Characters Drive Plot - Zach Zerries

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  • Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
  • Zach Zerries is a screenwriter and author. His latest screenplay TAKE BACK has been filmed during 2020 and is set for a 2021 release. The movie stars Mickey Rourke, Michael Jai White, Gillian White and many more.
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Комментарии • 36

  • @dariusmorgan5343
    @dariusmorgan5343 3 года назад +11

    “what happens when that outline doesn’t work” That question was PERFECT

    • @filmcourage
      @filmcourage  3 года назад +2

      Thanks for watching Darius. We're doing our best to dig a little deeper.

  • @rakscyn
    @rakscyn 3 года назад +11

    Regarding "Do you believe characters drive plot?" My answer is yes --- but with a twist: "Good characters drive good plots'. The only real thing audiences care about is what happens to the characters they care about. Thus character development (by which I mean the conceptualization done by the screenwriter, not the arc you witness on screen) is key. Generally (I submit) we screenwriters get super excited about a story concept that occurs to us (which is fine) but the characters are often not yet well-enough developed. Recognizing how dependent the still-evolving plot is on good central characters is key to driving the development of characters. My proverb to myself for my work is quite direct: "If you have not developed a character to the point they start talking to you (to tell you what they think they should do) you don't yet know the character". Thus -- I am with John Badham (Dodge Film School, who's directed over 39 films and TV shows): "Everyone should have a poster over their desk: "Character, character, character." To which he adds: ""If you get the characters right, everything else falls into place.". Amen.

    • @scottslotterbeck3796
      @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад +1

      I agree, but look at a Bond film. Characters are secondary to special effects and gadgets.

    • @rakscyn
      @rakscyn 3 года назад +1

      ​@@scottslotterbeck3796 Scott, I completely agree with you about Bond films, to which I would add many (if not most) modern-day superhero movies --- as they similarly trade spectacle for character (characters, who by my standards, are as soulless as vacuum tubes). I stopped following Bond films as I didn't care for characters who don't evolve. Even the original Terminator had an arc that was engaging. :-)

  • @johndeggendorf7826
    @johndeggendorf7826 3 года назад +10

    The characters are where the rubber meets the road...where the story becomes human & believable & alive, even small stories. But, without a story, what exactly does an actor do? Modeling? 🤔🍷🎩

    • @scottslotterbeck3796
      @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад +1

      Story is not necessarily character. Watch a typical Michael Bay or JJ Abrams film.

  • @scottslotterbeck3796
    @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад +7

    Issac Asimov famously wrote very interesting novels and short stories with very wooden characters. He wrote hundreds of stories, and made a big impact nevertheless.
    I believe that plot can certainly drive a story. Look at JJ Abrams and his films. Not only are there non-relatable characters, there's not much of a plot, either

  • @meg-k-waldren
    @meg-k-waldren 3 года назад +6

    Do you believe characters dri --
    Yes.

  • @filmcourage
    @filmcourage  3 года назад +13

    Do you believe characters drive plot?

    • @johnny1990jg
      @johnny1990jg 3 года назад +4

      Yes, absolutely. Plots are a dime a dozen but characters, that's another thing entirely. They are what intrigues one into loving, hating, fearing, hoping for whatever happens in the story. You can have the most interesting plot then the dullest characters and never keep any ones attention.

    • @meg-k-waldren
      @meg-k-waldren 3 года назад

      @@johnny1990jg Tenet was pretty plot lopsided. What did you think of it?

    • @meg-k-waldren
      @meg-k-waldren 3 года назад

      I think generally for 1st half of movie plot drives character more than vice versa... Then in 2nd half character drives plot more than vice versa.

    • @scottslotterbeck3796
      @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад +1

      They should. People relate to people, not to plot. So characters really are vital. What great film has characters you don't care about?

    • @marcogianesello6083
      @marcogianesello6083 3 года назад

      @@scottslotterbeck3796 Apocalypse now? 2001 a space odessy? Eraserhead? So many you can't even count

  • @MakeArtHurt
    @MakeArtHurt 3 года назад +8

    Write a great plot with poor characters = meh. Put great characters in a generic room for 90 minutes = victory. Characters are action, plot, story, theme, twists, everything. Disagree with outlines, though :-)

    • @scottslotterbeck3796
      @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад

      To each his own. For a short story/film, I don't need an outline. For a novel or feature, I need one, or I waste a lot of time in the woods. Sometimes literally!

    • @MakeArtHurt
      @MakeArtHurt 3 года назад +1

      @@scottslotterbeck3796 Yeah, but man, sometimes you can find some cool stuff in the woods :-)

    • @scottslotterbeck3796
      @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад

      @@MakeArtHurt true. But in writing, crap, you can get lost and waste much time. Yes, sometimes that leads someplace cool. If you're spending a year on the second book of your trilogy, fine. A 90 page screenplay? No.

    • @MakeArtHurt
      @MakeArtHurt 3 года назад

      @@scottslotterbeck3796 Never wrote a novel, though I have spent 2 years on a script, and sometimes only 2 days. The good news is we all eventually figure out what works for us, or we don't and become real estate agents. Just make those characters interesting!

    • @scottslotterbeck3796
      @scottslotterbeck3796 3 года назад

      @@MakeArtHurt If you wrote a feature in two days you are a wizard. I might be able to get a ten minute short done, first draft, in two days, but that's it. Congrats!

  • @carlajenkins1990
    @carlajenkins1990 3 года назад +1

    Sounds like the same "hero" in half the movies listed as a Romantic-Comedy. A whiny little creep who isn't anybody's idea of a nice guy--except himself. Be honest. That's the only thing that sells.

  • @filmcourage
    @filmcourage  3 года назад +4

    Check out more discussion on character versus plot in Should A Writer Start With Character Or Plot? buff.ly/3fX0tjE

  • @SuperlativeCG
    @SuperlativeCG 3 года назад +5

    When characters that you don’t recognize are introduced in a prequel and you know they will not take part in the following setting, they have negative plot armor.

  • @GaryTongue-to3pw
    @GaryTongue-to3pw 8 месяцев назад +1

    I Totally disagree that The Audience must have someone to root for.
    The Hateful 8 has no "likeable" characters to "root" for! I don't root for any of them as they are ALL horrible people! Yet, it is one of the greatest movies of all time!