[…] By working with these five Primary Character Archetypes, we can identify the core narrative function of every key character, then use that knowledge as a guide as we build them out in …read more […]

Hi. A recent addition to the artist character type: Llewyn Davis. It's wonderful how it shows the struggle of the artist - not a very nice one, but that movie deeply affected me. BTW, Inside Llewyn Davis is quite unconventional story-wise. I think it breaks a couple of rules in your "There are no screenwriting rules" series. -Llewyn Davis, the protagonist isn't very sympathetic. -I don't think there's a clear goal for the protagonist. Now, of course the Coen Brothers are already established filmmakers and they write and direct, but I wonder what would be the opinion of a reader if he was assigned "Inside Llewyn Davis" Guess you have to gain the trust of producers to be able to break some of the rules. I loved Inside Llewyn Davis.

I just remembered I wanted to tell something else about the artist type. When I was younger I didn't considered entering the movie business because I had the naive idea that "the artists" (including filmmakers) had a natural talent, they were born that way and inspiration suddenly struck and boom - their first idea was wonderful and immediately liked by everyone. Years later I discovered that well, most first drafts suck, it takes a lot of work to write something, you can't be waiting for the muse, failure is part of the process - you can get good at writing through practice, and in fact, you can become better than those who think they have a natural talent. You can learn to be an artist. Hard, yes, but doable. I would say my naive idea of "the magic of cinema" was thinking of it as the kind of magic in Harry Potter movies - you're born with that ability or not. When it's really more Penn & Teller's kind of magic (You know, when they explain how they do the tricks at the end and you realize - hey, I could do that) Anyone else had a similar idea with the portrayal of the artist type on movies?