How to Create CHARACTER CHEMISTRY in Stories (Writing Advice)
Learn how to create a cast of characters who have amazing chemistry. Examples from Breaking Bad, Seinfeld, Star Wars, and more!
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"You may not need a romantic interest." Man, tell that to almost every movie.
Exactly! 😁
Also shonen manga.
We've gotten to the point where almost no movies have romance. And that's because the majority of people who work in Hollywood as writers don't know what it's like to be in a satisfying relationship; same goes with the video game industry
Sam and Frodo are one of the hands down best examples of a dramatic friendship. So much so that Sam ends up overshadowing Frodo
"Of course you are--and I'm going with you!"
"And what about Sam? Frodo wouldn't have gotten very far without Sam."
I can’t carry it for you … but I can carry you!!! Oh my gosh I want to cry every time I hear that line!
Yack!!! I realy didnt like theyr gay friendship. I mean it was nice, but sam clearly wanted to be a little more than friend. Other than that Lotr was great!
@@gundarsmiks4889 so Sam being in love with Rosie Cotton just didn't happen in your mind or what? He even married and had kids with her, and when everything seemed about to end permanently for them on that mountain who did he think of? ROSIE COTTON dancing with the ribbons in her hair. Having a bromance doesn't mean it's automatically romantic feelings you know.
I think it's interesting how in The Avengers, they're all in one room and their dialogue is showing all of their oppositions. Especially between Rogers and Stark.
A dialogue between Mr old fashion stuck up and Mr casual self absorbed I take nothing seriously always yields good results
Doc and Marty from Back to The Future. What is so intriguing about this chemistry is that this is a very unlikely character relationship and while watching the movies we are asking ourselves: How the heck did those fellows teamed up? But we never get an answer - which makes it even better XD
The 1999 cast of The Mummy had spectacular chemistry between Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, with John Hannah playing comic relief and an amazing protagonist in Arnold Vosloo's Imhotep. Even the supporting characters were well developed and engaging.
A little bizarre, but the cast from the Amazing World Of Gumball, Regular Show, and Adventure Time. Each show has a set of characters who differ greatly from one another and, in some cases, actually despise their respective cast member. But all have something that glues them together. Be it school, family relations, moral obligations, or a shared goal, they bounce off each other so well. Honestly, I recommend everyone to watch them all if they haven't already.
The cast of Firefly, hands down. Diverse cast with distinct characteristics and they all care about one another in their own way.
was gonna say the same thing!
Couldn't agree more
"Big damn heroes, sir." "Ain't we just."
Shiney
Glad you said it. In the special features it says Mal was originally supposed to be a little more cynical and removed from the rest of the cast, but Nathan Fillion was so genuinely caring towards his costars that they just let that play instead
The Emperor's New Groove also has excellent character pairs - Kuzco/Pacha and Kronk/Yzma.
One aspect of Breaking Bad that I kind of get a chuckle out of now and didn't realize it when I originally watched the show, but as Walt got more evil his hair progressively fell off the top of his head and landed on his face. It was a ridiculous story from beginning to end, yet I loved every minute of it. Definitely need to unpack my DVD's so I can watch it again.
I love the chemistry between the Gaang from ATLA, I think they all work really well together despite some of the key differences, and the way they all challenge and push each other to grow feels natural and something that I can hope come close to matching in my own story.
In the Lethal Weapon movies, the chemistry between Mel Gibson's and Danny Glover's characters is a memorable one!
A great ensemble cast to showcase this is Firefly. Captain Mal is the brokenhearted former rogue and cynic. Shepherd Book is a man of faith and redemption from darkness. Kaylee is hope, family and wonder. Simon is precision and loyalty. Wash is doubt and a sense of humor. River is childlike innocence paired with untapped ruthlessness. Jayne is impulsiveness, rogue, but skilled in his niche. Zoe is conflicted loyalty, femininity, and strength. Innaria is beauty and unrequited love. Together they unite on one thing, finding their Serenity. It's their home and they'll defend it to the death.
