We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve the issue. [Updated 3:30 GMT]

You are viewing a clip of this video, click to Join. Members, click to Log in.

Bandwidth: High < >
Share:

The Creation Of Characters 7: Building Your Protagonist Around A Center of Good - Lesson Now Playing


The Creation Of Characters 7: Building Your Protagonist Around A Center of Good

Jul 17, 2010

This is a Sample Member Lesson Page. Click here to become a member.

The Creation Of Characters 7: Building Your Protagonist Around A Center of Good - Lesson Lesson Discussion


Add Comment
hustus wrote
at Sep 09, 2013 - 7:27 PM
Wonderful ideas all. Thank you.
at Aug 06, 2010 - 11:55 PM
Lovely.  And most entertaining!
Geoff wrote
at Jul 22, 2010 - 10:00 PM
"I find that audiences (including myself) have difficulty generating empathy for a female protagonist who is in some sense evil." That's a very interesting observation. Your comment reminds me of the purported historical audience reaction in ancient Greece to Euripides' Medea.
ifrunner: Female protagonist
at Jul 22, 2010 - 7:18 PM
A while ago you mentioned that female protagonists are not as popular.  Do you suppose that the concept of building a "center of good" surrounded by "all kids of evil" is perceived differently by the audience based on the gender of the protagonist?  I find that audiences (including myself) have difficulty generating empathy for a female protagonist who is in some sense evil.  Does that leave us with snow white female protagonists who cannot show intelligence, sense of humor, calmness in extreme challenges and power, while at the same time being, well, human?  I hope not.
SCSaunders: Escapism & A Center of Good
at Jul 20, 2010 - 9:02 AM
I enjoy a type of story escapism that doesn't contradict McKee's point of view (Story: pg. 12, paragraph 3) and parallel's Jessica's experience. 

It's entered into via the center of good. It's the experience of a wish, a taste of what is missing.

Good stories are two things for me. One, an aesthetic revelation that "life is like that!" and two, an escapism into "I wish [my] life was like that (or had that)."  FWIW.
Geoff: Speaking of Hamlet
at Jul 18, 2010 - 7:35 PM
I'm watching the David Tennent Patrick Stewart DVD production put out by the BBC and RSC back in 2009. Really an extraordinary production, but what helps the most for a neophyte such as me is the ability to turn on the Director's Commentary on the first pass through the DVD so I can do a second pass with the Commentary turned off. I explain it to my friends as saying that its like having Bob McKee tear apart a play in slow motion, but since Bob is otherwise occupied I had to choose a second best solution, so I'm listening to the director. I'm wondering how many other people here use the Director's Commentaries on DVD's to pull apart a movie?
henrymann: secondary empathy
at Jul 17, 2010 - 1:51 PM
there are some movies I can enjoy even if I don't empathize with the protagonist. e.g. I didn't give a damn about Scarlet O'Hara so for me Gone With The Wind will always be about Rhett Butler. 
henrymann: possible connection
at Jul 17, 2010 - 1:44 PM
it is true that people today get overly emotional when you criticize "their" movie and it is also true that we live in an anti-romantic age. hmmm...is there a connection I wonder?
Barrera1234: ...best line in the lesson.
at Jul 17, 2010 - 12:37 PM
"...as if they had written the damn thing." Wonderful first lesson, says the newest paying student. Thank you and I am happy to be here with all of you. What a gem.
Geoff: Existential question
at Jul 17, 2010 - 10:30 AM
Can I parlay this gig as a lone toga commenter on Storylogue into some type of acting gig? Perhaps and older, more decrepit socratic version of the Old Spice commercial man?
Geoff: Michael Mann has done it twice
at Jul 17, 2010 - 8:19 AM
Michael Mann has done it twice in his career - created characters that shouldn't be empathetic but are - one was Frances Dollarhyde in Manhunter, and the second was Robert DeNiro in Heat. I realize these are Antagonists rather than Protagonists but in these genres, its quite a feat to not render the Antagonist as a caricature and thereby trivialize the Protagonist's role. Of course, maybe I should have held my fire in this comment and posted it on a Lesson that discussed Antagonists specifically, or does that make me a type of virtual Antagonist to this thread?

When you sign up for Storylogue, you will also enjoy:

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 13 (Conclusion)

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 13 (Conclusion)
Jan 04, 2015

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 12

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 12
Dec 28, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 11

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 11
Dec 21, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 10

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 10
Dec 14, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 9

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 9
Dec 07, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 8

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 8
Nov 30, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 7

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 7
Nov 23, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 6

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 6
Nov 16, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 5

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 5
Nov 09, 2014

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 4

"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Complete Sequence by Sequence Analysis" - Lesson with Action Genre Scholar Bassim El Wakil - Part 4
Nov 02, 2014

Browse All Lessons Browse All Lessons >>>

In order to contribute to Storylogue, you must have a membership.
Create an Account

*
Please enter the username used when registering for Storylogue
*
Please enter your password
or Create an Account
Forgot Password?

Forgot Password?

If you cannot find your password, enter your email here and we will send you a new password.
*
Please enter the email you used to sign up on Storylogue
or Cancel

This document or video is available
to active members only.

OR