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Showing posts with label humanizing characters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humanizing characters. Show all posts

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Cobra Kai Season 3 Premiere on January 1, 2021

Netflix's Cobra Kai Season 3 premiered on January 1, 2021. Episode 1 revisited Season 2, Episode 10: The school fight that rocked the Valley. Miguel Diaz still remains in a coma after Robby Keene kicked him off the second floor, causing Cobra Kai's star pupil to sustain a terrible neck injury accompanied with paralysis. Robby is on the run following his direct role in causing Miguel's tragic injury. With their differences and past grudges still intact, Daniel and Johnny go on a mission to locate the troubled teenager on the run before the police find him first. 

Samantha now struggles with PTSD after the controversial school fight that rocked the Valley. Flashbacks of John Kreese's Vietnam tour clearly convey his motivation to start Cobra Kai. John's desire to punish his enemies through showing no mercy is explained in its entirety. Daniel returns back to Tomi Village in Okinawa, the site of The Karate Kid II, to reclaim his lost focus and rekindle past relationships. Season 3 features many unique surprises, further delving into the mysteries pitting the past up against the present.   

Cobra Kai is an extremely well written series that instantly grabbed my attention upon my first initial viewing: I binge-watched Season 1 and Season 2 on Netflix. This former YouTube series has done a great job integrating "The Karate Kid" films into its storyline. There are many personal growth teachings that teach us to evolve, such as the wisdom Miyagi ingrained into Daniel's mind, body and soul. 

There is newfound empathy to understand Johnny Lawrence's character; we see his broken childhood and how karate gave him guidance. The fallout of losing the All-Valley Karate tournament kept Johnny living in the past. His inability to come to terms with the 80's restricts his character arc. Despite protecting his tough guy image, letting his defense down actually helps him become a humble character with moral values.  

Daniel adopted identical character traits that made Johnny unlikeable in The Karate Kid. Clashing with Johnny created conflict in his posh life. His wife reminded him to return back to the man she first met.  For the most part, Daniel's love for karate reconnected him with valuable life lessons. He self-reflects on Mr. Miyagi's teachings, focusing on karate as defense and focus. Concentrating on Miyagi's passion-first advice is what keeps Daniel living a rich life full of blessings. Nevertheless, karate represents Daniel's true calling to make a difference in his community. Perhaps karate is the main reason Daniel is who he is today; it serves as the foundation to his personal, family and business life. 

Binge watching Cobra Kai Season 3 gave me a nostalgic experience: These empowering episodes reconnected me with my childhood. My brothers and I would do karate after watching The Karate Kid movies! Whenever I feel disappointed, I remember the carefree times where I lived in the moment. Living in the moment keeps me in the present, reminding me to not take life so seriously. Life is too short to waste time on regrets, resentments, grudges and failures. We must learn to appreciate who we are, the life we lived and what we can become with hard work, effort and passion. If you want your dream, you are all the support you need. 

Until Cobra Kai Season 4 arrives, stay safe and healthy. Most importantly, keep writing the stories you want to see at the movies. Do it for yourself, not for attention, money and popularity. 


Happy Screenwriting! 

  

Monday, August 25, 2014

Know your characters

Great screenwriting is building realistic characters that walk and talk like real life people. Your experience as a human is valuable to write characters that people can relate to and understand. Infusing scripts with these unique characters make watching movies refreshing and memorable. 

How can beginning screenwriters construct these genuine characters? Survey people in a library, at school and at public places. Take notes on nonverbal communication, movement, and gestures. This is a popular sociology tool to learn social interaction. Next, concentrate on writing visual scenes and withhold any dialogue to gain insight on good visual acuity. Lastly, practice writing only dialogue. 

Use the notes taken from surveying people and fill in the details with imaginative dialogue, storytelling, and movements. Nonetheless, continue writing movie scripts based on imaginary situations connected to your real life. What is unique to you that is most interesting? 

Happy screenwriting! 

Monday, April 9, 2012

Humanizing Characters in End of the World movies

End of the world movies humanize characters to build emotion in stories. The moviegoing public have an infatuation with end of the world movies because the stories convey the essence of realism. Humanizing characters in end of the world movies make the movie experience enjoyable as well as real.

Humanizing characters energize the movie plot. Most end of the world movies deal with family conflict and social themes. Thus, humanizing characters in movies transform scripted movies into realistic experiences. Moviegoers watch end of the world movies to establish an emotional connection with the characters.

Humanizing characters in end of the world movies help the movie audience relate to possible apocalyptic, natural disaster and other doomsday scenarios. End of the world movies such as Deep Impact, Armageddon, 2012, Knowing, The Day After, I Am Legend, and Dawn of the Dead are end of the world movies that humanize characters to project realism.

If you are an aspiring screenwriter, humanizing characters can add depth to the plot. Script readers and producers may likely gravitate toward your screenplay. Experiment with short films first before writing full feature films. Humanizing characters in literature and film stories is the best technique to feed the demand.