Films are essentially about a character going on some kind of journey and overcoming challenges along the way. This journey – whether geographical, spiritual, or emotional (or all three) – usually fundamentally changes that character. This is their arc. Our Writing the Fact-Based Film 101 series moves on to look at how character arc works in general and in real-life stories.
Character arc: the basics
When audiences watch a film, they want a satisfying experience. This is partly to do with the plot and the emotional impact of the scenes. But at its heart, a film is anchored by a compelling protagonist and their journey.
The best protagonists have flaws but also possess the capacity to grow. Their journey through the film tests them in increasingly challenging ways, leaving them somehow changed by the time the end credits roll.
If you want a stark example, let’s turn to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843). The protagonist (Ebeneezer Scrooge) starts the story as a heartless miser but his encounters with three spirits who show him his past, present, and future lead him to embrace friendship and charity.
Do characters always arc?
There are films where characters do not arc. Superheroes and other action heroes (especially in franchise films) generally remain the same.
People love James Bond movies, for example, because they know what to expect. At the end of the film, 007 does not sadly shake his head and reflect on the death of the baddie and question his place in the universe. He simply sails away, until we meet him again for his next adventure. No fan wants a touchy-feely, self-aware Bond…
In these so-called “plot-driven” films, it’s the familiarity of the character and the thrills & spills of the story which keep us entertained. However, in most genres, the character will undergo a change.
Do TV characters arc?
They do. From a writer’s point-of-view, a TV series/season can be thought of like a long film, with act breaks and character development.
Think of iconic TV protagonists, like Walter White (Breaking Bad (2008-2013)), Don Draper (Mad Men (2007-2015)), and Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City (1998-2004)). They all undergo considerable changes over the seasons of their respective shows.
An example from fact-based TV can be drawn from miniseries The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story (2016). The OJ we meet in episode one is not the same character we leave at the end.
The main difference with TV is that the arc is longer. There might even be multiple arcs across several seasons as the characters grow and change.
How do you write character arc in fact-based film?
Depending on the story, your character might undergo a dramatic change, or it might be more subtle. Either way, the key is that the arc is… organic.
A selfish character who suddenly becomes selfless in the final scene is neither believable nor easy for an audience to relate to across the whole story. It took three ghosts to get Ebenezer to change – your character should be similarly resilient.
So, it’s important that your characters indicate a capacity for change. The popular Save the Cat! series is called that because it refers to the type of opening scene in which a protagonist is shown doing something “nice”, which lets us know they are sympathetic and redeemable. Give audiences a hint that the character is capable of the change that is about to unfold.
How do you do that…?
Well, when you break movies/TV down to their basic parts, they are simply about choices.
An initial event (inciting incident) prompts your character to make a decision, which then sets off a chain of cause and effect. At each point, your character makes a further decision about their next step.
In Goodfellas (1990), young Henry Hill decides to get an after-school job with the Mafia, which leads him into Mob life and ultimately forces him to take drastic action to save himself and his wife. All the way through, he makes choices, driven by his desire to be a “somebody in a neighbourhood of nobodies”. He could have chosen to stay away from the Mafia and not get involved in that life.
> It all starts with Henry looking out of his bedroom window, drawn to the mobsters who hang out at the cab stand across the street. Coupled with the voiceover narration, we immediately understand that his desire to be part of that world will inform his decisions throughout the film.
In Serpico (1973), idealistic young cop Frank Serpico decides not to join his colleagues in accepting bribes, launching him into a series of escalating and dangerous decisions when he tries to expose the corruption. He could have simply looked the other way or taken the money.
> The first big decision Serpico makes is turning down the free lunch (i.e. bribe) offered to cops by the café owner and instead opting to pay for his food. This let’s us know he’s got morals, which later get tested in more extreme ways.
As your characters make decisions, especially when there’s pressure, conflict, and stakes, they reveal their true nature. The choices your character makes ultimately form their arc.
Types of character arc (with examples from fact-based film)
Character arcs can present in several ways, including:
Personal growth: The character’s struggles lead them to become a better person.
> Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club (2013) arcs from homophobic and hedonistic to an unorthodox champion of patients’ rights after his HIV diagnosis.
> Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000) starts as an unemployed single mother but regains a sense of self-worth and respect after landing a job at a law firm and winning compensation for a town affected by pollution.
Circular: The character ends up back where they started but with greater self-awareness. (This can mean emotionally or thematically in the same place, as well as physically).
> Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980) goes from a self-destructive young boxer through a period of success in the ring, ending as a self-destructive has-been eking a living at a dingy comedy club.
> Forrest Tucker in The Old Man & the Gun (2018) starts as a career criminal and, despite run-ins with the law and the chance of a “clean” life, returns to robbing banks.
Static: The character stays largely (if not entirely) consistent, but they inspire or impact others instead of changing themselves.
> Katherine Johnson in Hidden Figures (2016) starts and ends the film as a talented mathematician but she overcomes discrimination to change NASA’s perception of African Americans and women.
> Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in Sully (2016) starts and ends the film as a dedicated pilot, but he’s forced to question his decision-making when his heroic efforts to prevent a plane crash face public scrutiny.
Decline: The decisions a character makes, or their circumstances, can lead to a negative arc.
> Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network (2010) starts as a socially awkward tech nerd but becomes increasingly ruthless and isolated as Facebook becomes a global phenomenon.
> Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) starts as an ambitious stockbroker but is consumed by his financial success and ends up losing everything.
Theme in character arc
Finally, as well as character changes, arc is often used more widely to represent or emphasise the overall theme of the story. Where a character ends up can make a more substantial point than simply bringing the story to a satisfying ending.
*Spoilers* For example, the murders of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk in Milk (2008) and former soldier Chris Kyle in American Sniper (2014) echo wider themes about violence. Meanwhile, the arcs of characters such as Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995) and Steve Jobs in Steve Jobs (2015) reveal the consequences of ambition.
Overall…
It all comes down to understanding what you want audiences and readers to take away from your film or TV show. When you know that, the protagonist doesn’t just serve as the film’s anchor and emotional centre, their journey also becomes a conduit for communicating its underlying meaning.