#31: Why Marrach Isn't the Movies, Part Oneby Shannon Appelcline
FADE IN:
EXT. CASTLE MARRACH - DAY
A cold, wintry mountaintop, upon which rises the ancient Castle
Marrach. Turrets rise up to the sky obscuring the clouds. Smoke
belches forth from the chimneys, but other than that the Castle seems
oddly empty. SUPERIMPOSE: APRIL 26, 2001.
A drawbridge marks the entrance to the Castle, but the drawbridge is
currently up, its solid wooden planks blocking the Castle's gate.
In front of the Castle's gate, stand a MOTLEY CROWD OF CASTLE
DWELLERS. There are dozens of them representing the entire hierarchy
of the Castle, from the rank-and-file servants wearing plain homespun
tunics and pants to the royalty who are attired in the finest damask,
satin, and silk.
Standing a number of yards in front of the Castle Dwellers is SHANNON,
a man in his late 20s, casually, perhaps sloppily, dressed. He looks a
bit nervous. A LOUD RUMBLE comes from the Castle dwellers, as they
gossip, argue, threaten, and politick.
SHANNON
(shouting at the crowd)
Excuse me! Excuse me! We're trying to
film a column here!
Shannon clears his throat a few more times and the loud rumble slowly
quiets. It's more of a DULL RUMBLE now.
SHANNON
(turning forward and
shaking his head)
Sorry about that folks. I've got my
friends all gathered here to help
make a point toward the end of the
column, but they're a little
impatient about the wait--
A PIMPLY LAD in the crowd becomes agitated and begins shouting.
PIMPLY LAD
A sword! I want a sword! Where can I
get a sword?
SHANNON
And as it turns out I probably
shouldn't have invited ...
everyone ...
Shannon glances back at the crowd and nods in approval as a crack
squad of WINTER WATCHMEN leap upon the Pimply Lad, knocking him to the
ground. In seconds they're all lost amidst the crowd.
The DULL RUMBLING increases in volume.
SHANNON
(speaking louder)
Anyway, I talked about movie plots a
couple of months ago and I plan to
talk about movie characters at some
point in the future, but in between I
thought it might be nice to take a
break ...
(shouting now)
... and talk about how movies aren't
like Castle Marrach at all.
The Watchmen reappear at the edge of the crowd, dragging Pimply Lad
behind them. They march to the edge of one of the tall cliffs that
surround Castle Marrach, heft him up, then toss him into the ravine.
Pimply Lad bounces a few times before he's lost in the mists that
surround the slopes of Mount Arden.
SILENCE descends upon the crowd. A few of the Castle Dwellers glance
nervously at the Watchmen or at the cliff.
SHANNON
(smiling broadly)
Much better. Now, as I was saying, I
want to talk about how Marrach isn't
the movies ... about the differences
between the two mediums ... because I
think those differences offer some
ways to improve prose games.
The Watchmen have returned to the crowd now, where they're carefully
listening for more requests for weapons.
SHANNON
There's three broad topics that I
want to cover, and given my normal
penchant getting to all of these will
probably take two weeks. But, they
are ...
(listing the first off
on the pointer finger
of his right hand)
how movies are a visual medium ...
(then the second on his
middle finger)
how movies are a discontinuous
medium ...
(then the third on his
ring finger)
and how movies are a contained
medium.
Shannon stares at his fingers for a moment, confused, then closes his
hand.
SHANNON
Right, and how Castle Marrach isn't.
A SOFT MURMUR has slowly begun to build around the crowd again, but
nothing like the louder ruckuses in the past.
SHANNON
(turning to address the
crowd)
You guys hang around for a bit and
I'll be back!
(pauses)
You might want to practice while I'm
gone because we're only doing one
take.
Numerous members of the crowd nod and the entire crowd begins to sit
down on the snow, ice, and rocks fronting Castle Marrach.
INT. DINING HALL EAST - DAY
The eastern dining hall is a warm and cosy room. Benches sit by a pair
of tables. A fireplace, complete with roaring fire, takes up the
eastern half of the room.
Shannon slowly fades into the room. SUPERIMPOSE: PART I: MOVIES ARE A
VISUAL MEDIUM.
SHANNON
(surveying the room and
looking perturbed)
My whole goal here was to have folks
in the Castle help me demonstrate
stuff this week, but--
(pauses)
They're all outside practicing the--
(pauses again)
Well, I won't spoil it, but they are
practicing.
Shannon paces back and forth for a moment, then SNAPS his fingers.
SHANNON
Got it! We'll just jump back in time
a few months and then I'll have
plenty of folks to help my
demonstration.
(pauses)
But I should probably explain what
I'm talking about first. People tell
me that's usually a good idea ...
often after I've failed to do exactly
that thing.
Shannon reaches up into the air and plucks forth a slightly battered
red notebook with a number of arcane squiggles on the cover.
Looking about, he spots one of the Dining Halls' benches, and sits
down on it before he begins leafing through the book.
SHANNON
(looking up from his
notebook)
I've got written here, in my
screenwriting class notes, that
movies are primarily a visual medium.
