Character Driven or Plot Driven?

[starkat]

glumPuddle's post in another thread brought this thought to mind. I've noticed over the recent years that the tv series that survive the longest are character driven ones over the plot driven ones. NCIS for example. The basic storyline is pretty much identical from week to week, but because they have a character driven tv show, it's still watchable.

Some scenes obviously would be plot driven in SC just to keep the movie going, but some scenes will have to be character driven. What scenes would you classify as character driven and what would you classify as plot driven?


For instance:

Jill meeting Aslan at the front of the book I would consider a balance of both. It helps define Jill's character in that it shows her willing to go on the quest. It does drive the plot as Aslan delivers the signs.

Eustace and Jill's meeting at the Experiment house needs to be a character driven scene because it shows off how Eustace has changed and introduces Jill.


Hope this makes sense.

[FriendofNarnia2]

Ideally every scene should both move the story forward and at the same time reveal more about the characters.

[DamselJillPole]

I much prefer character driven with a mild pace of plot driven. I want the people to know the characters like we do who haven't read the books. If it's mainly plot driven then it'll turn out like VODT, too fast and we wouldn't be able to understand or communicate with the characters journey.

[Lilygloves]

With books like the Chronicles of Narnia, every book is character driven in some way, although some more than others. VDT and SC are less action-y because they are long journeys, especially SC. The scenes when they are journeying north could include a lot of character development, especially for Jill. Just because of the pacing of the book, it should be more character driven. That way the themes can come through.

[aragorn2]

I would say the books themselves are very plot driven. They do also have great character development but overall they are more plot-driven. And I think the films should mirror that. But not to the extent that the characters are forgotten in the mix.

[Nic5]

It depends what you like.

Plot driven is more risky because there is less margin for error. Plot driven films are more symbolic in characters representing themes of a story. But they are more dependent on stories being perfectly balanced in order for the characters to connect with an audience in a multi-layered way.

Character stories are less risky in a whole film story sense as they are more about spending time with characters you like or have interest in; either as baddies or just as likeable role models in someway. But the stories can take a back seat as it just becomes a high-jinx ride serving the characters.

It just depends what you like or want from a film or a story, neither being neccessary greater than the other.

[David West]

Generally, a film needs to be driven by both. I go to films because I want to go on a rousing adventure. I want a good story. But I'm not going to really care about the story if I'm not vested in the characters. Want to have me on the edge of my seat for the climax of the film? Raise the stakes by getting me emotionally invested in the people involved.

[Glumpuddle]

I think the keyword here is driven. Obviously the book has a plot and it has characters, but which one keeps me turning the pages? Which one is the foundation?

I think SC is very character-driven. It all starts with a very damaged girl and her journey learning to trust again. The quest to find Prince Rilian is, in my opinion, not really about Prince Rilian. It's about weather Jill can dare to trust Aslan's signs even though it seems she has known so few trustworthy people in her life.

I've always viewed The Chronicles of Narnia as being in two parts. There's a big shift after VDT. The first three books (LWW, PC, VDT) are plot driven, and the last four (SC, HHB, MN, LB) are much more character driven. The first three books don't even have a clearly-defined main character, whereas the last four do (Jill, Shasta, Digory, Tirian).

[Nic5]

Would you like to see the two elements of the story playing out seperately at the start of the movie, like two parallel dimensions? There hasn't been that yet in these Narnia movies, i mean, with very much depth of contrasting styles.

To me, Prince Rillian, LoTGK, & Narnia, are more characters in terms of the plot, themes & more ghostly feel of the Narnia backdrop or background.

Jill, Eustace & Puddleglum then are the more solid forefront characters finding out what's real.

There are loads of interesting possibilities in how they decide to approach it. I would be curious about the two different dimensions playing out seperately at the start, setting up both for a while, then coming together. I remember that fantastic bit of conceptual production art that had Caspian as a place holder inserted at what was thought to be for the LOTGK's lair - i think that would be awesome place actually for the forest where Rillian initially first starts to meet her beginnings of the tale., really mysterious, powerful: Alluring

[The Rose-Tree Dryad]

I think it needs to be primarily character-driven. Obviously, there are plot points that are driving the story: follow the signs, solving the mystery of the lost prince, et cetera. However, none of that matters if the characters aren't able to rise to the challenge of this task.

Considering we're primarily dealing with a rather broken girl who needs to learn to trust before she can fully carry out the task that Aslan has laid out for her... I'd say the real thrust of the story is in the characters and their personal journeys, particularly that of Jill Pole. And it's Jill's interactions with characters like Aslan, Puddleglum and Eustace that teach her to trust and to take the leap of faith. The bullied, fearful girl we meet in the beginning of the story is the one who ultimately comes to say all right, we've got to untie him, no matter what happens. This girl goes from being afraid that the Lion is going to eat her to calling out the Lion's name when she's in the throes of evil enchantment.

Jill's journey in The Silver Chair is a very interesting one, as is the evolution of her relationships with Aslan, Eustace and Puddleglum. I really hope that her story is the focus of the film adaptation.

[SummerSnow]

It should be a good mix of the two. But if I had to pick, I would go with character driven. I have a tendency to favor character driven opposed to plot anyway, but I also agree with earlier statements about the Silver Chair being more character driven.

[Ryadian]

I think the movie should be character-driven primarily, over being plot-driven. After all, if it weren't for the characters, I think the story would be a lot shorter--and not quite as deep. The plot, as it is, should have been fairly simple--if Jill had just remembered and followed the signs, they probably would have been able to get to Prince Rilian a lot faster, and and for sure the whole adventure at Harfang would have never happened. But the point of the story is about how the characters deal with the Signs, what they choose to do with them, and--importantly--what happens when they neglect them. Focusing mainly on the plot is, I think, what contributes to it seeming boring and repetitive at times, so you really have to focus on the characters.

