Checking Your Protagonist and Antagonist

In 500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader, Jennifer Lerch summarizes conditions that should be met by the protagonist and antagonist of your story by script's end.

The Protagonist

  1. "Keep the protagonist appealing throughout the conflict, even though his weaknesses are showing."
  2. "Press the protagonist beyond his limits....If your protagonist could have resolved the conflict in the opening act, he hasn't been growing or changing enough."
  3. "Visually show your protagonist's transformation in the final scenes of the screenplay." We already noted how this is done in Jurassic Park.

The Antagonist

  1. "Now [act 3] is the time to reveal your antagonist's true nature, if you haven't already done so."
  2. "Your antagonist should be opposing your protagonist with everything at his disposal."
  3. "This is the time [act 3] that your antagonist's weakness or flaw can be exposed without undermining the plot....Be sure that this revelation is not something that could have been identified earlier in the story and saved the protagonist a great deal of trouble."

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