several impact characters in one story ... OK?

Read or revive posts that have been copied over from the old message board.
User avatar
Chris Huntley
Site Admin
Posts: 724
Joined: Jan 25, 2008 5:19 pm
Location: Glendale, CA USA
Contact:

several impact characters in one story ... OK?

Postby Chris Huntley » May 30, 2008 9:10 am

yeehi -- several impact characters in one story ... OK?
iiuc, the impact character represents the alternative way. It contrasts to the way the protagonist has chosen.

Must the number of impact characters be limited to one? Perhaps the choice is not either/or. Maybe there are several options... I would like to explore each of the possible options with a seperate player, each of which would represent an other way.

What are the risks of such a dramatic technique? Has it been employed succesfully in a movie before?

iiuc, perhaps this sort of investigation would corespond to a "tale".

Chris Huntley Re: several impact characters in one story ... OK? #1

You may have multiple Impact Characters providing they all share the same perspective. They can be presented either as a group, or as a series of individuals. The latter was done in "A Christmas Carol." The ghosts collectively represent the Impact Character. Each ghost (Marley's, Xmas Past, Xmas Present, and Xmas Future) is there for Scrooge's "reclamation."

Chris Huntley
Write Brothers


yeehi ah! #2

A Christmas Carol! Thank you. That is helpful.
To get my cogs whirring, could you give me an example of where multiple impact characters are presented en masse, rather than sequentially?

yeehi Re: ah! #3

Actually, i have been thinking about a christmas carol. If the ghosts are the impact character, i have no idea what the other characters are.

I would have guessed this:

scrooge: protagonist
His worker: impact character
Tiny tim: Guardian
Ghosts Contagonist


Chris Huntley Re: ah! #4

Scrooge: Main Character
Ghosts: Impact Character(s)

Because "A Christmas Carol" heavily emphasizes the MC and IC throughlines, identifying the Overall Story throughline is less obvious. The story goal might be thought of "The Reclamation of Ebeneezer Scrooge's Soul."

Though I don't think it has archetypal characters, here are the closest I can determine:

Protagonist--The Ghosts--they're the ones forcing the story along and ultimately win out.

Antagonist -- Ebeneezer Scrooge--He fights against his reclamation every step of the way.

Skeptic -- Scrooge

Sidekick -- Scrooge's clerk

Guardian -- Scrooge's nephew

Emotion -- Various characters including Scrooge's girlfriend, sister, and old boss

Reason -- The Ghosts

Contagonist -- Not sure about this one -- I suspect the Contagonist elements are distributed among several characters.
Chris Huntley
Write Brothers Inc.
http://dramatica.com/
http://screenplay.com/

Return to “Classics from the Archives”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest