November 19, 2013

The Villain

many movies don’t have a villain, but there always has to be opposing energy
this could be a wolf, a bear, an ocean, a desert, a dessert, almost anything that tested and challenged the main character and STOPPED him/her from moving forward with his/her goals
classic movie structure - a bad character, a competitor, an enemy to hunt, search for, beat, etc.
the idea is that a movie is only as strong as the hero?
sometimes it’s the negative character that makes the movie

good negatives have certain characteristics

Believable
if we can believe in the negative energy or character, it is MUCH more effective
stupid negatives equal stupid responses (ie punch fighting the wolf in The Grey), which makes the challenge ridiculous - ridiculousness is the kiss of death in a movie villain
Loki - Thor movie - ridiculous? The Avengers - he “plans” to get caught
Skyfall - ridiculous bad guy? He plans to get caught
Man of Steel - ridiculous? too strong, too tough, too dangerous - way past believable
The Dark Knight - Joker - WHAT!? he plans to get caught!? *except* The Joker actually fits the plan a little better - he’s completely crazy - the ridiculous fades

Consistent in his/her actions
Inglourious Basterds - the Nazi in that is awesome - consistent and ridiculous, but it fits because he’s always over the top in charming, etc.

Layers of Depth and Interesting Behaviours - the more unusual and interesting and layered the bad character, the better the movie - some actors ALWAYS want to play bad guys
the details of weirdness and strangeness can make a bad character WAY more fun to watch than a hero
most movies will try to create a very interesting villain

The Villain is separated from everything else - every other character, the real world, etc
the bottom line of the villain is usually that he/she is unloved and alone and this is the source of his/her negative energy

The Villain has some core belief that is actually, if you think about, not ridiculous and not a bad idea - that belief makes some kind of sense and it could, if you get into their mindset, explain his/her actions - the Villain’s perspective is TOTALLY LOGICAL, or, on the other hand, BUGNUTS CRAZY (or, better, BOTH)
The actual role of the Villain in a movie is the act as the FORCE to push the Hero towards positive change.

Without the negative, the hero would NEVER change, never grow and never progress to the ending that is awesome and good. 

The Villain is actually a force for good (in a way) when it comes to the character.

This whole thing is in our psychology and in our religion and everywhere. 

Dialectics - thesis + antithesis = synthesis