Lebowski Elevator Test

“Pick a character from one of your favorite films. How would they respond to being trapped in an elevator? Draw or write a single page about what happens.”

So, I’ve been doing the Art of Storytelling assignments from the great Pixar in a Box (Khan Academy). Pretty amazing stuff. Last week they released the second part of the story course: character. 

I’m often surprised by how much you get out of (seemingly) simple assignments. The very first assignment (actually a warm-up) was to draw or write about a character from one of your favorite movies getting locked up in an elevator. This is my take on the Dude getting stuck in an elevator. 

(As they say in the introducing video this is a good way to figure out your characters, I’ve been imagining some of the characters I’m currently working on stuck in that elevator and it is really cool to see how much information on your characters you get form this. It is also a good way to discover that a character is too flat or boring and needs more exploration: if you can’t imagine how they’d react in an entertaining way, they need more work.)