Breaking Down the Script for Character
Once you have identified the story and its structure, you have more analysis to do, this time involving the characters of your story. Though the plot is the structure of every movie or television episode, it is the characters in that story that create the conflict. First, you need to find out who these characters are.
Making a COW Chart
You should start with a “COW chart” for each character. What is a COW chart? Mary Lou wants to give credit where it is due. The term was so named by the Innercity Filmmakers group of students she co-taught with actress Yvette Nicole Brown (Community, The Odd Couple) at the University of Southern California some summers ago. After Mary Lou and Yvette taught their master class about the relationship between the director and actor, they received thank-you notes from every single student. Nearly all of the notes mentioned how helpful it was to learn how to do a COW chart. Mary Lou and Yvette were truly bewildered until they received a photograph of themselves with the students some weeks later. Behind all of them was a blackboard on which Mary Lou had written three columns. The columns were labeled: C, O, and W. She had posed these questions:
What does the Character say about himself?
What do Others say about the character?
What does the Writer say about the character?
FIGURE 2.1 Mary Lou sets up her COW chart like this.
A very easy way to break down each character is to examine the script line by line and outline the information in these categories. You’ll find the information for the first two questions in the dialogue (scripted lines) and the last question in the stage directions, in which the writer describes the action or describes the state of the character physically and emotionally. The interesting thing you’ll notice is that the first two questions may not always lead to the truth because characters often lie about themselves, and others always have opinions that will color their truth about a character. The last question, on the other hand, nearly always leads to the truth—unless the writer has written a physical description of the character as merely a guide. For example, when Michael Hirst described Henry VIII in the stage directions of his recent Showtime miniseries, he may have said “The king is portly, as Holbein painted him long ago.” The physical attributes serve as only a guide because the talented Jonathan Rhys-Meyer was cast in the role; he is anything but portly and remained svelte for most of the series. Or Christopher Silber in the “More Now” episode of NCIS New Orleans describes the character Sonja we spoke about in the last chapter: “a Young Woman in street clothes, eyeing LaSalle” [played by Lucas Black]. She is at an “urgent care facility in one of the city’s worst neighborhoods.” This description is simple until Silber adds what happens: “As Brody [played by Zoe McLellan] keeps showing the Doctor’s photo around, LaSalle cuts the Young Woman off as she heads for the door.” And later, “The Young Woman holds LaSalle’s gaze.” Notice the descriptions are very simple … but it is the interpretation that will lead the director to a deeper understanding of the character.
You will surmise things about the character based on what they say and actions they take.
After you have the basic COW information written down, you must interpret the data.
Remember what we said about reading well? That skill will again be vital. Now you are going to read between the lines. You will surmise things about the character based on what they say and actions they take. In her last scene of the aforementioned episode Silber tells us at the end of a contentious scene between LaSalle and Sonja: “Sonja cracks the subtlest of smiles.” This action describes so much more than a facial expression. It is the clue to an ongoing flirtatious relationship between Sonja and the series regular LaSalle.
You are going to take each piece of data and form a picture in your mind about the character the writer has created. What makes this character different from all the others in the story? Is there a particular line that is quintessentially his and his alone? Why would no one else in the script ever utter those words or deliver that line that particular way at that particular time in that particular place?
EXPLORING ARCHETYPES, ESSENCE, AND IMAGERY
Sometimes it helps to conceive of a character as an archetype. This is a quick label to place on character that would define their inherent characteristics. For example, in an L.A. Times article about Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, the following paragraph used several archetypes to describe their previous career choices:
They’ve played geriatric astronauts and battle-scarred Secret Service agents, no-name cowboys and a San Francisco cop nicknamed “Dirty” … as well as ruthless pimps, kick-butt high school principals, a cool-under-fire president … and the almighty himself.1
You might use any label as a shorthand device to help you grasp the essence of a character.
Entertainment Weekly described Robert Pattinson’s character in Eclipse as “like James Dean.”2 Perfect and precise. There is also the famous story about John Huston providing Kate Hepburn with the perfect label for her character in The African Queen by referring to Rose Sayer as “an Eleanor Roosevelt.” But both Huston and Hepburn had to dig deeper to determine what that meant. What myriad qualities did “an Eleanor Roosevelt” entail? The danger, of course, is in focusing on the label almost as a nickname for the character while ignoring the character’s subtleties. But as a good director, you won’t let that happen!
Another shorthand device to help you pin down your characters is to start thinking of their imagery. When you picture a character in your imagination, what do you see? See that image as a title card, or poster, for a movie. If you were the advertising and marketing director for this character, what physicalities would you focus on? Is the character alone or in a crowd? Is it a silhouette or a color close-up? What expression is on her face? What accessories does she have?