I love the chemistry in the movie Willow. Like, it's so over the top sometimes, but I love that. Mad Martigan and Willow are absolutely the two strangest people to be thrown together in an epic quest, and when you involve the brownies, Sorcha, Bavmorda, and Razel, it's just a huge tangle of opposites and awesomeness.
Excuse me sir, it's Madmartigan, all one word. He's not a "mad" guy named Martigan. Trust me, I would know. 😜
@@madmartigan21 I deeply apologise! :D
Despite it's cheese-y moments, I love Willow so much.
My favorite is the chemistry between Anakin and Obi-Wan, especially in The Clone Wars.
I'm ashamed to admit I still haven't watched The Clone Wars. Heard plenty of great things, but never got around to it.
Hello there
@@Anakinskywalker-ki8ir General Kenobi *cough cough*
You mean the animated show, I hope?
Walter and Jesse's chemistry is probably what made the show so good. I also liked the chemistry between Sam and Dean in Supernatural, being such an understandably codependent relationship given the circumstances and their being so different.
My personal favorite characters with great chemistry come from the show Firefly and the subsequent movie Serenity.
I've always appreciated the cast of characters in The Fifth Element: the gruff stoic Corben Dallas, the wild naive Leeloo, the zealous wise Vito Cornelius, his young disciple David, and the flamboyant annoying Ruby Rod. Each of them bring something unique and interesting to the mix, bouncing off of each other in every scene and making a party that is greater than the sum of their parts.
I WANT ALL POSITIONS!!!
And let us not forget the infamous Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg... Gary Oldman is great at playing villains, but Zorg has to be my all-time favorite. He makes evil cool.
Aliens vs Alien3 is a good example of a movie that had a diverse cast of characters, compared to one who didn't. Aliens has tough Vasquez, sleazy Burke, Ripley and Newt's mother/daughter bond, etc. Alien3 has them all as miserable prisoners and Ripley getting shaved to look like a male prisoner. It's all one note, everyone is depressed. Friends is another good example. Chandler (RIP) is a sarcastic intellectual with avoidant attachment. Ross a romantic intellectual with anxious attachment. Joey also avoidant, but not smart. Phoebe intuitive instead of intellectual (so argues with Ross). Monica the most sensible but a little OCD, so sometimes goes off the rails. Rachel goes on the biggest journey, from spoiled princess to career woman.
My memories of Alien 3 are shaky, but the Ripley/Tywin romance felt forced when I watched it. Can't remember if that was a deliberate choice by the writers/director or not.
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty It was done badly with zero chemistry. It's a shame because they had a much better script by William Gibson they didn't use. But making characters distinct, so they call rub against each other, seems key.
Really disappointing we never got the original follow-up to Aliens, because everyone was obsessed with going back to the Alien 1 format. Which I won't deny is possible, isolation was truly well done after all. But Alien 3 lol... They went through more writers than Mcdonald's goes through cashiers. And because they didn't want to lose money, they kept the story between writers who would add a little bit to it before getting fired/quitting, until we ended up with the most bland boring sequel humanly possible. How it has a 6.4 on imdb is a complete mystery to me. Step Brothers has more suspense to it. As if that wasn't bad enough, they were TO MY GREAT SURPRISE redoing the entire story. They were going to continue from Aliens with Ripley following the comics. But then here comes Ridley Scott, throwing his weight around and getting the whole movie thrown into the trash can so he could finish "his legacy". Thank god he did that too. Oh boy, those Prometheus movies were one of a kind. Timeless classics for sure. I mean, I can't remember a single scene from either of them, but that's not important. Ridley Scott's feelings are what's important. TLDR; Yes I'm mad when it comes to Alien 3.
@@feni007 I saw Alien 3 when I was little, so I don't remember much of the story, but it gave me nightmares for years. Prometheus and Covenant gave me giggles and scoffs for months. It's a shame that James Cameron didn't do Alien 3, though, because Aliens was my favorite of the whole franchise.
