CosmicBills Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Doing some brainstorming (or at this rate, some brain-not-working ... see? can't even write a good opening joke) and I figured I'd throw this against the stadium wall to see what happens. Without boring you with the details (because they are boring) -- I'm trying to crack a story, and being the lazy bastard that I am, I often try to cast the story first with actors/actresses to get the ball rolling in terms of character/plot yada yada. Right now, I have two parts I'm trying to figure out. One is an Ed Harris type. He's the muscle -- but someone we instantly look at and go "I don't wanna !@#$ with that guy" but yet he's a bit past his prime. He needs to be a real presence. Clint Eastwood would be another example of the sort of actor I'm looking for. The other character probably has more possibilities, but right now the second guy is an academic who's also sometimes on TV (think of the guys you see on National Geographic/History Channel on the regular). My first thought is Sam Rockwell (he can play freaky or funny or serious). But I'm sure there are others ... I know this is random and very vague but I thought some on here would find it fun and have some awesome ideas I'm overlooking that would break my funk. (You can throw actresses into either role as well ... I think)
unbillievable Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 (edited) Characters: Obvious guy: someone who points out the obvious so audiences who don't get it can keep up. Honest guy: someone who points out what everyone is really thinking even if its culturally inappropriate to do so Smart guy: someone who can do stuff ordinary people can't so you can advance the plot faster; ie hack a computer funny guy: someone to lighten the tension when things get too intense token minority: someone to even out the racial demographic to keep the NAACP off your butt Narator/Journal guy: someone in the story that is documenting either by journal,blog,book,etc the cool stuff your hero is doing. Love interest: Girl who everyone wants the hero to hook up with but can't Love interest foil: Person who is keeping the hero from hooking up with his dream girl Antagonist: someone that is far smarter than our hero and will do evil stuff that our hero must thwart Antagonist foil: someone that the evil genius trusts that keeps each scheme from getting too evil. plucky sidekick: a protege who keeps the hero grounded to his roots expendable flunkies: characters who can be easily dispatched and replaced at random intervals. Emotionally relevant dead character: Someone to serve as a plot catalyst to justify abnormal hero/villian behavior. Mentor: someone who taught the hero/villian how to do stuff no one else can. Eye Candy: Random good looking people that pop up to catch channel surfers' attention. Gay/Lesbian: Someone who started the show straight but comes to their senses because of some life lesson learned while fighting evil Innocent Best friend: someone outside the secret society that our hero must tell everything to without actually telling them anything. Neutral guy: somone who does both good and bad stuff with very reasonable reasons why which frustrates the hero sudden Betrayal guy: sonmeone who is unexpectadly working for the other side just when we think the story is over. Innocent betrayal guy: someone who is forced to wrok for the other side because of some unforseen circumstances obscure expert: someone who we think is just some homeless/janitor guy who is actually an expert/genius in something useful boundary catalyst: a force/entity/code/character that keeps the hero/villian from going over to the other side. Random young person: someone who will cause a lot of trouble for no logical reason which can be easily dismissed as youthfull naivete. Mysterious informant: someone who knows everything but refuses to tell us how or why they are willing to tell the hero only small bits of information Sage: retired version of hero/villian trusted to expout wisdom at the end of each story to their now active protege Nosy reporter: someone who is trying to expose the hero, but does it for the good of society Evil reporter: someone who is trying to destroy the hero, but does it for selfish reasons Hero: the guy in the front of the poster. Did I miss anything? Edited December 6, 2011 by unbillievable
Jim in Anchorage Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Characters: Obvious guy: someone who points out the obvious so audiences who don't get it can keep up. Honest guy: someone who points out what everyone is really thinking even if its culturally inappropriate to do so Smart guy: someone who can do stuff ordinary people can't so you can advance the plot faster; ie hack a computer funny guy: someone to lighten the tension when things get too intense token minority: someone to even out the racial demographic to keep the NAACP off your butt Narator/Journal guy: someone in the story that is documenting either by journal,blog,book,etc the cool stuff your hero is doing. Love interest: Girl who everyone wants the hero to hook up with but can't Love interest foil: Person who is keeping the hero from hooking up with his dream girl Antagonist: someone that is far smarter than our hero and will do evil stuff that our hero must thwart Antagonist foil: someone that the evil genius trusts that keeps things from getting too evil. plucky sidekick: a protege who keeps the hero grounded to his roots expendable flunkies: a character who can be easily dispatched at random intervals working for either side Emotionally relevant dead character: Someone to serve as a plot catalyst to justify abnormal hero/villian behavior. Mentor: someone who taught the hero/villian how to do stuff no one else can. Eye Candy: Random good looking people that pop up to catch channel surfers' attention. Gay/Lesbian: Someone who started the show straight but comes to their senses because of some life lesson learned while fighting evil Innocent Best friend: someone outside the secret society that our hero must tell everything to without actually telling them anything. Neutral guy: somone who can't does both good and bad stuff and has very reasonable reasons for doing both which frustrates the hero sudden Betrayal guy: sonmeone who is unexpectadly working for the other side just when we think the story is over. Innocent betrayal guy: someone who is forced to wrok for the other side because of some unforseen circumstances obscure expert: someone who we think is just some homeless/janitor guy who is actually an expert/genius in something useful boundary issue: a force/entity/code/character that keeps the hero from going over to the dark side. boundary exception: something/someone we know that the hero will break the rules for... Random young person: someone who will cause a lot of trouble for no logical reason which can be easily dismissed as youthfull naivete. Hero: the guy in the front of the poster. Did I miss anything? Joesy Wales spiting on the barking dog was super cool.
ajzepp Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 I love the fact that you're throwing this out here for some feedback, and I really want to offer some ideas, but I have no idea what you're talking about lol
unbillievable Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 If it's a sports show you will need a mascot character that everyone gets inspired to play for... but if it's a golf movie, you also need a magical black guy.
