Character Bios

Name: Derek Smith

Age: 25

Derek Smith is a 25 year old office monkey with few prospects and even less ambition as to the future and has become quite content with spending his free time from work reviewing films in his one bedroom apartment and writing his opinions / rating in his note book. Virtually the only time he leaves his apartment is to go to work, human essentials and to buy more DVD’s.

A relatively normal if slightly shy character who would to most people appear shy but it isn’t due to discomfort that he ostracises himself but is more that he finds others to be boring and shallow company and finds 3D interactive media more stimulating than an actual person.

The character itself will be very quiet, will radiate some confidence but will be forgettable if he were real i.e. if he disappeared it’d take a long time to notice and he’ll be remembered vaguely. It’s not that he’s scared of people but less interested but will also display pleasure and happiness at talking about media related topics with other people but will immediately lose interest if they talk about it in a “shallow” way or go off topic.

Appearance will come in two forms; casual wear and formal wear. However both of these will be minimal as in appear as though someone put them on without giving much thought as to their appearance. The suit will be a cheap off the rack deal which gets the job done but doesn’t attract attention and the casual wear will consist of a shirt and joggers, both will be very minimal and unflattering. His expressions will be more in black and white’s skipping between happiness, boredom and confusion but with no bridges between them i.e. he won’t pretend to be happy when bored.

Overall Derek within reason is an honest man who can be seen in many different lights; admired for knowing what he wants and feeling he has nothing to prove, sympathised with for using a media to escape reality, pitied for the sad lonely existence he leads and the end result of the film he could be a warning of what can, and is, happening.

Similar Characters:

Richard Masur as Clark in the 1982 cult classic The Thing displays this well as a character who has more in common with animals than actual people which causes him to appear different from the norm. Also his quiet nature but willingness to talk when talked to also sum up the personality Derek will achieve. However Clark was almost too distant which did lead to him almost being forgot several times which will be altered in the film since this person is the protagonist and his hobby is more visual than taking care of husky dogs

Actor : Alexander Martin

Name: Benedict “Ben” Arnold

Age: 26

Ben Arnold works in the same place as Derek as an office worker but will immediately be identified as the opposite of Derek i.e. ambitious, social, happy-go-lucky and popular, in that he forces his personality onto people. However he does have a similar interest in films as Derek, though not nearly as fanatical, but these will be a very shallow interpretation of a film goer who doesn’t really look at all aspects of a film but rather just what is put in front of him i.e. will like action films because of the action but won’t comment on the acting’s, director’s or music’s contributions.

A regular if annoying character who will be seen as unthreatening, a person who means well but is unable to put it across well and will be remembered more for his negative aspects rather than his positives. Appearance-wise he will be more happy and energetic than Derek and wear finer cut clothes; he will also have the more trendy appearance of someone who takes better care of himself in looks adding a sign of vanity to the character.
In the end this will all help serve the twist that involves this character and the main protagonist as the film progresses.

Similar Character

Ricky Gervais’s character in the hit TV mockumentary the Office where he plays the middle-management boss of all the workers in the series with much of the comedy and pathos of the series centering on Brent's many idiosyncrasies, hypocrisies, self-delusions and self-promotion (including playing up to the 'documentary' cameras present in his workplace).
Though similar to the character Ben will harbor a darker side to his character which will not be revealed until the right moment.

Actor : Ben Parr