Listen to understand how to dramatize a character’s internal change.
🎬 Part 3 of our Character Arcs series. Catch up on Part 2: https://youtu.be/MI5h1KRyHiI
🔗 Full shownotes + resources: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-130/
Welcome to our third entry in our character arc series; and the first where we talk about characters that actually change. And positively, too. We deep dive into BARBIE, WIDOWS and ALL OF US STRANGERS to work out what makes an arc feel positive — even if the film itself is heartbreaking.
FILMS ANALYSED:
* BARBIE (2023) – Dir: Greta Gerwig, Writ: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
— Script: https://www.scriptslug.com/script/barbie-2023
* WIDOWS (2018) – Dir: Steve Mcqueen, Writ: Gillian Flynn, Steve Mcqueen
* ALL OF US STRANGERS (2023) – Dir: Andrew Haigh, Writ: Andrew Haigh, Taichi Yamada
— Script: https://www.scriptslug.com/script/all-of-us-strangers-2023
KEY CRAFT TAKEAWAYS:
* [6:09] “A relationship question is taking what we think is an internal question about a character and defining it in terms of the relationship. Will Moana grow closer to their village coming back or will they grow further apart? And it’s just thinking about it in terms of relationships I think is quite a strong idea because it also means that you’re posing the question and that’s where you get the tension from. And I think it’s important with these arcs that there’s this, either it’s a character question or it’s a relationship question. And really what is a character question, but a relationship question with the character self.” — Stu Willis
* [2:24:47] “I think the big learning is like when we’re talking about positive character arcs, that if you are going to if you can repeat events or beats from different angles, that helps demonstrate positive change. And that’s like, again, we talked about it in All of Us Strangers, where you have a similar beat, but a different outcome with Harry. You have almost five of the same sort of beats where Adam completely rejects him. And then Adam’s like, but he doesn’t really mean it. And then I was like, actually, okay, if you want to touch me in the bath. And then he’s like, actually, no, I want you to stay. And then at the end, he embraces him. Like, very similar beats or events from different angles.” — Mel Killingsworth
ZERO CONTEXT:
* “One way to demonstrate a positive character arc is to repeat beat or an event from different angles and show the character’s changing response to that.” — Mel [12:34]
EPISODE REFERENCES & RESOURCES:
* Shot Zero: Colour Theory: DESERT HEARTS — https://shotzero.substack.com/p/colour-theory-desert-hearts
* Greta Gerwig Explains What Barbie’s Bench Scene Really Means — https://screenrant.com/barbie-movie-old-woman-bench-scene-meaning-greta-gerwig/
RELATED EPISODES:
* DZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErwGvGmtPaU
* DZ-112: Breaking the 4th wall — https://youtu.be/k2Fcxnfl2tc
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Cold Open
0:21 Positive Character Arcs
9:00 Followup Questions
12:12 Zero Context Insights
13:01 BARBIE
27:02 BARBIE: Debating the lie the character believes
44:26 BARBIE: Gain versus loss framing the ending
59:47 WIDOWS
1:18:42 WIDOWS: Skills and goals tightly tied to character growth
1:27:12 WIDOWS: Veronica’s arc through Harry’s betrayal and revenge
1:49:36 ALL OF US STRANGERS
2:07:24 ALL OF US STRANGERS: Contrasting coming out scenes with mom and dad
2:23:20 Key Learnings & Wrap Up
SUPPORT DRAFT ZERO:
💜 Patreon: https://patreon.com/draftzero
🌐 https://draft-zero.com
#DraftZero #Barbie #Widows #AllofUsStrangers #FilmAnalysis #Screenwriting