A Titanic Story

"I think that it was definitely a goal of Titanic to integrate a very personal, very emotional, and very intimate [story]... something that has a profound impact on your imagination..." - James Cameron

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In today's industry where publishers, Hollywood, music and even game developers are constantly in a race to 'remake' previous works or produce ones that are so similar to what has already been successful that they couldn't make it in the witness protection program, one wonders how it is possible to make something significant.

I recently had the pleasure to see the re-release of James Cameron epic as Titanic 3D. While I had seen pieces of this behemoth before, I never really saw it from beginning to end nor had I ever looked at this in terms of story. After watching I can only marvel at the culmination of elements that conspired to make it a true modern 'epic.'

Examining the story it seems to be a very simple romance. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the rich socialite that wants to escape her confining life, the jealous bad-guy fiancé and the helpful friends. On paper this sounds rather mundane, it very well sounds like almost any other romantic story in existence. So, where does this story become an epic?

The setting for the story is aboard the ill-fated cruise ship in 1912, this is not an original setting by any stretch of the imagination, There are no fewer than fifty different movies about the ship not counting the hundreds of documentaries. If we look at strictly the literary scene there are thousands and thousands of fictionalized accounts with a large percentage of them as romance stories. While tragic, this setting does not necessarily equate to an 'epic.'

If it's not the overall story or the setting, one might wonder if it's the characters that make this such a significant story. The characters are quite flat overall with a street kid, the socialite cheating fiancée, a controlling millionaire, and countless other rather flat characters. The superficial details to their lives, the personality traits and their interactions do not even pertain to an 'epic story.' Just sampling quotes reveals how dull or predictable most interactions are and how unusual some of the dialogs are.

Are the Events of the story what drives it to epic status? Outside of context you have a poker game, a guy that talks a socialite out of suicide, a dinner where socialites discuss status, a number of conversations about foreshadowing, a 'low-brow' party, a violent outburst from the millionaire towards his fiancée, a drawing session, a romantic moment between the star-crossed lovers, a moment of false imprisonment, survival on the sinking ship, treading water, character death and finally the heart/staircase. Is it the events that make this story epic? If it is the case then the story should be able to be moved to any other setting and have the same results.

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After looking at all of the elements it is abundantly clear at what makes this piece an epic, a story that is still successful 15 years later. It's the emotional punch.

The romantic story feels unique and new because the characters are drawn together in a believable way, reacting in an expected but emotional manner. The characters conveyed the emotions of each event in such a manner that even years after everyone knows the whole plot that people still react emotionally to Jack attempting to escape from the handcuffs or when Rose is slapped. The setting keeps the story together, it makes it a period piece that never feels out of place where technology can give away the age of the piece and pull the audience from it. These emotional punches culminate with the very moment that makes it an epic. Jack's death.

If the story had concluded with Jack and Rose making a new life together it would certainly be a happy ending but it would never even touch epic status. The only plausible ending was to take the one thing that the audience became so attached to throughout the journey, their relationship, and breaking it with something beyond their control. Old Rose's photos and the staircase scene give a sense of completion but also convey immense emotion. Even to this day, the audience can see an image from one of the 'emotional hits' and immediately feel it personally.

So what makes a story an epic? Is it unhappy endings? Is it the story alone? Is it the characters, their lives, the setting or the events? It is a culmination of all of these elements, each element that comes with it's own emotional hit and is then tied together. Creating a Titanic story is not about the individual elements or what they represent but the emotions that they convey.

That Holiday Feeling

Ferias Ex Machina….

As Christmas is only a few days away now traditional Holiday themes are inundating all narratives on all mediums but why?

In a traditional narrative whether it is still, sculpted, cinemagraphic or literary a composition is orchestrated in such a way as to draw the viewers into the piece. There is a level of intrigue as the thrill of uncertainty keeps the rapt attention of the audience. This is not the case for many 'Holiday' narratives.

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The majority of 'Holiday' narratives are composed with layers of positive themes; selflessness, family, change of heart, unconditional love and other similar themes.

While many narratives can utilize similar themes, Holiday compositions typically feature these themes at a relative superficial level. The dramatic twists and turns that otherwise would create a thrilling piece are sedate compared to traditional narratives. These narratives often rely on the Ferias Ex Machina. 


