Randy’s tragedy is he finds magic only in the empty choreographed illusions of the ring. He compulsively plays the spray-tanned bleached blond hero to dwindling numbers of cheering strangers.
Continue readingDavid Frost & Richard Nixon – Power of Ambition
Frost/Nixon is an epic battle between two Power of Ambition characters.
Continue readingCreating a New Character – Fear
It’s important to look at the ways the character is most worried about failing others and becoming unloved or unlovable. This often is traceable back to the character’s own childhood fears. These early fears powerfully stay with us and color our adult lives.
Continue readingComing of Age Films and Power of Idealism
#WritingAdviceWednesday – Coming of Age films, as I define them, are Power of Idealism films.
Continue readingSecond Hand Wedding
As a frequent flyer on Air New Zealand I have the opportunity to see regional films that don’t ever make it to the US in wide distribution. My favorite film this trip was the delightful and heartwarming Second Hand Wedding. It’s everything one would want in comedy.
Continue readingValues at Stake – Film
The obstacles in a film or television series should create the kind of risk, peril or danger that pushes the character to take actions that define what is most fundamentally important or true in a character’s life.
Continue readingValues at Stake – Televison
A character should be forced to make a stark, definitive and active choice. As one value is ultimately chosen, the character finally negates or surrenders the other contrasting value. What price is paid for the character’s choice?
Continue readingEmotional Status Quo
Too often characters seem to have emotional amnesia, especially when off stage for a couple of scenes. What’s a character’s emotional status quo? It’s the emotional temperature of the character when he or she enters a scene.
Continue readingWhat Happens in Vegas
This film is a high-spirited Romantic Comedy romp that is a really enjoyable surprise. It has its flaws, particularly in its rather pat ending is well worth seeing.
Continue readingRevolutionary or Rebel Part Two
#TypesTuesday – In order to have real power, a story and a character must have a single clear emotional focus.
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