Here are some of the answers for the Western Hemisphere Support Session questions this week! -Evie

Geoffrey: How do you find the story that feels right in a short time frame? (Refined to how to start parsing out a full narrative arc?)

A: This is great because Geoffrey’s already thinking forward to Week 4, where we’re going to be talking about a narrative structure called the Story Spine. Everyone’s probably already familiar with the basic narrative of opening, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution- this is similar. One moment you can really start picking out in your narratives using the story spine is the ‘Until one day…’ prompt that comes after your introduction establishing your character and the status quo. ‘Until one day…’ is what we call an inciting incident- the point of no return or the call to action. What is it that happens that your character can no longer ignore, and must break their day to day to acknowledge, and thus find change within the narrative? You can also look more into other narrative structures like the Hero’s Journey.

Christopher: I wanted to ask about my story ideas and how to flesh them out (Refined to us discussing this in the context of how to establish a character in the world).

Anish: How do you create a world that feels well rounded to the viewer, without having to go into detail about the worldbuilding and distracting the audience from the characters and narrative?

Miguel: How do I improve my character’s interaction with the world?

A: Because we’re working in the visual medium of storyboarding, let’s address these in the context of cinematography. For those of us who are not familiar, cinematography is how we use a camera’s movement and features to execute our stories, and how we use shot composition. If we’re looking for simple answers, Miguel: the easiest way to improve a character’s interaction with the world is to literally have them interacting with props, locations, or other characters in the world. Anish: the easiest way to force your viewer to commit to the world is to power through as if the rules of your world are the most natural thing ever. Most audience members generally are not going to ask more than two levels of ‘but why…’, and normally when people do it’s because they want to see an alternative or fantastical world unravel. When we open a story, we accept that we have to suspend our belief to some degree. BUT! Your viewers are smart, and can parse out information you plant in your compositions and extrapolate their own meaning from it.

Let’s talk about establishing shots. An establishing shot is a shot you would use to introduce your audience to a change in venue or information- they’re typically long shots used for landscapes, but you can also use these to show off particular details you want your viewers to take in and acknowledge. For example, I used a shot of a camera moving down a photo wall to show off photos showing how my character’s emotional state gradually changed overtime, during the summer session. I also included shots of a family photo collection in her family’s shop where viewers could pick out some information- like a baby photo of her niece, her brother’s graduation and wedding photos, a first day of school photo. In her room, there were bins of sewing patterns, skeins of yarn, a stowed sewing machine- viewers could tell that she’s crafty and likes textile work.

You can also use establishing shots to establish mood and tone for your worlds and narratives. Let’s use these examples that Titmouse did for Critical Role’s 'The Legend of Vox Machina' on Amazon Prime. Click on both these links to open the images.

Whitestone: https://64.media.tumblr.com/142da18fd1bfb6798a9283038a547f86/5ac6505326d4c91a-31/s1280x1920/e407c7f2aa1386cb11c6a139b8111f2e2e027653.png

Emon: https://thenerdstash.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/vox-1.png

These are two different major cities in the world of Exandria, and we can tell a LOT of differences between the two from these conceptual establishing shots alone. Whitestone has a very rustic and gothic vibe to it, with one central location (the Sun Tree) that the city revolves around, architecturally, economically, and socially. It’s also very isolated, guarded by the mountains on one side and thick pine forests on the other. There are also celestial components, sun and moon iconography, in the adornments of the homes and the castle- viewers see this when we are first introduced to the environment of Whitestone, and then understand why later in the show when Vox Machina meets up with a religious leader of the city and find that one of the city and royal family’s patron gods is the Dawnfather, a god of light. Thinking about that though, the city is clearly overcast and dark and dreary… none of those celestial lights are to be found anywhere in the sky, and there’s no people on the streets or lights in any homes despite the main thoroughfares being lit. We can tell that something isn’t quite right in this city. Take that in comparison to Emon, Emon is a bustling metropolis and a major economic center, thanks to its farms and port. We can also see that there’s a sprawl to it, compared to Whitestone’s centralized design, with strong implications of class division as the city moves out from the noble’s elevated Cloudtop District, down to Emon proper, the outer neighborhoods, and then out to a rolling agricultural setting. There are multiple city centers for people to conduct their day to day business in, but there are walls, bridges, and canals that restrict the movement of people. Emon is bright and opulent, yet uniform in its design from afar.

Start thinking about how to use your camera and environments to help fill in the blanks of your characters, world, and story. Imply work for your character, or give your character work to do- if your character is an alchemist, have lab equipment in their space. If knowledge is a major component of your world, have walls covered in bookshelves and scrolls or tablets and a book vendor on every corner. Tell us about the world by using the world, and control how a viewer’s eye should travel through it.

Wendy: Did you complete the program as a group or individual, and what was your experience?

A: I love that you asked this question, Wendy. Personally, when I signed up for this class in the summer and decided to do it again in the fall alongside you all, I did it with the intent of personal professional development and therefore elected to complete my reel alone.

Some pros of working alone: You’re your own boss! Hooray! That means you have executive power over your project, so anything you want to happen, you can make happen. Your vision comes first. That said, it’s important to take in the feedback you’re getting from your peers, but it’s equally important to be critical of what is going to help refine your vision. There’s a really great moment in a movie I watched recently called 'Pompo the Cinephile' about a first time director, where he makes the choice to delete a scene from the film he’s working on that came from everyone on the crew’s brainstorming and collaboration, despite it being sentimental to him and his peers, for the betterment of the narrative. Working alone also requires less person-to-person ‘verbal’ communication so to speak, but it does require you to be immensely clear in your execution of your reel. No one else can read what’s going on inside your head, so your narrative intent must be made clear.

Now, some downsides of working alone: You’re your own boss! Oh crap! You are now accountable for everything to do with your project. While you don’t have to compromise with other people, you do have to compromise with yourself- for example, you can’t give time you don’t have to this project. It also makes for difficulty late in the game if you realize you’ve overestimated your scope- sometimes it's difficult to find someone last minute to delegate to, if you find someone at all. You may have to accept that you’ll need to cut corners in that iteration of your draft, and come back to it and refine at a later date. I actually had an issue where, about 2 days before the Week 8 gallery opened during the summer, my brain threw everything out and said ‘I’m over this’ and I struggled to find interest in what I was making after a constant exposure to it. I’ve been dealing with extreme burnout since graduating in December of 2021, so while the structure of the class is good for me, driving myself hard on a single project was something that I had become unaccustomed to and I gradually have to re-expose myself to. Working alone, it’s ultimately up to you to manage everything on the plate, and all the challenges that come with that- art, story, editing, and technical!