This is another character post this time about the character of 'Man', firstly I have chosen to not give the character a name because, firstly there is no way for the character to give his name other than him introducing himself and I am not sure it would be that realistic for him to do this within the conversations that he has. I also feel that it adds to the dynamic of his character to not have a name to really highlight his selfish nature and that he is there to help not to be remembered. Furthermore, without getting too edgy or perhaps preachy, his character is symbolic of the help that people in Scott's position need and how it can come from anyone, it is symbolic of how the kindness of a stranger can be a saving light and a way out of a destructive, trapped life.
The first character I thought of when thinking about Man was Gene Hunt from the TV series Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. Not so much in terms of the personality of the character because Gene is a stereotypical hard nosed policeman of his time and he lacks the emotional characteristics of compassion and care that I want Man to portray, or at least he hides these qualities and only shows them on odd occasions in the series. What I did take away from Gene Hunt was his purpose as a side character but much more than this is the fact that he is a catalyst for transition in the protagonists of the two series. In essence, Gene serves as a sort of ferry man to the afterlife for the protagonists in the two shows. He allows them to move on from their deaths and eventually when it comes to an end he allows them to pass on to the afterlife which if memory serves is heaven. This is something I analysed and dwelled upon when writing Man, this is because his purpose is similar. Man serves as a transition between pain and attempted suicide to getting better for Scott and this takes place in a fabricated world, much like the occurrences of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. So in essence the similarities of the characters is that they are inhabiting a fabricated world and helping the protagonist move onto the next stage of their life, also a key aspect is that both are assuming a role that isn't their true role. To expand upon this, Gene is a posing as a policeman but in actual fact in essence he is an angel of sorts. Man, is much less ambiguous, he is a seemingly strange man who happens upon the cave, however, in the real world he is a doctor who is helping Scott in this way but in the fabricated world he is just a kind stranger.
It is all well and good to think about a character's context and what they are, but ultimately one must think also about who the character is and specifically what their personality is like. In the building of this for Man, I thought a great deal about Robin William's character in the film Good Will Hunting which won him that years best supporting actor Oscar (Sean Maguire).
This character is an older man than the other key characters in the film and he carries with him a degree of wisdom that I feel he shares with Man, though the real aspect of his character I really wanted to portray in Man was his laidback attitude that actually carries with it a great deal of care behind his nature. This is a hard thing to explain in concrete terms, but it is clear in the way that Sean deals with Will in the film that he is extremely calm and reserved and almost care free. However, at no point do we feel as though this equates to him not caring, it is very clear that he is a very compassionate and caring person who wants to help as much as and where he can. Although interestingly he is not one to lie for the short term gain of making a person happy, this links back to the aspect of his character being wise. It is indeed a wise decision to not give a person false hope and it is indeed the case with Sean, it is harder for me to portray this aspect in Man due to the short nature of the film I am making, however, I feel that one would get the impression that Man is a wise character and in the same way as Sean, he has a knack for saying what needs to be heard, even though it may appear to hurt to hear. This is a little insight into the character of Man (a sentence that out of context would sound a lot deeper than it is) but as he is a smaller character, I feel it took less time to really nail what he was about, though I could have spent more time fleshing out his backstory and minutiae, I feel that it wouldn't be a valid use of time as there is only so much detail can be shown in the screen time he has. I am also a believer in actors making the characters their own so I only fill out the character so that I know his personality and purpose so that actors can fill the shell I have created for them.
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