I'm currently writing a feature with a large cast, does anyone have experience working in ensemble and any ideas on advice on how best to help balance out character arcs and screen-time etc?
Screenwriting : Writing for an Ensemble by Oliver Milne
Other topics in Screenwriting:
Check out Trending Discussions
Register / Log In
1 person likes this
What brought/brings your characters together?
2 people like this
I dug up some things I found when I was writing one, I think they'll help you. Especially since there's surprisingly little written on this format. If there's a vanguard in this space, it's definitely Linda Aronson, btw. What she had to say in the article below was invaluable to me. - Good luck with your script!
http://www.lindaaronson.com/blog/category/multi%20protagonist
https://www.la-screenwriter.com/2015/06/24/the-multi-headed-beast-3-ways...
3 people like this
Each characters from your ensemble should have clear goals and be well defined from one another and each should have a reason to be involved and serve a different purpose from one another.
Thanks for the notes y'all!
2 people like this
Write them separately. If you have 20 characters, write 6 pages from each characters point of view. Each should be like a short story where they have a short backstory and interact with the other characters. But there better be an overall story arc that links all the other stories together.
2 people like this
They're hard to write well, harder to execute with actors and hardest to schedule for production . Especially if you plan on making the movie yourself with a limited budget & Time.
Go watch an old film - Bad Day at Black Rock; and learn how it was done then. Then watch a recent film titled Last Vegas to see how it's being done now.