A Character’s Flaw Should Be The Exact Opposite Of Their Strength - Jill Chamberlain
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
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In this Film Courage video interview, Author/Writer/Instructor Jill Chamberlain on A Character’s Flaw Should Be The Exact Opposite Of Their Strength.
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Jill Chamberlain is the author of one of the highest rated screenwriting books on Amazon entitled The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting.
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I like how she encourages writers to keep the mystery, while also keeping structure in mind for the writer’s benefit.
She is talking about the lesson they learn in the end, the new strength they gain... I think the title is a bit misleading because at the beginning of the story my character can't be selfish and generous at the same time which is what the title implies
EXACTLY. I WAS SO CONFUSED WATCHING THIS, THINKING I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW STORIES WORK HOLY CRAPPPPPP lol. I think the better word for "strength" should be their "lesson." I.e The flaw is that they are selfish, so their lesson that they learn is to be selfless, which leads them to their goal.
Thanks Nic
Damn, thanks for pointing that out. I was confused.
Thanks for explaining. So I already knew that, and needlesly opened this video.
I absolutely recommend her book. I am an amateur novelist. She does hit the same point multiple times and that might sound annoying but this really needs to be bashed into your head. Fantastic book.
For everyone that wants to try Jills method, her book is called "The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting".
So would Iron Man be considered the secret protagonist of the MCU? Because 1) It all started with him becoming Iron Man and Phase 3 ended with his death, and 2) just about everything that happened was a result of something incited by him. As a side note to that: Iron Man's flaw is the exact opposite of his strength because he started out selfish but ended up being the one to sacrifice himself for the entire universe.
That's not a secret, multiple characters made sure to tell Tony how selfish he is throughout the movies, repeatedly reminding us of Tony's greatest flaw. In the end he overcomes it to save the universe.
Yes, It became very clear after EndGame that he was the main protagonist the whole time for Infinity War.
I love it when someone can take something complicated and make it simple for us. Thank you! A tragedy can also be when the hero gains his NEED/strength (overcomes his flaw) but time has run out and the manifestation of that need dies away. In other words, in the dark night of the soul, the hero transforms to gain his strength but he cannot realize it. Ex. With his strength, he dies saving the one he loves and so desperately wants.
Or an internal sacrifice is made to achieve it or fate.
I'm trying to imagine my protagonist's search for truth marred by compulsive lying. I guess it would work if it was comedy. For my drama however, I'm going with how easily he is manipulated by lies, and how it burns him enough to seek to never be a fool again.
You're looking for a Don Quixote story, possibly. Or the liar/lie revealed.
@@Reilly5 ... To my specific... the twist later comes as realization of the cost of being skeptical compulsively and how that changes his relationship with those he is supposed to trust. He burns himself harder trying not to get burned.
Listening to two highly intelligent people talk about such a fascinating subject. Brain food.
Thank you for posting. This is exactly what we’re going over in class for our short film script
Ive learned so much from this woman, thank you.
You explained this really well, thank you.
Hi, I'm a small part of the Indian Film Industry, the biggest movie industry in the world, in terms of the number of movies produced each year. I find your videos (both in terms of content and simplistic style) very informative and quite interesting to watch. Keep up the great work! Thanks for creating such meaningful content!
Would like to connect. Lemme know how...
Best Regards,
Ritesh Bhaskaran
Mumbai, India
Subverted expectations, when done correctly, is also great. For instance; The character of Neo was not, and is not, "the one" from prophecy. No, he's the catalyst that brings forth "the one." There's a single line of dialogue in the trilogy that states that "the one" would not be an outsider, but a program from within the Matrix itself. This automatically eliminates Neo as potentially being "the one." Everything else was a lie told to Neo, Trinity, etc (especially by The Oracle) in order to bring forth "the one."
Once you realize this, and see through the trail of spun lies. The answer is obvious. Neo wasn't "the one." Agent Smith was.
Jills book is fantastic!!