My teacher stated that you're need to
tell a story in pictures, that you're
doing more than just presenting
dialogue.
(pauses)
And, if you think about your favorite
movies, you'll realize that the
visuals were very powerful devices.
Shannon looks thoughtful for a second, offering viewers the clichéd
clue that they're about to be bombarded with visuals from his mind's
eye.
EXT. SPACE - LONG, LONG AGO
A space station the size of a small moon sits amidst blackness.
A single tiny fighter breaks free of the station just as explosions
begin to wash across the station's face. In seconds it blossoms into a
huge fireball.
EXT. A PLAYGROUND - THE NEAR FUTURE
A muscular woman stares through a chain link fence at children in a
playground. They're enjoying themselves, totally oblivious of what's
about to come. The woman clutches the fence with her hands as a
mushroom cloud blooms in the distance.
Fire begins to wash over everything. The woman's hair streams behind
her for a moment, then the flesh begins to strip from her face.
INT. SCHOOL STAIRWELL - LAST YEAR
A young boy looks up a stairwell and sees three pilgrims hanging from
nooses. They are grotesquely dead.
INT. DINING HALL EAST - DAY
Shannon's eyes are slowly focusing, offering a clichéd signal that we
just exited his memories.
SHANNON
I'm not sure exactly how those scenes
are written, but that's how they've
stuck in my mind.
(pauses)
The point is that movies are a very
visual medium while a prose game like
Marrach isn't. And as we're going to
see in a moment that offers room for
improvement in prose games.
Shannon hops off the bench. When he turns around his red notebook
is gone.
SHANNON
(cracking his knuckles)
So we're going to jog back a few
months and see how non-visual a prose
game can be.
(pauses)
Go ahead and start without me! I'm
going to pop by the Castle gate for a
second.
Everything begins to go fuzzy.
INT. DINING HALL EAST - A FEW MONTHS AGO
The dining hall east appears much as it did before, except there are
now a HANDFUL OF PEOPLE here. Among them are AVERON, a slightly unruly
looking man wearing a pin depicting the masks of tragedy and comedy
and OMMALE, a distinguished elderly man wearing a rosette.
AVERON
The Poet's Brotherhood sucks.
OMMALE
I once saw a rose that made me think,
would such beauty exist if there was
no one to see it?
AVERON
You spit upon poets of quality and
admit mutes into your society.
OMMALE
To see or not to see, that is the
only question.
AVERON
And even though I offer poems in the
classic styles, you look down upon
them. Perhaps they make too much
sense, old man?
OMMALE
Once, when I sat upon the Castle's
highest turret, I thought, what if
the sun did not rise but for my being
there to greet it?
Shannon slowly fades into the Dining Hall. Averon and Ommale's
argument continues at a low MURMUR.
SHANNON
(nodding at the two)
In the movie biz, that's what they
call "talking heads". It's a
conversation between two people
without action. In plays you see it a
lot, but in movies it's a real no-no.
(pauses)
And it can happen really easily in a
prose game like Castle Marrach too.
Fortunately Marrach has a system of
social verbs which can help combat
this type of thing.
Shannon sits down at a bench. Meanwhile, Averon and Ommale's argument
has grown a bit more interesting.
AVERON
(fiercely smacking the
fireplace)
How can you stand in this place of
honor and call that mute's tripe
poetry?
OMMALE
(thoughtfully gazing at
the ceiling)
When clouds cross the sky, do they
walk or run?
AVERON
(angrily pointing at
Ommale)
How can you call your own tripe
poetry?
OMMALE
(glancing at Averon's
finger)
Does guilt adhere to he who blames or
he who is blamed?
Averon silently SCREAMS and runs out of the Dining Hall East.
SHANNON
I'm sure I'm not selling you much new
here. The social verbs and adverbs in
Marrach are well-known and well-used.
(pauses)
Whether you be StoryBuilder or
StoryTeller, however, you should try
and think, when might gestures
totally replace words? It's more than
just using the most appropriate
evocation. You can make your
interactions more visual and thus
more interesting by not trying to do
everything with words.
Shannon stands up from his bench and stretches.
A low MURMUR indicates that Ommale is now carrying on a monologue,
largely unchanged from his previous dialogue with Averon.
SHANNON
But, that's only the first step. As a
StoryBuilder you need to think about
how to take the next step, to create
big visualizations that will be
memorable.
(pauses)
Sherman, set the wayback machine for
April 26, 2001.
Everything begins to go fuzzy again. This time we see some cool
swirling colors before everything fades to black.
FADE TO:
EXT. SPACE - LONG, LONG AGO
A space station blossoms into a fireball.
EXT. A PLAYGROUND - THE NEAR FUTURE
A mushroom cloud blooms in the distance.
INT. SCHOOL STAIRWELL - LAST YEAR
Three pilgrims hang from nooses.
FADE TO:
EXT. CASTLE MARRACH - DAY
The crowd of Castle Dwellers is still here, all seated on the frozen
landscape.
Shannon stands in front of them, patiently waiting.
SHANNON
Now, the real cool thing about a
prose game is that if you do start
taking advantage of visualizations
... your special effects budget is
unlimited. You can do the most
amazing things!
