{"id":6729,"date":"2013-06-24T00:01:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T00:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/?p=6729"},"modified":"2016-08-29T20:38:30","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T20:38:30","slug":"animation-script-writing-tutorial-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/animation-script-writing-tutorial-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Skills for Animation 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previous Tutorial:<\/strong> Story Skills for Animation 3<\/a><\/p>\n

The story so far; Oh, just go back and read the other stuff.<\/i><\/p>\n

Some other advice I\u2019ll give you for nothing, though one day I\u2019ll expect you to buy a book.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>And the answer to last week\u2019s quiz question…<\/p>\n

REMEMBER CHARACTER IS IMPORTANT<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>If there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learnt in the last fifteen years in the industry (other than never expect any money from your first invoice) it\u2019s that audiences love characters who intrigue or enchant them. They might be Homer Simpson. They might be an anglepoise lamp. They might be a cute mouse or a reprehensible monster, but if the viewer feels a degree of empathy with them they will stay the course because they like the things that happen when that character is around and want to see what they\u2019ll do next.<\/p>\n

As an exercise go back and look at all the You Tube clips linked in part one and part two of this whatever this is. What do they all have in common? Every one of them stars characters that we know and love – or love to hate. Character comes first. A strong character is the audience\u2019s guide to your world \u2013 the door into your story. It\u2019s the first thing you should talk about when you try to sell a show too.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But often the characters I see in student scripts and show pitches are flimsy and over familiar. They\u2019re clich\u00e9s, because we\u2019ve all seen a million movies and archetypes are what most easily come to mind when we write. Now archetypes aren\u2019t bad, especially in animation (a medium that excels in characterture) but when they\u2019re too familiar they don\u2019t excite, or are sexist or racist or crap. So beware the stock cast of characters you have in your head. They\u2019ve been put there by a lifetime\u2019s exposure to other people\u2019s stories and it\u2019s easy to repeat too accurately something we\u2019ve all seen before.<\/p>\n

Great characters intrigue because we can\u2019t understand everything about them at a single glance. We do get the gist, but there\u2019s extra to intrigue and surprise us more.<\/p>\n