Script Analysis: ‘Palm Springs’ — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for this indie comedy starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, and J.K. Simmons.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-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.

But there’s this: In a screenplay, characters exist for a reason. Hence my principle: Character = Function. Writers can shade and shape a story’s character in limitless ways. But if you dig down deep enough, you can find each character’s narrative function, and that can become a lens through which you develop the players in your stories.

Same thing with script and movie analysis: Look at each character and think about why they exist and what their function is.

This week: Palm Springs. You may download the screenplay here.

A list of the key players:

Nyles

Sarah

Roy

Misty

Abe

Tala

Screenplay by Andy Siara, story by Andy Siara.

Plot summary: When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated as they are unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.

Writing Exercise: Think about each character. What’s their respective narrative function?

Major kudos to Michael Korican for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown for Palm Springs, go here.

An interview with the cast of the movie:

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

To access over 90 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Palm Springs.