How To Write Three Dimensional Characters - Shannan E. Johnson

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#writing #screenwriting #screenplay

[yappygm]

I could watch an entire series with just Shannan. Another great video!

[zubairnazir]

Writing my first feature length film and I'm thankful to film courage.

[andromeda]

This was so insightful. I really appreciate this breakdown on character. I write prose fiction, but even so, this was so helpful. Story is story. Thank you film courage.

[AllThingsFilm]

Giving your audience a means of connecting to your character(s) emotionally will cause them to care enough to watch the journey. Finding that fear and insecurity that the audience can relate to will help insure that connection. That's what I got out of Shannon's commentary. Film Courage really is an invaluable resource for screenwriting tools and inspiration.

[G-Blockster]

@FilmCourage Thank you for creating this video library. This interview was uploaded three years ago, and it's still creative gold. Shannan remains one of my favorites.

[PHlophe]

Another gem from the vault with Queen Shannan. She has the true power of words

[rogersjgregory]

Trauma is a great tool to get your character moving, but unless you show their back story, which a lot of people argue against doing, then working out how to do it on the page is where the real work begins. We need to give the actors and the director enough information, without overwhelming them or boring them. A fun thing to figure out.

[hank]

I like to remind myself with a literal 3-dimensional metaphor: so you're looking at a dice, that means you see one side but not the other (e.g. you see a 5, while the other sides are 'hidden'). A 3-dimensional character is one who indeed reveals certain aspects of themselves, sometimes. BUT, to continue the metaphor, once you get to know the dice, and you see a 5, you sort of know what's on the hidden sides... When a character shows something, you sort of know this belies other aspects of themselves that are 'hidden'.

[RossMacHattie]

Shannan seems absolutely great. I think it's her enthusiasm which makes her so engaging.

[AnyDayNow]

Outstanding analysis. I appreciate Shannan's perspective and how she breaks it down for us! 😁🤙

[lindaypetere.]

Thanks Shannan, you're the best.

[matthewpaul]

This helps me figuring out how to answer this question: why should I care?

[NIKONGUY]

This totally helped me with a thing I’m working on. I’m looking at these characters with fresh eyes. Thanks again, SJ, for bringing clarity.

[MirandaDrago]

Another super useful video featuring Shannan. Personally, what comes to my mind when creating stories is usually characters first, so they talk to me on an almost personal level. They reveal to me who they are. This video reaffirms that I'm on the right path! thanks as always

[KhanyoMjamba]

You just helped me solve a big problem about one of my characters!

[JenStorerAuthor_GirlandDuck]

Perfect question. And awesome response. Love this series with Shannan, but this particular vid goes straight to the heart of skilful storytelling. Thank you!

[sjporter]

This is so great! Thank you for the guidance and sharing your insight.

[wattpadusergeek]

Creating characters by using their trauma as the foundation of who they are and how they push the plot forward is the kind of advice I’ll remember forever.

I really like how clear and concise Shannan’s interviews are. I always find myself making notes from every single interview she’s given. Thanks for sharing. Is there a compilation of all her mini interviews? If not, that’s alright. I’ll be patient. I’m sure there’ll be one at some point.

[Ethereal]

I used to do maths, so thinking about 3D characters is kind of an xyz coordinate problem for me. And then I started crystallography stuff and there was actually a fourth dimension that was called something like "x.y". I then dropped out of that and decided to write instead lol.

In any case, I usually think of 3D characterization in terms of xyz as being inherent tension within a character between independent coordinates to create an area. For example, a soldier character might have an xyz of self, squad and command, where there's a tension between keeping yourself alive, keeping your squad alive, and following orders. From here you actually have a few coordinates you can use:

x, y, z, -x, y, z, x, -y, z, x, y, -z, -x, -y, z, -x, y, -z, x, -y, -z, -x, -y, -z

where x=self, y=squad, z=command

All of these coordinates could just plot out a whole variety of characters, like -x, y, z could be the noble kid while x, -y, -z could be the selfish prick. Even a zero technically creates a point on the graph, but its important to at least suggest an implicit importance to that role (command might never even really have any screen time and it's just sort of an order that pushes the characters along, but at least command is a thing that has some value just by it being command).

One thing to note though is that characters can have too much area and too much tension, and when that something snaps, it goes full nuclear and will be too much for anyone to handle.

Okay, that was probably too much maths, but 3d is a mathematical term so... yeah

[magmatea]

I'm about to simp for Shannan because her writing advice is next level good.