Creating Characters
08/11/21 • 64 min
In this week’s episode, Sierra and Moni talk all about characters. What goes into creating characters for TV? What makes a character good, a character you want to watch week after week? What is it about your hero that makes you want to root for them?
We discuss all the things we think about when creating characters: Wants and Needs, Objectives, Tactics, Backstory, Motivations, Being Identifiable, Relationships, and Personality.
We also talk about villains and how villains have many of the same aspects as your hero, which leads us into the idea of the anti-hero and the concept of The Difficult Man in television and why aren’t there more Difficult Women?
In our devotional, Sierra testifies to her recent binge-watching of the show BROTHERS AND SISTERS and Moni brings forth further proof how television can save the world, or at least one man’s life, as she discusses the Netflix documentary LONGSHOT.
In this week’s episode, Sierra and Moni talk all about characters. What goes into creating characters for TV? What makes a character good, a character you want to watch week after week? What is it about your hero that makes you want to root for them?
We discuss all the things we think about when creating characters: Wants and Needs, Objectives, Tactics, Backstory, Motivations, Being Identifiable, Relationships, and Personality.
We also talk about villains and how villains have many of the same aspects as your hero, which leads us into the idea of the anti-hero and the concept of The Difficult Man in television and why aren’t there more Difficult Women?
In our devotional, Sierra testifies to her recent binge-watching of the show BROTHERS AND SISTERS and Moni brings forth further proof how television can save the world, or at least one man’s life, as she discusses the Netflix documentary LONGSHOT.
Previous Episode
Comfort TV!
Today’s show is all about Comfort TV!
What is comfort TV? Why do we need it? And what makes it so darn cozy? We've got some answers! In this episode, we discuss the shows that bring us comfort, why they do, and how TV gets us through difficult times.
I interview Suzanne Gundersen, the founder of Transformed Connections. She joins us to talk about stress relief and self-management techniques, including how watching our favorite shows can help us heal.
Bonus for screenwriters! Suzanne is also the founder of ScreenwriteNOW! She tells us all about her new program that helps stressed and struggling screenwriters become authentic, embodied in their work, and break through the dreaded writer’s block!
After my interview with Suzanne, we continue to profess the healing power of television. Hear about the fantastic TED talk by TV executive Lauren Zalaznick about The Consciousness of TV. And, of course, we fawn over our favorite shows, including Ted Lasso, because, we LOVE Ted Lasso.
Our devotionals today: Music in TV, and the love of rewatching favorite shows.
Come join us in our devotion to the cult-like love of television!
Next Episode
Food on TV
This week we talk about food on television. Not that we don’t love a good binge of British Bake Off, but we’re talking food as part of a scripted show. Food is an essential part of life, so should it be for our characters on TV, but it’s so much more than set dressing. Food is a language, one that is full of reveals, secrets, and metaphors. We talk about how the choice of food in a script should never be random because what someone eats, or doesn’t eat, says so much about them. We also discuss how food can shape a story or can even be the engine for the story itself. And yes, it totally matters what is inside the fridge on set when it opens.
In the Devotional, Sierra admits to spending a crazy amount of time on TikTok but has been rewarded by the algorithm gods as they guided her to discovering Gilmore Gay. Moni laments her lack of inspiration for cooking lately and makes a bold attempt to get herself right again by signing up for a virtual cooking class with Claudia Christian.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/the-tv-sect-podcast-256135/creating-characters-29774290"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to creating characters on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy