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Do you write a backstory for the characters?
- Thread starter Ponty301
- Start date
Depends on the length of the script. If it is a short, you usually don't need lots of backstory. Most backstory never ends up in the script. It's for the writer to create a believable character. The longer the script, the more complex their relationships and interactions. There I find it helpful to have a short synopsis of the character. I gave an example of that in another thread. If you're using CeltX, it has a built in character sheet that can help. In general the main characters (protagonist & antagonist) I will develop a solid backstory. For supporting characters, I create a backstory but more around their relationship to the main characters. Ancillary characters don't need backstories.
I think I'm just visiting. I really don't have much business knowing more about the characters than they want me to know.
For a short or feature length, usually not. For an ongoing series, then yes.
When I very first started writing for feature length screenplays I did the full character bio thing because articles, books, and a few writers recommended to do so. However, I've since learned to imagine what actor I'd have play the role (anyone EXCEPT *Nicolas Cage! Oh, no!) and maintain their innate persona and behavior throughout.
* Nic·ol·as Cage [nik-el-ass cage] adjective
1. lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat: vapid tea.
2. without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.
vap·id [vap-id] adjective
1. lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat: vapid tea.
2. without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.
* Nic·ol·as Cage [nik-el-ass cage] adjective
1. lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat: vapid tea.
2. without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.
vap·id [vap-id] adjective
1. lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat: vapid tea.
2. without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.
There you go. Lots of opinions. If you have a complex network of relationships and activities, map it out. Even if you don't use words but a chart. For example, all the things going on in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". It's a great comedy. When you have more than six characters, it gets harder to keep their own voices and identities straight.
It's a tool to use or not use. I don't use it for all my writing, just those where I need to give nuance to a character or keep multiple characters straight. Like Ray, I often choose a person to fit into a role and then as I write I'm acting from that perspective. (There is a reason that many directors and actors are also good writers.) However, even a good actor likes to have some subtext to their character, which means creating some backstory. So whether written down or not, it's good to have given it some thought as you write.
From my experience, some new writers tend to lose track of their character's backstory in longer pieces--Mom died when s/he was seven but gave him her blessing at his/her wedding. She died early or late, not both. These little mistakes get caught by the audience. So my recommendation is just take a few minutes to write down the character's history beforehand, so you don't get snared down the road. Good luck.
It's a tool to use or not use. I don't use it for all my writing, just those where I need to give nuance to a character or keep multiple characters straight. Like Ray, I often choose a person to fit into a role and then as I write I'm acting from that perspective. (There is a reason that many directors and actors are also good writers.) However, even a good actor likes to have some subtext to their character, which means creating some backstory. So whether written down or not, it's good to have given it some thought as you write.
From my experience, some new writers tend to lose track of their character's backstory in longer pieces--Mom died when s/he was seven but gave him her blessing at his/her wedding. She died early or late, not both. These little mistakes get caught by the audience. So my recommendation is just take a few minutes to write down the character's history beforehand, so you don't get snared down the road. Good luck.
Bingo.
I'm a real unabashed bastard about continuity.
I just got finished ragging 13 ASSASSINS for the thoughtful planner leader making sound decisions throughout the story up to the major conflict where all of a sudden he abandons rational thought and starts doing a bunch of dumb stuff.
Um... you can't do stuff like that.
The director and writer should have been on top of that from the get go.
I keep a spreadsheet of major to minor plot points, and I run back and forth over it over and over and over again looking for hic-ups, plot holes, incongruities, stuff that goes nowhere, and basic dumbsh!t.
I loathe and detest story elements that don't make sense.
Map out stuff, just like FantasySciFi says.
Make it make sense before your start getting too far into your screenplay.
God knows the director/producer/studio/budget/location/actors/editors/distributors are all gonna try to FUBAR it anyway.
GIGO.
Or GIGod Only Knows Whatllhappentoitnext Out?
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I tend to give them a back story. I go right back, to who their parents were, not as something to have to stick to, just as an exercise, to get to know them before I start.
