Character
Protagonist
Buttongirl
Age 16
Temperament Optimist/Pessimist
Ethnicity Button Man
Species (Human/Animal/Alien etc.)
Human/Animal/Alien?
Class normal person
Nationality Buttoner
Religion nobelieves
Fight/Flight?
Family no
Physicality Weak
Superpower //
(doesn’t have to literal-what’s their talent?)
The best way to reveal character? Through action…
She made “companion dolls” according to her own wishes, but they were very different from the villagers’. When the villagers criticized her, the young and timid girl dared not fight back.
Motivation is linked to the character’s goals.
Sometimes, a character must act when faced with a challenge or any form of antagonism.
She was attacked and pressured by the villagers, and powerless to resist, she chose to obey.
Spend some time thinking about your characters actions – what do they reveal about the character – does their action reveal their true selves?
Buttondoll
Age 1
Temperament Optimist/Pessimist
Ethnicity Doll
Species (Human/Animal/Alien etc.) Doll
Human/Animal/Alien?
Class strangedoll
Nationality //
Religion //
Fight/Flight?
Family belongs to buttongirl
Physicality Strong
Superpower able to move and show emotion
(doesn’t have to literal-what’s their talent?)
Antagonist
villagers of Button Village
Age 20-90
Temperament Optimist/Pessimist
Ethnicity Button Man
Species (Human/Animal/Alien etc.)
Human/Animal/Alien?
Class normal person
Nationality Buttoner
Religion nobelieves
Fight/Flight?
Family no
Physicality Weak
Superpower //
(doesn’t have to literal-what’s their talent?)
The best way to reveal character? Through action…
Consistency must be ensured in a button society
Motivation is linked to the character’s goals.
Sometimes, a character must act when faced with a challenge or any form of antagonism.
They saw the girl’s different ideas and lifestyle, so they started attacking her.
Motivation
What are your character’s motivations or onscreen goal?
Integrating into the village without being criticized, insulted, or pressured
Write down what’s motivating them in your story.
The accusations leveled against her by the villagers after she was actually discovered
If you have more than one character, do they all share the same motivation, or are they different?
Buttondoll：same，then decided to fight
If you have a Antagonistic character, what motivates them? A shared goal with the Antagonist?
villagers：different，they want to turn everyone into uniformly numb people
How are they an obstacle?
The girl is torn between conforming to avoid criticism and sticking to her own principles, ultimately succumbing to pressure and unable to maintain her own stance.
Do they change?
no
Synopsis
The one paragraph synopsis is useful in finding the essence of the story because it must state very briefly and simply WHO, WHAT and HOW.
The one paragraph synopsis should set out whose story it is (the protagonist), what his/her/their problem is, what they do about it and the outcome.
The 16-year-old Button Girl comes from a village where everyone is numb, uniform, and identical. In this village, each person must create a “Companion Doll” to symbolize the beginning of a new stage in life.The girl makes an adorable doll she is very proud of and happily plays with it in the garden. But when a group of villagers passes by, she suddenly notices that all their dolls have grotesque appearances—wide-eyed baby faces, animal bodies, and strange, twisted feet. The dolls do not move at all; the villagers simply drag them along.When the villagers notice how different the girl’s doll is, they react with intense hostility and accusation. Frightened, the girl hides in her house, but villagers surround it on all sides, staring blankly through every window. Under their emotionless gazes and relentless judgment, she falls into confusion and despair. Ignoring her doll’s struggles, she finally succumbs to the pressure and becomes just like everyone else in the village.
Logline
The Button Girl:
A 16-year-old girl in a numb, uniform button village creates a lively doll that defies the community’s eerie traditions, drawing fear and hostility that slowly consume her individuality.
- The 16-year-old girl – this introduces our main character and her unique perspective within a uniform society.
- Her creation of a lively doll defines her individuality and sets the story in motion.
- The villagers’ fear and hostility reveal the central conflict — her struggle to resist conformity before it destroys her.
“Button Girl” Beat Sheet Draft
ACT I – FIRST SCENE
In a quiet, colorless village where everyone was numb and uniform, the 16-year-old button girl and her “companion doll” – soft, warm, and with handmade details – were standing beside the house.
She happily played with her doll in her small garden, treating it as a real companion rather than just a ritualistic symbol.
A group of villagers passed by on the road. They were dragging their babies – those babies had strange appearances: huge, stiff infant faces, pieced-together animal bodies, and distorted limbs, all being dragged along the ground lifeless.
The villagers noticed her doll and all came to a halt. They didn’t speak, but the look in their eyes was filled with cold judgment and hostility, as if silently “demanding” that her doll must be just like theirs.
The button girl tightly held onto her doll, filled with fear and confusion, not understanding what she had done wrong.
The villagers began to move closer to her – their steps were slow but uniform, their expressions blank, as if her “difference” was a threat.
ACT II – SECOND ACT
She rushed home in terror, locked the door, and the doll in her arms trembled slightly. She curled up her body in the confined space.
She peeked out through the window: The villagers had surrounded her house tightly, forming a perfect circle. Each of them dragged their grotesque dolls along the ground like inanimate objects.
The villagers’ faces, all expressionless, were pressed against the window, staring at her intently – exerting silent pressure and demanding that she submit.
Inside the house, the button girl began to question herself:
Was her happiness “wrong”?
Was her doll “in violation of regulations”?
Was she not supposed to be different from others?
Her doll tried to cling to her and offer her comfort, but she gradually lost the courage to look directly at it.
The room seemed to become narrower and narrower, and the air became thinner and thinner. The “gaze” from the village was everywhere, and she felt completely unable to escape.
ACT III – Third Act
The villagers kept looking directly at her – their movements were not forceful, but regular and continuous, resembling a kind of “erasing individuality” ritual.
The button girl broke under this pressure. She gave up resisting, her shoulders drooped, her posture became numb, and her eyes gradually became empty.
She began to fill the doll in her hand with mud. The doll seemed to be struggling to hold on to her.
When she stepped out of the house, she had become like the villagers. She carried the baby with her – a lifeless, soulless, featureless creature.
The villagers dispersed in silence, without a word, as if nothing had happened. However, another “difference” had been erased.
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