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“How to introduce a character?”

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That question arose in the screenwriting class I’m currently teaching. How much physical description to give to a character when they’re introduced? Should a writer just describe the character’s physical attributes or can we describe who they are in terms of personality, world view, etc. And so I went to several scripts and copied examples of how a number of characters were introduced for the class to consider. Here are a few:

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

POV - MELVIN UDALL
 
in the hallway... Well past 50... unliked, unloved, 
unsettling. A huge pain in the ass to everyone he's ever 
met. Right now all his considerable talent and strength 
is totally focused on seducing a tiny dog into the 
elevator door he holds open.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI

INTERIOR RALPH'S
 
It is late, the supermarket all but deserted. We are tracking 
in on a fortyish man in Bermuda shorts and sunglasses at the 
dairy case. He is the Dude. His rumpled look and relaxed 
manner suggest a man in whom casualness runs deep.

BLADE RUNNER

DECKARD is standing near the noodle bar waiting for a
seat. He's in his thirties, wiry, athletic, rumpled,
used, unshaven. He's holding a newspaper, made of
tissue paper, open while he glances at the blimp
passing NOISILY overhead.


BULL DURHAM



ANNIE SAVOY, mid 30's, touches up her face. Very pretty, 

knowing, outwardly confident.  Words flow from her Southern 
lips with ease, but her view of the world crosses Southern, 
National and International borders.  She's cosmic.

GHOSTBUSTERS 


DR. PETER VENKMAN is an associate professor but his rumpled

suit and the manic gleam in his eyes indicate an underlying

instability in his nature.  However, while a little short on

academic credentials, Venkman is long on confidence, charm,

and salesmanship.


These represent a range of approaches, some describing just physical attributes, but others taking the moment to allow the reader to peer ‘inside’ the character’s persona:

* “unliked, unloved, unsettling.”

* “her view of the world crosses Southern, National, and International borders.”

* “long on confidence, charm, and salesmanship.”

It’s possible to overdo this approach, but my default is to think about the poor, blighted script reader. In Act One, the writer is asking this person to sort out all the characters we introduce. I don’t think it’s too much to provide a thumbnail sketch of each primary character’s essence or core persona to facilitate the identification process.

3 thoughts on ““How to introduce a character?””

  1. Keep in mind — those couples lines of action aren’t REALLY the characters’ introduction.

    What is Melvin’s introduction? He’s trying to shove a pug down a garbage shoot.

    What is The Dude’s? He’s drinking milk out of a carton in the grocery store and then pays 69 cents for it with a check.

    Now — THOSE are character introductions. When people are talking about character introductions… that’s what they mean.

    Not the 2 – 4 line description of the character. You can almost put anything in those lines.

  2. The question I was addressing in class was specifically about the scene description aspect of introducing a character. Hence, the focus of my post. But your point is taken: a character’s introductory actions can certainly help cement that character’s persona / identity in a reader’s mind.

  3. Yeah, I know. I just think the couple lines of description pale in comparison to how the audience really meets the character onscreen for the first time.

    Those lines of description are more a factor of writer’s voice than anything else. If it’s not an interesting, memorable scene in which we first meet the character it’s easy to lose/forget even the 4 best lines of prose in a 100 – 120 page document.

    It’s much easier to remember, the dude that pays for 69 cents worth of milk with a check. The guy shoving a pug down a garbage shoot.

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