Character Development #2: The Floater

Note: I cut my three favorite ideas down to two, so I have two different Character Developments, in hopes that it will help me further my decision of which short film to make. This is my 2nd version, the 1st is the post below this one. Thanks for reading!


Backstory:

Benji has loved swimming for as long as he can remember. When he was three years old, he used to wade into the water fountains at malls, that is, before his parents promptly found him and scolded him for scaring them. Now an accomplished swimmer for his much more grown-up age of nine and a half, Benji is allowed to swim in the deep end or even in the ocean, so long as he wears his floaters and swim gear.

But a strange thing happens when Benji puts on his gears. To the average viewer, Benji looks like any kid in a swim cap, goggles, floaters, and a bold white patch of zinc oxide on his nose. But for Benji, he becomes “The Floater”, the coolest of superheroes, and his swim attire is his battle gear.

Benji feels empowered in the water. On land, especially in the classroom, Benji tends to be shy and has trouble making friends. But in the water, Benji is invincible, feeling the power in every stroke, compared to at school where he often feels slow and fat.

Furthermore, Benji is such a professional, that he often is able to defeat his enemies without causing a panic in the populace! His parents may not acknowledge his numerous missions, but Benji does not take it personally. They do not see the world as he does, so he selflessly continues to defeat his foes, even if he knows his parents will never know the risks he’s taken to protect them from the Spaghetti Monster of ‘08, the ever changing Darkness vampires, etc.

But what happens should Benji find his enemies on his own turf? One day at the beach Benji hears shrieks as various beachgoers scream after finding seaweed wrapped around their legs. The beachgoers dismiss it upon discovery and continue to frolic in the sand… but Benji knows better than to blindly accept what he’s seen. He investigates the scene, and discovers a monster unlike any he’s found before. STAY TUNED.

Attributes:

- foolhardy

- courageous

- morally strong 

- physically weak

- caring

- insecure

- naïve

- precocious

- stubborn

- impulsive

- bright

- creative 

- quick

Tollbooth Exercise:

Benji stared at the tollbooth, unsure what to do next. His mother had wanted him to stay close to her but he had already made plans of his own, taking off in his electric toy car so he could do his neighborhood surveillance. He liked to drive up and down the pier so he could check the well-being of his fellow citizens and assess for danger. But some changes had been made to the boardwalk since Benji’s last rounds - his shortcut back to the beach was now blocked by an imposing metallic tollbooth. It seemed to leer over him, as many adult-sized contraptions usually do.

Exiting the vehicle, Benji adjusted his floaties and put his foot in the tollbooth’s change dish to try to boost himself up When he looked in, he could see the video feed of his car on the monitor and a lot of flashing lights, but there were no dads or moms inside to let him pass.

Carefully, he lowered himself back onto the ground, scratching his head through his swim cap as he planned his next move. Walking over to the tollbooth, he hunched over to get under the gate and straightening his legs, tried to push the gate up. He strained and heaved, his face looking more and more sunburnt as he overexerted himself.

He released the gate, and still hunched, looked back at his toy Hummer. When suddenly he had an idea. He hopped back in, made some necessary calculations, checked the wind speed, applied an extra coat of sunscreen, and of course buckled his seatbelt... And with his goggles in place, he slammed the gas pedal, putting the Hummer into high gear!

He kept his eyes to the front – one false move, and he could have another broken bone and his mother would FLIP. Timing it just right, he began to lean and right before they approached the gate, he ducked!

By keeping his head down, the Hummer were just shorted enough to coast under the Tollbooth without a scratch!

Benji gave out a great “Whoopee!”. He started to mentally re-run what had just occurred so that he could write it down in great detail in his Captain’s Log. But before he could go further than three feet towards the coastline, he had a pang of guilt and turned back around. Parking now on the opposite side of where he began, he once again scurried up the tollbooth. Fishing in his pockets, he placed two dimes, a mint and a Pokemon card in the change dish. He may have outwitted the tollbooth fair and square, but he knew the tollbooth deserved its rightful fare. Smiling, he ran back to the Hummer and rushed to the pier, where his mother would thoroughly scold him for running off but then kiss him anyway. And afterwards, they will make smores, tell stories, ending what would be another great day of adventure for "The Floater".