My protagonist: How to "flesh out" a character in psychological realism

 Currently, while i start delving into my writing process, i need to develop my protagonist as well, since it is one of the most important factors in a story. Specifically in my genre, psychological realism, which one of their codes is concentrating in the psyche of the characters, what are their motivations and sorrows are. In more experimental and non-traditional representations of the genre, like the artistic representation on the side, it seems to be able to capture the changing nature of oneself. I do not expect to make a very nonconventional short film, since i think that would take much longer to develop and be able to explain, as well as the time constrain, but, for my character, i think i could get a similar tone and feeling in the film, as well as a similar shot with overlapping of the camera and sound.
Therefore, i have to able to detailed my characters experiences and ideas, but it does not mind to put a voiceover of what her thoughts may be, since in a film medium that would be too distracting for the viewer, compared to how in a first person narration in a book it would be different. In that way, their needs to be a visual representation on how the character may be feeling and their problems, for example, i will try to focus many of the shots and try to bring them into point of view shots, with and held movement for the closeness and the shaking nature of her disease, not knowing if she would be able to process food or not. This way, when cross cutting into a two shot, including other characters, the environment would be seen stable, comparing to how she sees it. Through my investigation of this genre, i found various book examples, not many films into this exact category, but i did find one in the psychological thriller, a subgenre of it. 

In Gone Girl (2014), based on the book by Gillian Flynn, it follows the disappearance of Amy Dunne and her husband and the public's reaction. It can be seen as how the division in the film occurs, as all of the actions made by the protagonist, Nick Dunne, are completely erratic and made him seen involved in Amy's disappearance. One example of this, as seen in the trailer, is the smile the character does in front of the disappearance card, as well as the way he holds Amy's head and how, with the low blue lightning and clear background, it makes her seen vulnerable and innocent. There are flashbacks showing him to commit violence against her.

 While delving more into the film, other instances makes the audience point to the husband, his actions of infidelity, but it is able to seen through the other characters and the actions he does in private, how he may not be the one to have committed the crime. In the climax of the film, it is discover that Amy is well, being in another place, hiding. The explanation of her actions and thoughts, through not justifying her actions, it brings the depth into the character and a reason that the audience can grasp into, not leaving it to be done simply because, "the plot needed for it to happen". That is the code for this genre, showing images in the character's mind, who may not always be what really happened, such as the fabricated memories shown tot he audience, a technique to show the viewer to think of what a character's is seeing to what is really happening. The conventions to show the character psyche, as described above, is mostly done by monologues, but this can be paired with how the character acts vs. them in private, sometimes showing a character to be manipulative, but can also be done to show someone's more real self. Their way of dressing and looks in general can also be able to do, a change in personality accompanied with a change in thinking, as seen in Amy's as her monologue is being played as a voiceover, her reaction to other women and the disapproving look in her face.In short, the mise-en-scene and more direct expressions to develop a character are heavily used in my genre. 

Now, this has helped me to identify how to portray the emotions into my short film, but i still need help into developing the character itself. I have found a name for her, Mariposa, meaning "butterfly" in Spanish, signifying her sensitive nature. Though i do not plan for this aspect to play a major role in the film, I do hope to dress my actress in bright colors, like a butterfly, and a decline as her mental state does as well. I want to be able to bring more of compassion and awareness of how her situation is something that many live through everyday, not doing it like other films to explain the wrong actions of my character. In this interview with a film screenwriter and director, he gives tips on how to create that feeling that i am striving for. The mistakes he claims that many do is giving their character too many character traits, such as funny, charismatic, etc, which are only the tip of the iceberg and would not help. Thanks to still be in the beginning stages, i haven't given my character many of them, but i will be beware of giving her more and concentrate in those that i have, portraying them profoundly. The two important things are: weakness and character's goal. I'm surprised that i have been able to already, or almost, be complete with that part, since her weakness, main personal problem, is her eating disorder, her goal is deeply connected to her weakness, living a life not dictated by her disorder, coming from her journey. 

An article that i read on Psychology Today described how to do that as well, from a psychologist expert point of view. It details how what the audiences usually search for in a film is "humanness", meaning the most natural and emotional acting to the fake scenarios being seen. For example, one of the ways to cause your audience to become more invested is to make sure the acting is not stiff and the dialogue and actions done by your characters, even if they may be silly, could be expected to be done in real life. That are some of the codes and conventions for my genre as well, trying to portray characters and their reaction as natural as possible, the realism. 

With the look into how i will be able to develop Mariposa, it has helped me to examine them for all angles and include more mental notes into the kind of shots and cuts i will make. Even though I will have to adapt to my options, such as how much quality there may be in my acting, I hope that my dialogue and actions itself may be seen as "realistic".

Citations:

Aguilar, Dubrawska, et al. “Psychological Realism in Benjamin Garcia's Art.” Panamerican World, 19 Nov. 2018, panamericanworld.com/en/magazine/travel-and-culture/psychological-realism-in-benjamin-garcias-art/.

Fincher, David, director. Cool Girl Monologue. Gone Girl, 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaoQNDIf6pY&t=47s.

Fincher, David, director. Gone Girl │Official Trailer [HD] │20th Century FOX. Youtube, 2014, youtu.be/2-_-1nJf8Vg.

Goldstein, Thalia. “Psychological Realism and Characters.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 22 May 2012, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mind-stage/201205/psychological-realism-and-characters.

“Gone Girl Poster. ID:1301457.” Movieposters2.Com, 2014, movieposters2.com/Gone-Girl-movie-poster_1301457.html.

Truby, John, . How To Make The Audience Care About Your Characters by John Truby. Youtube, 5 Sept. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt2PcwKHbxc.