Character Development

 An intriguing type of character development is actually the lack of any, and thrillers seem to love incorporating this.

In Josh and Benny Safdie's Uncut Gems (Spoilers ahead) Adam Sandler's Howard is constantly taking advantage of people and trying to be one step ahead of every obstacle to success, but every move he does puts him one step behind. Eventually he arrives at his office, beaten and broken down mentally and physically. He breaks down in front of his assistant (Whom he has an affair with). But during this scene he gets an opportunity to fix everything and get away with more than he deserves. He sells a product that has served as a major McGuffin in the plot, but when he receives his payment, a familiar smile enters his eyes. The people who've haunted him all movie come to collect his debt, but Howard, who is an extreme gambler, goes all in and bets the payment on a sports game for a potential payout of over a million dollars. Howard doesn't grow to understand that every time he goes further, he takes a step back. This decision leads to a tense scene of Howard and his debt collectors (Who are stuck in a bulletproof cage within Howard's store) watching a sports game with Howard's fate practically on the line. And he wins. He miraculously pulls through. He lets the debt collectors exit the cage, the leader, for once, appeased. Everyone is about to get everything they want... until one of the leader's henchmen, fed up with Howard for every second of the movie, shoots him in the head, beats up the leader, and ransacks Howard's jewelry store for everything of value. His assistant (Who placed the bet for Howard) walks out successful, and heads off, uncertain whether she cared enough for Howard to share the money or will ambitiously walk of into the sunset presumably leaving Howard to die. Uncut Gems paints a picture of how unending ambition and risk will inevitably lead to permanent consequences, and it is through the complete lack of growth with Howard that this is conveyed.

When applying this type of characterization to "A Major Flat," I knew, perhaps opposite to my partner's perspective, that this story shouldn't have a happy ending. With "A Major Flat," the theme we want to explore is the effect of ambitious people on those who can actually succeed. With the main character of the Frontman, we have a character who may be the protagonist, but he thematically acts as the antagonist, dragging down the one talented person in this band, the keyboardist. Within the opening this is partially developed with the keyboardist being in the back, almost completely drowned out by the frontman. The Keyboardist requiring crutches is perhaps the single biggest indicator of how somebody like the Frontman takes advantage of people, establishing a comparative sense of weakness. The fact that the Keyboardist is forced to stand by the Frontman also shows the lack of care by the frontman. 

When making the opening it's important to have an idea where the movie is going, to establish tone, foreshadowing, and narrative, so I had to make sure I knew where I wanted to the movie to go. Then I thought for 5 seconds, remembered Uncut Gems, and had an epiphany. The keyboardist is a goner. While my partner and I still heavily disagree on this part, the ultimate way to show how the Frontman drags the keyboardist down is to have the keyboardist die in some way thanks to the Frontman.

While this might seem like an extreme jump, the film constantly has a similar relation to the Frontman and Howard where their ambition constantly drives them to make moves that hurt them in the long run. These become more violent and life threatening until the film's climax, where although I'm undecided on specific details, I know that the Frontman will be the first domino in a chain that will lead to the keyboardist's tragic death. The lack of character development on the Frontman's end is the driving factor behind every event in the movie down to this very tragic one.

The Frontman and Keyboardist are not the only members of this band, however. With the drummer, me and my partner were pretty much in agreement there'd be another lack of development. A simplistic lazy character mainly there to build dynamics with the rest of the band. The lack of importance and development will be partially relevant to his desire to just ignore any obstacle or problem as he has his whole life, putting little effort to change or even notice if it is needed. With the bassist there's still some uncertainty. Right now, I'd like him to stick with the band at the end, stuck to this group. I'm still very unsure about this character and if I were to expand this into a feature, his arc would need to be complex and deeply explored.