(turning to crowd)
Hit it guys!
The Castle Dwellers to the left stand up, waving their hands above
their heads; as they begin to sit back down, the people just to
their right stand up. This pattern continues across the entire
crowd. It's The Wave!
SHANNON
(snorting and holding
his mouth)
OK, OK, that probably wasn't worth
the buildup. Sorry. Sorry.
(gasping for air)
The point is you can do anything.
(pauses)
To hold off the inevitable lynch
mobs, I arranged for the following
encore.
Shannon points to the air above Castle Marrach. Abruptly, the sun
sets, plunging the area into darkness.
EXT. CASTLE MARRACH - NIGHT
A fearful MURMUR arises from the crowd.
Bursts of cerulean light begin to appear above the Castle. They're
fireworks! The bursts hang in the sky for impossibly long minutes and
spell out the name "Queen Vivienne".
Then a dragon appears, golden and beautiful. It begins to loop through
the frozen e's in the sky.
Then Castle Marrach explodes.
SCREAMS and SHOUTS arise from the crowd of Castle Dwellers, who all
begin to huddle together. One BEAUTIFULLY DRESSED SERA's voice can be
heard above the DIN.
BEAUTIFULLY DRESSED SERA
My gowns! My chemises! My beautiful
snoods!
The Beautifully Dressed Sera begins to SOB uncontrollably. No one
moves to comfort her.
SHANNON
No need for alarm folks. Just a
demonstration. No cats or rats were
harmed in the making of this column.
Shannon SNAPS his fingers and Castle Marrach appears again,
unscathed. But somehow the viewer knows that the Beautifully's Dressed
Sera's snoods didn't make it.
The din QUIETS a little bit, but the crowd is now looking at Shannon a
bit suspiciously. The Watchmen are fingering their swords and looking
meaningfully at the nearby cliff.
SHANNON
(quickly)
Alright everyone, thanks for your
help in that demonstration, and why
don't you go ahead and go home now.
Shannon SNAPS his fingers again and the whole crowd disappears with a
WHOOSH.
Shannon is now alone on Mount Arden, outside Castle Marrach. A cold
wind begins to whisper through his hair, just to add a little visual
interest to the scene.
SHANNON
So remember that just by writing
words you can create visuals as
interesting as those in any movie ...
your players' imaginations will fill
in the rest.
(pauses)
But, you can use a trick not
available to the movies. You can
appeal to the other senses too.
Shannon CLAPS his hand and a Special Dark candy bar appears. He
unwraps the candy and begins to eat it.
SHANNON
(in-between bites)
Watching me eat this candy isn't
really very effective, but in a prose
game you can instead describe what it
tastes like. Thus you can make just
as powerful use of the other senses
as you can sight.
(pauses)
That's, uh, taste, smell, touch, and
hearing.
Shannon nods sagely.
SHANNON
Now, I seem to have gone over length
again. My wife would say, "What a
surprise." In fact, she just did. So
I'm going to draw this short and
finish up next week.
(pauses)
But first I'd like to summarize and I
think the best place for that is the
Skotos office.
This time Shannon blinks twice.
INT. THE SKOTOS OFFICE - DAY
Shannon's desk is covered with the typical detritus that comes with
the business world: paperwork. A laptop computer rises forlornly
amongst the papers, carbon copies, and triplicate forms.
Behind it, on the wall, is a whiteboard filled with an extremely long
todo list. Shannon gleefully erases it then picks up a black marker.
Shannon writes "Marrach isn't the movies".
SHANNON
So my global point this week is that
Marrach isn't the movies, but that
movies do unique things which Marrach
StoryBuilders can learn from.
Shannon writes "Movies are visual".
SHANNON
And the first way in which Marrach
and movies are different is that
movies are very visual. But, you can
balance that by making Marrach more
visual too.
Shannon writes "1. Use gestures in conversations".
SHANNON
By this I mean, don't just "wryly
say", but also replace words with
gestures whenever you can. Think of
what you'd really do in a live
conversation.
Shannon writes "2. Create big visualizations".
SHANNON
You don't have a special effects
budget, so don't be afraid to do big
things.
Shannon writes "3. Use the other senses too".
SHANNON
And unlike movies--ignoring the short
smell-o-vision craze--you can appeal
to all of the senses, not just the
eyes.
Shannon caps his pen and puts it down with a flourish.
SHANNON
That's it for now. Next week, I want
to talk about those other two topics
... how movies are discontinuous and
how they're contained.
(pauses)
And I'm afraid you're going to have
to deal with this particular style of
writing for another week ... a movie
script descripting how Castle Marrach
isn't a movie, that is. It ... amuses
me.
Shannon reaches into the air and pulls out a a large trade
paperback. It's labeled "Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud".
SHANNON
You can blame this gentleman for the
idea of my doing so. He's written two
books about comic books using the
medium of comics books to do so. The
other one is called "Reinventing
Comics". Both highly recommended.
Shannon tosses the book onto his desk, resulting in a small explosion
of papers.
Shannon grimaces.
SHANNON
(waving)
I'll see you back here in seven!
END
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