Character Arcs Are NOT What You Think

When building characters in your screenplay, so many screenwriters get the character arc wrong. Let's not do that anymore. A strong character arc can make the difference between a mediocre screenplay and a great one. Time to upgrade your characters. (Oh yeah, and I use _Top Gun_ as an example... but you'll have to imagine Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone.")

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If you have any questions about screenwriting, drop them in the comments section. If it's a short answer, I'll reply here. If not, I'll try to tackle it in a future video.

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🖋 N O T E S
_Top Gun_. dir. Tony Scott (1986).

0:00 What's a Character Arc?
1:25 The Need
3:30 You Have 2 Options...
4:52 The "Pain"
7:23 The Simple Option
10:50 Arcs Can Only Start After...
11:33 Integration
12:35 A Better Model
14:36 An Example
15:33 Testing Your Character

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// I G N O R E
#bigredstripe #screenplaynavigator #screenwritingfasttrack

[comermoney]

Dang, Jake. You always have a way of putting these things in a way no one else ever has! All the years I've been writing and watching videos I have never seen it from this perspective! Awesome stuff!

[iwrite]

Another insightful vid Jake! Thanks! Then there are times when the character goes through pain and it starts them on a journey to achieve what they want. Such as in Legally Blonde where her boyfriend breaks up with her (pain) and she ends up pursuing him to Harvard to be with him. Now later on she realizes what she actually needs.

[michaelsix]

really helpful and useful video, will watch all of these

[shaelynconstant]

8:30 Damn you really called us out... Thank you.

[crtvenuff]

This video was super helpful! Thank you for sharing :)

For a different analogy to replace DNA - maybe it could be a mountain range reflected in the water? That way it's more jagged.

[randomspirit]

Just once I'd like to find a really good course that has a scholarship program for us disabled people who are constantly on the verge of homelessness because our fixed incomes barely cover the basics. Sure, we'd love to invest in something that has the potential to improve our circumstances by learning a new skill set, but the money just isn't there to make it possible so we HAVE TO rely on the freebies and cheapies, and it isn't because we're being lazy or choosing the easiest route, it's because we don't have any other choice. Thank god for libraries!

[nikkinewbie]

You said when the protagonist has to choose between the want and the need and chooses the need he doesn’t get the want. But because he has changed, he can eventually get the thing he wanted after the growth has taken place.

I’m thinking an alternative could be that after the growth the protagonist could realize that what he wanted was based on a misbelief (fatal flaw) or fear that he had - but no longer has after the “aha” moment. At that point he realizes that he doesn’t really want the thing he started out wanting.

As far as Top Gun it’s a great example! I can see clearly what you’re saying. He doesn’t get the title of Top Gun which is what he wanted initially, but because of his stellar performance and proving he was a team player in that last real dogfight, he was granted the opportunity to go anywhere he wanted - and so he chooses to become an instructor at Top Gun. Charlie even comes back!

So yeah he learned the lesson of the story and got rewarded but yes, it cost him.

I’d love to see you analyze The Dark Knight - although I feel like the Nolan brothers did some things off the beaten path with that one.

The title refers equally to both Batman and Harvey Dent according to Christopher Nolan - I guess because Harvey goes from being the so called Gotham’s White Knight to a Dark Knight because of his negative arc.

But Batman…I don’t feel like his arc moved as much. He lost some illusions about what it would take to bring about change in Gotham and the true cost he’d have to pay. It was more like he had a flatter arc but influenced people around him? Like the copy cats and even Coleman Reece after Bruce saved him even though he was going to out Bruce.

With it being a trilogy it would make sense that Bruce Wayne wouldn’t make huge change internally in the second one, not until Rises which is the third act of the trilogy.

I know Nolan said he didn’t know if he’d get to do TDK 😏and then he didn’t know that he would get to go TDKR but he sure wrote in a way to facilitate continuing the same story when he wrote Begins and TDK. And then Nolan completed Bruce Wayne’s character arc! Never before done on the big screen. Gutsy of him and I found it satisfying.

I feel like TDK ends like a big ole Dark KNIGHT of the Soul / All is Lost ending. 😂. I’m not a 100% believer in Save The Cat, but I couldn’t resist the play on words.

Meanwhile The Joker is driving the entire plot pretty much from start to finish. Structurally, it’s confusing to me as a newbie.

Anyway thanks for all you do!

[Drudenfusz]

There seems to be a connection still between diet and migraines. It was discovered in multiple studies that there is a connection between magnesium and migraines. And since I make sure to always get enough magnesium I have less often migraines and less severe ones too. Maybe that will help you too.

[thefullsp]

Always learning from you but never doing the work!!! The screenwriting fast track its is then!

[dchick]

Thale DNA model is an awesome way to put it.

[jeaniecorrea]

Your content is great and appreciated. I am having a hard time, though, with the background music you've added to this video. It comes across as irritating chaotic noise rather than music. It could be my hearing, but I'm guessing that I'm not the only one pulling their hair out trying to watch all the way through.

[aaronmoreno]

Damn I remembered that one thing I HATR about Top Gun Maverick is that Charlie isn't there, if you have a character who's very central to the story why remove them in the sequel when they played a vital role in the original, its called a sequel, a continuation not a restart.

[deckrect]

Move to marketing business. There's a talent.

[jimjo]

lol oh you can just watch videos and take a free course or you can give me money for homework (if you want to grow as a screenwriter) 😂 nice try but I’m broke