If You Don't Understand Your Character's Flaw You Don't Understand Your Story - Paul Chitlik
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
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In this Film Courage video interview, Paul Chitlik talks about a fictional character's flaw.
Paul Chitlik has written for all the major networks and studios in English and in Spanish. He was story editor for MGM/UA'S "The New Twilight Zone," and staff writer for Showtime's sitcom "Brothers." He has written features for Rysher Entertainment, NuImage, Promark, Mainline Releasing, and others. He has directed episodes and been coordinating producer for “Real Stories of the Highway Patrol” and “U.S. Customs Classified.” He wrote and produced “Alien Abduction,” the first network movie shot on digital video for UPN. He wrote, produced, and directed “Ringling Brothers Revealed” a special for The Travel Channel. (He had been a roustabout for Circus Vargas years earlier.) Most recently he wrote, produced and directed “The Wedding Dress,” for Amazon Prime. He received a Writers Guild of America award nomination for his work on "The Twilight Zone" and a GLAAD Media Award nomination for "Los Beltrán,” a Telemundo show. He won a Genesis Award for a Showtime Family movie. He has taught in the MFA programs of UCLA, the University of Barcelona’s film school ESCAC, Cuba’s film school EICTV, Chile’s film school UNIACC, The University of Zulia in Venezuela, The Panamerican University in Mexico City, The Story Academy of Sweden and as a clinical associate professor at Loyola Marymount University. Now writing full time again and living near his grandson in Chapel Hill, NC, with wife, Beth McCauley.
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Do you agree that if you don't know your main character's flaw, you don't know your story?
@@filmcourage I didn't until now. Now it is so clear.
Love it!
I do not agree, and I have more to say about this, and hopefully I will get the chance to explain things a bit more! Thank you for this interview! I am currently diving into such topics and it is very interesting for me to learn about people! My insights and theories might blow you people away, but maybe not. As of now, I am still polishing certain gems, after that, I would like to speak and show a bit more of my fairly unique gems. I have many interesting things to say, I just don't wanna sound too rude or arrogant, I am Hungarian, my mind and temper and attitude might be different than that of most Americans. I’m aware that many Americans will find it kinda intimidating that some sort of random 30 year old Hungarian dude is trying to seem kinda smart and wise, meanwhile I can tell you that I am not a perfect person. I do possess anxieties, by the way. I have a love for characters and character creation and character development, it is one of my favorites.
No. This is a nice comfortable rule of thumb based in the western canon, but it is definitely not the only way to set up a good conflict and a rich and interesting story. Rather it is a mechanism by which the biases of our culture are perpetuated.
One of the great status turnarounds in movies was in The Madness Of King George: "I am the king of England!" "No sir. You are the patient."
Definitely true. And the story has to expose the flaw. But it has to come out through the characters decisions and not externalities entirely. Characters must be accountable
THIS GUY is gooood.
Blew my mind tbh. I have to reevaluate everything I've done up to this point.
That confessional story was amazing for his point. Holy hell, that was good!
I love the idea about "status." I've seen it shift in many stories.
Loved this video! Paul Chitlik's insights on the importance of understanding your character's flaw is spot on. It really highlights how a character's flaw can be the backbone of a compelling story. I especially appreciated the step-by-step guide in his book, which I can't wait to dive into. A must-watch for any writer looking to elevate their storytelling skills!
Great questions and amazing answers! Very helpful, practical, at least for me. During these 10 minutes Paul Chitlik became one of my favorite interviewees on Film Courage.
This is whats lacking in a lot of movies made for "modern audiences," characters that lack a flaw, and then the character arc that builds the characters' journey.
Based on what? Your opinion? Maybe don’t watch crap movies.
@@crashingatom6755 Relax, maybe he just got done watching The Acolyte.
I suppose a character’s flaws could change throughout the story just as their intentions could change correct?
This is one of the reasons why people dislike the Captain Marvel films. I actually think Brie Larson is a great actress. But the character herself doesn't seem to struggle for much. I can't relate to her at all. I've never talked with someone who can. Compare that to Hermione Granger, Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Trinity, or Furiosa, and you understand the story's issue immediately.
