Character Development

Today we concentrated on Character Development, this is essential to a great script as noone likes to watch a movie or tv show with a boring, unfleshed character. We started with a bit of a free writing task. "using a slug line and screen directions (but no dialogue), in about 200 words, create and introduce a character in a screenplay." This was a lot more difficult than I first thought, primarily because I couldn't use dialogue. This is what I came up with...

INT: WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

The warehouse is quiet, drips of water from a broken pipe are heard in a corner, a rat shuffles past a hospital bed, camera pans up to see a stocky man tied down to the bed, he is blading and bloody. Beside him is a surgical tray with a very clean and sharpened knife. Through a creaky double door walks in HARRIS ASPIRE, on the outside you wouldn't take much notice of him, he is young, attractive, but he is very plain, average. If you look into his eyes however, you will see repression, a constant interior fight, you can almost see another HARRIS screaming to be let out. HARRIS shuffles over to a half broken mirror and stares into it intensly, he looks over to the unconcious body and whispers an apology . A sudden change takes over him, he twitches, he looks like he is having stomach cramps, the change makes him look more confident, almost evil, he walks up to the table and takes the knife with such glee. Beaming a smile he stands at the head of the lying man and starts to wake him...