Think of Robert Downey, Jr.’s walking stick as Sherlock Holmes, or the cane that Hugh Laurie uses as Dr. House. How does costuming help? Think of Johnny Depp’s pirate attire or Meryl Streep’s Julia in a 1950s suit and pearls. Actors will say that when they put on the costume and pick up the prop, they become the character. At the “Hollywood Costume” exhibit, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, there was an entire section of the exhibit devoted to Meryl Streep, who we learned was a costume design major in college. The curator of that exhibit, Deborah Landis, in a TV interview with Gayle Anderson of KTLA described “how she [Streep] uses costume to transform into character.”3 Working from the exterior (costumes and props) to interior (feelings) is a literal way to approach a character, and the first costume fitting is an important part of an actor’s process. But actors generally are hired late in the schedule, just before production begins. Previous to that, during the prep period, the director has communicated her vision to the appropriate department heads, giving guidance about her character discovery prior to the actor’s arrival.
THINKING IN PICTURES
Your costume designer and prop master bring experience and creativity to the table; together, you will come up with proposals and gradually hone them into a concept as one idea leads to the next. One of the things you can do to spur your imagination is to create a vision board for each character. You can cut out pictures and words from magazines or other sources that illustrate an aspect of the character and provide a reference point for discussion. This board can be as simple as taped pictures on a file folder or as complex as a PowerPoint presentation. You will talk about color and style, as well as cultural and historical accuracy. You will refine your choices as you work with the material and gain deeper understanding. As always, it is the director’s overall vision that leads the way.
You will talk about color and style, as well as cultural and historical accuracy. You will refine your choices as you work with the material and gain deeper understanding. As always, it is the director’s overall vision that leads the way.
When you start thinking in pictures for your characters, this can have the effect of clarifying your thinking regarding the story. Bethany had that experience on a TV movie called Remembrance, which originated as a Danielle Steel novel. She described what she had in mind to the prop master, and—after a massive search through antique shops and flea markets—the perfect piece was found. The faux diamond pin that the main character wore was an example of the level of sophistication for the character, but more important, its image became the focal point and title card for the entire movie. It became the iconic image that communicated the essence of the story. Another show that can serve as an example is Mad Men. If you think of Don Draper without his cigarette and cocktail in hand, a whole dimension is lost. And those specific character props, and the need that the character has to have them in his hand, will be key when you begin to pre-visualize how a scene might be blocked … but we’ll talk more about that in a future chapter.
FINDING THE CHARACTER INTENTION
You will inevitably have some casting ideas at this point. Jot them down. Before you cement that image though, you need to really look at how the character behaves. We spoke of the story being a journey in Chapter 1: The character’s needs are the fuel for that trip. You know who the protagonist and antagonist are in the overall story. Now you have to figure out the purpose they serve in every scene. And you have to do this not only for the main characters, but also for every character, no matter how many lines of dialogue he has. Every actor knows the phrase, “There are no small parts, only small players.” The director must embrace the truth of this statement.
You must ask yourself the question: “What does each character want to accomplish in the scene?” The best way to figure out the answer to this question is to ask another one: “What does a character need from another character?” You should be able to express the answer to this question in active terms: Character A needs Character B to leave. Character A needs Character B to tell her he loves her. Character A needs Character B to give him the treasure. And ideally, if the scene is well written, the characters will have diametrically opposed needs. Character B needs Character A to tell him to stay. Character B needs Character A to stop needing his love. Character B needs Character A to get out of his life without the treasure.
When you know what each character needs, then you will understand the conflict in the scene. And the basic truth of storytelling is this: more conflict, better scene.
If it’s difficult to determine what Character A’s needs are, go to Character B. That might be clearer. Then, when you have an idea of Character B’s needs, see if you can phrase Character A’s needs in an opposing way.
When you know what each character needs, then you will understand the conflict in the scene. And the basic truth of storytelling is this: more conflict, better scene. It’s a simple equation. The more conflict you show—while keeping the performances grounded in reality—the better the scene will be.
Another word for need is intention. This is an important word in an actor’s vocabulary; we talk more about it in Chapter 10 when we talk about directing the actor’s performance. You should be able to rate the need of each character. A simple way to do this is to ask yourself: “What will happen if the character does not achieve their intention? How big are the consequences?” A good example of those consequences is in an action movie: If the character cannot shoot his way out of a bank, he will die! Clearly, if the conflict is more important, it will be a more interesting scene than the one in which very little is at stake. We suggest rating the conflict in every scene on a scale of 1–10. If you get an important 10 scene as a director, you’re lucky. If you get a 1 scene, it will be your job as a director to make it seem more important. But we’ll get to that in a little bit.