What a smart woman! She also has that corporate sort of like "Yeah sorry our system cant let us do that, but you can visit our website and leave your complaint there, mkaay THANKS" then switch to straight poker face and deal with the next issue lol
Very insightful
helpful. but this doesn’t really sound like their strength. maybe i’m wrong, but isn’t their strength there all along making them unique and the one who should be the protagonist, just as their “flaw” is there all along pulling them down and hindering them from being whole/succeeding? so it sounds like she’s instead talking about the character’s inner need (to overcome their flaw) needing to be opposite, and not the strength.
with that said, her idea/“writing law” would still be cool and interesting if the strength and flaw were opposite-though not in that type of opposite way she proposes (doesn’t respect women then respects women in the end or what have you). i’m not exactly sure what this would look like, or if that’s possible, but that’s exactly why i was hoping she’d talk about it when i clicked lol
regardless, thank you both!
why would a strength make you any more unique than your flaw. The strength would give them a "happy ending" as far the the story goes. What a story should do is show the transformation of a character.
Poetical Gore they both do. and you are right about transformation, but that doesn’t refute my point.
i’m not saying the flaw is unimportant at all, it’s hugely important. i’m just saying she’s calling their inner need their strength, and that doesn’t seem right. strengths aren’t more important or make a character more unique than the flaws do, but when forming a character you have to establish what their strength is. then through the story you have them solve their inner need (the opposite of their flaw) as they chase their outer want (the story’s plot) and in the end they either succeed or fail at doing that/making that change.
@@therunawayrascal "inner need their strength"
Yeah it wasn’t a very clear example. How about Spiderman; He has these incredible powers, but he ignores the responsibility of using them which comes at a cost to not only him but his loved ones.
She is clearly smart and very brilliant, but does anybody else get this slight feeling that this woman gets irritated quite easily. She has a sort of snapping movement and sudden change in volume levels, kind of like she went through stress, even though she is very beautiful, her mannerisms though has a hint of stress. She would make a very interesting character for sure, you can only imagine what her internal conflicts and experiences were.. or even more interestingly what her past traumas were and the persona she was forced to build to cacoon and protect herself from that past wound..
And fittingly, her example is a man who hates women. Her splash page shows her with 4 other women. She could go through a character arc of hating men, then learning by the end to accept that men are better at many things.
I also like the idea of characters biggest strenght being their biggest flaw aswell.
Genius!
According to Peter Russell, a core wound is reflected by a self-sabotage superpower, Jill is on the money!
Great stuff! I am writing a screenplay and don't know the ending. I always thought it was a comedy, but tragedy might be best. Thank you for making me think about the option. I need to properly define the opposite of his flaws and clearly define what they are. That all fits perfectly with my story. All questions I never knew I needed to answer. Love you, Jill! You're the best.
It's generally considered a good idea to know the ending right away. Almost right after you know the premise you should know the ending. The beginning is often written afterwards, as it has to start laying the groundwork for how it will end.
@@berserkerpride nope, that's how an 'architect' author writes but it's equally valid to discover the story as you go like a 'gardener'. I recommend checking out Brandon Sanderson's first lecture to explore these more.
So, the character's weakness should be opposite of *the strength they gain near the end*? What about the strength they have from the start? Should their weakness be somehow its opposite (if that even makes sense), too?
i'm trying to write this character who has a tendency of intentional aggravation of a person they dislike, things like consistent spiting and throwing things back in others faces. they aren't the most mature character, and they tend to get on others nerves a lot, but i'm thinking of making them a socialized mean humor character, with a bunch of friends who also think its funny to hurt and stress out others, ignoring how they feel until they inevitably explode.
they're going to be the protagonist, so they're going to have a sympathetic side, since a lot of the other characters will support and enjoy that kinda thing even though it often hurts others. they're the type of character that takes their feelings out on others, and because they do and their friends do others start doing the same.
this sound like a good flaw to have? or is it too black and white - viewing things through a personal lens or in extremes, not grayscale?
