Film Courage: How do you create an awesome horror protagonist? Peter Dukes, Writer/Director: How do you create an awesome
horror protagonist, antagonist or protagonist? Film Courage: Both. I said
protagonist but let's do both. Peter: I think it just comes down to for me in particular
what horror films inspired you the most and for me I have certain ones that were
important to me or influenced me certain horror directors that influenced me more
so than others certain life experiences I think certain real-life fears I think
for me I take the DNA contained with all of them I try to put it into a memorable
but memorable character I think I don't really want to do a character that we've
seen a million times before if I can help it I want to make someone where you
truly don't know what's gonna happen next or you feel the stakes or
heightened one of the tropes and one of the consequences of of following the
similar structure I went to writing screenplays it's the audience kind of by
this point knows where it's going most of the time they've seen everything it's
hard to really fool them so whenever I'm putting together a story and whenever
I'm coming up with characters whether it's a protagonist and certainly an
antagonist is I want to do someone who if it's a horror piece someone who
scares me and you know where that comes from just depends on what the story is
but I want him to be memorable I want them to be unique and to stand out I
think it'd be fun if one day if I ever did that type of story I made one of
those guys she becomes like Connick why not have it be the next Pennywise you
know you've seen these these fun posters they'll do where all the bad guys are in
a movie theater I want one of my guys to be there you know I'll put them in that
group someone that kind of just stands out just like the filmmaker themself has
to find a way to stand out from the crowd I'd love to come up with a
character that you know people remember and kind of stands the test of time I
think that's the goal well I mean do you think that
the person has to be real likable is to stake carry and I know I use that a lot
but I found Carrie to be a very likable character I know
sure maybe people do but and I found that the the antagonist in the film to
be very unlikable yeah I I think as always each stories organic and the
characters have to be true to what the story is I am attracted to I think good
guys that aren't squeaky clean and bad guys that aren't vaudeville bed twirling
their moustaches I like to muddy it up I like gray characters I think that's
something that people can relate to a lot if you see a bad guy that at times I
wouldn't say you empathize with but you can understand a little bit definitely
not a James Bond villain this is someone who is more relatable and in that sense
can be more scary it could be someone you know or someone
that you can believe running into some day and the same thing with a good guy
I'm far more interested in a protagonist who I can relate to and most people you
know they're not perfect they've got flaws and maybe they've had
some things in the past that they regret I wouldn't go as far as to say they have
you know big sins hiding in their closet but you know they have imperfections and
maybe they've done things they're not proud of I think that makes for a far
more interesting character now again since I've mentioned James Bond for
doing James Bond people when James Bond villain they want they want a little bit
of the vaudeville in there and that's fine and for Carrie you'd mentioned I mean
Cary she had to be likable she I think and they got Sissy Spacek was amazing in
it you kind of had to feel she was literally a real girl in high school who
was kind of a loner in the outsider and that's the way that character had to
work and her mother was terrifying it she had to be you know and I I don't
think making that mother and pathetic would have worked in that story so the
kind of great character I'm talking about you know comes down to the
appropriate story that it's used for so but for me though those are the kind of
characters that attract me good or bad and
generally when I'm coming up with a story I look for ways to really kind of
flesh them out in that manner and then you had the Betty Buckley character who
to some could have seen like the bad guy but she was you know very altruistic to
carry yeah and was almost like prodding her and like this tough love and I
thought that was a great thing because she didn't have that she had all these
different forces yeah listen I think whether you're making someone who's a
little bit muddy or they're just full on bed or full-on good I think the goal
should be to make these characters you know three-dimensional you should almost
be able to feel their motivations just by watching their face or their actions
or what they're doing in this scene not necessarily only with dialog and you
know from any writing standpoint that's what you're always aiming for no one
really ever I think sets out to write what they call it kind of a cardboard
you know or the carbon copy you know characters someone who feels
very two or one-dimensional and very flat and we're kind of saying that you
expect them to say no writer sets out to do that on purpose I think but you know
it's a tricky thing to really flesh characters out on the page you know I'm
sure when they wrote you know carry they didn't have Sissy Spacek bare to flesh
you down they didn't have her there to bring it to life someone originally had
to bring that character to life on the page it's a hard thing to do and I think
it's something that writers must demand themselves to really aspire to and work
on I'm really trying to get theirs as best they can and am i there yet I don't
know I try to be and going forward as always as an everything I do always
trying to push it to the next level just get a little bit better hone your craft
and keep going further and further I think I'll do that till I die I don't
think I don't know any filmmaker who feel or writer who feels they've finally
got it they finally got it you know at some point I think they're all even the
best of the best I imagine are still honing their craft well with the
Nightmare on Elm Street series or you know it seemed like the the protagonist
would change but the antagonist was always the same and so am I am I correct
in that it's been yeah first film for the well there were a few
are there many yeah so I'm just trying to remember correctly so it seemed like
the the protagonist always changed but the antagonist was always the same yeah
you need more people to be bad to I guess so yeah okay all right and and then you put
in the music - so we're like this fun sort of almost party feel to a lot of it
but then you knew something franchises are tricky and I give people a lot of
credit for trying to take him on this is had you mention Nightmare on Elm Street
because yeah I remember was taking that one I've watched about a year ago the
original film it's a scary movie it's a really scary movie and I had forgotten
how popular was it went on to span five or six films or whatever was but it
became so popular and this happens a lot of horror franchises that the original
antagonist it becomes part of the you know pop culture zeitgeist he eventually
became the comic relief in his own movies whenever he Freddy was in the
scene he was given all the funny lines very straight and then they took a break
for a few years and they made the new nightmare where they made him scary
again but they needed that break he was like a different character still Freddy
Krueger but he was he looked a little different he's very dark or whatever
it's uh it's it yeah but that's Hollywood writing a franchise it's just
another complication I'm sure as a writer to come in you just kind of have
to go the flow and make it work but I do remember that it do you remember there
being a drastic change along the you know life in that storyline and you're
right it was one antagonist always one antagonist and the protagonists would
come and go and survive or not not survive you know yeah I enjoyed it
you