What the Characters Need
Select a two-character scene from the appendix. Read it and determine three things:
• What does Character A need?
• What does Character B need?
• What is the conflict of the scene and how important is it?
Remember to try to phrase each character’s needs as diametrically opposed to each other, if possible. Rate the conflict on a scale of 1–10. (A score of 10 might be a scene in which the character dies if he does not get what he needs. A score of 1 might be a scene in which the character will be mildly annoyed if she does not get what she wants.)
EXPLORING THE CHARACTER OBSTACLES
You should also notice any obstacles to the characters getting what they want, other than the opposing character not wanting them to get it. Be assured that a good actor will come to the set having asked the same questions you asked: what does my character need to accomplish? They will have asked themselves a second question, to which you must know the answer also: “What is the obstacle to that intention?” Let’s take the example of the action movie. Our hero needs to shoot his way out of a bank. What’s the obstacle? The police are outside with guns drawn. Or perhaps, at this moment, the character is guilt-ridden, remembering that his grandma told him never to hurt anyone. A good writer makes sure that each character has two things: an intention and an obstacle to achieving that intention. Could that obstacle merely be the other character in the scene? Yes, but a more layered scene gives a character an obstacle that is separate from the other character and their intention, one that is an internal emotional conflict. For example, in a love story, a character might have the intention of making a woman fall in love with him, but the obstacle might be that in his heart, he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for her.
There is one more area that is directly related to knowing the conflict of each scene. As you break down the script, note where there is a lot of pipe or exposition—an area where the writer has had to share a lot of information (lay the pipe) in a short amount of time so that the viewer will understand the story. This is often background information that doesn’t move the plot forward and is therefore not dynamic.
The director can help hide or mask exposition by distracting the viewer with conflict. Or the director can even give the character who lays the pipe an inner obstacle while saying the line. It’s a trick, but a handy one, and you can get a double bang for your buck: the obstacle or conflict will say something specific about the character and you’ve made the writer look better by hiding the exposition. Mary Lou directed a short film called Straight Eye for the Gay Guy, written by Jonathan Dorf. Jonathan told her “Information doesn’t have to be static; it can be used to hurt or attack other characters, and released at just the right moment can be just as deadly as a gun. I call it weaponizing the exposition. Instead of your script feeling contrived and bogging down in exposition, it’ll feel dynamic and organic—and we’ll be so busy watching the proverbial bullets fly that we won’t even notice all of the information you’re feeding us.”4 His website is full of helpful info for writers and directors who want to know about writing.
The director can help hide or mask exposition by distracting the viewer with conflict. Or the director can even give the character who lays the pipe an inner obstacle while saying the line. It’s a trick, but a handy one, and you can get a double bang for your buck: the obstacle or conflict will say something specific about the character and you’ve made the writer look better by hiding the exposition.
Another trick is to give the actor a physical task to complete while giving the exposition. During an episode of Weeds, Bethany had to cover some exposition about the backstory of a character’s father, which led to a physical fight between the characters played by Kevin Nealon and Hunter Parrish. In the lead-up to that fight, the two characters were engaged in painting the walls of their new marijuana dispensary. That activity disguised the exposition and added a literal texture to the scene. In an episode of Hart of Dixie that Mary Lou directed, writers April Blair and Leila Gerstein (the latter created the show) hide all the updated information about Zoe’s (played by Rachel Bilson) pregnancy and finding out the sex of the child in a very funny scene where Wade (played by Wilson Bethel) mistakes an arm for a penis while viewing an ultra sound during a doctor’s visit. The exposition was hidden in the activity and the jokes!
What Is the Character’s Obstacle?
Use the same two-character scene from the appendix. Examine it and determine answers to the following questions:
• What is Character A’s obstacle?
• What is Character B’s obstacle?
As in the exercise on intention, the obstacles of the two characters should be opposing or different. In the first season of Glee, all of the characters in the vocal group had the intention of being successful. But each character’s obstacle to that goal was very different. Rachel didn’t think she was good enough, Finn feared his football team would disapprove, and Kurt knew that being really good would also mean being truly authentic, which was difficult for a gay person in the process of coming out.
A scene might be short but critical in either plot or character development, so you might spend more time shooting it than a longer scene that accomplishes little. It’s the director’s job to prioritize the scenes in order to most effectively tell the story.