Ferias Ex Machina or "Holiday out of the machine" is where a seemingly unsolvable/inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object particularly in a 'Holiday' composition. These are where the characters will have a revelation, change of heart, a random bystander offers help because it is the season, etc.

In a traditional narrative composition, if the Ex Machina approach is used it makes for a superficial or failed piece by modern standards. So how is it acceptable for Holiday compositions?

Many narratives span extensive time periods either within the singular narrative or within a series and inevitably draw on the 'Holiday' themes. Much like a straightforward Holiday composition, the narratives fall to the same superficial level of device yet, since it is 'Holiday' themed it is generally accepted by the audience despite the Ferias Ex Machina approach.

What do you think? Is Ferias Ex Machina a suitable device for a holiday narrative or should a piece strive to be more than a 'Holiday' composition?

Merry Christmas….

Storyboarding Timelines

In any visual composition it's necessary to have a plan of action, a concept that needs to be visualized. Taking that concept to a realized piece requires that certain elements are available for production and the primary means are creating a timeline and storyboards.

It's not possible to produce the conceptualized piece if the material, the shots that are needed to realize the piece are not available.

Recently, I was reviewing my series outline that I had conjured making notes as time passed and I found that the series while conceptualized was missing a number of elements. It was apparent that with three separate timelines and the initial story in the background to contend with, it was fast becoming unmanageable. The outline just didn't fill in the blanks that I was looking for to make sure it was cohesive and not a random series of events. The outline just wasn't working.

Taking the issue out of the strictly literary realm and applying the cinematographers law- 'Storyboard It' the creative issues evaporated.

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The visual approach to storyboarding begins with understanding the full purpose of the storyboards, the intent, who will see them and how detailed they will need to be for those purposes. What many don't realize is how relatively easy it is to create storyboards especially for narrative. These are not going to be an amazing artwork but can be as rudimentary as stick figures so long as the notes are detailed and there is a rough sketch of a scene. The primary difference between using storyboards for cinematography and using the boards for a written narrative is strictly the tools used to create the piece.

After the purpose of the storyboards is established the key scenes are selected. Any composition, any story is a culmination of specific scenes. The largest benefit of creating these boards is the ability to manipulate them physically. It becomes strikingly apparent when the storyboards are actually tacked up on the wall what scenes work, how the pacing and narrative flow work in the composition. It also becomes apparent how the actual timeline will flow.

The timeline in my case, was actually creating the separate timelines stacked in a simple excel sheet. The stories become abundantly clear with dividing points clearly denoted for a series. After the initial timeline was stretched out, the storyboards for the entirety were orchestrated filling in all of the 'missing pieces' that were sadly lacking from the overstuffed outlines.

The composition timeline behaves much like any historic timeline, there are significant events that effect the narrative either directly or indirectly and these are recorded. It's designed to give perspective on the piece.

A narrative composition is an assemblage of elements and often keeping those elements in a cohesive order can become quite unwieldy especially if there are multiple narratives that are layered together for a series. Many techniques can be utilized to organize the concept but creating a timeline with detailed storyboards is easily one of the most efficient means.

Composing Composition

Focal Points, setting, details, composition…

In the visual arts there are a variety of simplistic guides that can help an artist create a strong composition and with enough fore-thought it is actually possible to push the limits of a piece to something that the masses will regard highly.

One of the basic guides for crafting a strong composition in the visual arts that can also be reflected in a compelling narrative is the Rule of Thirds. In the 1783 Sir Joshua Reynolds describes this in unquantified terms as 'the balance of dark and light. This has since been refined as conceptualizing an image by dividing the image into nine equal parts with two horizontal and two vertical lines. The points at which these lines meet are considered the 'power points.'

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Two primary concepts that can be abstracted from this Rule of Thirds are the ideas of 'balancing light and dark' and utilizing 'power points' at equivocal lengths.

In a narrative the balance of light and dark is often more complex than visualizing shadows and highlights. The overall tone of a piece can determine the 'exposure' for the piece but the shadows or 'darkest moments' in the piece will need to be of significant contrast to add sufficient dimension to the work. Eg. If the narrative is filled with deaths then the darkest moments will all appear the same level. The same is true for the highlights of a piece. If all the high points or highlights of a piece are on equal ground then there will be no significant contrast between one moment and the next. When all of the highlights and shadows of a piece are equal then the composition will be a dull neutral gray.

