Should I include a list of characters?
From what I gather, it seems to be almost “bad form” to include a list of characters with your screenplay or at the beginning of it. At least it’s something. However, in dense scripts, wouldn’t such a list be helpful?
Seeing a movie on screen has the advantage of visual recognition in a sea of faces ( “Oh, that’s the Joe Pesci character,” “There’s the guy with the red hat again”, etc.), which obviously the written word can’t always convey, except if you go into background or descriptions every time the character shows up.
So is it okay to include a brief list of characters for a particularly complex and character-rich script?
– Liam
Paris, France
No. Never do this.
The Godfather screenplay doesn’t include a list of characters. Ditto for Lord of the Rings.
If your script is so convoluted that readers won’t be able to remember which characters are which, you need to fundamentally rethink it. A list of character names won’t help.
Yes, in some screenplays it can be tough to recall who’s who. Be nice to your readers. If you have a character who hasn’t shown up for fifty pages, it’s okay to throw a line in the scene description to remind us who he is:
The elevator doors open to reveal Marcel -- Tiff’s obnoxious boyfriend from the race track -- lighting two cigarettes. He hands one to the blonde gamine beside him, who we’ll call FAKE EDIE SEDGWICK.
When I’m reading a script that I’ll need to discuss later, one trick I’ve learned is to write down the major character names on the title page as I’m reading it, like this:
Todd – stockbroker
Brett – meth addict brother
Wallengate – Todd’s boss, narcoleptic
It’s a cheat sheet for myself, based on my reading, and helps me remember the geography of the plot when I meet with the writer. A prebaked character list wouldn’t help the same way.
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September 23rd, 2009 at 10:01 am
Several years ago I bought what was alleged to be a script for the fourth Indiana Jones movie from a memorabilia store. The first page had not only a character list, but “suggested casting” for each role as well. Knew it was a fake right there.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 am
I’m working on writing a script from an outline right now, and I keep wondering how I’m going to make all of these characters stand out.
My solution? I’ve cut at least three fairly prominent characters because I recognized they didn’t have anything to do that couldn’t be done by other characters.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:24 am
I did this on a spec script I wrote about 10 years ago … for a show that had been on the air for 7 or 8 years. Like they wouldn’t know who everybody was.
I knew not to do it, but something I had read on the all-knowing intarwebs told me I should, so I did.
I’m such a douche.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:35 am
I never do this because I know better, but I find it odd, given that screenwriting evolved from playwriting and it’s standard to include a list of characters in a stage play. Of course, stage plays are more sparse on description than screenplays so a playwright won’t throw in the “Tiff’s obnoxious boyfriend from the race track” description.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
@Jonathan K:
That’s a solution we should all take to heart. You cut down on characters who would be hard for the audience to keep track of, and make your remaining characters more interesting and multidimensional. It’s a major win-win.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:13 am
While I agree with you, John, I do think there are exceptions. For instance, what about the script for “Alien”? On page 4, there’s a list of the 7 characters (after we’ve already met them). Stylistically, I think it works. It’s the ONLY script that I’ve seen where listing characters seems to work. What do you think?
Would something like that work in today’s Hollywood?
You can find the script here: http://scriptcollector.blogspot.com/
-Mike
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
The Royal Tenenbaums. Cast list on the title page. Won Academy Award for best Screenplay.
It could be said however that the inclusion of said cast list ties in with the many uses of books and literature in the film, where a list of characters at the beginning would more naturally be found.
Either way, great read.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Some producers ask for a list of characers. Most screenplays from Europe, Asia, India consist a character list.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
While some request it, would they not be doing so after having read the copy without it first? If so, then John is right and all you do by sending one after is give them what they ask for and that’s just plain common sense. Pre-empting things by doing it before they ask when that isn’t custom won’t help.
I don’t write bios for my own notes unless they’re for a series with a defined arc and intricate interwoven backstories. Never mind a dramatis personae for a script that hasn’t been read yet and I desperately want them to read it. If that list is going to turn them off, it’s counterproductive.
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I seem to remember Cameron introducing the flight crew with a brief list of characters in the screenplay to ALIENS…
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I know it’s not usually done… and I have no intention of doing it on my spec scripts but…
I acually do think it’s a good idea, esp for LOTR type scripts. I wish the practice was more accepted within the industry. Most all plays have the char’s listed at the beginning, so there shouldn’t be any shame attached to the practice.
