MAJOR PROJECT: UNDERSTANDING THE CHARACTERS

Character exercise - motives and backstories

I have decided as an exercise for me that I should take the TV show I have been watching recently 'Rick & Morty' (Adult Swim) and try and really get under the skin of the characters. This way I can better understand what good characters in a successful TV show are. As well as this I have explored short films to understand better what I will need to know about my characters.

Rick & Morty (Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon)

Rick Sanchez:

• Recently returned estranged Grandfather who has come to live with the Smith family
• He has not seen the family for 14 years
• Genius scientist, whose main goal is to do scientifically amazing things and have a good time
• He is an alcoholic which also contributes to a good deal of maniacal behaviour
• doesn't really care much for the family, reluctantly living under the same room essentially just using the free food and shelter

Morty Smith:

• Adolescent boy who joins Rick on his adventures to alternate dimensions and planets, somewhat reluctantly to begin with (exemplified by the first scene of the show during which Rick bursts into Morty's room in the night to drag him of on an adventure, with a bottle of wine in hand)
• However by the second season is integral to the universe hopping duo
• Normal teenage boy, in love with a girl way out of his league at school, tags along with Rick as a sidekick sometimes taking centre stage
• Going through the turmoil of being a teenage boy just sometimes in an alternate universe

Jerry Smith:

• Father to Morty and son in law to Rick
• Cowardly dad who from time to time joins adventures
• He is in a loveless marriage, it seems impossible that he and his wife (Beth) would ever have gotten married
• They are in constant argument and she is most definitely the man of the house
• Dreams of success and being an actor (in more than one episode he is able to see these realities and wonder what could have been)

Beth Smith:

• Wife of Jerry and son of Rick
• Strong willed mother and wife of the Smith family
• Instigates arguments with Jerry due to his inadequacies
• Works as Horse surgeon (for which Jerry constantly tells her is not as good as being a human surgeon)
• Doesn't really like Rick as a father as he is harsh and lacking in human emotions 

Summer Smith:

• Daughter of Jerry and Beth, sister of Morty
• Teenage girl always trying to gain more popularity at school than she currently has.
• As the seasons progress ends up on more and more adventures with Rick & Morty
• Critical of parents
• Not as easy to get a read on her and her motives

Poilus (2016, short film) (Vimeo) (Isart Digital)

POILUS (2016) from ISART DIGITAL on Vimeo.

Being only 4 minutes in length and only having one real main character this story has to do a lot with very little, but does so very effectively. Using the setting of wartime French trenches, but instead of using people the animation team uses human sized rabbits which rather surprisingly works very well.

Harmonica playing rabbit:

• The main character of the piece who plays the harmonica instead of joining the charge over the top
• He is eventually forced to go over the top by his commanding officer
• Musically talented rabbit doesn't want to fight much like many of the other rabbits in the trench
• He is afraid
• Gets gassed by an enemy shell which causes him to hallucinate
• He must have been a talented musician in his life before war. What could have become of him if not for the unstoppable juggernaut of war?

Commanding officer:

• Has one goal to encourage the forces under his command to charge the opposition.
• No rabbit left behind
• All of the rabbits are scared the Harmonica rabbit is no exception. 
• He finds him once the charge has begun and forces him over the top. 

Opposing soldier Harmonica player:

• He may be a dead character, but his story is similar to our main characters
• A music lover who has ended up curtailed by this war
• Accidentally shot by main rabbit after gas attack
• Even though he is portrayed as a monster he is really just the same as the main rabbit

This exercise has been a useful one to try and work out what characters from other stories are all about. This in turn will help me understand how I should approach my character which are the most important part of the story.