*NOICE*
Misleading title. Should have been "Opposite of their strength at the end of the story."
The inherent FLAW with your "flaw" concept is... the movie ends up showing the contrived "flaw" scenes at the beginning of the movie... why is that bad.... um... those scenes ALWAYS reveal the character arc and thus, the ending... and this idea that if we don't show a flaw, it's just a sequence of events is just BS... ALL people are subject to events in their life that they had nothing to do with.. we are victims of things our entire lives... it's how we REACT to these events that shows the character... I think character can be revealed throughout the story.. flaws are just good character and they will pop up all along the "sequence of events".. I guess my scripts will be passed by the script readers..
No, never! That's cheap writing. Always come in from an angle. A henchman who can't stand blood is fun in a children's book, but kind of silly. A henchman who perfectly hears what's spoken truthfully can get into interesting problems and inner battles.
KootFloris I feel like you’ve misunderstood the concept of a flaw partially. Being frightened of blood is more of a character quirk than an intrinsic weakness. Let’s use the henchman example and examine it though. Maybe ask why are they a henchman? We could tie it into the fear of blood too if you like. Why don’t they like blood? They don’t like getting their hands dirty? It’s a feeling of needing to be clean? Perfectionist maybe? They strangle or break limbs but don’t do anything that could cause them to get blood on themselves. Maybe they think it’s beneath them? So now you have this character who is a really effective henchman BUT at the same time their weakness is they have aspirations to be more than this. They are successful but don’t want the success they have. They are overreaching. In a Comedy maybe their win is that they succeed and become the crime boss. In a tragedy, maybe the turn is that this ambition is their downfall. So actually, their not liking blood is a factor of their higher central flaw which could be about gaining more respect maybe? Their strength is that in fact they have enormous respect for being highly efficient, albeit not in a role they want
@@robhardingpoetry Great response, addition. Yes you're right. Perhaps a child of the henchman died, bloody in his arms. So now blood makes him think of that moment. And then indeed, avoiding blood, can make them say, great stranglers, but at some moment, good writing will have them meet a moment where they have to face to blood. But the angle, as I proposed, is still not fully oppositional, it comes in as reveal, sideways, when situations challenge this aspect.
KootFloris Right. Like maybe this path to overthrow their employer even has them orchestrate this ploy whereby cops who they’ve paid off while catch the boss red handed for something, allowing them to assume the throne. In the final moment though it all goes awry. The henchman is rumbled and instead you now have them facing down their employer who they want to usurp. The boss is basically like ‘you can’t kill me now, you’ve brought the cops to our door. Kill me and you go down. I’m untouchable.’ The mobster instead rolls up his sleeves. But in that moment, rather than compromise, rather than even throw down as he normally would, the henchman shoots their boss. Splattered in blood, they assume the throne. And at that moment, sirens blare and red and blue lights fill the room. But they sit, emotionless. They’ve won. Yes, they’ve overcome their fear of blood but they’ve warped their own plan. They’ve been their own undoing because they could not overcome their flaw. It’s this this ‘yes, but’ moment. Their flaw was actually this desire for power and respect at all costs, and it’s now cost them everything.
I still think it’s accurate to say that in some where, their flaw does have to be a mirror of their strength. Focus and resolve have the flip-side of single minded stubbornness for example. Self belief and pride. A desire for success and obsession. That conclusion for example would deal with both sides of that coin
Just to throw a final thought in, I’d make it so that instead of being a physical opponent, I’d remove the ‘he’s good at strangling’ as that’s kind of dumb, and make it that he’s a schemer. He’s smart. That’s how he’s served his boss well. He gets what he needs out of people by being several steps ahead. Which is why his plan to tackle his boss is a play rather than a fight. But in the end, he betrays his own motives and fires the gun. He gets the throne but he lost himself and now loses everything.
WTF is she talking about?! So I guess her strength is story telling but her flaw is the inability to communicate it?!