Character Development

When our film opening was in its earliest stages, we asked our teacher for advice and criticism. She posed the question, "why should we care?" For a story to be compelling, its characters must be equally appealing; an audience needs to be invested in the character to latch onto the story. Therefore, I want to discuss essential aspects of character development to incorporate into my story. 

• Motivations

• According to AJ Pearce, "if you want to make a character complex, you need to give them a deeply rooted motivation. Uncover this and you're halfway there" (Pearce, 2022). By understanding and defining the goals and motives of a character, you have the opportunity to then develop their flaws and strengths in a more natural way.
• In the context of my film opening, my protagonist (Ryan) is primarily motivated by fighting against his condition, a form of muscular dystrophy. As a result, he develops an obsession with the gym to maintain his health - without weightlifting, the condition would consume him. This naturally creates both a strength and a weakness: Ryan is incredibly dedicated to his work, yet struggles to find enjoyment as disease controls his life.     

•  Gradual Development

• All the details about a character shouldn't be frontloaded upon their introduction. Instead, they should be gradually introduced and shown using the character's actions and words. By following this practice, the character could more naturally develop "not unlike the way people get to know one another in real life" (Brown, 2021).
• When planning out my film opening, this was a major concern to me. I was trying to find a way to seamlessly establish his dependency on the gym, and that he views weightlifting as a 'necessary evil' rather than something more enjoyable. I felt that explicitly stating his condition and its characteristics would be unnatural, so I opted for more subtle cues and hints. In the film, Ryan will be shown measuring himself, documenting the changes in size and weight of his body. By showing abnormal fluctuations in muscle mass, the audience could be hinted towards the nature of his condition.

Naturally, there are many aspects to character development, but I wanted to address the two that I felt would be especially helpful to brush up on. Hopefully, you can see these elements shine in my film opening.

References

Brown, D. (2021, August 26). How to develop fictional characters: 8 tips for character development - 2025. MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-develop-fictional-characters

Pearce, A. (2022, April 10). AJ Pearce on writing a complex character: The blog: The novelry. The Blog | The Novelry. https://www.thenovelry.com/blog/writing-a-complex-character