But I wouldn't recommend over structuring. I benefit from having the sequence of main story events, but beyond that, I don't plot too far ahead.
But I wouldn't recommend over structuring. I benefit from having the sequence of main story events, but beyond that, I don't plot too far ahead.
I do a lot of back story (or character history) in script writing, (add or subtract as needed). Helps me think and visualize. But. I Keep an open mind while cast plays with characters in the creative process of cast making the 'character' their own. My approach is to keep an open mind to the input of others, (film making is a group/team effort) as long as the theme, plot or structure stays true...
Good or bad, a finished movie is an evolution of creative minds.
I am not rich or famous. my 2 cents.
Good or bad, a finished movie is an evolution of creative minds.
I am not rich or famous. my 2 cents.
Thanks for all the responses.
It makes sense to do a back story. Seems like most writers do it.
What's the deal with raggin' on Nic Cage? He does make some of the worst movies out there, but you gotta give him credit for being out there everyday, giving it his all in every role. Plus hes been in some good films such as Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. I'm no fanboy of Cage, but you gotta cut him some slack.
It makes sense to do a back story. Seems like most writers do it.
What's the deal with raggin' on Nic Cage? He does make some of the worst movies out there, but you gotta give him credit for being out there everyday, giving it his all in every role. Plus hes been in some good films such as Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation. I'm no fanboy of Cage, but you gotta cut him some slack.
Personally as long as I know why the characters behave the way they do, and have their reasons, I don't need a backstory. Take the villain from Silence of the Lambs for example, nothing more was explained then needed to be. Or you could it like how some writers do, like Tarantino, and just have a lot of backstory, which is unnecessary to the plot, but still their for flavor.
You bring up an interesting point, but not to the ends you intended. Silence of the Lambs was a book where both of the antagonists (Lechter and Buffalo Bill) had pretty detailed backstories. But the film didn't spell out every moment of their life. However, their ACTIONS were related and expressive of their backstories.
So, as a viewer, you got what you needed, transmitted through actions conveying information about things that were not shared, but were in the original source. But the background was there; you just didn't see it.
Again, interesting point!
So I'll ask this then.
When you present a script to an actor, do you let them read it first and see what they get out of it? You know, who they think the character is?
Then does the director sit down with the actor and go over the character even more, molding the character into what they both want?
When you present a script to an actor, do you let them read it first and see what they get out of it? You know, who they think the character is?
Then does the director sit down with the actor and go over the character even more, molding the character into what they both want?
This is a VERY TOUCHY topic. Talent, aka the actor, typically does not want to be told how to act. So a script should be general in how it describes action so as to help guide the actor in forming an opinion.
Similarly, the director will read your script and--I hate to say this--discard most of what you think about the character and rework it to meet their needs (or the talent they've selected to play that role).
Unless YOU are the director, your participation in the process ENDS once the script is OPTIONED or SOLD. Screenwriters who are not producing their own work need to steel themselves that it is no longer their "baby" once it is handed over to someone else. IF the actor or director asks your opinion, you are fortunate. I'm not saying a few won't, but don't bank on it.
Ok.
I would be writing and directing the film.
So then that means I could write the character the way I want, let the actor get his interpretation from the script, and work with the actor(s) from there. I'd allow them to become the character while I tweak their performance.
I would be writing and directing the film.
So then that means I could write the character the way I want, let the actor get his interpretation from the script, and work with the actor(s) from there. I'd allow them to become the character while I tweak their performance.
Exact-a-mundo. And from the director's hat, sometimes that means reeling in the actor. Actors LIVE for subtext and backstory to bring their character to life. Sometimes to the extreme. And you may have to push them to try the role from different points of view or emotions to actually capture the scene as you want it.
While writing and directing seems like it should be easy, when you introduce talent, it can dart off in directions you didn't anticipate. Sometimes for the better but in the end you need to follow your vision.
While writing and directing seems like it should be easy, when you introduce talent, it can dart off in directions you didn't anticipate. Sometimes for the better but in the end you need to follow your vision.