Danica Renn-Giles

Bridging screenwriting and behavioural science:
Towards a systematic psychological understanding of film characters’ Wants and Needs

Royal Holloway University of London, UK

At the SRN 2023 conference, I proposed an interdisciplinary approach to develop a scientific understanding of character psychology that can support the creation of systematic training and problem-solving tools for screenwriters. By combining insights on fictional characters from screenwriting with knowledge of real human beings from the behavioral sciences, this approach seeks to develop an evidence-based understanding of psychological character properties, how they create meaning for viewers, and influence a film’s popularity.

Using this approach, I have developed and partially tested a psychological model of film characters’ Wants and Needs. The current paper will present two central aspects of this model: defining Wants and Needs on four conceptual levels (basic human needs, personal values, goals, and actions) and using the distinction between internal and external character features to explain how viewers understand both Want and Need.

Danica Renn-Giles is a behavioural scientist with a longstanding interest in screenwriting and the application of psychological insights to character and plot development. She is completing a PhD in psychology and screenwriting at Royal Holloway University of London (UK), where she has developed an interdisciplinary model of film characters’ Wants and Needs. Based on this and other research, she has created several hands-on screenwriting tools, which she now teaches to MA Screenwriting students.

Danica holds a BSc and MSc in Psychology from the University of Tübingen (Germany). Her professional experience includes working as a behaviour change consultant and trainer in the UK, with clients such as Volkswagen and the National Health Service. She has also served as a story and audience insight consultant for StoryFutures, a government-funded initiative, contributing to an augmented reality experience for Heathrow Airport and Costa.