Not sure how to write my villain's development scenes.

I

ironpony

Carbonite Member
My script is all layed out plotwise, but I feel the villains need some development. The plot to my script is similar to Deliverance, but with differences as well, and not a copy or anything. The villains are quite similar, however I want my villains to be very developed and have their own scenes. A lot of the plot will require them to carry scenes by themselves, as twists and turns unfold, and not sure how to write these characters. I mean in Deliverance, they did not have a lot of dialogue. In mine they will need a lot so the audience knows what's going on, but not quite sure how to write deep dialogue scenes for those types of characters to carry themselves. They also have a lot more to do and a lot more thinking to do, to come up with plans to get through the plot. In Deliverance they did not say or do much. It's still different, just using Deliverance as the best example for those characters. I want the audience to believe the dialogue and believe the characters, rather than it being written as false or unconvincing for them.
 
Hello. One thing to remember about villains is that their 'villainy' only manifests itself in relationships. A character is a villain or antagonist to the extent that they oppose/hinder/attack/persecute the person(s) we consider the 'hero'. (SPOILERS FOR DELIVERANCE COMING UP NOW!) The fellow who wants Ned Beatty to make squealing noises as he rapes him, for instance, is a villain only because he imposes his fetish on our unwilling 'hero'. A man telling another man he has a pretty mouth goes from being a homosexual paramour to being a predator the moment he makes that statement while carrying a shotgun. The reason the 'villains' of Deliverance have to say so little is the author already put them in relationships with the heroes that make the conflict apparent. Another example: By the time Clarice Starling first sees Hannibal Lecter behnd that glass we've been given enough tension in their relationship, and in the setting, for his every word to be charged with murderous intent. Concentrate on the relationship of your heroes and villains. Make that plain, and I'm sure the dialogue will ring true.
 
dont mean to be a wise guy - but maybe don't label them as villains per se. The #1 hit man on the east coast was called the ice cream man - bought the whole block ice creams for the kids. Was great to his mom, etc.
 
its simple (but not easy): every major scene/sequence in a movie is a crisis (problem, conflict), rising to a climax (the problem/conflict reaches a fever pitch), then relaxing into a resolution, usually the resolution is just a temporary truce, the resolution can leave the characters well or worse off, but the main problem of the story still hovers overhead (or else the movie is over)

you need to build SUBPLOTS that are CRISES in between the chatracters- infighting, problems of their own (reaching the good guys, getting lost, lets say if their stuck in a forest or something), etc.

SUBPLOTS, give them their own conflict/problems , these will reveal their characters.

WATCH MOVIES IN YOUR GENRE and NOTE THE CRISES/CLIMAXES/RESOLUTIONS

I actually sit down with paper and pencil, and while watching a movie (ones ive already seen and are ready to analyze) I OUTLINE THE ENTIRE MOVIE in crisis, cllimax, and resolution. Youll learn so much about how to CAUSE TROUBLE (trouble is what makes drama) that your head will spin.

good example:

the opening scene of Dark Knight- the bad guys rob a bank- thats CRISIS(bank rob) , CLIMAX ( bank teller with a shotgun), resoultion (bank job successful- and its the joker!). Agiain, notice how they have PROBLEMS OF THEIR OWN- shooting each other, the bank teller, etc , OUTSIDE of the main conflict of the movie which is Batman vs the JOker.

Get it?

notice how the bank rob is a subplot/sub-crisis, gives us a chance to flesh out the bad guys.

View your bad guys as heroes of their own movie and give them problems- one problem you can give them is tension between/fighting amongst themselves (one wants the others girlfriend?- again WATCH MOVIES IN YOUR GENRE AND WRITE DOWN THE CRISES/CONFLICTS and youll learn a million ideas on how to make trouble for them). If you want to understand crisis, climax, and resolution, WHICH IS THE CORE RYTHYM/REPEATING PATTERN OF A STORY, like the WAVES in the OCEAN or the RYTHYM OF A ROLLERCOASTER, STUDY movies and tv shows and take note.

to clarify:

CRISIS means: PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING AND/OR A BAD THING IS HAPPENING OR ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

Again, to understand this WATCH AND STUDY MOVIES, look for the BAD STUFF/CRISES that are each STORY BEAT/SCENE.

for the sake of thoroughness and to prevent confusion:

a scene (single location) can include multiple story beats/crises or a story beat/crisis can be extended across scenes

NOTICE HOW IN THE DARK KNIGHT ROBBERY SEQUENCE (A SINGLE BIG FAT STORY BEAT) , IS MADE UP OF MINI CRISIS-CLIMAX- RESOLUTION BEATS WITHIN IT- the bad guys getting shot, etc etc

THE STORY AS A WHOLE IS ONE GIANT CRISIS CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION WITH THE BIG STORY BEATS BEING SMALLER CRISIS BEATS WITHIN IT AND EVEN SMALLER CRISIS BEATS WITHIN SCENES

sorry it got deep huh


WHEW!!!
 
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Ideally, you should be able to tell the story from the villain's point of view, as though he were the hero and the hero is the villain.
 
Going back to the original post. Not sure if Deliverance is the best way to have fleshed-out villains.

They only got one scene.

And, unless that one scene of yours is as graphic and over the top as the one in Deliverance, you might not be able to carry the movie on that. And, if you imitate the scene from Deliverance, you'd plainly be accused of ripping it off. It's a tricky situation.
 
All of the good advice has already been given, so let me second that your villain(s) are hero(s) if you tell the story from their POV. The hillbillies in DELIVERANCE are a good example - if they'd had a scene before the rape it would have been about how these city folks come here and make fun of them and build their dam that forces them to move from the places they were born - homes that have been in their families for generations. The city folks have completely ruined their lives, and these canoe guys are rubbing their noses in it! Using them. Treating them as if they are worthless or sideshow freaks. So **** 'em. I don't think the rape was homosexual - or any sexual - it was purely an act of violence designed to degrade the city folks. Because those city folks *deserve it*. They ruined the Hillbillies lives forever - and need to pay.

You need to know your antagonist well enough to know why they are *right* and the protagonist is wrong.

- Bill
 
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