The Players
To be very honest, the character's in my film are largely being based off of myself, my brother and my friend's real life personalities, or at least a close imitation of them.
NEVYN - The Flawed Hero
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The story i want to create revolves around a short period of time in which the status quo of Nevyn and Kellen's lives is upset and he has to make an incredibly important decision.
So Nevyn will begin the story as a petty criminal, who also holds a job in a demanding, menial job. He works nights of crime, and days of labour, all to help raise money to look after his brother and eventually save up to make a better life for the two of them.
His character will go on an arc, starting with a clearly disintegrating moral compass, which after some epiphany or notable event, is changed to cause him to find some redemption.
I had thought of writing the lead as much grittier and less good person, but I thought that it would be a better film if the main character were someone that the audience would connect with an empathize with at least somewhat. Needing to get the balance right between making him do bad things but still be a good person was a challenge, and I thought in order to sell such a tricky character I should base him in on someone I have an intimate experience of: myself.
It helps that I fear I will be casting myself as the Nevyn, but also I think that if I write to do, act and say things as I would, then he'll be more real than if i constructed someone from scratch.
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The story i want to create revolves around a short period of time in which the status quo of Nevyn and Kellen's lives is upset and he has to make an incredibly important decision.
So Nevyn will begin the story as a petty criminal, who also holds a job in a demanding, menial job. He works nights of crime, and days of labour, all to help raise money to look after his brother and eventually save up to make a better life for the two of them.
His character will go on an arc, starting with a clearly disintegrating moral compass, which after some epiphany or notable event, is changed to cause him to find some redemption.
I had thought of writing the lead as much grittier and less good person, but I thought that it would be a better film if the main character were someone that the audience would connect with an empathize with at least somewhat. Needing to get the balance right between making him do bad things but still be a good person was a challenge, and I thought in order to sell such a tricky character I should base him in on someone I have an intimate experience of: myself.
It helps that I fear I will be casting myself as the Nevyn, but also I think that if I write to do, act and say things as I would, then he'll be more real than if i constructed someone from scratch.
YANA - The Old Friend
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Yana will be in a way the voice of Nevyn's conscience, she'll almost act like a guardian angel, helping and advising him. Her more immediate role in the story will be to help drive the necessity of some action on Nevyn's part. She has helped him with his brother till now - as may be showcased in one scene - but she has to go, meaning he must quickly seek some other means of looking after his brother.
It seems silly to restrict her use to simply as a macguffin, and a means of driving the plot. I think it would be wise to grow on her character in a way that actually gives us more of an insight into Nevyn and his old life.
She will come across as respectable and good, maybe she will be a strongly religious person, to greater contrast the shady nature of Nevyn. In discussion they shall make it clear that he's had some fall from grace, and has been alienated from his past life, perhaps he too was of a religious persuasion, but was forced out of it by his turn to crime.
In terms of her relationship with Kellen, Nevyn's brother, she is like an older sister, stern but caring. I may hint at the possibility of a past relationship between Yana and Nevyn, as i think this would give their interaction that extra bit of spice, and just add a touch more depth to their characters.
I do have someone already in mind to play the part of Yana. My girlfriend Lauralee was the obvious casting choice, and I had wanted to cast her regardless of my production. It actually workd out really well though, because she's Filipino, which adds a wonderful multicultural/racial aspect to the film, something that is common in the most iconic dystopian and cyberpunk worlds.
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Yana will be in a way the voice of Nevyn's conscience, she'll almost act like a guardian angel, helping and advising him. Her more immediate role in the story will be to help drive the necessity of some action on Nevyn's part. She has helped him with his brother till now - as may be showcased in one scene - but she has to go, meaning he must quickly seek some other means of looking after his brother.
It seems silly to restrict her use to simply as a macguffin, and a means of driving the plot. I think it would be wise to grow on her character in a way that actually gives us more of an insight into Nevyn and his old life.
She will come across as respectable and good, maybe she will be a strongly religious person, to greater contrast the shady nature of Nevyn. In discussion they shall make it clear that he's had some fall from grace, and has been alienated from his past life, perhaps he too was of a religious persuasion, but was forced out of it by his turn to crime.
In terms of her relationship with Kellen, Nevyn's brother, she is like an older sister, stern but caring. I may hint at the possibility of a past relationship between Yana and Nevyn, as i think this would give their interaction that extra bit of spice, and just add a touch more depth to their characters.
I do have someone already in mind to play the part of Yana. My girlfriend Lauralee was the obvious casting choice, and I had wanted to cast her regardless of my production. It actually workd out really well though, because she's Filipino, which adds a wonderful multicultural/racial aspect to the film, something that is common in the most iconic dystopian and cyberpunk worlds.
KELLEN - The Unwell Brother
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I don't think there will be too much nuance to the character of Kellen. Though he's crucial to the story, in a way he's more of a plot device than a character. It is however, really important that he be someone the audience immediately care about. He is the key to the character arc and development of Nevyn. What I'll want to do is really try and showcase the love and care that Nevyn treats him with, in stark contrast to how he goes about his work, both criminal and legitimate. I think that if it's clear Kellen respects and loves his brother then that will help show the audience that he's a good person at heart, and remind them why he does the things he does.
The clear choice for casting the part of Kellen was my actual younger brother Gabriel, because I'd used him in my last production and he'd been really great, not to mention the fact that we obviously know how to act like brothers.
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I don't think there will be too much nuance to the character of Kellen. Though he's crucial to the story, in a way he's more of a plot device than a character. It is however, really important that he be someone the audience immediately care about. He is the key to the character arc and development of Nevyn. What I'll want to do is really try and showcase the love and care that Nevyn treats him with, in stark contrast to how he goes about his work, both criminal and legitimate. I think that if it's clear Kellen respects and loves his brother then that will help show the audience that he's a good person at heart, and remind them why he does the things he does.
The clear choice for casting the part of Kellen was my actual younger brother Gabriel, because I'd used him in my last production and he'd been really great, not to mention the fact that we obviously know how to act like brothers.
Film Comparisons
I think the main inspiration for my film being Blade Runner (1982) led to my lead Character Nevyn being a tad inspired by Ridley Scott's Flawed Hero, Rick Deckard. Both Deckard and Nevyn (last name unknown), are people trying who do things that are morally ambiguous. Also, Deckard and Nevyn both end up risking everything by breaking out of their status quo and facing extreme danger for the someone they care about.
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Although it's only a minor inspiration, Jennifer Connelly's character in Dark City did help me think up Yana, the friend of Nevyn in my film. Connely plays the lead's wife, and she tries her best to help him out as he goes on a strange journy throughout the film, albeit a mental one. This was a good inspiration for the helpful nature of Yana. It also gave me the idea to hint at some past romance between the leads of my FMP.
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- Big Brother -