The Scoobies in Buffy the Vampire Slayer have great and deep chemistry. That's the best show ever.
I've been having a lot of fun mapping out my chemistries as I plan out my novel. I've used one character's lack of chemistry to foreshadow their eventual betrayal. The leader of the hero group is consistently challenged by a lancer character, and by the end of the story, the leader becomes better at leadership, and the lancer becomes less critical. There's a pair of magic users that, despite their ideological differences, share the same problem of being loners, and are more willing to work in a team by the end of the story.
I quite like The Godfather for ensemble characters chemistry. Every member of the Corleone Family is so well defined and play each other so well.
LA Confidential; Edmund Exley, Bud White and Jack Vincennes three cops with completely different motivations but have their views changed on what justice means to them throughout the movie.
Great movie. I rewatched it last year, and the character dynamics are FIRE
You just helped me solve a problem of character motivation in a draft I've been wrestling with for a long time. Thanks for your brilliant insights!
Thrilled to help! Best of luck with your story
Kirk, Spock and McCoy are perhaps the greatest blend of three characters you can have.
That trio is one of the purest examples of a Freudian tripartite psyche in fiction: Spock as the calculating Ego, Bones as the passionate Id, and Kirk as the synthesizing Superego between the two opposites.
I love the characters chemistry in The Expanse and how they change as the history goes by, really engaging and sometimes inexpected.
If we're talking current, I'd like to nominate 'The Boys' for incredible cast chemistry - with both Butcher's band of rebels and the continually tense and volatile 'team' of The Seven.
And the spinoff, Gen V, is mastering cast chemistry just as well as the original.
Just watched Scream (original). They did a fantastic job with the friend group, the cop, and the TV reporter. Their personalities are all well formed and the script highlights the way each person annoys/cares for/protects/insults one another. It was excellent.
Babylon 5 had an amazing cast of characters with great chemistry, especially in particular pairings (Londo and G'kar especially) I recommend everyone watch it!
How convenient that you post a video like this as I’m working on developing some side characters for my novel that I kind of benched for awhile! I really appreciate this one, sir! I’m unsure if you’ve already done these, but maybe the next one could be how to write interesting mindless monster type antagonists or tips for writing characters switching sides?
I'll add these to my list. Thanks!
The Matrix. Great mix of very different characters working together and even sometimes against each other.
Have you watched Dark City? It's a must-watch if you're a Matrix fan. Just make sure you watch the Director's Cut of Dark City because the theatrical version spoils the entire movie in the opening voiceover
Fraiser and Niles are a great example of character chemistry
In my opinion, the best character chemistry I've seen is probably in Cobra Kai. There are two very different viewpoints, the one behind Cobra Kai karate, and the one behind Miagy-do karate. The characters also influence each other a lot.
In my story “Shadow Bound”, I have 2 main characters, Alice and Steve. Alice starts as a rough, idealistic, eristic, and argumentative thief. And Steve is a cold, traumatized, and honorable cursed human known as an Umbral Entity. Alice makes it so that Steve doesn’t forsake his honor in his rage (which is often since he has a lot to be angry at a lot of people for). And Steve quells the majority of Alice’s argumentative side and over the course of my story, she really mellows out. She becomes kinder, more sympathetic, and all in all more feminine than she was at the start of the story. Shortly before the middle section, they start developing feelings and emotional attachments to each other, and late in the middle part, they start understanding each other and their own feelings.
