Scenes with Many Characters

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  • Scenes with Many Characters

    The script I'm working on at the moment has a few scenes where a group of about 15 people bands together. Six of these are actual characters - the others are more or less extras. It's tricky enough writing a conversation involving six people, but for 15...

    Now, while these other people don't really need to be distinct personalities, this group is at a crisis - they are essentially refugees from war - and I find it difficult to believe that in a group this (relatively) small, there would be anyone who wasn't participating in the decision process.

    So how do I juggle 6 principals and 10 extras in a believable way?

  • #2
    Re: Scenes with Many Characters

    Originally posted by AaronsSecretAlias View Post
    The script I'm working on at the moment has a few scenes where a group of about 15 people bands together. Six of these are actual characters - the others are more or less extras. It's tricky enough writing a conversation involving six people, but for 15...

    Now, while these other people don't really need to be distinct personalities, this group is at a crisis - they are essentially refugees from war - and I find it difficult to believe that in a group this (relatively) small, there would be anyone who wasn't participating in the decision process.

    So how do I juggle 6 principals and 10 extras in a believable way?
    Daniel Inouye has a relatively famous anecdote. He lost his arm during a WW2 battle and was hospitalized.

    He asked his nurse for a pack of cigarettes. So the nurse got him a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. And she stood up to leave the room. He was pissed because she refused to light it for him even though he has no ARM!!!!

    She said "If I light that cigarette for you, what else would you need me to do? You have to figure out how to light that cigarette yourself."

    The point of this anecdote is that the nurse showed future Senator Inouye that he had to come up with his own solution in order to get lung cancer.

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    • #3
      Re: Scenes with Many Characters

      Originally posted by Hamboogul View Post
      The point of this anecdote is that the nurse showed future Senator Inouye that he had to come up with his own solution in order to get lung cancer.
      Yet the point of these forums is to offer suggestions to those who ask for help.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Scenes with Many Characters

        Originally posted by AaronsSecretAlias View Post
        So how do I juggle 6 principals and 10 extras in a believable way?
        First make sure all the characters are essential. If they are, make sure they only speak if they really need to. The more miscellaneous characters you have with speaking parts, the more confusing the script is to follow.

        For your six principal characters, it's easier (but not compulsory) to introduce them a couple at a time so the audience knows them by the time they're in a group dynamic. And make sure they have different and distinctive names.

        When it comes to your group scene, it's less confusing if you don't name the extras or bit parts and just give them generic titles, e.g. JOCK 1, JOCK 2 etc. or NURSE 1, NURSE 2 and so on.
        "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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        • #5
          Re: Scenes with Many Characters

          Originally posted by AaronsSecretAlias View Post
          The script I'm working on at the moment has a few scenes where a group of about 15 people bands together. Six of these are actual characters - the others are more or less extras. It's tricky enough writing a conversation involving six people, but for 15...

          Now, while these other people don't really need to be distinct personalities, this group is at a crisis - they are essentially refugees from war - and I find it difficult to believe that in a group this (relatively) small, there would be anyone who wasn't participating in the decision process.

          So how do I juggle 6 principals and 10 extras in a believable way?
          It's difficult without specifics, but my instinct would be to keep the "decision process" (i.e. the dialogue) to the principals and use a visual cue to show the extras' participation/perspectives. Basically, use your main characters as indicators of the perspectives of the rest of the group.

          For example: they're at a fork in the road. The (up-to-now) leader thinks he knows the right way -- but he no longer has the group's trust. The wannabe leader wants to stay where they are. Argument between the principals ensues. You show the perspectives of the others by if/when they sit down on the ground.

          There are a lot of ways to do it, depending on what you're looking for. Experiment till you find the one that works best.
          twitter.com/leespatterson

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          • #6
            Re: Scenes with Many Characters

            whenever i need to figure out how to write a particular scene i find a script that has a similar scene. see if you can find m night's the happening. mark walberg was the ringleader in a group of 20 people running from something.

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            • #7
              Re: Scenes with Many Characters

              If a character doesn't matter, ditch them. Find a way to work the story with six instead of all these extra people. If those others don't need to be there, we won't care about them when you kill them off, so you might as well kill them now.
              Chicks Who Script podcast

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              • #8
                Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                Thanks guys. Some good tips.

                DavidK - thankfully, we do already know all the 6 so it would just be the others who might have generic titles.

                XL - I'm leaning toward this. I might go back through it on a rewrite and reassign a couple lines to the mass just for flavor but I like the idea of the visual cues as being the main way to show their reactions.

                Nikee - I've been trying to look at some scripts with similar situations - thanks for the tip!

                Emily - They'll all be dead/gone pretty soon, but the fact that this group has some numbers is significant at this point in the story.

                Thanks again!

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                • #9
                  Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                  A.S.A,

                  While I gave you a ruder and "less helpful" answer than the more constructive members, I do think it's very important for each writer to come up with a solution on his own.

                  Good luck with your script.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                    Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
                    whenever i need to figure out how to write a particular scene i find a script that has a similar scene. see if you can find m night's the happening. mark walberg was the ringleader in a group of 20 people running from something.
                    or a zombie movie like zack synder's return of the living dead or any script where there's some kind of thing forcing a group of people to stick together.
                    One must be fearless and tenacious when pursuing their dreams. If you don't, regret will be your reward.

                    The Fiction Story Room

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                    • #11
                      Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                      Originally posted by AaronsSecretAlias View Post

                      So how do I juggle 6 principals and 10 extras in a believable way?
                      You don't. Just because you have them in a scene doesn't mean they have to talk.

                      On the "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid DVD commentary, they talked about this. They had around six people on the team that had speaking parts. The rest never said anything and probably nobody noticed.
                      "I just couldn't live in a world without me."

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                      • #12
                        Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                        If a character has a line, even just one, they're no longer an extra. They're a day player.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                          Originally posted by AaronsSecretAlias View Post
                          Quote:
                          Originally Posted by Hamboogul
                          The point of this anecdote is that the nurse showed future Senator Inouye that he had to come up with his own solution in order to get lung cancer.
                          Yet the point of these forums is to offer suggestions to those who ask for help.
                          I agree, but I still found this one amusing for its metaphor and for displaying a modicum of wit:

                          The point of this anecdote is that the nurse [Hamboogul] showed future Senator Inouye [the OP] that he had to come up with his own solution in order to get lung cancer [make the mistake of putting all these chars in a scene].

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                          • #14
                            Re: Scenes with Many Characters

                            I can't think of a better example of how to handle multiple characters in a single conversation than 12 Angry Men. All 12 characters were introduced at the same time and all 12 are part of the same conversation for the duration of the film. A fantastic example of a contained character drama. I prefer the original with Henry Fonda over the TV remake with Jack Lemmon, but either will suit your needs.
                            Vancouver Screenwriters Meetup Group

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