I’ve started planning my next book. It’s a book that I wrote a decade ago, but never finished to the standard I wanted it to be. It’s been stewing in the back of my mind all that time, and this month I’ve started re-planning it. The original was a single first person narrative, but I think the rewrite is going to end up being a multiple person narrative. Maybe…
Separately, I recently watched the Illumination film, Sing for the first time, and I’ve become low key obsessed with it. It’s a feel good ride from start to finish, and one thing I think the film does very well is juggling multiple storylines, and developing well-loved characters in very little screen time. Something that I might have to end up doing in my next book.
So I thought it would be a good idea to look at how Sing creates a fantastic cast of characters, especially when the majority of them get very little screen time. For those of you who haven’t seen Sing – I will give you a bit of context to help you understand the story. Sing follows a cast of animal characters – Buster Moon, a koala; Ash, a porcupine; Rosita, a pig; Johnny, a gorilla; Meena, an elephant; and Mike, a mouse. Buster is the main character of the film, organising a singing competition to save his failing theatre that brings the other characters together.
Obviously, there are major spoilers in this post – I literally spoil ALL – so don’t read this if you would prefer to watch the film first.
Act 1
Establishment of characters and their dreams
The film opens with a backflash from Buster’s past, establishing him as the main character of the film. We see Buster watching his first theatre production and being enchanted by the experience. He decides he longer wants to be an astronaut and wants to own the theatre instead. Then we fast forward 30 years to see that Buster’s dream has come true, but it’s failing as he can’t pay his staff and his theatre is falling into disrepair.
We then move across to the other characters. We are introduced to Johnny, signing on the street corner and failing at being a lookout for his dad’s gang – we immediately get the feeling that he would rather be singing then taking part in gang activities. We see Rosita singing along with the radio as she looks after her 25 kids and husband, and feel she’s discontent with her life. We meet Ash as she’s playing in a rock band with her boyfriend, who is very determined to not let her upstage him. We meet Meena, singing at home and being told by her family that she needs to get her voice out there, but can see she has too much anxiety to do so. Lastly, we meet Mike busking on some stairs for small change and being rude to someone who gives him a penny – he doesn’t seem discontent, just rude.
The first couple of scenes do a fantastic job of establishing the key players in the film, and also making the audience sympathise with their dreams. In the end, they all have the same dream – to be a singer – but each of them have something different standing in their way, whether it’s family expectations, family commitments, gaslighting partners, anxiety, and opportunity. We form a connection with them all in a few moments, and are already rooting for them.
Bringing the characters together
Coming up with a new hairbrained scheme, Buster decides the way to save his theatre is to put on a singing competition. He prints out some flyers which end up being distributed all over town – and we see all the characters pick one up. Known to the audience – but not to Buster – the flyer contains a mistake saying that the cash strapped Buster is offering $100,000 for the prize money, and not the $1,000 he can afford. The audience immediately start to wonder what sorts of problems it is going to cause.
We stick with Buster as the auditions for the singing competition start, seeing each of the characters audition and therefore getting more of a sense of their characters through their auditions – Mike’s swagger and confidence that he has the competition in the bag; Johnny’s soulful voice; Rosita’s joy at singing but stilted style; Meena being too anxious to even start signing; and Ash upstaging her boyfriend while they sing a duet.
That mistake on the flyer? That conflict starts to escalate here when Mike asks to see the prize money and Buster realises the mistake that was printed on the flyer. He manages to brush it off and decides he will work it out.
We then go back to the other characters: Ash tries to convince her boyfriend that she should participate in the show when she has been picked to perform and he hasn’t; Mike tries to follow a girl into a nightclub and is blocked from entry; Johnny is assigned to be the getaway driver for his dad’s next heist; Meena has a bit of a cry in the kitchen with her mum because she is frustrated at herself for not being able to audition; and Rosita tries to get a nanny for her 25 kids so she can attend rehearsals, and then asks husband to help out but he falls asleep in armchair after work.
In this later half of Act 1, we start to get a feeling of discontent from all the characters. We know what their dream is. We know what is hold them back, and even though most of them are a step closer to achieving their dreams, the same thing or person is holding them back.
Act 2
Starting the character development
Now that the auditions are over and the show has been cast, we start rehearsals for the show which means the characters start getting pushed out of their comfort zone. Buster gives the characters each assignments for their performances. Johnny is told he has to play the piano; Rosita is told she has to partner with another character and dance during her performance; Buster tries to get Ash to sing a pop song when she wants to sing a rock song; Meena ends up helping Buster steal electricity when he forgets to play the electricity bill, and she becomes a stagehand; and Mike struts around backstage being irritated at the other characters.
Even though Mike is not pushed in his performance like the other characters, he’s pushed in another sense. Because he is so convinced that he is going to win the competition, he blags his way into getting a platinum credit card and spends the prize money he’s never going to get on an expensive car so he can get into the club he was denied entry to earlier. We see Ash telling her boyfriend that she wants to write her own song rather than sing the pop songs Buster wants her to, and gets gaslit by him; Meena comes home and sees a congratulations party waiting for her – instead of telling them she’s a stagehand she gets anxious and goes along with their thinking she’s going to be singing in the show; and Rosita comes home and feels very pleased with her day.
In this part of the film, the characters are heading towards their goals, but they are having to go through some character development in order to get there, being pushed out of their comfort zones in order to get there. Some new conflicts start to develop, or already established conflicts start to worsen.
Descent into rock bottom
Buster’s troubles start to become more serious when the bank calls him and gives him an ultimatum – pay up or they will reprocess the theatre. He knows that he can no longer blag his way to the show – he needs money to pay bills and stop the bank from reprocessing the building. He goes to see a friend and comes up with the idea of asking his friend’s grandma – a famous singer – to sponsor the show. He goes to see her with his friend and gets her to agree to come see the dress rehearsal with a view of sponsoring it.
