Sequel, Re-introducing characters or not? :: SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board

Quoted from Gerasimos

As the title says, do i need to re-introduce/describe characters and specific places (used in first part) when writing a sequel? Will their name alone be enough/suffice?

A sequel would generally skip the spec stage entirely, and it'd be hard to get a spec picked up for IP you don't already have rights to use.

All that said, I'd re-introduce the characters completely if you can't assume the reader has seen the previous film. If you can assume they have, then re-introduce them but focus on the differences from last time.

The first pair has no (apparent) change between films, but the second has profound changes.

Quoted from Terminator in T1

SLOW PAN as the sound of stray electrical CRACKLING subsides.
FRAME comes to rest on the figure of a NAKED MAN kneeling,
faced away, in the previously empty yard.
He stands, slowly.
The man is in his late thirties, tall and powerfully built,
moving with graceful precision.

C.U. - MAN, his facial features reiterate the power of his
body and are dominated by the eyes, which are intense, blue
and depthless. His hair is military short.

This man is the TERMINATOR.

He glances down, taking calm inventory of himself, and
notices that a fine white ash covers his skin. He brushes
at it unconcernedly as he walks toward the fence, scanning
his surroundings.

Quoted from Terminator in T2

Through the clearing vapor we see the figure clearly... a naked man.
TERMINATOR has come through. Physique: massive, perfect. Face:
devoid of emotion. Terminator stands and impassively surveys its
surroundings.

Quoted from Sarah Connor in T1

MOVING WITH A GIRL on a MOPED as she zips through traffic.
SARAH CONNOR is 19, small and delicate-featured. Pretty in
a flawed, accessible way. She doesn't stop the party when
she walks in, but you'd like to get to know her. Her vulner-
able quality masks a strength even she doesn't know exists.

Sarah maneuvers nimbly, apparently in a hurry.

Quoted from Sarah Connor in T2

WE HEAR a rhythmic grunting,
small explosions of breath in perfectly-metered time.

PAN TO a bedframe leaned upright against the wall, legs facing
outward.  A pair of sweaty hands grip one leg.  Tendons knot and
release as SOMEONE does pull-ups.  A man of tangled hair hides the
face that comes INTO FRAME, dips out, comes back.

WIDER.  A WOMAN in a tank top and hospital pants in hanging from the
top leg of the vertical bedframe.  Her body is straight and taut.
Knees bent so the feet clear the ground.  The arms are lean and
muscular.  The inmate, face hidden, pulls up, dips, pulls up.  Like
a machine.  No change in rhythm.

...

REVERSE ANGLE as she turns slowly into CLOSE UP.
SARAH CONNOR is not the same woman we remember from last time.  Her
eyes peer out through a wild tangle of hair like those of a cornered
animal.  Defiant and intense, but skittering around looking for
escape at the same time.  Fight or flight.  Down one cheek is a long
scar, from just below the eye to her upper lip.
Her VOICE is a low and chilling monotone.