I wonder, though--if they have any scenes with the Lady of the Green Kirtle, outside the ones from the book (you know how movies love their "Meanwhile, at the villain's lair" scenes ), should those be character or plot-driven? On the one hand, the Lady of the Green Kirtle's plan basically is the plot--none of this would have been necessary without her, and she's the one intentionally trying to trip up our heroes. On the other hand, as has been discussed a lot around her with the news about her name ( ), part of what makes her interesting is not only her subtle manipulations, but also the mysteries surrounding her--her true back story, her motivations, etc. It would be kind of interesting to see how they deal with that aspect, which would be more character-based... though, at the same time, it might delve into the realm of trying to give her more back story than is actually canon.

[The Rose-Tree Dryad]

I wonder, though--if they have any scenes with the Lady of the Green Kirtle, outside the ones from the book (you know how movies love their "Meanwhile, at the villain's lair" scenes ), should those be character or plot-driven? On the one hand, the Lady of the Green Kirtle's plan basically is the plot--none of this would have been necessary without her, and she's the one intentionally trying to trip up our heroes. On the other hand, as has been discussed a lot around her with the news about her name ( ), part of what makes her interesting is not only her subtle manipulations, but also the mysteries surrounding her--her true back story, her motivations, etc. It would be kind of interesting to see how they deal with that aspect, which would be more character-based... though, at the same time, it might delve into the realm of trying to give her more back story than is actually canon.

Very good observation! It's interesting to apply the "character driven or plot driven?" question to the Lady of the Green Kirtle and her plot in particular.

I think there's a good chance that audiences will want to know more about her, and the filmmakers will probably anticipate that. It would probably be nice to at least have some sort of hint as to why she does what she does. Maybe not even something that's blatantly spelled out, but something that you can infer from her behavior or what she says—or doesn't say. I wouldn't mind it if they gave us enough to chew on and wonder about without taking away her mysteriousness at the same time. That seems like a decent compromise.

And then there's the fact that at least some of her time is probably spent with Rilian. The book does say that she always stayed with Rilian during his ravings; I don't know if they'd be able to work anything like that into the film or not without ruining the ending. (Maybe they could show the LotGK looking stricken and helpless while Rilian raves off-screen? I'm not really sure.)

Anyway, it seems like any extra scenes with the two of them would be at least somewhat character-driven. In fact, I can even imagine her divulging details about herself when they first meet—the sort of thing that gets someone to trust you and make them feel like they know you intimately. Of course, the moviegoers will go on wondering if any of this was even true. And I honestly think that's the way it should be in regards to the Green Witch; I don't think we should feel like we really know who she is or where she comes from.

[Eustace]

Silver Chair to me has been always character driven and this movie should follow that. I would even venture to say it is more character driven then VODT. I loved that everyone has a personal character arc that seems to drive the story. Jill has learn the signs and trust Aslan and with that brings trouble and hardships.

[Narnian_Badger]

I think the idea of what drives the story is a pretty important one. You can either have a plot that serves its characters, making it character-driven, or you can have characters that serve the plot, making it plot-driven. The balance here is really important, because whatever is driving your story has to be on point. Relatively flat characters can be excused for an amazing storyline (one could argue Inception here), and really amazing characters can make up for a relatively hum-drum plot (think Avengers).

Thing is, though, if you're going to commit to one, you have to really commit. Ideally, a movie would have both really good characters and really good plot (The Prestige would be my suggestion for this). But this is usually hard to pull off, hence why you have one or the other. LOST tried to make its draw all about the plot, but wound up falling horribly short, and its characters couldn't save it. Spiderman 3 tried to make itself character-driven, but its characters were horrible, so no one cared. If you're going to put all your eggs in one basket, make it a darn good basket.

Soooo after that long build-up, the Narnia series, focusing on the movies first. With LWW, I think there's a pretty strong case for it being character-driven. For PC, though, I think they switched to plot-driven. Both these strategies worked relatively well. However. When they got to VDT, which is inherently a character-driven work, they decided to try to turn it into something plot-driven. Unfortunately for them, they had no solid, edge-of-your chair plot to go off of, so they tried to make something up. ...We all know how that went.

So, that's one character-based to two plot-based. I think SC desperately needs to try character-based for two reasons.

First, SC has very little connection to the first three movies, with the exception of the characters. There's not much in terms of plot to connect it to the past, and given how VDT did, I don't think there's much cause to want to try to link SC with it. It needs to stand on its own. Second, while SC does have a fairly interesting plot, the plot is definitely meant to serve the characters, and not the other way around. If they try to pull to much attention to the plot, they're going to run into a lot of problems, mainly with LotGK, who, to be quite frank, has a pretty boring evil plan. If they go with a character-driven plot, they don't need to make her plan interesting; they just have to make her interesting. Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum are given a lot of attention in the book, so they shouldn't cause too much trouble.

All that said, I think Narnia works much better when it's character-based, because the story lines Lewis wrote were never meant to be water-tight, mind-blowing masterpieces.

Their heart was made of a girl and a fawn, a prince and a dwarf, a boy and a mouse, a marshwiggle and a school girl, a Lion and his children.

[Anfinwen]

I just posted in the thread about the score, and this thread seemed the proper place to continue the thought.
I think this movie needs to have a very different feel than modern fantasy/action/adventure movies. It should have a romantic, fairy tale feel. It should focus on each piece of the story: an aged and grieving king, an insecure young girl, a boy who is losing is confidence about his experience, the golden fall, the grim winter, the darkness and seeming impossibility, and then the triumph.
I'm not sure if I can put the idea into words. There is heart-rending sorrow and fear, but beneath it all is a beauty and a peace that cannot be defeated.