CosmicBills Posted December 6, 2011 Author Posted December 6, 2011 I love the fact that you're throwing this out here for some feedback, and I really want to offer some ideas, but I have no idea what you're talking about lol Ha! Yeah, it might be too vague to really work. But it was worth a shot. Basically it's like this. Let's say you were hired to write the next James Bond movie (I wasn't for the record ... dammit). But Daniel Craig isn't gonna be in it. So you get to do the introduction movie for the next Bond. Pretty cool. But when you're getting started thinking about the movie you're gonna write, it's a vastly different movie if you picture Tom Hanks as the next Bond rather than say Matt Damon. Both are random choices, but if you were forced to build a movie around those actors, you could see how it would play out (kinda, at least in tone). So in this case, I have a story but I've only been thinking about it as being played by specific actors (Ed Harris and Sam Rockwell/Ed Helms). Just imagining Ed Harris on screen with Ed Helms and you get a sense of what that would be like (probably really awkward in a funny way). It would be different if it was Clint Eastwood and Sam Rockwell. Again, I'm rambling, but thinking about stuff like that kinda helps open my brain up sometimes. And in this case I figured if I gave a little character brief people would think of actors they'd cast for the roles (and probably suggest people I wouldn't think of thus opening it up a bit for me). In short, I'm being lazy Characters: Obvious guy: someone who points out the obvious so audiences who don't get it can keep up. Honest guy: someone who points out what everyone is really thinking even if its culturally inappropriate to do so Smart guy: someone who can do stuff ordinary people can't so you can advance the plot faster; ie hack a computer funny guy: someone to lighten the tension when things get too intense token minority: someone to even out the racial demographic to keep the NAACP off your butt Narator/Journal guy: someone in the story that is documenting either by journal,blog,book,etc the cool stuff your hero is doing. Love interest: Girl who everyone wants the hero to hook up with but can't Love interest foil: Person who is keeping the hero from hooking up with his dream girl Antagonist: someone that is far smarter than our hero and will do evil stuff that our hero must thwart Antagonist foil: someone that the evil genius trusts that keeps each scheme from getting too evil. plucky sidekick: a protege who keeps the hero grounded to his roots expendable flunkies: characters who can be easily dispatched and replaced at random intervals. Emotionally relevant dead character: Someone to serve as a plot catalyst to justify abnormal hero/villian behavior. Mentor: someone who taught the hero/villian how to do stuff no one else can. Eye Candy: Random good looking people that pop up to catch channel surfers' attention. Gay/Lesbian: Someone who started the show straight but comes to their senses because of some life lesson learned while fighting evil Innocent Best friend: someone outside the secret society that our hero must tell everything to without actually telling them anything. Neutral guy: somone who does both good and bad stuff with very reasonable reasons why which frustrates the hero sudden Betrayal guy: sonmeone who is unexpectadly working for the other side just when we think the story is over. Innocent betrayal guy: someone who is forced to wrok for the other side because of some unforseen circumstances obscure expert: someone who we think is just some homeless/janitor guy who is actually an expert/genius in something useful boundary catalyst: a force/entity/code/character that keeps the hero/villian from going over to the other side. Random young person: someone who will cause a lot of trouble for no logical reason which can be easily dismissed as youthfull naivete. Mysterious informant: someone who knows everything but refuses to tell us how or why they are willing to tell the hero only small bits of information Sage: retired version of hero/villian trusted to expout wisdom at the end of each story to their now active protege Nosy reporter: someone who is trying to expose the hero, but does it for the good of society Evil reporter: someone who is trying to destroy the hero, but does it for selfish reasons Hero: the guy in the front of the poster. Did I miss anything? This is pretty good!
Astrojanitor Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Doing some brainstorming (or at this rate, some brain-not-working ... see? can't even write a good opening joke) and I figured I'd throw this against the stadium wall to see what happens. Without boring you with the details (because they are boring) -- I'm trying to crack a story, and being the lazy bastard that I am, I often try to cast the story first with actors/actresses to get the ball rolling in terms of character/plot yada yada. Right now, I have two parts I'm trying to figure out. One is an Ed Harris type. He's the muscle -- but someone we instantly look at and go "I don't wanna !@#$ with that guy" but yet he's a bit past his prime. He needs to be a real presence. Clint Eastwood would be another example of the sort of actor I'm looking for. The other character probably has more possibilities, but right now the second guy is an academic who's also sometimes on TV (think of the guys you see on National Geographic/History Channel on the regular). My first thought is Sam Rockwell (he can play freaky or funny or serious). But I'm sure there are others ... I know this is random and very vague but I thought some on here would find it fun and have some awesome ideas I'm overlooking that would break my funk. (You can throw actresses into either role as well ... I think) Chris Eigeman always nails this kind of role and never gets enough work. Go be Eigeman's Tarantino and make him the star he should be.
unbillievable Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Throw in a role for Mila Kunis, Olivia Wilde, and Scarlet Johansson and you have a winner.
Acantha Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Muscle: Mickey Rourke (too obvious?) Academic: Cate Blanchett (just because I think she can play anything) Actually, if you're really looking to shake things up, swap those roles.
ajzepp Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Actually, if you're really looking to shake things up, swap those roles. lol, that's what I would do, as well...anyone who saw Elizabeth knows that Ms Blanchett can be PLENTY intimidating. She's one of my favorite actors...excellent range and a fantastic character actor.
Recommended Posts