Main content
Pixar in a Box
Unit 2: Lesson 2
2. Character- Introduction to character
- Warm up activity
- Internal vs. external features
- Activity 1: Internal & external features
- Wants vs. needs
- Activity 2: Wants vs. needs
- Obstacles
- Activity 3: Obstacles
- Character arc
- Activity 4: Character arc
- Stakes
- Activity 5: Stakes
- Advice on characters
- Glossary: Character
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Activity 4: Character arc
Exploring character arcs
Part A: Identify the arc of the main character in your 3 favorite films.
- What do they want at the beginning?
- What did they realize they need by the end?
Part B: How have you changed as a result of overcoming an obstacle?
Part C: Brainstorm ideas for how your character might change as a result of the obstacles you’ve identified in the previous exercise?
- What might they want at the beginning?
- What might they realize they need at the end?
Want to join the conversation?
do any of you remember Wreck-it-Ralph?
how he was mostly grumpy?
and how he became happier?(11 votes)- Yep, that's beecause Vanellope was the obstacle in Ralph's way that changed how Ralph though about his life. :)(2 votes)
Part A :
Harry Potter Sorcerer's Stone :
Harry really wants to be known by his family and to be treated better.
He realized he needed friends and encouragement to get through his life.(9 votes)
I love beauty and the beast the beast obstacle was to learn to be kind and to feel so that to break the magic to change him but also love make him learn to sacrifice and to be less angery and that what he need(8 votes)- that is the most amazing movie it like how we need to learn how to love people who are defferent from us(3 votes)
It is wednesday my dudes(8 votes)- As Jobs is a real life character so he made the most awesome character arc, he did what he needed and achieved what he wanted.(6 votes)
Adelina wants to defeat Rayalla by herself and take the throne for herself.
At the end she realizes that she needs her sister and her friends by her side instead of being selfish.(8 votes)- Must the characters go through the character arc to make a good story?? I personally don't think the character has to go through the character arc to make the well-told story because if the same formula gets used over and over again, the stories could become predictable and the audience could get bored.(6 votes)
It is totally possible for stories to be compelling without the use of an arc.
K.M Weiland of helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com notes that such stories become situations instead. In situations, the character will have stayed the same by the time the situation ends. They may learn a few skills, but they do not have to change themselves in order to overcome whatever is hindering them (be it an antagonist or inner thoughts). You will still have a protagonist with a goal, though this goal will likely be more physical. Weiland cites Raiders of the Lost Ark as an example of a situation, and (from what I have seen so far) Monty Python and the Holy Grail also falls under this category.
If you are going to choose this route, be sure to use other tools and story enhancers to create a memorable or appealing situation. You can use humor, different types of tension, good dialogue, worldbuilding, and other tools to build upon your situation. You will also need to keep the rules of storytelling in mind; just because you have a situation doesn't mean that you can automatically tell instead of show.
Does this help you?(2 votes)
Nell Owens, living with her uncle and her triplets, yearns for her missing kind father but suffers from the terrible treatment of her now dead terrible mother.(5 votes)
Nell Owens,living with her uncle and her triplets,yearns for her missing kind father(4 votes)
In Wonder, Auggie Pullman starts out happy when he was little and was homeschooled. Then, once he started going to school, the arc went down because Auggie had no one to be with. Then, when everyone began to judge Auggie by what he was on the inside, not out, the arc went up and Auggie was happy.(5 votes)
Video game Character: Papyrus from Undertale
Part A: Papyrus wants to be a member of the royal guard. He wants to have fame and recognition, he believes in order to do so he must capture a human.
In the end however, he befriends the human he was planning to capture. He realizes what he really needed was a good friend that brought out the best in him.
Part B:
Seeing My mother work hard for me and my little brother has pushed me to focus better on my schoolwork. What I wanted was to have fun. What I need is to be successful and not only make my mother proud, but myself.
Part C:
My character Robin wants nothing to do with humans out of fear of being hated for her species(monsters)
She will realize however, that she needs to accept that some people are good and others are bad. She just needs to be patient and treat everyone equally herself.(4 votes)