Rey ‘Skywalker’ …
I’ve been studying and practicing for over a year about writing scripts because I have had few original ideas. But I feel like now with AI it’ll be impossible to get anyone to read a script. Because all the grifters out their who don’t have talent or drive and don’t want to put in the work is now using ai to generate scripts, art and books and trying to make easy money, and what is even worse is a lot of them really take credit for what the ai generated just because they put in a prompt, and even worse a lot of them are actually taking credit as if they were the creator. I really hope there is a law that requires people to label “their work” as ai generated if they put it for sale because I know me personally I do not want to spend a dime on any art, movie, or book created by ai. If I wanted to read something ai created I’ll just write the prompts myself. So if you made it this far on my comment my question is: since already hard enough to get someone to read a script before ai how hard is it to get someone to read a script in the current times when we all know the grifters looking for easy money are generated 10 scripts a week and trying to sell them? It’s kind of a depressing time for creators who haven’t made a name for themselves yet or people like me who appreciate writers and artist. I love knowing when I like something it came from someone’s imagination or from their life experiences. I hate copiers, I hate cheaters, and I love when I discover something original.
One thing that bothers me is that writers are always talking about how status changes and who has the higher status in a conversation. But seldom do I hear them explain WHY is it important for the status to change and what to do with those changes when they happen. Does a status have to change in every conversation? Are status changes important for the overall character arc? Or are they more of a flavor thing to add spice to dialogue? Forgive me if I’m ignorant and this has been explained before but I just don’t notice it being talked about as much as mere observations about status changes.
Yes, you got it. Dramatic change is key to character arc. Check out this clip beginning at 2:47 - ruclips.net/video/mMGFCmMfFDw/видео.htmlsi=S8Af6ljBdTlL3H6a&t=167
@@filmcourage awesome thank you for the resource!
Does Superman have flaws?
“If I’m guilty of anything, it’s caring TOO much … I’m Bart Simpson.”
In my opinion, a flaw isn't necessarily a flaw in all circumstances.
Consider a kid on the high school football team. His activity level is high, so he needs calories to help his body build muscle. Naturally, he eats big meals every day, which is not a flaw.
Jump ahead ten years. This man's job requires him to sit at a computer for most of the day and he lacks the time to work out like he once did. Unfortunately, the big meals that once helped him win football games now leads to weight issues and the associated health and social problems. Eating big meals has become a flaw.
Uh. If eating was integral to that person’s character arc, maybe. If you’re going to write a book about a guy losing weight, that would be…something.
When she told him about the alternative God question, it was as though someone told him about the 6 minute abs. MF gonna end sum1
Flaws are created by erroneous beliefs or destructive urges.
Somebody get a link to this video to Kathleen Kennedy, stat …
Unfortunately, the perceived lowest common denominator seems to have enduring dominant status in Hollywood nowadays and that is demonstrated by the lack of block-buster comedies such as Blazing Saddles or Annie Hall. ps I am really showing my age here!
Can't always share the flaw in the beginning .
For example if you want to do a story where you don't know certain things for example somebody turns out to be a murderer and maybe through the whole story they were a wonderful person and very perfect ... and then LATER you get the shock in the story or at the end when it backtracks and you see what this person was really like and we never noticed in the movie and it is revealed that he is the one who murdered somebody or was killing other people .
So you cannot always show people's flaws in the beginning not if you're trying to deliberately mislead people so that you can surprise them later on .
Maybe in such a story an author can show a flaw that made the character a murderer? Why that person could possibly make this kind of decision? Murder is not something that can be done out of the blue in terms of inner life of a character, especially if it's not accidental (situation that leads to an accidental murder also usually has roots in some character traits). I think the flaw can be shown in the beginning. It just doesn't have to be crude, and the intrigue will remain. Also this way there will be no feeling that the author simply appointed a murderer among the characters for the sake of an unexpected ending.
Yeah you gotta start with a reason to find them compelling at all IMO, then worry about displaying the flaw, because then an audience will already be hooked enough to care. I’ve seen way too many movies where they thought it was a good idea to introduce the “woman who doesn’t fit in at the office/school” archetype by having her just drop a bunch of papers/books embarrassingly.
Useful thoughts for character dramas. I'd throw it out of the window for plot focused stories. What's Snowwhite's character flow?
Is there really a difference between a character-focused and a plot-focused story?
Not true. it really depends on the genre. In straight drama, there's so much deep characterization required that you can't escape highlighting the flaws of the main character. In comedy the flaw is often the source of the comedy. In horror, scifi, thriller, etc. The character's flaw is not as important as the character's vulnerability.
Each of these screenwriting gurus has a pet theory that brings him/her to the attention of the industry. Usually after they've written a book (see above).
This is how burnt-out writers often make a living. The studios hire them as script editors/consultants, etc. Think I'm wrong? These gurus have been prominent in the industry since the late 90s. Is the quality of scripts that get made into movies improving or getting worse? You tell me.