris Bueller, and he is unrealistically popular, to the point of being adored by every social group at school, the police hearing that he's sick, and wishing him well, a water tower and the Chicago Cubs stadium, having "SAVE FERRIS" on them. 

In the film, Ferris gets away with skipping school, with no consequences. So, although the audience can identify with Ferris in the sense of wanting to be a free spirit, there really is no reason to feel sympathy for him. So, despite being the protagonist, Ferris is not the most relatable character in the film. 



Ideas of how to make a character relatable in a short film:

  • Have them fail in someway 
  • Show them being embarrassed 
  • Show them feeling jealous 
  • Show them feeling isolated in someway











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prop list

For the preproduction of a film, it is important to organise what props you need. Because my short film, Abracadabra, is about someone who wants to be a magician, obviously I need to have props that is what a magician would have. The props I need are: a wand  a cloak  a top hat  a poster of "Invincible Ian"  a deck of cards  a glass of wine  a can of beer  an envelope   a box glasses I have ordered the wand and cloak from Amazon and I have borrowed the top hat from my college. I will be making the poster prop of "The Invincible Ian" with the help of the photography teacher at my college - which I am grateful for, as I do not take photography. My brother will be the person on the poster. I have got a deck of cards from my local Tesco. For the "glass of wine" I will be using one of the wine glasses in my house, and will be using Vimto or Ribeena, for it - as there is no sense in wasting that amount of wine. I will use a can of beer from my fr
Read more

Abracadabra target audience

For my idea of my short film, the main character is a teenage boy, who is taking his a-levels, and is doing badly, due to his desire to be a magician, and that taking up his time. Yet, he is also not a talented magician (until the end). The target audience for that would mainly be teenagers. Teenagers would be able to relate to the struggle of schoolwork, and perhaps wanting an unrealistic career. That is really the only target audience I would have. Everything else wouldn't specifically connect to a specific type of people.
Read more

Casting - other characters

Other than the lead character, Ben, the characters in my short film, Abracadabra, are his father and mother, and potentially a teacher. My mum will be portraying Ben's mum.  She will need to be wearing simple clothes, such as trousers, and perhaps a loose cardigan, and comfortable shirt. Her hair will be simple, perhaps just down, or tied up. The dad will be portrayed by my stepfather. He will also be dressed conventionally, such has having a button shirt, trousers, and a tie, that he will be shown wearing undone. This connects with the boring, conventional lifestyle that is shown in the short film, that Ben does not want to be a part of. If there is a teacher character in it, he would be portrayed by my media teacher, Craig. My mum (Polly Walker) is actually a professional actress, so her mindset should be helpful to the film.
Read more