At the next rehearsal the disasters start, with one of the singers being knocked out by a sand bag, and another of the group bands breaking up and quitting the show. This obviously spells trouble for Buster as it looks like his show is about to fall apart.
The other characters also start their descent into their rock bottom moments – Meena is given the chance to re-audition for the show, but turns it down because she is still too nervous; Rosita is still struggling with her dance moves; Ash finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her and kicks him out; Mike cheats a group of bears out of a load of money and gets in trouble with them; and Johnny is struggling to learn piano and also juggling his family commitments, with his dad calling him back to the workshop to work on heist plans during rehearsals.
In this part of the film, we start to get a sense of impending boom for all the characters. Things are starting to go wrong for them all. Their dreams are starting to slip away as they struggle to overcome the obstacles that stand in their way.
Act 3
Hitting rock bottom
With only a few days to go until the famous singer comes to see the dress rehearsal, Buster is freaking out and is determined to get everything perfect. Problem is all the characters are struggling to get their acts right. Johnny gets called out of rehearsal to be the get away driver for his dad’s latest heist, and then steams it back to the theatre for his rehearsal, where he messes up his piano playing. He pegs it back to pick up his dad and his gang, but gets caught in traffic, so his dad gets nabbed by the police. While performing on stage, Ash breaks down crying over her boyfriend’s betrayal; Rosita trips on stage trying to dance and leaves the theatre saying she gives up.
There’s a moment of hope here as the terrible rehearsal spurs some of the characters on. Ash starts writing her own song to overcome her heartbreak which gets Buster’s approval for performance; and Rosita goes shopping and dances along to Gypsy Kings playing over the speakers. Separately, Johnny goes to see his dad in jail and tells his dad he wants to be a singer, and not a gang member – his dad rejects his dream and leaves, leaving Johnny calling after him that he will get the bail money. Johnny goes to the theatre to stealing the chest he thinks contains the $100,000 to get his dad out of jail, but then changes his mind and practices the piano instead.
Then things start to go wrong.
During the all important rehearsal in front of the famous singer – which starts out going well – Mike gets taken hostage by the bears he cheated at cards. The bears demand Buster gives them the $100,000 prize money. They smash the chest and find it contains a handful of cash. The smashing of the chest cracks the glass stage that Buster and Meena built, and floods the theatre full of water. The characters are swept out of the theatre, then they turn back to watch the building crumble into a pile of rubble behind them.
All the character hit rock bottom. Buster watches the bank reprocess the building that his dad worked hard at every day for 30 years to buy for him; Rosita comes home to find her family in distress after the mechanical devices she built to help them while she was at rehearsals have malfunctioned; Meena is crying on the sofa with her mum and grandparents after nearly drowning; Johnny waits for his dad at the jail visitor centre when his dad refuses to show up; Ash sees her ex and his new girlfriend singing together on a stage in a bar; and Mike cowers in a sewer while the bears look for him.
Buster goes to live with his friend. Concerned for him, the other characters visit Buster. All of them are up for making the show happen, even though there is no prize money, but Buster has given up on the competition and of being a theatre manager. Meena tries to give Buster one last push of hope by telling him the same advice he gave her, but he throws it back in her face and tells her she doesn’t have what it takes to be a singer.
Having given up on his dream, Buster decides he needs to make his way in life and does the one other job he knows – washing cars. It’s a low moment, seeing the character we usually see running around in a suit dressed in a Speedo throwing himself on car windscreens to wash them.
After we’ve seen all the characters develop and trip over their obstacles together, we get to witness them hit rock bottom together.
Realising their dreams again
While Buster is washing car he hears someone singing in the theatre ruin. He goes up and finds it’s Meena – he’s stunned as it’s the first time he’s heard her sing and her voice not only blows him away, but also inspires him to try putting the show back on. Buster gets all the characters together and they build a temporary theatre in the ruins of the old one.
After seeing them hit rock bottom together, we now get to see all the characters remember their dream and once again enthusiastic to make it come true.
Climax and resolution
The show goes on.
As the characters give their final performance, we get a resolution of their character arcs. Rosita finally finds her dancing feet and reconnects with her husband who finally sees her; Johnny smashes his piano performance, and reconnects with his dad; Ash blows away the audience with her own song and is seen on TV by her ex-boyfriend who is enchanted by her; even though he wasn’t going to perform, Mike does in order to show the other characters up, but he’s seen by the bears on TV who come for him – Mike’s girlfriend rescues him from being eaten, but as they are driving away the bears climb onto the back of the car and we are left unsure of their fate (but we feel that Mike gets his just desserts); and Meena finally overcomes her anxiety to sing in front of an audience.
Buster gets to see his theatre packed with people and who are enjoying his show, and his dream is rescued by the famous singer who is so impressed with the show that she buys the theatre and rebuilds it. Buster gets to once again be the manager and reopens it.
So why does Sing do such a great job of juggle characters, and makes them so well rounded in such a short space of time?
It’s because we follow them through the ups and downs together. We see them at the same stage of their character developments together – from the start where we learn they have the same dream, to when they all hit the same road block in achieving what they want, to their character resolutions. Their character arcs are short and sharp, but well developed – no one gets left forgotten, or doesn’t have a resolution to their story.
Also, splicing Buster’s scenes between the other character’s scenes works very well, in that Buster sets the pace for the rest of the other character. As I said, Buster is the main character of the story – what he does effects the stories of the other characters so it makes sense that he leads the way.
Bookworm Scribe 