I honestly love reading a Batman comic (or watching a cartoon episode) with multiple rogues and seeing their interactions. Different series will have different interpretations, but it's fun to see where they clash/agree and what relationships they form. Batman: The Animated Series had a running gag based on the fact that Harvey Dent and Poison Ivy used to date. They gave each other shit anytime they interacted, often to the amusement of other characters. The same series had the Scarecrow oddly on good terms with Harley Quinn, which is says a lot because he at best tolerates other people on a good day. Then you have some comics where the Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter are friends, which is somewhat heartwarming as again, Scarecrow at best tolerates other people, while the Mad Hatter, depending on who's writing him, can be anywhere from a quirky gentleman to someone who's completely mentally gone, yet Scarecrow still tolerates him. The Joker is most likely going to piss off everyone in the room, which *always* creates great conflict when he gets involved. The following interaction ALWAYS cracks me up: Two-Face: Get out of my face, clown! Joker: Which one? Two-Face: (the look on his face is a perfect mix of offense, awe, and "damn it, I walked right into that one.") And depending on the universe, Batman himself has complex and meaningful interactions with his rogues, probably the best examples being his complicated love life with Catwoman, and how in some universes, Bruce Wayne was Harvey Dent's friend, so it makes interactions with Two-Face doubly (lol) complicated in and out of costume. I think my favorite recent one, though, is between Scarecrow and a new character, Miracle Molly during the Fear State arc (TL;DR: back in his college days, Scarecrow created this theory called the Fear State. The arc had the needed factors in place to test said theory). Both of them actually wanted to better society in their own way (though Scarecrow being Scarecrow, he said this is the most altruistic thing he's ever done...and is pretty much only doing it just to see if it would work, not that he actually gives a damn about helping people be better. XP). Scarecrow believes that society needed to be traumatized in a specific way that would force people to evolve for the better. Miracle Molly, on the other hand, believes trauma needs to be taken away so people can be their best selves. And I'm sitting here like, "you're both right, you're both wrong, and you're both wrong about why you're right, and also, I need another comic where you're both at a cafe somewhere debating your opposite idealogies, because two pages was not nearly enough."
Lonesome Dove, hands down. The dynamic interplay between McCrae and Call is the engine of the entire story. Joss Whedon is also a master at this, particularly on Buffy, and also Firefly, as others have mentioned
Great chemistry? So many example! The Nice Guys, Mindhunter, The OA, the office, True Detective S1, Rick & Morty, Metalocalypse. the first three Indiana Jones films, Jurassic Park. But honestly all of them can't compete with... Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia as Morticia and Gomez. Unfortunately, as well written as they are, their chemistry is due to LEGENDARY casting.
Take a look at the chemistry between all the different characters in the movie adaptation of Prince of Persia. You'll love it. It's so varied and it evolves in many ways throughout the story.
Can we get a video about how to write a sequel?
I love The Suicide Squad’s cast. Bloodsport with his connection to rat catcher 2 and relating that to his daughter is probably the best chemistry I’ve seen in a real long time
The Cast of Friends. They blend very well.
Just bought Bad Parts on Audible at 4am after waking up sick. 30 mins passed by like nothing, great writing! Your channel has been instrumental in helping me improve my writing. Thanks so much and congrats!
For positive chemistry i have to mention Sam and Frodo. Sam's unwavering loyalty and kindness when Frodo is more reserved and open to self doubt is brilliant For a negative example I'll have to go with Geralt and Yen's hate / love relationship which constantly brings them together only to tear them apart again. It's both beautiful and depressing. And Loki and Mobius have a fun order / chaos relationship which creates an unlikely yet pleasant dynamics. Special mention to Hisoka in the manga Hunter x Hunter. This psycho often helps the main characters just becaus he hopes to have a challenging fight with them later and kill them.
Arya and Sandor Clegane (The Hound) are top-notch, man season 4 GoT was peak TV. Tyrion and Bron also. Jon Snow and Ygritte also.
3 amazing combos there. Don’t forget Jamie and Brianne were also very different and good together.
