Of Things to Come
Preamble: This was originally written in January of 2020 to a small Narrative team working on what would become the December 9th, 2021 release of Halo Infinite.
Thoughts that guided.
When you work on an IP the first thing you need to do is understand why it was first successful. The second thing you need to do is protect the purity of the those reasons. It's usually a mixture of luck (!*), hard-work (2*), or talent (3*).
Be present.
Be devoted.
Be confident.
Assume you have the talent to be in the room. Assume you're lucky enough to be surrounded by peers maintain their talent in their given field. A challenge approaches. You all venture off being determined to tackle the problem with determination. If you're lucky the hard work you did pays off for all parties involved. The audience/customer feels heard, empowered,
Perspective is an interesting word. Experience feels neutral but perspective feels wrought with time. Perspective means observation. Observation often means teaching others how to see the world that they see. It doesn't mean it's the world as it is, but it's a vision of the world enamored with experience.
Case Study
THE ACT OF EXPOSING
Rise of the Skywalker made me realize that sci-fi needs to squarely focus on pacing and the concept of "exposing". Let's assume you can make characters that are likable, admirable, and show clear desire within their strengths and weaknesses. The next task must focus on a few things:
Continually pose questions consciously and subconsciously. What caused the damage? What will I see if I go further? What's hidden? What can I discover? What will (x) expose? If I push against the world does it push back?
When I crest over a hill does the framing leads the eye to want to know more about what is there? Leave more out than you show. Show enough that you want to know more.
Expose the journey. Allow everyone to go along for the ride. Don't leave anyone behind.
Don't assume prior knowledge.
Don't show something and then tell the audience what they're looking at.
Teach what you want the audience to anticipate. Give them the room to invoke their imagination. Then expose the question but leave room for interpretation.
Expose that the audience's assumptions are valid but still allow affordance for their expectations to be subverted.
MAIN IDEAS
The Last Jedi
"Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to."
Don't let the past bog you down. Down let expectation drive the story. Subvert expectation and forge a new path. Challenge your own beliefs about what you know. The past matters but your resolve to remove restraint and discover your own
"We're not ready. We’re never ready."
Human beings take on responsibility without knowing the consequences. We simply learn by doing, by observing, by understanding, by experiencing kindness, and by not stopping and not giving up on the ideal--on family. Growth comes from reaction. Preparation fosters perspective when pressure is applied.
We experience trials thinking we won't know how to react or even if we'll have the ammunition to cope. But our resilience, our ability for redemption, and our unimpeachable hope to make things right defines our spirit.
"They win by making you think you're alone."
We fail in our responsibility if we shoulder all the burden alone. We survive and thrive if we lean on a support system. The concept of 'community', a support system of survivors, becomes the new paradigm for family. That community or band of ragtag survivors and all that they bring into the world under the same auspicious for "good" is the ideal worth fighting for and the catalyst for change.
“And I am all the Jedi"
We are the sum of all the experiences, beliefs, and mentorship accrued over generations. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Everything that came before you makes you the person you are today. You can either run from the past (kill it), or use all your teachings to power your future. Use the past as strength instead of an anchor.
The importance of Failure
Our failures are as important as our victories--they become the teachings worth guarding and passing down for others to rise to the occasion when called upon.
Cortana is Chief's ghost. She was once his conscious, but now she's the past he must face. She's the unanswered question that finds resolution. She knew the right answer to the ills of humanity but she failed in her mission. Why she failed doesn't matter as much as her acknowledgement of failure.
I wanted to show you the world as I see it. As it could be.
Her miscalculation is that we cannot make the world in our image--we can only protect, shepherd, and nurture. Forcing perspective forces emotion and creates rebellion. Ensuring security manifest creativity and creates ingenuity, progress, growth.
By the end the Pilot has to have the desire to become more and put the past behind him. His rebellion is his rejection of security.
Chief's reactions are selfless. Cortana's reactions are logical. The Weapons reactions are wondrous--she's seeking growth, approval, she's happy to be along for the ride. The Pilot is the manifestation of “fight or flight” weighted heavily on the ‘flight’ response.
It is a story about manifesting trust. Trusting each other. Trusting yourself. Trusting your ideals. Winning back the trust of your unit. Reconciling a lapse in trust and a plea to allow others in to trust more.
Trust comes when experience and action harmonizes into security. All the protagonists evoke that sentence. Their experiences and their actions form unbreakable bonds of trust. Being pushed against all they believe they can withstand creates an unshakeable bond.
We're pleading with the world for trust. We'll show them that we have all of the best of the past inside us. We're not fighting it, or killing it, we're embracing it. That's why your story structure and the idea of legacy shouldn't be misconstrued as weakness or as an anchor. It's what got us here. It's the power at our back that makes us feel secure.
The audience wants:
Authenticity
Clarity
Mystery
Wonder
Connection
Humor
Anticipation
Tension
Stability
Assurance
Empowerment
Respect
Relief
Good sci-fi provide the space to be reflective. Make them think you're in a corner and then expose that you have an army at your back. There's a reason we've endured and we're embracing it.
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