#fff Story Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting - Part 3 The Principles of Story Design
still constructing
I have already written the note on the Chinese translation version of this book, you can read it here: “#033 故事——材质、结构、风格和银幕剧作的原理”. The only reason why I reread the English version is my distrust of translation and my pursuit of the original meaning.
7 The Substance of Story
THE PROTAGONIST
- Generally, the protagonist is a single character.
- For two or more characters to form a Plural-Protagonist, two conditions must be met:
- All individuals in the group share the same desire.
- In the struggle to achieve this desire, they mutually suffer and benefit. If one has a success, all benefit. If one has a setback, all suffer. Within a Plural-Protagonist, motivation, action, and consequence are communal.
- A story may, on the other hand, be Multiprotagonist. Here, unlike the Plural-Protagonist, characters pursue separate and individual desires, suffering and benefiting independently.
- It’s even possible, in rare cases, to switch protagonists halfway through a story.
A PROTAGONIST is a willful character. Quality of will is as important as quantity and the true strength of the protagonist’s will may hide behind a passive characterization.
The PROTAGONIST has a conscious desire.
The PROTAGONIST may also have a self-contradictory unconscious desire.
The PROTAGONIST has the capacities to pursue the Object of Desire convincingly.
The PROTAGONIST must have at least a chance to attain his desire.
The PROTAGONIST has the will and capacity to pursue the object of his conscious and/or unconscious desire to the end of the line, to the human limit established by setting and genre.
A STORY must build to a final action beyond which the audience cannot imagine another.
The PROTAGONIST must be empathetic; he may or may not be sympathetic.