What is a character?

With the ScreenLabs Challenge you are limited to 4 characters but this doesn't mean there won't be more people appearing on the screen or that you are not allowed to use extras.

As defined in screenwriting and film parlance, a character is a person who acts or is acted upon, has intent, and makes or suffers consequences in the plot or theme of your story.

A character does not have to speak to be a character. They don't have to be human. Nor does he or she need to deliver a line in the movie. But they do need to have impact on the storyline or change the course of your screenplay.

Here is an example: Two people are in a restaurant eating dinner with a room full of other people. The other people in the restaurant are not characters, they are extras and background to the story. The waitress comes over and takes their order and makes small talk with the lead characters.

Just speaking lines does not make the waitress a "character" even if she tells a joke. However, if the waitress goes back into the kitchen, laces the food of one of the main characters with a toxic substance or a mind-altering drug and that changes the course of the story, then the waitress is a character, because she has intent and her actions impact the story.

You are limited to 4 characters and unlimited numbers of extras or non-members. However, the purpose of the limit in this rule is to reduce your production demands and cost. Having large numbers of extras and background actors will make your production more difficult to complete.