If it makes the reading an easier, more enjoyable process, why not use it?
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:27 pm
John, you da boss. But don’t you think Bill Lancaster’s script for THE THING breaks this rule to spectacular effect?
Each character’s one-line up-front intro is so crackingly well written in itself that it gives you a very clear mental picture of each character before they’ve even said a line apiece.
It won’t work for most scripts but I think the very spare, procedural ensemble nature of that movie made it okay. Many of the characters (other than MacReady, Childs and Blair) didn’t have much, dialogue or action wise, on paper to help differentiate their characters from one another for the reader.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Regarding Alien & the Thing , I think it s more like cleaned up slug lines of what we see, BECAUSE WE ACTUALLY HAVE all characters on screen at this moment. Would be useless to start like “DALLAS, the captain sits in front of KANE executive officer & ASH science officer,.. ” instead of a clean list. It just translate that the scene introduces everyone at the same time
September 24th, 2009 at 8:29 am
To the point, I personnaly dont like the idea of listing the characters upfront either.
As john alluded , if your script is confusing without such a list, the movie will be confusing too because it wont have the list.
The reading of a script must give all necessary visual & audio hints (nothing less nothing more) that enables reader to picture the quintessence of movie in their mind just as it would screen.
Being able to identify each character as they reappear only with sound & picture must be processed in the script sluglines a way or an other, already. Thats a part of the screenwriter job. A list of character would never make it in the finished movie (as a voice over? a scrolling text? a spreadsheet on a screen?.. yeek ) so rather smartly stage it (alien, the thing) or rip it off.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Difference between a stage play and a movie: In a stage play, the audience receives a list of characters when they sit down. In a movie, they don’t.
When we write a screenplay, we’re trying to approximate the experience from the audience’s point of view.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
interesting, because it is fairly common if not expected, for a character list (as well as a settings list) to accompany reading scripts for stage plays. i suppose this could be another example of how the movie industry strives to expedite a process that is considered commonplace in a more traditional environment. in fact, the character and settings lists for plays are often poetic and inventive and serve as a way to “hook” a reader and set up a mood before reading of the play has even begun.
why wouldn’t this work equally well for film writing?
-rob
September 26th, 2009 at 4:24 am
In Germany, we HAVE to give a list of characters at the beginning (lazy producers with bad memory I guess) and it is considered unprofessionel not to do so.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:59 am
ALIENS was also a sequel, so it helped to remind the reader who the remaining crew was.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
If there are too many characters to keep track of, kill some of them.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:27 am
@ Rob N. – Doesn’t matter if it would work. It isn’t how it’s done. If you send a script out with a character list, it projects that you don’t know what you’re doing and didn’t bother to find out. When a person has a stack of scripts to read over the weekend, it only gives them a script to put yours at the bottom of the pile or to skip it altogether.
Also, it’s not about the film industry expediting the process. It’s just a different medium with its own set of rules. Novels also don’t have character lists. The way you “hook” a reader in a screenplay is by having a killer opening. The script should be able to stand on its own and is expected to do so.
In other news… As for Aliens, sounds like it’s not a cast list but simply a standard intro of the characters who happen to be introduced at the same time early in the script. As for Tenenbaums, sounds like artistic license. Also came from an established writer/director so when someone saw his character list, they probably assumed he had a good reason, whereas a newbie wouldn’t get this benefit of the doubt.
October 14th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I seem to recall reading in one of those Canonical Screenwriting Books (McKee, one of the Goldmans, something like that) a suggestion for dealing with this where when you introduce characters, you have whatever tic identifies their appearance or purpose now, which gives the reader something to hang his hat on, and marks them as “remember this for now, his name might come up later.”
Like:
SMOKING MAN leaned against the block wall, a hat was pulled over his eyes.
“good god whatever shall we do.” USEFUL HELPER “I don’t know, Hiro, if we don’t find Mr. Wolf will never escape the evil sorcereress’s clutches!” SMOKING MAN “I believe I might be of service. My name is Wolf. Johannes Wolf.” HIRO PROTAGONIST “Fuckin’ A! Right under our nose!” MR. WOLF “Damn straight, Hiro, now lets blow this taco stand.”
October 14th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
hmmm…should have assumed whitespace would not be preserved.