In light of the Session 4-10 discussion of the different types of characters, I thought it might be useful to break down what we currently have so far in this project, as far as characters go.
Now, to be fair, in an actual TV show, the director for that episode would read the final script, and make decisions about how the scenes will play out and who needs to be cast for any minor roles. Since we're at the script outline (not final script) level at this point in time, we can't really say what the final character list for a given episode would be. But we can say what we'd intend, based on the script discussion, and then go from there. Whoever wanted to write a script for an episode would be free to interpret and develop a script based on our outlines and the Hosts' discussions.
So, quick overview:
The protagonist is the central character in an episode. Each episode has one (and only one!) protagonist. That is the point-of-view character who faces a challenge and has a story arc in that episode. The audience sees the climax of the episode from their point of view. We always begin our script discussions with the question of who the protagonist will be, because that shapes many decisions that are made in what scenes to include in the episode. Sometimes, we are tempted to have two protagonists or make two storylines equally important, but realistically...we cannot get away with that. Also, sometimes the episode outline does not reflect the choice of protagonist, so someone writing a script would have to add more scenes focused on the protagonist's viewpoint, or change the protagonist of the episode to match whose story is 'actually' being told. Most shows have a consistent protagonist, or draw their protagonists from a very small pool of characters (or have one main protagonist, but the occasional episode with another protagonist [for that episode]). The protagonist of House is Dr. House, the protagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Buffy, the protagonist of Firefly is Captain Malcolm Reynolds, the protagonist of Grey's Anatomy is Meredith Grey, the protagonist of Star Trek: The Original Series is Captain Kirk, the protagonist of Fullmetal Alchemist is Edward Elric, etc. It's not that these shows never have an episode focused on another character as the main character (they do), but that the audience is well aware that the overall story is focusing on one main character consistently throughout the show. We will change our protagonist in nearly every episode, to make it truly feel like an ensemble cast. A character such as Fëanor is very important, but not everything about his story will be told from his point of view.
Main characters: These characters also have a storyarc for the episode. They appear in each of the Acts. They may be the 'protagonist' of a subplot, or they may be the main accomplice or antagonist in the central story. Someone summarizing the episode in 3 sentences would likely name them.
Minor characters: These characters interact with the main characters or protagonist. They have a couple of scenes and some lines, but no independent storyline in the episode. They are supporting cast.
Background characters: These characters are present in ensemble scenes. They are part of a group, on the periphery, or play an incidental role in the episode. They may be there just to remind the audience they exist.
Extras: These characters are not mentioned by name in the script outlines, but are indicated by the role they play in a scene. Bystanders and crowds. They are there to give reactions, to fill out scenes, and to demonstrate the culture of a group of people and the feeling of a scene. Scenery isn't going to be 'tense'...but people can be.
The Frame and Villain storylines are almost entirely independent of the rest of the episode. I view the Frame as 'minor characters', but of course each Frame could be viewed as its own episode stretched out over the entire season.
Obviously, lots of room for interpretation. I'm going to take a look at what we've already done, so we're in a good place when we start up with Season 4. I'm skipping over Season 1; it's Valar-centric, so less relevant to the current storylines, though if someone else wants to take a crack at that they're welcome to!
Now, to be fair, in an actual TV show, the director for that episode would read the final script, and make decisions about how the scenes will play out and who needs to be cast for any minor roles. Since we're at the script outline (not final script) level at this point in time, we can't really say what the final character list for a given episode would be. But we can say what we'd intend, based on the script discussion, and then go from there. Whoever wanted to write a script for an episode would be free to interpret and develop a script based on our outlines and the Hosts' discussions.
So, quick overview:
The protagonist is the central character in an episode. Each episode has one (and only one!) protagonist. That is the point-of-view character who faces a challenge and has a story arc in that episode. The audience sees the climax of the episode from their point of view. We always begin our script discussions with the question of who the protagonist will be, because that shapes many decisions that are made in what scenes to include in the episode. Sometimes, we are tempted to have two protagonists or make two storylines equally important, but realistically...we cannot get away with that. Also, sometimes the episode outline does not reflect the choice of protagonist, so someone writing a script would have to add more scenes focused on the protagonist's viewpoint, or change the protagonist of the episode to match whose story is 'actually' being told. Most shows have a consistent protagonist, or draw their protagonists from a very small pool of characters (or have one main protagonist, but the occasional episode with another protagonist [for that episode]). The protagonist of House is Dr. House, the protagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Buffy, the protagonist of Firefly is Captain Malcolm Reynolds, the protagonist of Grey's Anatomy is Meredith Grey, the protagonist of Star Trek: The Original Series is Captain Kirk, the protagonist of Fullmetal Alchemist is Edward Elric, etc. It's not that these shows never have an episode focused on another character as the main character (they do), but that the audience is well aware that the overall story is focusing on one main character consistently throughout the show. We will change our protagonist in nearly every episode, to make it truly feel like an ensemble cast. A character such as Fëanor is very important, but not everything about his story will be told from his point of view.
Main characters: These characters also have a storyarc for the episode. They appear in each of the Acts. They may be the 'protagonist' of a subplot, or they may be the main accomplice or antagonist in the central story. Someone summarizing the episode in 3 sentences would likely name them.
Minor characters: These characters interact with the main characters or protagonist. They have a couple of scenes and some lines, but no independent storyline in the episode. They are supporting cast.
Background characters: These characters are present in ensemble scenes. They are part of a group, on the periphery, or play an incidental role in the episode. They may be there just to remind the audience they exist.
Extras: These characters are not mentioned by name in the script outlines, but are indicated by the role they play in a scene. Bystanders and crowds. They are there to give reactions, to fill out scenes, and to demonstrate the culture of a group of people and the feeling of a scene. Scenery isn't going to be 'tense'...but people can be.
The Frame and Villain storylines are almost entirely independent of the rest of the episode. I view the Frame as 'minor characters', but of course each Frame could be viewed as its own episode stretched out over the entire season.
Obviously, lots of room for interpretation. I'm going to take a look at what we've already done, so we're in a good place when we start up with Season 4. I'm skipping over Season 1; it's Valar-centric, so less relevant to the current storylines, though if someone else wants to take a crack at that they're welcome to!