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It Must Be Love: an Exploration of The IT MUST BE LOVE: AN EXPLORATION OF THE CHARACTER ARC MODEL IN SCREENWRITING PRACTICE AND THEORY A Practice Led PhD By Philip Guy Mathews PhD Submission Bournemouth University Sept 2018 “This copy of the exegesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this exegesis.” 2-ii Acknowledgments I would like to give heartfelt thanks to my supervisors Professor Bronwen Thomas and Phil Parker for their encouragement and unwavering support over the last eleven years. Their generosity, guidance and rigour has been invaluable in developing my research at every stage. I would like to thank Dr. Fiona Cownie and Marian Mayer for detecting my additional learning needs during this process and for encouraging me to seek support. I would like to thank Dr. Camila Devis-Rozental, and Dr. Ed Bickle without whom I could not have completed this undertaking. I would like to thank Bournemouth University for supporting me through this process and Jan Lewis for her encouragement. Special thanks to Professor Stephen Deutsch and Brenda Masters for their wisdom and assistance. I would like to thank Dr. Christa Van Raalte for her consideration and generosity in allowing me the time and space to complete this work for which I am deeply thankful. I wish to thank my beloved children Eva, Sacha and Oscar who have all tolerated my obsessions over the last eleven years. Their patience, Inspiration, love, support and understanding has been immeasurable. Finally, I would like to thank my mum and dad. Their example, integrity and love guides me always. 2-iii Abstract This practice led research is a study into the contested screenwriting narrative form known as the ‘character arc’. The character arc is a term that refers to the motivational and emotional trajectory of a character through the totality of a given narrative. Through practice I developed an original cinematic screenplay It Must be Love, as a way of exploring the research questions and enabling me to critically reflect upon the creative development and writing process. The two areas that framed this practice led research were the character arc, and the romance genre. The study considers the development of various theories of the character arc before defining its form through methods of textual analysis, practice and critical reflection. The practice screenplay It Must be Love was developed as a romance. In consideration of this, the impact of genre will be referenced throughout the exegesis. This practice-led research arrived at a new definition of the character arc illustrating that it can operate across genres and is autonomous of other narrative forms. This research also found that characters may arc multiple times within a given narrative. These findings may be salient to screenwriting practitioners in developing or exploring their practice and widens the debate around this narrative form. 2-iv Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Theoretical background to the study ........................................................................ 1 1.1.1 The character arc ............................................................................................. 2 1.1.2 Aristotelian traditions ........................................................................................ 5 1.1.3 Monomyth ........................................................................................................ 8 1.1.4 Genre .............................................................................................................. 9 1.2 Methodological foundations of practice led research ............................................. 12 1.3 Aims ...................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2 Contextual review ......................................................................................... 21 2.1 Screenwriting manuals in context .......................................................................... 22 2.2 The romance genre in context ............................................................................... 24 2.3 The character arc in context .................................................................................. 31 2.4 Cinematic examples of the character arc in practice .............................................. 73 Insomnia (2002) ........................................................................................................... 74 1st arc choice ................................................................................................................ 77 2nd arc choice ............................................................................................................... 77 3rd arc choice ............................................................................................................... 78 Atonement (2007) ............................................................................................................ 79 1st arc choice ................................................................................................................ 81 2nd arc choice ............................................................................................................... 82 3rd arc choice ............................................................................................................... 82 2.5 The character arc: Towards a new definition ......................................................... 84 2.6 Reflections on the practice led methodology ......................................................... 86 Chapter 3 Practice Screenplay It Must be Love ........................................................... 89 Chapter 4 Critical reflections and findings .................................................................. 90 4.1 Screenwriting cultures and paradigms ................................................................... 92 4.2 A wing, a prayer and the character arc .................................................................. 96 4.3 In dialogue with the character arc ........................................................................ 100 4.4 Negotiating genre ................................................................................................ 100 4.5 Initial practice screenplay outline ......................................................................... 106 4.6 Where and when to locate the character arc in the screenwriting process? ......... 109 4.7 The first draft: in search of story .......................................................................... 110 4.8 The first draft, second time around ...................................................................... 112 4.9 Critical reflections on practice .............................................................................. 113 4.10 The aftermath of the practice screenplay ............................................................. 139 2-v 4.11 The barrier and the character arc ........................................................................ 140 4.12 Gradations of debate and dilemma ...................................................................... 141 4.13 Where to locate the character arc in practice ....................................................... 142 4.14 Genre negotiations .............................................................................................. 145 4.15 Affirming or undermining genre ........................................................................... 145 4.15.1 Character choice versus character goal ....................................................... 152 4.16 The character arc: beyond foundations ............................................................... 153 4.17 Suggested stages of the character arc: ............................................................... 154 1. Establishing the character arc central dilemma ................................................... 154 2. Introduce the character arc inciting incident ......................................................... 154 3. The first arc turning point dilemma and decision ................................................. 155 4. The character arc aftermath, and development of the central debate .................. 155 5. The dilemma revisited: Second arc turning point dilemma and decision .............. 156 6. Aftermath of the decision and resolving the debate ............................................. 156 7. The third arc turning point dilemma and decision: confirming a stance ................ 157 8. Character arc consequences and the theme defined ........................................... 157 4.18 The clarity of the choice ....................................................................................... 160 4.19 Defining the character arc: A new approach ........................................................ 163 4.20 Findings .............................................................................................................. 170 Establishing the character arc central dilemma .......................................................... 170 Introduce the character arc inciting incident ............................................................... 171 The first arc turning point dilemma and decision .......................................................
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