Character
Considering that characters are the main driving force in a film and also usually the main focus of interest, I thought I would start thinking about characters for my Stage 2 assessment, I am supposed to create two main characters in my script.
In films there various types of character:

Driver Characters:
Protagonist: "... the driver of the story: the one who forces the action." Defined by "Pursue" and "Consideration" characteristics.
Antagonist: "... the character directly opposed to the Protagonist." "Prevent" & "Re-consideration".
Guardian: "... a teacher or helper who aids the Protagonist..." "Help" & "Conscience"
Contagonist: "... hinders and deludes the Protagonist..." "Hinder" & "Temptation"
Passenger Characters:
Reason: "... makes its decisions and takes action on the basis of logic..." "Control" & "Logic"
Emotion: "... responds with its feelings without thinking..." "Uncontrolled" & "Feeling"
Sidekick: "... unfailing in its loyalty and support." "Support" & "Faith".
Skeptic: "... doubts everything..." "Oppose" & "Disbelief"

Round characters are so detailed that they seem real. Protagonists are normally round characters, though notable exceptions exist. Antagonists are often round as well, though comedic villains may be almost farcically flat.

A flat character is distinguished by its lack of detail. Though the description of a flat character may be detailed, the character itself barely has detail and usually just follows one characteristic. A number of stereotypical, or "stock" characters, have developed throughout the history of drama. Some of these characters include the country bumpkin, the con artist, and the city slicker. These characters are often the basis of flat characters, though elements of stock characters can be found in round characters as well.
Supporting characters are generally flat, as most minor roles do not require a great deal of complexity.

A dynamic character is the one who changes significantly during the course of the story. Changes considered to qualify a character as dynamic include changes in insight or understanding, changes in commitment, and changes in values. Changes in circumstance, even physical circumstance, do not apply unless they result in some change within the character's self. By definition, the protagonist is nearly always a dynamic character.

In contrast, a static character does not undergo significant change. Whether round or flat, their personalities remain essentially stable throughout the course of the story. This is commonly done with secondary characters in order to let them serve as thematic or plot elements.
Supporting characters and major characters other than the protagonist are generally static, though exceptions do occur.

Below are examples of some of my favourite movie characters:

Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice is kind of like a twisted adult version of 'Casper the Friendly Ghost'. He has charm and charisma, and is overall a very likable guy, however he is also sleazy, deceitful and generally a menace. He is actually the villain in the film, however due to the strong and outrageous nature of his character he comes off more like the hero. He is always smiling and cracking jokes no matter what the circumstances and is friendly to everyone he meets. Other great aspects of his character come from the way he talks and moves. His voice is gruff and sleazy and he talks at a fast pace jumping from subjects randomly. His facial expressions and movements are also jerky and exaggerated. His appearance and the clothes he wears also elevate his character, his standard outfit(not shown in clip) is a stripey black and white suit with tie, while his face is also black and white with green frizzy hair. This appearance pretty much symbolises him as a sleazy joker crackhead clown.


Duke (Johnny Depp), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Duke from Fear and Loathing is overall a confused paranoid strange little man. Throughout the entire film he is staggering about hallucinating on a cocktail of different drugs. The way he talks and moves is not too different from Beetlejuice; Duke speaks fast paced drug fuelled gibberish and moves about with a jerkiness which illustrates the confusion and paranoia going on in his head. He generally comes across as bit of a lovable crazy man who loves his hallucinogenics, however this is not always the true nature of his character as his mind and mood changes throughout the film depending on where the drugs have taken his mind, so is not really possibly to see the 'true Duke' in this film. Again his appearance helps define his character; a hawaian shirt, fisherman hat, balding head, aviator sunglasses and with a long cigarette holder always hanging out of his mouth; this illustrates him as being a crazy deluded middle aged man.


Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Trainspotting
Begbie is a terrifyingly realistic character and as far as real life goes he is pretty much evil; however again due to such strong character, he is very hard to dislike. He is your typical beer, sport and women loving pub-goer, however has a temper which is ready to explode at any moment in which he transforms from a relaxed charming Scotslad into a violent knife wielding psychopath. He literally thrives on violence seeming to generally enjoy brutally beating people and looks for an excuse to fight at every opportunity possible. There are times in the film though where Begbie does seem like a generally nice guy and the audience can really start to warm to him, but his temper will always get the better of him; this contrast in personality makes Begbie a very interesting and frightening character to watch. I feel his appearance also emulates this - denim/leather jacket, shirt, large moustache, slicked back hair and average height isn't the most intimidating of appearances, which makes it even more shocking when he loses his temper. His character can also be shown by how his face and manner seems so relaxed and casual up until the whistle blows for a fight where his face becomes demonic and psychotic.

FEW MORE TO COME.