DISCLAIMER - UNSPONSORED 0:25 - 1. Spoiler Warning 0:31 - 2. What is Character Chemistry? 0:37 - 3. Building your Cast: 1:09 - 3.a. Story Genre & Character Roles 1:44 - 3.b. Main Character, Goal & Personality 2:24 - 3.c. Creating Supporting Characters Who Differ from Protagonist 3:07 - 3.d Have Characters Represent Different Values 3:51 - 4. 5 Tips for Creating Character Chemistry 3:56 - 4.a. Establish Opposites 4:48 - 4.b. Find the Glue that Unites Your Cast 6:05 - 4.c. Have your Characters Influence Each Other 6:56 - 4.d. Characters are Sill Individuals 7:38 - 4.e. Use Dialogue Arguments to Highlight Clashing Values 9:25 - 5. Which Cast has the Best Chemistry? 9:33 - Support Mr. Brandon Macnulty
Thanks again!
One of my favorite duos in screen history is the main characters from End of Watch, as someone whos been into sports, martial arts and the military most of my life the writing for them feels spot on for the story they're in.
For a great character chemistry, I found that Farscape was the best. Every character had flaws, secrets, personal motivations, and all of the things that build distrust. The cast of aliens on a prison ship, learn to not only overlook and/or correct/address each other's flaws and misgivings, but by doing so, they became a 'family. No, not at first, not without a lot of hurt and heartache. Their common goal of escaping/avoiding the peacekeepers, (a military that considered all of our cast to be criminals), but the differences between species, or stereotypes (established within the show). What made this work, was that each character was 'special' in some way. Unique, and opposite of the stereotype. Whether it was the typical 'brutish' Luxon, who turned out to be loyal, and soft-hearted. To a Delvian priest, that was more than the selfishness her race was known for. To the exiled soldier, 'who could be more'. Even our protagonist, a human astronaut, who seemed to be the most 'deficient' in his senses, his mental capabilities, and complete lack of understanding any of the alien technology. It was his optimism, that grew on his crewmates. To the point, that whatever 'plan' they came up with, was sure to fail, but they failed it gloriously. Some of the character came and went, some were there from the beginning. None of them were ever 'secondary' or just a static character. Even the ship, a living ship, which had no face, no voice, was able to become a part of that family. Truly a great show.
I liked the variety of characters and the chemistry in Deep Space Nine. They all had complete story arcs from the start to the end of the series. Even secondary characters like Leeta and Rom were really fleshed out.
Avatar the last airbender has great chemistry between the characters. Someone made a good point saying that after watching the show, you could take any 2 members and youll know gow they will interact
Inception and Bullet Train both had fantastic casts.
I love the chemistry between Axel, Rosewood and Taggart in Beverly Hills Cop Also, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill!
This is by far the best KZhead video I’ve seen yet, on characters. This is great.
Thanks!!
Chemistry always seemed like something intangible but you know it when you see it. This was a great breakdown about what's going on under the hood of a hard to define concept.
Needed this so bad. My protagonist , antagonist, and sidekick have great chemistry. But I need to "glue" the supporting cast together. The cast of Mindhunter comes to mind. They often clash or disagree, but each person influences the other, and they always remain individuals.
I think, Wylan and Jesper of Shadow and Bone, have good chemistry. Wylan is a naive, introverted guy who is new to the crime world in the barrel, while Jesper is an extroverted, battle hardened guy and they are glued by the fact, they belong to the team called "The Crows".
How about the cast of Futurama? I know it's a cartoon, but I love the way the characters interact, especially how they have evolved over time.
Rattrap and Dinobot from Beastwars are great example of chemistry.
Sweet. I was waiting on this one for a while, been requesting it for a long time. Good stuff, brandon
I really love the structure of your recent videos. The movie examples that you give are very helpful. I would love if some of the older videos would be redone in this new structure.
Thanks, I like this. Gives me more to think about for character chemistry
Battlestar Galactica (2004) is a masterclass in varied and evolving character chemistries.
Gaius and 6 had a great chemistry- legendary show!
