Characters Generate Worlds

Guiding Question: "Why does this character do what they do?"

This week will cover: 

• Why some characters continue generating compelling stories while others quickly run out
  of dramatic energy
• The difference between describing a character and understanding what drives them
• Introducing the three psychological forces that shape every Generative Character:
  • Being – the identity the character has built to survive the world.
  • Ought-To-Be – the ideal self they strive to become because they believe it will
    finally make them worthy, successful or safe.
  • Hidden Need – the authentic psychological drive they have repressed because
    pursuing it would threaten both the identity they have built and the ideal they are
    trying to become.
• How the tension between these forces creates contradiction
• Why contradiction is the source of action, conflict and story

Only after understanding the character, do we introduce the Generative Lemma. The Generative Lemma is not another component of the character. It is the shortest possible statement describing the psychological engine that generates the character's actions.

We will analyze films and television series to identify:

• Being
• Ought-To-Be
• Hidden Need
• The Generative Lemma

Workshop: Participants develop the psychological engine of their own protagonist.

Guiding Question: "If these are the actions the protagonist inevitably takes, what kind of world do those actions create?" 

This week will cover how character generates: 

• Relationships
• Antagonists
• Allies
• Dramatic conflict
• Theme
• Genre
• Tone
• World

Film & Series Analysis: Examining how different protagonists create radically different dramatic worlds.

Workshop: Participants build the dramatic ecosystem generated by their protagonist.

Guiding Question: "Once a character has generated a world, how does that world become a narrative?"

This week will cover: 

• The Primary Inciting Incident
• Escalation
• Reversals
• Climax
• Character-generated versus plot-generated storytelling

Film & Series Analysis: Case studies of films and television series whose narratives emerge organically from character.

Workshop: Developing the narrative trajectory of participants' projects.

Guiding Question: "How does the same psychological engine generate cinematic language?"

This week will cover applying the Generative Character to:

• Directing
• Cinematography
• Production design
• Costume
• Editing
• Music
• Rhythm
• Tone

Film & Series Analysis: Exploring how visual language reflects the protagonist's psychology.

Workshop: Creating the visual identity of participants' projects through the Generative Character.

Guiding Question: "How can one psychological framework become a common creative language for an entire production?"

This week will cover using the Generative Character and the Generative Lemma to communicate with:

• Producers
• Development executives
• Commissioners
• Directors
• Actors
• Cinematographers
• Production designers
• Editors
• Composers

Film & Series Analysis: Examples of projects whose creative coherence reflects a unified vision.

Final Workshop: Participants present a Generative Bible for their own film or series, demonstrating how a single Generative Character generates:

• Actions
• World
• Story
• Cinematic language
• Creative collaboration