srn2020oxford 26 Jul 2021 Characters, Panel 11, TV series

Zágoni – Dynamic Character Traits (DCT). Pushing further the boundaries of character design

Balázs Zágoni (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania)

Panel 11 – CHARACTERS

Wednesday 8 September (Day 3), Session 2, 6.30 pm

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9Comments

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1

Deborah Klika on 29 Aug 2021 at 1:47 pm
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Interesting approach to developing characters. It helped me with some character development. Thanks for sharing.

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  Balazs Zagoni on 8 Sep 2021 at 8:04 pm
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  Thank you, I am happy to hear it:)
  
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3

filmscribe on 1 Sep 2021 at 3:17 pm
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I thought this was a very interesting presentation, Balázs, particularly in the way that you relate positive and negative aspects of the same character trait to Hutzler and Perini’s observation that a character’s weakness may also be their greatest strength. In relation to this aspect alone, I would need to be further convinced this is always the case, in every story, but for some stories this may be a useful consideration and writers’ tool.

I wonder whether POV and context are some of the most important considerations in relation to how Big 5 facets slide across your Dynamic Character Trait axis. So, for example, while one character or viewer may see Skyler White’s comment in your example as caring, another may see the same comment as intrusive.

I also wonder whether these positive and negative dimensions of your Dynamic Character Traits are mostly culturally determined rather than evolutionary determined, through our moral emotions. (Kira-Anne Pelican)

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4

Kira-Anne Pelican on 1 Sep 2021 at 4:34 pm
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I thought this was a very interesting presentation, Balázs, particularly in the way that you relate positive and negative aspects of the same character trait to Hutzler and Perini’s observation that a character’s weakness may also be their greatest strength. In relation to this aspect alone, I would need to be further convinced this is always the case, in every story, but for some stories this may be a useful consideration and writers’ tool.

I wonder whether POV and context are some of the most important considerations in relation to how Big 5 facets slide across your Dynamic Character Trait axis. So, for example, while one character or viewer may see Skyler White’s comment in your example as caring, another may see the same comment as intrusive.

I also wonder whether these positive and negative dimensions of your Dynamic Character Traits are mostly culturally determined rather than evolutionary determined, through our moral emotions. (Kira-Anne Pelican)

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  Balazs Zagoni on 8 Sep 2021 at 8:04 pm
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  Thanks, Kira-Anne. I don’t think it works, or you can find DCT’s in every story.(And the Skyler White example is probably not the best – the coming surprise birthday party also changes the context a bit – I only wanted to show it works with secondary characters as well.)
  My approach is more of the writer’s, who is using them.
  I enjoy your book very much. Congratulations!
  
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6

Rose Ferrell on 7 Sep 2021 at 5:39 am
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Dear Balazs, very interesting presentation. I will definitely consider this system when creating characters in the future. = Also has application for real life interactions (!! : ) ) I wonder if you have developed a further list of DCTs, given that you mention that some character traits are not suitable as DCTs because of their lack of a moral valence?

(So nice to see you again, after our friendly chats in Porto)

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  Balazs Zagoni on 8 Sep 2021 at 7:57 pm
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  Thank you, Rose! I will work on these, and hopefully come back with a much longer list next year. (Nice to see you too, and remember our chats with an ocean view:)
  
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8

Danica Renn-Giles on 7 Sep 2021 at 1:21 pm
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Very interesting presentation, thank you! How do you define moral valence? Have you considered Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory (https://moralfoundations.org/)? Looking forward to the discussion!

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  Balazs Zagoni on 8 Sep 2021 at 8:05 pm
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  Thank you, Danica. I will look into this!
  
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SRN 2021

Zágoni – Dynamic Character Traits (DCT). Pushing further the boundaries of character design

READ ABSTRACT & BIOS

WATCH PRE-RECORDED PRESENTATION

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