Great video! Thank you so much this inspred me to write more
9:29: I was going with the Fire Emblem fates cast, but the Mortal Kombat cast has well more chemistry. Thanks to their intro dialogues, they are able to express their personalities really well and offer interesting banter, easter eggs, lore and good old fun! But on a sidenote, I ADORE most of the FE fates cast, especially Xander, and especially especially Sakura! 😍😍😍
Great timing on this video, I'm working on a father/son dynamic and it's a struggle to balance them getting along versus not seeing each other's views without it being too far in either direction. Great tips here :) Best cast dynamic for me is the Ghostbusters. All four guys bring something unique to the table and play off each other so well.
IMHO, the best chemistry between a cast of characters was in the original Star Trek series. The conflict, but brotherhood and respect between the Kirk (practical, strategic, adventurous), Spock (logical, methodical, disciplined) and McCoy (emotional, empathetic, and irascible) characters represented multiple dimensions in processes toward working to solve problems (fun too). I'm sure that to many, these character traits demonstrated in a 50+-year-old TV show may seem very simplistic, but they were novel at the time, and having grown up with them, I find them iconic.
Might be an odd pick but I always found the chemistry between Peter Pan and Wendy in the Peter Pan movie to be so genuine, maybe it was more the actors but it felt real.
Last Samurai: Captain Algren and Katsumoto.
No matter your opinion on the movies, the layers of chemistry in the first 3 Pirates of the Caribbean is palpable and undeniable.
Excellent video! Thanks for your insights! I am currently about 2/3 through Entry Wounds, and it has been a wild ride!! 😁 I’ll be sure to write an Amazon review when I’m finished!
The characters from the show Psych (2006-2014) have probably the best chemistry in my opinion. they start off estranged as theyve all either just met or havent seen each each other in 5 or so years. then, as they spend 8 years fighting crime (a common goal), they pretty much become a family. It's really cool, highly recommend.
I always loved the dynamics between the original Ghostbusters. For a comedy, and weird sci-fi comedy with ghosts and goofy humor, I always found it surprising and endearing how there seemed to be respect for the characters different motivations and weaknesses, yet what also drew them all together. Ray is the energetic idealist who inevitably steers the ship. Egon has none of Ray’s colorful energy, but is definitely an eccentric himself, and is bonded to Ray on their intellectual fanaticism. Peter has none of that intellectual sincerity and it’s a little puzzling why he’s with the two of them, but they establish that he is deep in a career path devoted to mysticism and the occult, perhaps more as a hustle, but he cast his lot with these two oddballs a long time ago, and they clearly have history together with commonality as outcasts and misfits in the stuffy university environment. Then there’s Winston. He’s added oddly late in the movie and at first blush, had little in common with the rest. His motivation is summed up neatly in his job interview: “if there’s a steady paycheck involved, I’ll believe whatever you tell me.” Like Peter, he doesn’t get too carried away by intellectual passion. But he is not a burned out cynic like Peter. The fact that all three of the scientists take him in and accept him makes all three of their characters richer. I think it establishes an oddly enjoyable dose of realism in what is otherwise a silly movie. These are just guys who are overworked from a tiring job. If a potential new team member will show up to work steadily, they’ll hire whoever.
This video was tailored for me. Thanks.
Glad it helped!
Excellent video as always, Brandon. I'm writing an action adventure story and it often feels like I'm picking random events or problems to throw at the characters. Would love to hear your thoughts on what makes a good second act when it comes to this type of story. An example would be The Dark Knight, when Joker places explosives on two ferries. It always felt like such a random event, as if Nolan was drawing challenges for Batman out of a hat. Curious to hear your thoughts on how to curate the plot points during this part of a script or story. Thanks, and keep up the great videos!
hey, Brandon, i wanna thank you for your videos! i've been writing a book and your tips have been really helpful 🧚♀️ thanks for sharing your knowledge in such a didactic way!
Such a good overview of how to build a cast!
Thanks!
