Developing Characters

This post was made in part for the purpose of aiding us in presenting a proposal to teachers and classmates to get feedback on our work so far. 

When creating our protagonist we had to take into account the modern representation we wished to portray as well as genre conventions. We researched protagonists from teen dramas and black comedies to heighten our awareness.

Heathers: Veronica (Played by Winona Ryder)

Like Mandy, Veronica originally plans to get her own back. This results in a situation which she has to fix.  She is an independent character that whilst being in with the "cool crowd" is not afraid to speak her mind. She is also very attractive as well as fashionable and so is an inspirational character for the core audience. 

The Virgin Suicides: Lux (Played by Kirsten Dunst )

Lux is completely enigmatic, and the audience yearn to learn more about her. We aim to create enigma with our characterisation of Mandy; we will with-hold information about her but give out enough information for the audience to remain interested. 

Mean Girls: Cady (Played by Lindsay Lohan)

Cady's character is similar to that of Mandy in that they both realise they have done wrong, and must then correct it. Mandy must take matters into her own hands to prevent a crime of murder. She, in a way, indirectly caused the boy plan this to happen (by committing the first revenge) and must face the consequences. 

Whilst she is not a character from a film, "Effy" is definitely a character that we have been influenced by, so I have included her in this research to show what influence she had. 

Skins: Effy (Played by Kaya Scodelario)

Effy is very mysterious and enigmatic, and she intrigues the audience. She is very attractive and dresses well, and this all creates an aspirational figure for the core female audience. She is also flawed in various ways, making her relatable for the audience . 

Following this research, we further defined Amanda (our working name for the protagonist) by working out her characteristics at the beginning and end of the film. Although not all of these characteristics will be obvious in our opening, we will keep them all in mind planning the script and shots and while shooting to maintain a consistent representation. 

• She is confident and secure, perhaps slightly arrogant.
• Attractive and well dressed but without too much effort
• Lots of friends, but no one too close. Sells drugs within her friend ship circle, she is the “go to girl”. Very reliable and seemingly unemotional
• Intelligent and observant, but quite uptight and full of herself. This leads to a naivety of sorts: she thinks that she can get away with everything.
• Fairly quiet, but sarcastic
• Holds grudges rather than talking to people and sorting things out.
• Quite cold and calculating, as she must be to carry out revenge.
• Very capable, also a perfectionist with a strong imagination
• She has a good family life, notably well with her older brother.

By the end however, her personality traits have changed, in true coming-of-age style.  

She:

• Becomes friendlier and warmer
• Allows herself to let people in and make true friends
• Stops dealing
• Learns to forgive

We have made decisions for our protagonist through our research and influences. In all of our decisions we have taken audience appeal and genre into account.