The second session is an Introduction to Screenwriting which includes 1- Character types 2- Characters and story/audience relationships 3- Breakout room activities

1. Workshop #2
CHARACTERS

2. INTRODUCTION
Two schools of writing
Importance of research

3. BREAKOUT ROOM EXERCISE 1:
Choosing a Character

4. CHARACTER LIST
Wolverine
Thanos
Joker (The Dark Knight)
Tyrion Lannister

5. PERSPECTIVES & CHARACTER TYPES
Role:
Character role refers to the part that one plays in
the story.
● Protagonist
● Antagonist
● Deuteragonist (love interest, confidante, foil
etc…)
● Tertiary
Quality:
Character quality has to do with what kind of
character someone is.
● Dynamic/changing
● Static/unchanging
● Stock
● Symbolic
● Round
Resource: https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-characters/

6. CHARACTER & STORY RELATIONSHIP
INTERNAL/EXTERNAL CONFLICT
CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS
CHARACTER & AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP
Resource: https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-conflict-in-fiction/
https://blog.reedsy.com/character-motivation/

7. BREAKOUT ROOM EXERCISE 2: Character “What If…” Scenarios
Scenario 1: Trolley Problem
There is a runaway trolley barrelling down the railway tracks.
Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to
move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing
some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this
lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However,
you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have
two options:
● Do nothing and allow the trolley to kill the five people on
the main track.
● Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where
it will kill one person.
What would your character do?

8. Scenario 2: The Matrix's Red Pill or Blue Pill
Your character is given the choice of Neo :
- To swallow the red pill and “follow the white rabbit” which means learning what
the Matrix is, breakout from it and discovering a world which maybe don’t need
to be discovered... but can also free him/her.
- To swallow the blue pill and simply stay in his/her current comfortable life
Which pill does your character choose ? What are the potential consequences from
choosing one of the pills for him/her ?
Or is their a third option coming from your character ?

9. Scenario 3: The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and
you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You
will have a choice, you will have no choice.
You are given orders by a voice-over narrator.
For example, “Stanley went left”. Would your
Does your character follow the orders or defy them
and choose freewill? How will he go about the narrative?
Does your character obey or not to the voice-over ?

10. Scenario 4 & 5: Toy Story
In Toy Story 3, Woody must choose whether he wants to go with Andy to college, or
join his toy friends that are being abandoned and sent to a daycare, leaving Andy
behind forever. What would your character do if they were in Woody’s situation?
In Toy Story 1, Woody meets the new toy Buzz who threatens his spot as Andy’s
favourite and go-to toy. How would your character handle such rivalry? How would
he/she react in front of someone who threatens his/her position by maybe being better
at what your character do ?

11. Scenario 6: Among Us/The Thing
What would your character do and how would they act if they were stuck in a place
with a group of people and one of them was an imposter/murderer.

12. Exercise before the next workshop :
1) Character school of writing : If you made the previous exercise and already have at least one or two
character(s). Just think of ways to "torture" your characters or push them around. Because that's how
stories starts : something goes wrong
2) Story school of writing : If you haven't made the previous exercise that's okay because you can try to
think in terms of story and not in terms of characters. Just think of a status quo, a situation and then
create a disturbance. As simple as that, don't need to think too far ahead. Then you start developing.
In both exercises the main idea is to be open to any kind inspiration to start a story : daily life (yours or
others), news paper, "what if" scenarios, other movies, other works (music, painting or others) etc...
Don't restrain yourself to one kind of inspiration. Simply because anything could do and it's easy to get
stuck.
Very important : The "hard" part is to COMMIT to ideas, write them and start to elaborate on how
things can go. Don't just let ideas hanging around just commit to some and WRITE.