Guido Segal, Screenwriter/Instructor: When you're in front of other humans your
behavior changes and you don't behave the same way in front of your family,
your loved ones, your friends, your enemies, the cops you're just someone else.
Film Courage: How do you like to create characters?
Guido: When it's based on real people the challenge is to understand who they are
beyond the obvious meaning and you'll see this with biopics it's such a
especially when they don't work right it's I don't want to get the public persona because I can find
that on youtube especially if it's indulgent and yeah mostly lazy self-conscious so I'm not gonna
talk bad criticize any biopics but it's like I already knew that's an actor playing that guy
but I want to see what happens backstage I want to see what happens when they're alone
I want to see who they were before they were well known or confident about themselves
I want to see what they do when yeah when the world is not watching
so with the Chicago script actually got a chance to talk to the guy who it was based on
and that was that was a big there was a big challenge in there because he was a
he was a revolutionary and I think he still is a revolutionary so when he read my script
of course you don't know you never adapt reality exactly as it is you gotta change it up a bit
and you get adapted for it to be a story because reality is chaos stories have a structure right
and you gotta fudge the facts a little bit not too much ideally so he wanted to be like a documentary
so he basically called me all sorts of names we had a great relationship until he read the script
and he was like no you didn't write it exactly as I told you I'm like well that's not a story
anyway that's neither here nor there but what you're trying to understand the person how they
see the world their contradictions how how they are three-dimensional people when you're making
up characters it's not that different in the sense that you're trying to find in your own database
attitudes that resonate and that would build a possible individual and some just filter in
there when you're writing as I said when you write a a couple fighting or or a daughter a mother and
daughter fight or father and son fight whatever it's hard not to think of your own experience
either intentionally or unintentionally sov there are guiding questions you can use always
I remember those there was like a six question questionnaire that Neil Landau gave me at UCLA
again I had great instructors at UCLA and people who I still talk to and it was basically the
questions were like what's what's the trait that most that you like least about yourself
it was like introspection questions but then how to apply that to character like what's your
crutch what's your strength so again when I when I teach character on UCLA I mean they're I give
them multiple techniques ask all the possible questions observe there's an exercise I make
them do where it's like eavesdrop people don't be creepy but when you go to supermarket eavesdrop
in conversations and see how people relate to one another just in terms of dialogue right notice how
some people don't finish their sentences notice how the euphemisms what they avoid saying
notice what they actually say and what's implied with their body language
absolutely I mean observation is always the key to character and dialogue
walking down the Santa Monica strand you could pick up fantastic conversation you don't even
have to eavesdrop you're just there and people yeah they're not even they're not even concealing
what they're they're just saying without I'd say anywhere in l.a cities the truth is if you're a
curious person you'll find characters anywhere it doesn't have to be la it can be any town
just notice how people are very specific about how they present themselves I always say this would
to to my students when they have to pitch like remember that you're not it's not just your words
it's how you present yourself they've already started judging you when the moment you came in
so choose how you're going to dress for that meeting how you're going to present yourself
just because know that they're they're paying attention right the same thing with the characters
is how do they dress do they care about how they look do they care about appearances do they not
how do they feel about aging do they care if they're wrinkled or do they
not care at all or are they over compensating exactly aging do they have any physical issues
that affects their personality I mean not per se what I'm saying is that affects the personality
usually there's a connection sure yeah or are they always another thing is someone that's
always bragging about themselves that that's speaks volumes yeah well that's
it's always that's why I like to have characters intimate moments because
it's very your persona and your actual self are very different how many people are depressed
and we don't know it that's right I mean and now thankfully we're talking about it in public but
even now I mean I'm trying to be honest with you but there's a part of me that this is my
persona I mean we can't help it I'm doing the same thing I mean I'm doing my best to be myself but
just even here yeah when you're in front of other humans your behavior changes and
you don't behave the same way in front of your family your loved ones your friends your enemies
that's true the cops you're just someone else the checker at the you you're happy hey how
was your day oh great hey oh everything's we have so many things yeah so many masks
did you catch that game the other night oh it was great yeah all right well you take it easy
if you go to the dmv you're gonna try to be really friendly because that those people hate being they
hate their jobs and I don't blame them so you're like hey it's beautiful whatever I don't know
how do you find out what a character wants I guess I guess it has to be something that I'm interested
in sometimes character will come out of the want comes first the quest comes first and then
I mean it's not always the same it's always different but sometimes
you want to explore a certain quest and then you wonder who would be
