Script Analysis: “Man Up” — Part 3: Characters
Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:
Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways
Today: Characters.
Characters are the players in our stories. They participate in scenes, move the plot forward through action and dialogue, influence each other, evolve and change. Each has their own distinct backstory, personality, world view, and voice. When a writer does their best, digging deep into their characters, tapping into their souls, the players in our stories magically lift up off the printed page and come to life in a reader’s imagination.
We continue our analysis of the script Man Up by considering the characters in the story. You may download a PDF of the script here.
Written by Tess Morris.
IMBd plot summary: A single woman takes the place of a stranger’s blind date, which leads to her finding the perfect boyfriend.
Here is a list of the key characters from the script in order of appearance:
Nancy
Jessica
Jack
Bert
Fran
Sean
Elaine
Adam
Writing Exercise: Think about the respective narrative function of each character. You may find using archetypes — Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster — as a helpful tool. Remember, these are masks characters can wear, shifting one to the other from scene to scene.
Major kudos to Clare Macdonald for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.
For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown, go here.
For Part 2, to read Plot analysis, go here.
Tomorrow we shift our focus to the script’s key characters.
I am soliciting volunteers to do a scene-by-scene breakdown to be used as the foundation of our script reading series. There are also over 150 movie scripts from the last 5 years, many of which we have yet to analyze.
Beyond your name being noted here, my thanks and some creative juju, hopefully you will learn something about story structure and develop another skill set which is super helpful in learning and practicing the craft.
To read examples of scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here.
To access the entire Go Into The Story Script Read and Analysis Series, go here.
Reading scripts is hugely important. Analyzing them even more so. If you want to work in Hollywood as a writer, you need to develop your critical analytical skills. This is one way to do that.
So seize this opportunity and join in the conversation! Make it a commitment to read more scripts in 2016!
To read my interview with Man Up screenwriter Tess Morris, go here.
To read my interview with Man Up producer Rachael Prior, go here.
To watch Man Up online, go here.
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