Experimenting with characters in films...

Since we no longer have the film collaboration section, I thought I'd post this here to get some input from you knowledgeable folks.

I'm currently writing a screenplay to shoot early next year. I've developed two main characters; one being a lonely, 14 year old boy, and the other is a young prostitute. I've found that while writing this, my story begins focusing on the life of the young boy. However, when he encounters the prostitute, the story seems to focus more on her than the boy.

This wasn't necessarily intended, but I like where it's going. Reaching from Hitchcock's use of characters in PSYCHO (where the story focuses on Marion Crane up until she's killed off), I thought I'd play around with this some more. Do you folks think it could work splitting the importance of the characters, where in the first half of the film, the BOY is the main character and then in the 2nd half of the film, the PROSTITUTE becomes the lead character? Would this be too jarring for an audience, especially in a short? I've had a professional read this over (she was actually Stan Brakhage's assistant in Chicago in the 70s or so) and she finds the PROSTITUTE to be more interesting of a character than the BOY.

My biggest fear is that the audience will walk away disappointed and feeling as if neither character was developed properly.

Maybe the prostitute is the boy 15 years later, or one of her customers. See about connecting the dots. If none of that works, focus entirely on the prostitute .

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Why is the boy so young? Couldn't he be sixteen and tell the same story, without maybe creeping out audiences, or is being that young (14) vital to the story?

Under-age sex is a taboo and criminal offence. I think Brown should explore that.

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Largo's Shark wrote:

Under-age sex is a taboo and criminal offence. I think Brown should explore that.

It might be taboo, but that doesn't prevent young, lusty tavern wenches and lonely young boys from messing around.

Erica Ambler wrote:

He needs to take legal advice. As far as I know, filming such scenes using underage actors is a criminal offence.

There are plenty of actors who look younger than they are.

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I think legal advice is the way to go. What Brandon could do is have the 14 year old boy make advances, but with the prostitute turning him down under her own principles. A reverse of Travis/Iris from TAXI DRIVER.

PS. I've yet to see Lyne's LOLITA though I like what I've heard of Ennio's score. Never been a big fan of Kubrick's film, TBH.

You're not far off, Sharky. The kid doesn't actually have sex with the prostitute. There isn't even any nudity or vulgar language. The film is ultimately about a kid who thinks he wants to be adventurous and pay for a prostitute, ends up conversing with one who is close to his age, there's a connection between the two, and then the boy leaves the brothel. More or less.

If that's not permitted, then I could always change their ages to 18, but that'll dramatically shift the entire story.

I've tried planning this out to avoid any awkward situations, in terms of actually shooting this. Plus, I'm not out to make a vulgar story, surprisingly. I'm thinking more on the level of Truffaut's STOLEN KISSES, when Doinel goes to a brothel, realizes he can't get what he wants from the girl he's paired with, and leaves.

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Is there any way you can bring the prostitute into the story earlier? Not suggesting parallel story development, but just so her later appearance isn't out of the blue. In ABSENCE OF MALICE, Newman doesn't turn up in person for what, a half-hour? But you've seen a newsreel image of him, so he has a presence.

Maybe she's often waiting at a bus corner he passes regularly, or they ride the same bus. The change in focus from one character to the other could be something emphasized visually. During his part of the story, you've got him in focus and her barely in the shot, and later the process reversed. I'm not advocating some obsessive use of rack focus like GETTING STRAIGHT, just selective focus for emphasis.

When I first read your post, all I thought was DRESSED TO KILL, but Keith Gordon is probably supposed to be close to 18 there. Different dynamic, even if kids mature tons faster now.

Control wrote:

You're not far off, Sharky. The kid doesn't actually have sex with the prostitute.

This is key. If it's a serious story without delving into the negative connotations of underage sex this is how one tells such a story-much as the Truffaut reference you make. In fact if an actual non-sexual relationship between the two otherwise unrelated characters develops then you've got something else altogether and something different.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Go with the prostitute as central character. They lead interesting lives by definition. Children not so much.

trevanian wrote:

Is there any way you can bring the prostitute into the story earlier?

When I first read your post, all I thought was DRESSED TO KILL, but Keith Gordon is probably supposed to be close to 18 there. Different dynamic, even if kids mature tons faster now.

hegottheboot wrote:

Control wrote:

You're not far off, Sharky. The kid doesn't actually have sex with the prostitute.

This is key. If it's a serious story without delving into the negative connotations of underage sex this is how one tells such a story-much as the Truffaut reference you make. In fact if an actual non-sexual relationship between the two otherwise unrelated characters develops then you've got something else altogether and something different.

I'm going to re-write the entire script tonight, taking advantage of the generous advice and ideas shared in this thread. Since I've been given feedback and told that the prostitute was the more interesting character in my original draft, I'm going to take Sir Ambler's advice and make her the lead. I'm going to have her be around 23 years old, too. I think I'll bump the age of the "client" to 18, also. I'll also keep the non-sexual relationship between the characters. I think it'll be more interesting to work with, along with keeping this in the style of a light, Truffaut-esque drama with a touch of humor.

I'll let you all know how the re-write goes, and would be glad to share it with any of you if you'd like to check it out.

:)

Looks like I walked in on this a little late.

Sounding good, man. Definitely something I'd check out. I'd love to see how to re-write goes, good luck with it.