PLANNING: INTERVIEWING OUR CHARACTERS

Open source HERE

For my character in my film opening entitled *********,  we decided to interview our protagonist in order to develop his character further.
We were inspired by an article written by Charlie Sierra about building the back story to film characters in which he quoted from Riding the Alligator, a book written by Pen Densham, an Academy Award nominated filmmaker.
In one of the chapters in the book, he provides a check list of questions every writer and director should ask of themselves when they are developing their characters. The purpose of this is to outline a deep understanding of your characters for both the actors and director, and for motivating your character’s choices or actions.

My Character Interview

(Example) As my film opening features only one character in a world without anyone else, we decided that rather than a questionnaire interview, we would use a video diary of our character asking himself and answering the questions as if he is communicating through the camera to anyone who might find it, which is a creative way to handle the questionnaire whilst still keeping with the solitary theme of the opening...(video interview + script follows)
(Example) One of my central characters is a young girl, we have decided to compose a series of exchanges that she made using What's App with her friend in which she confides her worries about her sister. Her friend asks her a series of questions about her state of mind... (screenshots of What's App exchanges follow)
(Example) Our protagonist is a senior police officer who is struggling with his job (meeting targets; pleasing a critical boss) and his family (his daughter challenges him and he questions his ability to relate to her). He is interviewed by a police psychiatrist after the incident when he knocks down a teenager on his bike.