Any art has foundational pieces. Dig deep enough in any discipline, and you will find the core components that set the stage for transformative experiences. We all have that movie that spoke to us. The character took us down the rabbit hole and gave us a new perspective on life. The perfectly executed prose that paints the picture of something otherwise had been trapped deep within us, unable to put words to it.
For writing, the carefully crafted prose makes a fertile ground for imagination to enter the world. For music, it is that melody that arrests your mind and syncs with your soul. For screenwriters, this is backstory. We often don’t think of the backstory as important, much like most of us don’t think about the foundation below the ground in the building we are sitting in. Yet the quality of that build well sets the tone and space, and in some cases, a fatal flaw for everything built on top.
I used to think it was the actions that made or broke a film, and to a point, that is true. I remember several very good actions that did okay jobs, and wondered why. Was it the actor? Was it the director? Was it the writer? The question is, what makes that earth-shattering performance?
I looked closer at two performances that stood above the rest: Heath Ledger as the Joker and Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday. They both were method actors. This means they would not just act their characters; they would change their lives to mimic what they thought that character might act like. Not just reading lines, but how they ate dinner, what pets they had, right down to the tiniest detail. Their approaches were different, the characters they played were different, yet they both said something that stuck with me. They made up a backstory for their characters. Key moments in a character’s life that made them who they are and influenced everything they do.
Foundation is a backstory. A screenplay is too short to put someone’s whole life story in from A to B. So, how do we let our reader, our actor, director, etc., know their whole story without giving them a novel?
There are at least five moments in each character’s life, each dealing with a different part of the character that affects how they act in any given situation.
I’ll give you the first one with an example of what a major event in the character’s personal life might look like.
Spirituality: Kiel grew up in a strict Christian home; he was not allowed to date. Kiel sees life very black and white, wrong and right, with no room for gray. He is very awkward around girls.
M –
E –
P –
S –
If you want the rest, come to my class, Putting the “Back” in Back Story at The Well.
See you at the Well!