The more you direct, the easier it will be to find your own way of quickly rating the conflict and identifying the obstacle. It is vital that you do this task so that you know the level of importance that each scene has in the overall story, which in turn will affect how much time you dedicate to shooting the scene.
A scene might be short but critical in either plot or character development, so you might spend more time shooting it than a longer scene that accomplishes little. It’s the director’s job to prioritize the scenes in order to most effectively tell the story. This preliminary work of breaking down the scene for character will be the foundation of your shooting decisions.
Excerpt from The Eight Characters of Comedy by Scott Sedita5
A character without conflict is boring. In every storyline, characters must either face conflict as they pursue their Want, or be the conflict for another character’s Want. If there are two characters in a scene, each of them will have a Want, and each of their Wants will be the other character’s external obstacle […].
You can also find conflict within your character, what I call Internal Obstacles. Internal obstacles are defined as those conflicting thoughts and emotions such as doubt, insecurity, embarrassment and fear, which try to self-sabotage the character from getting their Want. As an actor or writer, infusing this source of conflict within your character will make that character funnier and more complex […].
Also, at one point or another, every character will be the source of conflict for another character, thus becoming the “voice of reason.” … Desperation is the adrenaline that fuels the character as they pursue their Want. That desperation is derived from various places, such as the character’s history and temperament … When a character incorporates this desperation, it is then complemented by other more positive characteristics such as endearing, hopeful, and vulnerable. It is what keeps the desperation funny, thus keeping a comedy from turning into a drama.
Insider Info
How Do You Interact with the Director?
As an actor, I am always hopeful and eager to work with a good director. When you have a creative partner to collaborate with and give you feedback, it not only enhances the work, but it can also save time and money! I am looking for someone to bounce ideas off of, help me get to the best choices, shape the scenes and the other actors work in a cohesive manner, offer suggestions, and push me to do better work! I try to figure out quickly what each director’s strengths are and then look for ways to work to highlight those strengths. Each director has a particular style and unique vision and you want to take advantage of that. I love it when a director comes in with a plan but is also willing to improvise and explore and discover on the spot. It feels spontaneous and creative and keeps everyone on his or her toes!
What Do You Wish Directors Knew About Acting or Your Process?
I wish more directors weren’t afraid to bring the actors into their process. We can do more than recite lines and hit marks! If a director can be open to suggestions and/or quick conversations about the goals of a scene or a character’s intentions, that’s a plus! I want you to make your day and get your shots, and if you take a moment to bring me into the loop about what you’re hoping for, we can work through the day together. It helps me when a director can be clear and specific with notes, and when there’s time, it’s always nice for the actors to get a free take, such as, “We’ve got the scene, try one however you want.” If you are coming onto a long-running show, be advised that the actors can be possessive of “their” characters. No one has spent more time thinking about their characters than us. Tread lightly in terms of radical suggestions. You are trying to catch up to a speeding train and jump onto it while it’s still going!
What Advice Would You Give a Director Who is Just Starting Out?
Being a guest director in hour television is a difficult and often thankless job! You want to show up and impress the producers, the cast, and the crew with your talent, creativity, and insight, but I strongly suggest that you check your ego at the door. Try to observe before you direct on a show. Get the vibe of the set. Have a plan, but be flexible. You’re not going to get every shot or set up you want. Keep your eyes and ears open—you can learn from every person on the set, but not if your head is buried in your iPhone or laptop! The director of photography (DP) is your best friend or your worst enemy!
Scott Bakula
Actor NCIS New Orleans, Men of a Certain Age, Star Trek, Enterprise, Quantum Leap
Vocabulary
archetype
dialogue
exposition
iconic image
imagery
intention
label
obstacle
pipe (laying the pipe)
stage directions
title card
vision board
NOTES
1 Reed Johnson. “The Unconquered Lions of ‘Invictus.’” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2009, sec. D.
2 Owen Gleiberman, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” Entertainment Weekly, September 16, 2010.
3 Deborah Landis. Hollywood Costume Exhibit, retrieved from http://ktla.com/2014/10/14/hollywood-costume-exhibit/KTLA. Posted 8:03 AM, October 14, 2014, video interview with Gayle Anderson and Nancy Cruz. Updated at 10:48AM, October 14, 2014, http://ktla.com/2014/10/14/hollywood-costume-exhibit/.
4 Jonathan Dorf. Email, June 15, 2015. Website last modified May 15, 2015, www.jonathandorf.com/freeplaywritingtips.
5 Scott Sedita. The Eight Characters of Comedy, 2nd Edition, Los Angeles: Atides Publishing, 2014, pp. 16–21.