I think this is one of the most difficult things for me to build into a screenplay. I've tried a couple of times, and sometimes the story itself just " asked" for such an arc. Other times it's pretty difficult. So, is this compulsory in every screenplay? Thanks for answering!
Depends what you're doing. If you want to make conventional, hollywood type cinema, then it will be hard to get away with no character development. If you're making art-house, surreal, etc films, then you might be more justified.
At its simplest level, the 'character arc' is often just how your character is different having overcome/confronting the obstacle/conflict. Most films have obstacles/conflicts (the bulk of the second act). If your character learns something about or shows a different side of himself (or herself), it's there. With the exception of some experimental and surrealist films, every film that tells a story has some conflict to be resolved. That transformation/learning/'arc' doesn't need to be formally expressed but it makes the characters feel more real to the audience. This is often where a good actor can save a script or film by showing visually the emotional change even when its not present in the script.
Many films are noted for the protagonist not changing in any notable aspect from beginning to end of film.
I just did a google search for "movies with no character arc" and came up with plenty of titles and sound arguments.
Gopherit yourself.
Your characters need to be flawed. You want your audience to identify with them, emote well to them. Your storyline then takes us through a journey were they are tested, struggle, confront their fears, fail, but recover, learn to overcome. Your audience is brought along on their journey - feels for them, wants them to succeed. At the heart of most great scripts is a great character arc.
I can think of a (very small) handful of awesome movies that do not have any character arc. But to discuss them, we'd be talking about a rather extreme exception to the norm.
For what it's worth, I recently made a fairly large personal decision, based entirely on this question. I have a few different concepts for feature films, each which I would both write and direct. Battling indecision, I finally decided on the story that I felt featured the greatest personal transformation for our protagonist.
Think of yourself, in real life. Are you completely happy with how things are? Are you completely happy with how you are? Of course not. Nobody is. Every single person alive has hopes and aspirations to do things differently.
We want to transform ourselves, and cinema provides a fun way for us to escape. We live vicariously through this fictional character whom we're all hoping will defeat the odds and transform themselves!
Also, a protagonist's struggle to remain steadfast against a seemingly invincible opponent (and not change) is a completely valid character arc. It's not an 'obvious' arc but one that shows up in action movies all the time.
Also, a protagonist's struggle to remain steadfast against a seemingly invincible opponent (and not change) is a completely valid character arc. It's not an 'obvious' arc but one that shows up in action movies all the time.
True but even in the action-filled Die Hard series there is often a character arc for Bruce Willis's character John McClane. In 'Live Free or Die Hard' it brought him close to his estranged daughter. In the last one a similar arc but the estranged one was his son. I can't remember all of the first one but as far as I can recall the arc involved his senior executive ex-wife, who he saved and his heroism brought them close again - well at least accepting of each other.
I was wondering what the arc was with the recent action fest Olympus Has Fallen. Gerard Butler's character was unhappy with his new role, missed the President and being a bodyguard for him.
The President had to disconnect from his good friend (Butler) because he brought back the events of when his wife was lost to him. The story resolved those issues, brought the two extremely close again.
True but even in the action-filled Die Hard series there is often a character arc for Bruce Willis's character John McClane. In 'Live Free or Die Hard' it brought him close to his estranged daughter. In the last one a similar arc but the estranged one was his son. I can't remember all of the first one but as far as I can recall the arc involved his senior executive ex-wife, who he saved and his heroism brought them close again - well at least accepting of each other.
I was wondering what the arc was with the recent action fest Olympus Has Fallen. Gerard Butler's character was unhappy with his new role, missed the President and being a bodyguard for him.
The President had to disconnect from his good friend (Butler) because he brought back the events of when his wife was lost to him. The story resolved those issues, brought the two extremely close again.
For clarity, allow me repeat what I said: "change" does not define a character arc. The fact that a character does not change is also a valid character arc.
It's been a long time since I saw Die Hard. But, I think John's stubborn resolve was questioned (conflict) and eventually fortified, not changed. Everybody wanted John to submit: The terrorists, his ExWife, her co-workers, the police. But he didn't. Against all odds, his resolve was called into question. His stubborn single-minded refusal to quit was not only his flaw (resulting in divorce), it also defeated the terrorists. His refusal to change his world view was his arc.
The fact that he got along better with his Ex is not part of his character arc, it's part of the story. In fact, it has more to do with her character arc than his.
Of course, none of this is a science. I'm certain 10 people would see John's internal journey in 11 different ways
I would agree with many of the comments above. A Character arc is crucial, one of the ways you can discover this, if you're feeling particularly adventurous is by taking a few acting classes.
Actors work hard to learn and live the arc of their characters and find out how they fit into the broader plot of the story. Also a trained actor will immediately know if a character is lacking any real arc, or appearing two dimensional and they will have ideas of how to add different "layers" to such a character. I would honestly recommend spending some time in acting classes for writers and directors alike.
The most recent film I watched which failed for me de to no character arc is "Escape from Alcatraz".
When character is strong and good, defeats all the obstacles with ease, than you know he is not going to die or kill some good guys or fail at the very end. Booooring. No suspense, yawn, turn off.
