How do the different elements of a story give the world and character’s substance?
Continuing with the Story section analogy of a stone hitting water, consider the progression of your story like the ripples moving outwards and distorting as events happen. Try to consider how each element changes over time or the acts of the story. How they change depending on the world perspective and the protagonist’s perspective inside that world.
The core creative question when presenting anything is: Does it compliment or contrast? Does the world reflect the inner state of the character or is the character in conflict with the world?
Sound
Music
Music can set the tone of the world or reflect the state of the character but it shouldn’t carry the story.
Compliment: Does it reflect the world or character?
Contrast: Or is it in conflict with the internal or external experience of the character?
Foley
Foley is another word for sound effects. All the audio textures that subtly and subconsciously build a world and reveal details about a character and the world they occupy.
Compliment: Do the environmental sounds reflect something internal in the protagonist?
Contrast: Or does the protagonist have a revealing tick that is in conflict with the general soundscape of the world, like the sudden cracking of fingers?
Speech
Speech reveals a lot about character. Speed, Rhythm, Tone. Is there realistic dialogue (i.e. talking over each other) or unrealistic dialogue (theatrical emphasis)? Dialogue is about communication: implicit vs explicit intentions. Is the protagonist talking to others or themselves?
Compliment: Does the speech reflect what the character is experiencing internally? Do the voices of the people in the world set the tone of the world?
Contrast: Does the way the character speaks mask inner conflict or does it contrast to the way others in the world speak, be it in tone or rhythm or word choice?
Experience
Pace
All storytelling follows the same structure: Question> Answer> Question> Answer. Pace helps make that structure more engaging. Whether it’s how long to hold on something, how long to build something, how to cut or transition, it should be in service to the story.
Compliment: Is the protagonist synchronised with the pace of the world?
Contrast: Or do they move, perhaps literally, against everyone else?
Texture
Texture is essentially an appeal to the senses of the audience. Be it through foley or patterns of light or colour, of elements that provoke smell or taste, or of movement or sounds. Texture can reveal the character of the world or state
Compliment: Do textures of the world reflect the characters place within the world?
Contrast: Or does it reveal internal conflict the character experiences in the world, such as a shadow from vertical bars on a characters face revealing a feeling of imprisonment.
Movement
Every movement has a Beginning, Middle, and End. How a character moves, how the environment moves, and how they move, or don’t move, together, reveals a lot. Everything should move with a purpose.
Compliment: Does the movement of a character reflect the movement of the people or world around them?
Contrast: Or do you cut on the movement to stillness, or vice versa, to signal an important shift?
Visual
Colour
How does colour feel? What does colour represent?
Compliment: Does the colour associated with the character reflect the world they are in?
Contrast: Or does the colour associated with the character transition against the environment over time?
Light & Shadow
How do you shape light to reflect the relationship between character & environment?
Compliment: Do you use soft light to help your character blend into their environment?
Contrast: Or do you use harsh contrasting shadow to denote conflict?
Frame
There’s a lot of dynamics to framing something: Leading Lines, Geometry, Eye Line, Diagonals, Focus, Scale, Highlights, Movement, Distance…or even do you create a frame within a Frame.
Compliment: Is the environment framed to reflect the subject?
Contrast: Or do you isolate the subject from the world or others?