the most interesting person to me in this quest in this mission so is it the most
adequate person or is it the most or really a fish out of water so
I have a thing where I tend to have characters on a spiritual or
abstract quests and it's really an issue I don't make it easy on myself
they don't want material things I've managed to figure this out over time
and I've had some problems with people like what's the goal I don't get it, it's like she won't she's
trying to become this or he's trying to understand with lyrics he's like he's trying to find he
promised Harvard the the future of psychology the new method and that's why he got hired
and he doesn't know what that is so and his students hate him and if he doesn't
find that method he promised them he's going to be out of a job a widower without a job
at 40 with two kids and by 40 I mean 1960 40 year old not today being to 40 nothing that's
nothing but in 1960 don draper was 36. so if you were 40 you were old so he's he's trying
to find something and he doesn't know what it is and I like those sorts of challenges
it does turn me into someone of an intellectual writer I guess because I'm pursuing ideas but
that's okay I mean if I guess if the day I want to write a script about people pursuing money I can
it's always easier if what they want is a loved one or money because it's tangible
what if it's the idea that they think money will
I mean what if it's this elusive care that okay they get the money but then it doesn't
fix what they thought it would fix oh but I think that's inevitable that's the thing
it's the thing with the want and the need right so they want money but they need
to change the way they're approaching life in general I don't know so it's this idea
that before the midpoint there's a want and after the midpoint it's about the need and movies are
usually I mean there's a moral element to movies Hollywood movies at least which is they were
they were trying to be the biggest investors in wall street and it's actually about finding
someone who loves you this is a classic I mean we've seen this over and over and over again right
he thought he was after the job and he was actually after love
but it's easier if you say it's a movie about people desperate for money
of course when you actually watch the movie it's not about that
the want is usually not doesn't define what the movie is about and the reason why this works it
might sound schematic but the reason why it works is that that's how people actually are
we we there's a lot of denial I feel like in everyday life and we tell ourselves we want thing
and we don't really know what we want or what we need of course movies do that in 90 minutes
or two hours but in life you realize years later that I was pursuing I thought I wanted to make it
big in Hollywood and I actually wanted to I don't know heal my wounds from the past
if it rings the bell it's because a lot of people are going through that sure well a lot of
people that go into entertainment sure there's interesting things that drive them incredibly
happy satisfied people don't need to tell stories you don't think so there's nothing dramatic about
it and I feel like no I'm not saying we should be miserable let me clear clarify this I don't
think we all should be tortured and and sad I'm saying that movies need a certain dramatic element
a moment of conflict no one wants to see a movie about two people who are perfectly in
love all the time that's true I'm not I'm not trying to be dogmatic what I'm saying is that
we you need events and this and then but it can be and and and has to be like but however and so
I don't know I personally feel like the need to express yourself comes from
something that you need to understand something that you're lacking something that
you could say the same for someone who writes a piece of code they're creating something
there's an artistry to that code sure I've never written code so I can't talk about that I mean
I any anytime you create something it's because you feel like something's missing
right that's what I'm saying like you're not it doesn't come from a place of total satisfaction
I'm not saying there should be something missing in your life and if you get and if whoever gets
to a point where they feel totally satisfied man I'm sure that's awesome I'd love to be there but
I feel like the second you you become enlightened and at peace with the universe and everything
I don't know why I would sit down and write a script I'd be just I'd be basking in existence
I see not not to get too philosophical and and again I don't mean that you have to be a tortured
soul no and I'm sure the people that write the classic come back home for the high school reunion
and it's all in a neat package and it turns out everything works out okay that that's not that's
different than somebody who writes about scamming investors on wall street or something I mean
there's a different different mindset there may be I don't know there's room for everyone look
this is the thing the the audience again I think the audience is smart so if you if
you have a movie or a story where a family is totally at ease and they're all happy together
after probably 10 minutes or 15 the audience is going to be like something's going to happen
something something's bad is going to happen and then half hour goes by and they're like
wait when's something going to happen and then an hour goes by and they're perfectly happy eating
peanut butter sandwiches and you're like what am I watching there's nothing happening right so that's
even if you want to write a perfectly happy story the audience is expecting something some conflict
and and I don't I don't feel conflict is something artificial that you insert into the story
life is full of conflict like out there it's just you're stuck in traffic that's conflict
it's not someone died but you're like oh my god I can't get to like wait I can't wait to get out
of my car and I've been in traffic for half an hour and I got to use the restroom and oh my
god I'm going to get home and I haven't bought food for the cats that's conflict all the time.