"Eternal Sunshine" questions

Some ways that the writer (Charlie Kaufman) created character in the movie are through the use of direct and indirect characterization.

The audience gets to know Joel when he directly says: "Why do I fall in love with every woman who pays me the least bit of attention?" (or something like that). This direct characterization lets us know that Joel is a man who hasn't become accostomed to a woman's gaze on him, he's shy, insecure, and falls hopelessly in love very easily. When Joel meets Clementine for the first time on the train we see indirect characterization through his actions toward her... not much eye contact, excuses for not talking to her, shying away when she gets near him, etc, etc.

The audience gets to know Clementine when she directly says: "I can be a cold hard b****." (or something like that). This direct characterization lets us know that Clementine sees herself as well... a person that can be both sweet and caring, and cold and hard. When Clementime meets Joel for the first time we see indirect characterization through her actions toward him... being extremely forward, not afraid to get intimate, constantly talking, very crazy, etc, etc.

I believe I'll be able to use direct characterization mostly, indirect not so much. Becuz the screenplay will only be ten minutes long, I won't have enough time to drop hints for the audience to figure out who my characters are by themselves.

Some ways that the writer (Charlie Kaufman) handled the plot was through exposition in the movie. The conflict of Clementine erasing Joel from her memory and vice-versa is shown through flashbacks in time, the climax occuring when Joel realizes what she has done, and then finding out that Patrick, one of the technicians erasing his memory, is now with Clementine. All this is shown through Joel's out of body experiences throughout the whole process of erasing his memory.

Some limitations regarding plot in a short film is that you don't have the luxury of time. Therefore, your plot can't be as intricate as that in "Eternal Sunshine," you can't get that indepth with your characters and everything has to be upfront so that the audience can leave feeling that they understood what your movie was all about.