Importance of storytelling elements and hard choices for characters.
Understanding character goals and conflicts, creating impossible decisions.
Developing character complexity and changes over time.
Using empathy to maintain audience connection despite character flaws.
Characters and Decisions
Hard Choices: Guide characters to crossroads where they must choose between equally desirable or undesirable outcomes.
Character Goals: Create conflict by having characters choose between two important goals or face dire consequences for either decision.
Character Changes: Characters resist, ignore, or misinterpret their changes and how change affects their relationships with others.
Examples from Arcane: VI’s choices about her sister, Mel’s choice between personal identity and support for Jace, Silco’s realization about love and ideology.
Character Complexity
Unlikeable Characters: Making flawed characters relatable by giving understandable motivations and emotions.
Empathy: Ensure character decisions emotionally resonate with the audience and are understandable, even when disagreeable.
Relatable Struggles: Characters aim to prove something or have a chip on their shoulder, characters motivated by feelings of inferiority, or a need to prove worthiness.
Archetype Examples: Jinx seeking worthiness, Silco’s resentment from being looked down upon.
Character Creation Techniques
Background and Questions: Ask deep questions about character goals, motivations, backstory, and pivotal events in their lives.
Experiencing Character Activities: Engage in activities characters would do to gain insight into their behavior and mindset.
Character Voice and Details: Create authentic character voices and details through specific thematic and aesthetic work.
Cleverness and Independence: Let characters surprise you; create decisions based on their goals and motivations independent of the plot needs.
Themes and Templates: Use music, emotions, and other media to capture character arcs and essence.
Plot and Pacing
Character-Driven Plot: Ensure plot progression is based on character choices, not just events; characters should drive the narrative forward autonomously.
World Impact: Characters’ decisions must have real consequences on the world around them to create stakes and tension.
Avoid Filler: Focus on aggressive pacing without unnecessary episodes or scenes that don’t further character arcs or plot points.
Breaking Episodes: Begin with key elements or scenes, then work outward, ensuring the final configuration maximizes the story's impact.
Handling Creative Mess
Balance Plot and Character Arcs: Separate and track character arcs and the world plot individually to maintain clarity and organization.
Stress Management: Recognize good versus bad stress, and address issues with ego and workload by taking breaks and seeking support when needed.
Effective Process: Employ trial and error, team collaboration, and clearly defined structures to untangle complexities.
Mindset and Team Dynamics
Creative Environment: Foster a supportive and trusting team atmosphere; ensure everyone feels valued and collaborative.
Trust the Audience: Be bold and trust that the audience can handle complexity and nuanced character development.
Learning Culture: Maintain a culture of continuous learning, improving, and adapting quickly from mistakes.
Importance of Vision: Stay true to the core elements that make the story significant and compelling.
Takeaways
Write what excites and motivates you personally, ensuring the story is one you would love to experience yourself.
Focus on making every character decision meaningful and impactful, driving the plot forward through their choices.
Develop a supportive team culture, value collaborative input, and continuously adapt and learn from feedback.
Conclusion
Crafting a compelling narrative like Arcane involves deep character work, smart decision-making, effective stress management, and a collaborative, supportive team environment. Combining these elements can lead to creating stories that resonate deeply with audiences and stand the test of time.