If you've read my post Writing Tips from Around the Web: Sitcom you know what this post is already. If not, basically in this series I collect writing resources and advice from around the internet on various topics to provide a jumping off point for anyone who is interested in writing that sort of story and is looking for tips. This time, we're looking at ensemble casts. 1) Springhole: Basic Tips to Write Better Ensemble CastsThis article is quite short, but as the title suggests it covers the basics of writing ensemble casts. They're points that seem obvious when they've been pointed out to you, but until then can easily be accidentally overlooked. At the bottom of the page there are some useful links on character development and diversity. 2) Publishing Crawl: Tips for Creating an Ensemble Cast Of CharactersThis one focuses on a few specific ways to develop your characters and make sure they're distinct from each other. 3) Skeleton Keys: A Lesson from Joss Whedon- How to Write An EnsembleThis article takes its advice from the film The Avengers, written by Joss Whedon. 4) Script Mag: Three's Company- Writing the Ensemble PieceA great overview of how exactly ensemble-cast films work, with examples. 5) Pace J. Milller: Fantasy Writing: Creating an Ensemble CastThis one is specifically about using an ensemble cast in a book (which is understandably more difficult than in a film.) 6) The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pride (2014)These are two of my favourite films (Pride being my top favourite), and I think they're both excellent examples of ensemble casts, though quite different. The Breakfast Club has a very small cast, and focuses almost equally on five very different characters in one location over one day. It's often pointed to as an example of a well written ensemble cast with unique and contrasting characters. Pride is considerably less well known and has a much larger cast, but I think manages to deal incredibly well with this large cast, giving each character moments to shine, with no scenes wasted on characters the audience doesn't care about because we are made to care about everyone (except maybe Margaret Thatcher). One scene with Mark and his ex is one I particularly love because it doesn't give you all the answers, because Mark doesn't have the screen time. It just gives you enough to know there's history, and leave you imagining what happened, rather than leaving you frustrated at the lack of answers. I think watching both of these films would be beneficial to writing ensemble casts, but also (if you're writing a film) reading the screenplays, which I've linked to above.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world."- Philip Pullman Archives
January 2018
Categories
All
Follow the blog on Twitter to catch new posts every Thursday |