Personal Transformation - the internal journey - the character’s arc
Each of these expressions touches on the “need” of a protagonist. They describe the steps that a character takes to progress towards (or regress away from) a better version of themselves.
One of our key decisions as writers is how to engage with this aspect of narrative structure.
Do we want our characters to change? If we do, how schematic should those steps be and how much do we need to spoon-feed the audience when we illustrate these steps? How much change is truly plausible, given that most of us change very little over the course of our entire adult lives? How much does this “character arc” enrich the impact of our movies?
There are no rules. The majority of writing “gurus” expend enormous time and energy persuading us that this “personal transformation” is the holy grail of script writing. But is it? Watch your favourite movies, read the scripts - make up your own mind.
What follows is a brief introduction to the principles...
Yesterday, Amy Ricker (class of 2010/11) won the EU’s 3D Film Mart Competition with her film “Billy and the Goblin Rebellion”. The script was developed as her major project on the MA Screenwriting & Producing programme.
The writer/director Joanna Hogg has cemented a reputation as an auteur after just two movies ("Unrelated" & "Archipelago"). Working with no script and muttering a “When you’re ready…” rather than screaming “Action!” she’s putting actors at the centre of the creative process.
He also provided the voice of the Mankini Gnome. This May he returns to the bosom of David Furnish and Elton John’s Rocket Pictures as their new Development Exec. The company intends to concentrate on music-based projects. "Rocket Pictures' aim is to develop and build upon a unique relationship with recording artists and to become the home for diverse, artistically driven and commercial music entertainment," Elton John said in a recent Variety interview.
