What is the environmental character?
He environmental character He is the one who acts in the movies as an extra or part of the public during the filming of a scene. This type of character has the mission of generating an environment within the drama.
In general, they do not have speeches or dialogues within the script of the film, however, their presence is very important.
They appear as part of the public attending a football match, as passers-by in the street or passengers, the ice cream man in the park, the diners at the adjacent tables in a restaurant, guests at a party, book buyers in a bookstore, among others. others.
Main characteristics of the environmental character
The environmental characters fulfill the function of giving color and atmosphere to the film. They are part of the public that surrounds the main or secondary actors.
They are the members of the anonymous cast of the film, who appear during filming to give life and naturalness to a scene.
Its main characteristic is that, despite appearing within the scene, they do not directly participate in the action, but are in the background, humanizing the film while the story unfolds.
They also serve to characterize or recreate a place or environment in the film: for example, a baseball game, a party, a mass or a street fight. In this way, the film is given more realism and the viewer understands the plot better.
Although they are extras, they should not be confused with extras who act as doubles for the central character or protagonist in stunts.
Examples of environmental character
In movies and also in soap operas, environmental characters appear:
Action movies
The characters that appear on a battlefield as troops or in a western dressed as cowboys or Indians during a confrontation are also ambient.
These characters are previously hired or invited to participate in the filming to better stage and give the film realism.
period films
With the help of period characters, the historical moment of the film or series is recreated (the Middle Ages, Ancient Rome, the Stone Age, etc.).
They are the vassals or the people that appear in squares, streets or tribes, who, helped by their costumes, expressions, makeup, etc., accentuate the realism of the film.
Comedy movies
The viewing public appearing at a party dancing along with the central characters of the film.
Drama movies
Spectators who participate in the scene of a football, baseball or rugby game cheering for a team or also as passers-by on the street of a big city, are also ambient characters.
TV soaps
In this genre of television, the ambient characters also act. For example, as part of the guests at a party scene where a protagonist acts or in the middle of an assembly.
characters from a movie
In addition to the background characters or extras, within a film the cast is made up of a series of actors and actresses that vary in number according to the theme, approach, plot, location, etc. of the film According to their importance, they are classified as:
protagonists
They are the main actors that characterize the central characters of the film. They are in charge of carrying out the most important actions.
secondary actors
They are the supporting actors or secondary characters who act alongside the protagonists in secondary roles, although no less important.
Incidental or episodic characters
These characters limit their participation to one or two scenes during filming. Through them, a theme is exposed, ordered or related.
Other examples of environmental character
The crowds in Gladiatorby Ridley Scott. The peasants and inhabitants of the kingdoms in the series Game of Thrones. passersby in Women at the edge of a nervous attackby Pedro Almodovar. Groups of sailors who die in Potemkin battleship, by Sergei Einsenstein. The dancers who dance in the nightclub Saturday night Feverby John Badham.
References
Literary Characters. Recovered from her.itesm.mx.
Extra (acting). Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org.