While working on my outline for my new script I got to thinking about what sort of people I was going to throw in the way of the killer. Were they merely fodder for gore and violence, or should there be something more to them? Does being able to relate and connect to a likable character make the movie scarier... or sadder?
It's a fine line to walk, between being empathetic for a character and merely liking them. The more you can relate to a character, going beyond just the surface, the more you're going to feel the sting when the character ultimately bites it. There is a problem with going this route though, if you start to have people connect with all your characters, how are they going to react when you start killing them off? Odds are that the people that connect most with the characters that survive till the end (or close to it) are going to have a more enjoyable experience than those that connected with the character that got killed off first.
Here's an example: In Friday the 13th Part 3 there is the character of Shelly played by Larry Zerner. Shelly was kind of dumpy with a bad hairdo but a very empathetic character. He wasn't as attractive as the rest of the people and was kind of uncomfortable with himself as well as around strangers so he resorted to silly tricks to get people to pay attention to him. This was a well developed character because we could all relate to being in that sort of situation. Well, I know a few people that can't and I hate them, but the majority of people can relate to feeling that way. This gave Shelly some depth, and we were rooting for him through the course of the movie to come to terms with who he was and become a better person... and ultimately to do it with that cute Spanish girl before Jason killed everybody.
Unfortunately Shelly was killed off without much fanfare. He wandered into the barn in his wetsuit and was not seen again until towards the end of the movie where apparently he was wandering around with his throat slit for the past couple of house. I felt cheated. Shelly didn't have a chance to change as a person or score, he had such build up and I ultimately was let down without even a gruesome death scene. After he was gone I was ready for the rest of the characters to get it and the movie to end, the only person I cared about was gone anyway.
So here's the problem I'm having: do I develop all the characters, some of the characters, one of the characters... or none? If I develop all of them then the movie will be very long and more of a soap opera than a slasher flick. If I develop some of the characters, will the other characters seem silly in comparison? If I develop one character, how I can ensure that it's the character that the majority of people will relate to? If I decide to kill them off, will the audience lose interest in what happens to the rest of the characters? I know that developing none is a bad idea, it would be the equivalent of watching a snuff film... or Hostel.
I think my best bet will be the develop all of the characters in the script, but in different ways. Giving them their own agendas will help not only to develop them but to differentiate them from the rest. Thus far I've written down their names and given them all a little biography and by doing that I've also set myself up to look at their individual goals and personal relationships. I don't want to create a character like Ben-Hur but I don't want to set up the disappointment of Shelly. It's going to be a very fine line to walk.
0 comments:
Post a Comment