The 1970's western Red Sun has amazing character chemistry between a cynical failed bandit (played by Charles Bronson) and an idealistic but desperate samurai (played by Toshiro Mifune) forced to work together against a flashy, ruthless gang leader (played by Alain Delon) with a selfish, hardboiled prostitute (played by Ursula Andress) between them, all over robbed gold and a prized katana. Another classic western, the Magnificent Seven, also feature remarkable chemistry between the seven cowboys themselves, with the villagers and the banditos. It is a well-crafted remake of the masterpiece Seven Samurai of Akira Kurosawa. The character dynamics are masterfully adapted from one culture and time period to another yet still with the same story framework.
Blake's Seven and Farscape worked for me.
Stargate SG-1 television-series shows different values clashing, but with the common goal. We see how the relationships develops over time, rubbing off onto each other.
Outstanding. Direct.
Thanks!
Good examples I can remember: 1) Okabe & Kurisu (Steins;Gate) 2) The boys. Their entire team's chemistry is really something. 3) Kenway family (Assassin's Creed 3). When Connor and Haytem appear on the screen at the same time, you know that it's either time to laugh or cry. 4) Literally everyone in "Aang The Last Airbender". Man, it was a masterpiece. 5) Graves siblings. YEAH, YEAH, twitter users, go cry about it. Adrew and Ash were a really hilarious duo and made kinda realistic impression for me.
Even though it’s a kids movie I thought the fox and rabbit from zootopia had great chemistry that was really just a check list of everything that make great character chemistry (in my opinion) the rabbit is a go getter cop from a farm who sees their the utopia city as a magical place where everyone’s dreams come true and the fox is a hustler from the streets who sees the world for what it is and they have a common goal for different reasons and at first are unlikely Allie’s but then they become partners and the like racial discrimination portrayed as the prey vs predators thing really made their dinamic interesting, please heart this comment it cost you nothing and it gives me dopamine 🧖🏾♂️👍🏾
Newman! Great character
Hello... Newman!
Hey Brandon do you have a video about good ways for your main character to meet the support characters? I’ve been looking but the best I found was them having a chance encounter and I don’t really like that.
It could be interesting to list screen couples whose screen chemistry worked great not only despite but exactly because of both actors hating each other in real life. The most famous example must be Richard Burton / Elizabeth Taylor in „Who‘s afraid of Virginia Woolfe?“. Also several Klaus Kinski movies come to mind, in this case "screen partner" including more or less everybody else. I remember that scene from „Fitzcarraldo“ where an indigenous tribe comes aboard Fitzcarraldo’s ship and walks around the table where Fitzcarraldo / Kinski is having dinner. The tense atmosphere in that scene is real, as some of the tribe members had offered director Werner Herzog to have Kinski killed (an offer that Herzog notoriously declined with the argument that Kinski was still needed as a protagonist - not by saying that murder was wrong to begin with. :-) ). A third, although less extreme example, might regard „Amadeus“. I don‘‘t know if it is true, but I once read that there was a tense on-set rivalry between Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham which translated perfectly into their on-screen antagonism.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Best character-driven sitcom I've seen hands-down. You've got the goofy manchild prodigy, Jake, his mature, obsessive, and high-strung love interest and colleague, Amy, and their robotic, sardonic, and comically erudite captain Holt, to name a few. Interactions between any of the characters in that show promise you laughs and deliver. I don't know how they do it.
I have a lot of examples for really good character chemistry in a lot of stories. But what hit my most with this video is, how it explains one of my own casts to me *lol* When I wrote Zirkulum, the two main characters, Edward Bell and Hassan Lucas really seemed to have something going on. I didn't plan for it and actually I wanted them to be more foes to each other than friends. They should be diffrent from each other n every way, even cliché. Bell is a logical police officer, he hates every sort of tech (in a technocracy, mind you), and is loyal to the police and the law. When he gets challenged to break the law to clear a case, he mets Lucas, who's a technican. He lives by his own, with a robot as company, dislikes and distrusts humans and the police especially, he's a brilliant hacker and overall a pretty cynical person. Both men are glued together by their goal: To find out what is threatening the inhabitants of the city lately. At first, Bell is almost convinced Lucas has something to do with it, but over the course of the story those two got outcast and have to clear the case to be able to return to society. Some readers discribed their relationship as "Wow, such close friends" in the end, which wasn't what I wanted at all. But for part 2 of the series (which wasn't planned either) I stuck with it. Guess opoosites attract each other. Oh, and now there is Bell's collegue and childhood friend in the mix, as well. Love how all three of them work together in a really weird way.
