Writer’s Workshop: Bouncing Characters

July 15, 2016 a new television premiered on Netflix. Written by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things has become of the the streaming services most watched and best reviewed series, due in no small part to its excellent characterisation and writing.
Karsten Runquist has devised the term “the character bounce effect” to describe the technique the Duffer Brothers used to introduce the characters and their roles in the story. Simply put, character bounce is placing characters into opposite sides in their initial scenes, highlighting the traits of each character and their beliefs, as people often show their true colours when something they disagree with is brought up.
Check out Karsten’s YouTube video titled “Stranger Things: How to Introduce a Character,” where he explains this technique and how it is used on the show.
Whilst you’re there, why not check out the rest of his channel where he has some fantastic video essays that talk about characters?