
--
DFM script writing masterclass stresses the importance of the protagonist --
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:49
--
SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: The Durban FilmMart (DFM) 2015, running until 20 July, is a joint programme of the Durban Film Office (DFO) and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), and takes place in conjunction with Durban International Film Festival. Masterclasses are held daily during the FilmMart to assist writers, directors and producers in the numerous facets of filmmaking.
On 19 July, script expert, lecturer and writer Sari Turgeman presented a masterclass titled Story Development: My Characters and I , and endeavoured to teach attendees the art of fine-tuning the film script. Turgeman recently completed her book Journey to the Script in 84 Days a theoretical and practical writing manual that focusses on guiding the writer in choosing the right components when putting together a film script. Her masterclass at the Durban FilmMart touched on the most important elements of her book.
Turgeman believes that the key to a successful and honest script stems from knowing and establishing the connection between real life, the script and oneself (the writer). According to Turgeman, the first step to a good script is to know yourself as you are the origin of the idea: When you are connected to yourself, you can help others connect to you, she said. Knowing yourself stems from awareness and awareness is the most important tool in scriptwriting, You have to know exactly what script you want to write, said Turgeman.
Once you know what script you want to write, the next step is to ask questions. The only way you will find answers are by asking questions, when you find answers you can make choices, said Turgeman, and when you make choices you can begin writing.
Turgeman emphasised three centres that one must possess in order to write a quality script:
1. The heart of the story
The heart of the story is merely what you want to say through the story about a specific subject. Turgeman stressed that all elements going forward should be connected to the heart of the story.
2. The protagonist
The protagonist is the most important character in the story as the audience connects to the film through the protagonist. Connecting with the protagonist allows the audience to experience a new world, Turgeman said.
The protagonist is the one who leads the story, The most important choice you will make is who leads your story, she explained. When choosing your protagonist, ask yourself: Who is he/she? Why him/her? Why did I choose him/her?
3. The world of events
The plot makes up the world of events in a story. Turgeman said that by developing specific happenings in the narrative, a clearer picture of the story is formed.
When you have all three centres and you know why you chose them, you can start to have fun with your script, explained Turgeman.
Turgeman continued by touching on five principles that one should adhere to when choosing a protagonist:
The unity of contradictions
Character duality is what makes up a great script. It is vital that the protagonist have both good and bad, as well as outward and inward characteristics.
Uniqueness of protagonist
Our three centres of perception are what make us unique. These three centres are how we think, how we feel and how we act. In the same way, the protagonist needs to possess those three centres of perception that make him/her unique.
The four elements
Every human being possesses character traits relating to the natural elements of earth, wind, fire and water; however one element is always dominant within us. Turgeman stressed the importance of deciding which element is dominant in the protagonist of the story. Use these elements to define their natural behaviour, she said.
The importance of sharing
Sharing your ideas with others is an effective way to further understand your story and your protagonist. The importance of sharing is to hear yourself and to hear the other, said Turgeman.
Develop relationships between your protagonist and other characters
To build relationships between the protagonist and other characters, one must ask these questions about each character: Who is he/her? Why him/her? Why does the protagonist choose him/her for his/her journey? Use these characters to create conflict and harmony in the story.
Turgeman concluded her masterclass by urging attendees, above all else, to write the film they wish to see.
Related Articles
DFM to host leading industry professionalsDFM will host leading industry financiers, producers and commissioning editors at its sixth edition from 17 to 20 July 2015...
Read more...
Produire au Sud partners with Durban FilmMartFor the third year Produire au Sud of Festival des 3 Continents and the French Embassy in SA have partnered with DFM...
Read more...
Durban FilmMart expertsAngus Finney, Dominique Welinski, Sari Azoulay Turgeman and Stefano Tealdi share skills and knowledge at DFM...
Read more...
-- --
-- --
-- Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. comments powered by Disqus
Most recent headlines
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Barack Obama Includes Laufey on His 2025 Favorite Music List The former presidents roundup of books, music, and movies includes a song from the Berklee alums ...
20/12/2025
Study reveals a key hormonal circuit in the kidneys Scripps Research scientists identify the protein that helps kidney cells regulate renin, providing foundatio...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Jared Timmins on AI for Broadcast Sports and Cre...
19/12/2025
2025 SVG Summit Audio Recap: Say What?The Audio Production and Distribution Workshop at the SVG Summit 20 took on issues including speech intelligibility, Next-...
19/12/2025
Gamified fun: Channel 5 on its NFL Big Game Night ambitions with Hungry Bear Med...
19/12/2025
College Football Playoff Preview: For ESPN, Round 1 is a Fantastic Yet Familia...
19/12/2025
AWS's Jason Dvorkin on Developing Partnerships With the NBA and PGA Tour, Em...
19/12/2025
Netflix Kicks Off Packed Sports Week with Paul-Joshua Fight Before Shifting to N...
19/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Nareev Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
19/12/2025
Mounted to the pylon of an AH-1Z Viper helicopter, a Red Wolf vehicle successful...