DZ-35: Driving Characters or Character Driven?

Listen if you're writing a character study and unsure how to build momentum without external conflict. Continuing their focus on "character", Stuart and Chas take a close look at films that may be considered character-driven... or rather character studies... or just plot-lite films? Whatever you call them, these films — CHEF, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, and AMOUR — let their plots take a back seat to a closer examination of their characters. Stuart and Chas dive in to investigate how, without plot driving the story forward, do these films maintain our interest? We talk Mike Leigh's idea of the 'Running Condition', Character Choice, SceneWork and the myriad other techniques the filmmakers use to keep us interested. PS: Note that all these films are writer/directors. Hmm. PPS: There is no backmatter this episode. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. ——— FILMS CHEF (2014) — (w) Jon Favreau HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008) — (w) Mike Leigh AMOUR (2012) — (w) Michael Haneke SCRIPTS Study the script: AMOUR (2012) — Michael Haneke LINKS IMDB: CHEF by Jon Favreau Listen: Watch it on iTunes or find it on JustWatch Read: Watch it on iTunes or find it on JustWatch IMDB: HAPPY-GO-LUCKY by Mike Leigh Listen: Watch it on iTunes or find it on JustWatch Read: Watch it on iTunes or find it on JustWatch IMDB: AMOUR by Michael Henke Listen: Watch it on on iTunes or find it on JustWatch Read: Watch it on on iTunes or find it on JustWatch Read: ScreenOnline: On Mike Leigh ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-35/