Rear Window, you have Jeff, Lisa and Stella. Lisa loves Jeff but doesn't understand that he needs to be this world venturing photographer. Not stuck in a static fashion photography job in NYC. Jeff doesn't understand Lisa's socialite world. She's presented as vapid at first. Stella tells Jeff that he should be with Lisa I can't understand why he doesn't want to be with somebody "perfect." All three are cynical lives they don't understand. That's represented well with Jeff spying through the windows of his neighbors. Jeff's suspicion of the murder across the way brings them together and gives them a better understanding of each other. Gives them a chance to show off different qualities.
Loved Rear Window. I'd say it's my favorite Hitchcock movie. Definitely need to rewatch it soon, especially after reading through your analysis
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty it's my favorite Hitchcock movie also. I don't understand how in the last decade or so Vertigo has had the consensus of being his best movie. I understand Vertigo has beautiful symbolism and camera movement and blocking structure. All those things fascinate me about movies. However, it drags and bores me. Rear Window I could watch a hundred times.
Thank you.
The cast of Community is pretty damn strong imo
Elephaba and Glenda in Wicked are a great example of great chemistry. Also I’d like to mention while it’s important to create strong differences between characters to give them chemistry, giving them certain similarities as well also helps.
The cast of Deliverance-novel and film-is outstanding.
The most intense scene I've ever read is when Ed has to shear the cliff in the middle of the night. He has to GUESS where the hillbillies are going to be with their guns come morning. He knows if he guesses wrong his friends are dead. He has his only arrow notched all night but he falls asleep. So he has to search for the arrow under the Autumn leaves with barely any moonlight.
Supernatural's chemistry is fire!
Love your videos 🔥
Thanks! Thrilled to hear it
Hey Brandon great video as always. So I’m not writing a novel but I am writing in episodic style with my hero and his cast of villains. I was wondering if you can do a video of how to make a good running story with episodic style writing and how to make a good rogues gallery. I know most writers focus on one villain but I enjoy making a whole gallery of villains. I look forward to your input if you can. Thanks again great video
You forgot about MIB K and J relantioship is one of the Best "father son" examples
I give credit where credit is due: this was a very helpful video Brandon 👍
In The French Connection, Popeye Doyle and Cloudy Russo make for great buddy cop partners with perfect chemistry. Doyle is headstrong and zealous, Cloudy is quieter and patient, but he helps his partner get back on his feet when he goes drunk and loses his way. Doyle and Frog 1 make for a great antagonism too, even if they barely interact directly. Doyle is a rough street-wise Irish American cop, Charnier a refined French businessman with a very dark side. Freadkin cast Fernando Rey by mistake, he wanted a thuggish looking actor as a villain. But it works so much better with someone contrasting Doyle.
Best chemistry? Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach in The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Which also has another tip: use phrases that keep coming back. "There's two kinds of people in this world..."
Thanks for you insight once again. Damn, i really should watch stuff like the original Star Wars trilogy again after learning all this interesting stuff about writing and storytelling. There are always something that i didn't think about before. Like the obvious thing where Han comments on how pointless all that make-believe Jedi stuff is against stuff like a good blaster... and then later Jedi use their "tricks" to deflect literal blaster fire. 😅
Hey, I bought entry wounds…can’t wait to delve in it
Awesome, thanks! Hope you enjoy it! And please consider leaving an Amazon review when you finish--those are a huge help
Idk if it’s the best but my favorite chemistry between characters is either Arrested Development or Office