In many cases, a rich narrative is created by having a complex main character and focusing on the intricacies of that person’s journey. Supporting characters will occasionally have depth, but more often than not are just a part of the evolution of the main character. The films I have screened for CG&FN recently fall into this category, Heaven and Dog Day Afternoon are both very focused tales, with the world as a backdrop for the main characters. This focus results in a story with a narrow breadth, but expansive depth, much like a well.

For static media this system works very well, the audience needs a character to follow and become invested in, change is easier to show when you are following an individual. With few exceptions (the films of Robert Altman comes to mind), most films and books do not feature an ensemble cast. In contrast to film, this approach does not work for most games because the main character is not fully under the control of the narrative. Creating a protagonist which the player does not exert some level of control over pulls the attention off of the player’s input and thus undermines the value of the interaction. A solution which RPG designers have long used is created a world filled with character, each of which has a relatively small amount of narrative. This creates a narrative that is very broad, but not particularly deep at any one point. There can be the same or more narrative volume, but less concentrated into individual characters.

Unlike the well of narrative above, this structure looks more like a lake in which the player can swim around. This encourages exploration and by placing narrative content within characters out of the players direct control, we avoid limiting the player actions to do world-building. Another advantage of this approach is that this narrative content is optional, providing the depth for explorers and not getting in the way of other players. This is not to say all games should use this structure (many of my favorite games do not), but when paired with the funnel concept of my Narrative Leeway post, I think this forms a good basis for creating an open-world narrative experience.

I think this is generally understood intuitively by those working in the games industry, but explicitly  categorizing successfully approaches is the only way to gain the understanding required to move narrative in interactive media forward.

]]> http://www.altereddreams.net/writing/narrative-volume/feed/ 0 http://www.altereddreams.net/cgfn-2010/annie-hall/ http://www.altereddreams.net/cgfn-2010/annie-hall/#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:45:24 +0000 Seth Marinello http://www.altereddreams.net/?p=1048 The CG&FN for January 20th was Annie Hall. I selected this film not just because it is a classic, but because it is an extended rumination on love and what makes us happy in life, which are themes games almost never attempt to tackle. Despite the age of this film, I think almost everyone can relate or empathize with some part of Annie and Alvy’s relationship. The non-linear, often exagarated presentation of the narrative only makes the film more accurately reflect human experience, rather than being realistic, it represents reality. Ryan Nadel said it better last year in an article for our visual story class. [Link]

The CG&FN for January 13th was The Road Warrior. This film is interesting for a number of reasons, from stunt work to pacing, but I wanted to focus on how George Miller creates a post-apocalyptic mythology. To focus our attention I created a simple worksheet outlining the stages of Joseph Cambell’s Monomyth. I hadn’t gone through the film looking for parts of the Hero’s Journey before, but as a group we found elements of almost every stage. Download the sheet and try it yourself!