While finding the right balance of light and dark is integral to providing contrast in a piece, it is also necessary to define the 'power points' of the composition. These are the most visually striking focal points or in a narrative, the most thrilling moments of the piece. Together with balancing light and dark, these power points will be the contrasting subjects of the piece. Each of the four selected points and the 'strike line' leading to that point are inherently where the most emphasis is derived for a piece. These highest highlights to the lowest shadows provide the depth and contrast necessary to drive interest in a piece, when the appropriate focal points are selected for the piece at precise intervals the overall composition becomes an interesting piece.

To further enhance the the composition it is necessary to choose the appropriate setting to provide the requisite contrast between the focal points and the subject(s) of the composition. It is also necessary to choose the appropriate depth of field for each composition to emphasize details and enhance the overall composition.

Whether creating a visually striking image or an emotionally striking narrative, the abstracted principles remain the same; contrast and balance for the light and dark of the piece as well as choosing the appropriate subject(s) for the 'power points' and strike lines that lead up to these points.

Narrative Arcology

Sustained, Structure, Sub-plots…

As a narrative is crafted its' creator strives to develop a self-contained world that feels believable and welcoming for an audience. Most often the piece is not a singular narrative but a comprehensive arrangement of narratives that are all self-contained yet influential and integral to forming the narrative.

Every narrative has a core element or theme that drives the story but each of these elements is also self-contained and complete. The primary components of this narrative arcology are the primary plot, each individual character's primary plot, the secondary sub-plots and the thematic components such as mystery, tension, anxiety and world building elements.

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Abstracting the perspective on a 'story' it is the point at which an audience begins viewing the lives of the individual characters. Something significant and contained has occurred in the lives of the characters that can be perceived as self-contained and complete story. It is this perspective that demonstrates one of the primary principals of the arcology concept, the self-contained and self-sustaining components to drive the primary element. As psychological profiling suggests, every individual experiences a form of narcissism that can be more dominant during early adulthood. This narcissism means that every individual believes that they are the star of their own story and in truth, they are. That means that every individual in a story is their own main character.

Many narratives address these separate sub-plots as a change in perspective to another character and ultimately reflect the complete impact of these self-contained narratives on the primary plot. Stories by Tolkien or Koontz demonstrate this separate but cohesive approach readily but the disadvantage of this approach is that often the reader can see the impact before it occurs. 

A secondary approach is to examine the full narrative for all of the individuals in-depth separately. The individuals reflect the events of their own narratives as they 'come into frame' in the primary plot but remain self-contained while contributing to the narrative arcology. Stories by Kelly Armstrong demonstrate this method quite clearly. One character may be distracted by a fight with a sibling when the main character asks for help with their problem. The main character may experience the fallout from that narrative but the actual narrative will remain self-contained.

A narrative is a bracket, a frame that is placed over any number of lives at a given point of time that can culminate in a decisive journey to conclusion. Each is a path that leads in one direction but has multiple paths that cross it to extend or add dimension to each path. The individual lives involved are each their own self-contained and self-sustaining narratives, sub-plots. Each individual is a component to the larger structure that makes the structure whole,  the narrative arcology.

Scaling Syndication

In every narrative work the suspense, tension and excitement work together to craft the perfect thriller, an amazing ride that keeps the audience entranced. Seldom does the creator view their work complete in one ride, almost every writer views the work as but a piece of a larger story.

While motivations for expanding a piece can range from the monetary to an intentional overarching theme or an overarching theme. There are also a multitude of ways to craft a series from the components of their first ride. Less common is developing additional stories based upon secondary characters from the first work and expanding into their own works. Another more frequent method of expanding the ride is to simply apply all of the original elements to another track. Taking the same characters and dropping them into another plot. These methods are quite prevalent in novellas, TV and even most sequels to the original piece. These are not, however, the true foundation for the Epic.

"The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book." - Mickey Spillane

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There are a number of components that need to be kept in check when crafting a true series that can expand across multiple rides culminating in one grande experience. The Epic is not only a series but an artfully woven piece that allows each component to stand on it's own as well as hold it's place in the larger narrative. This is analogous to crafting one large ride with such detail that it would be impossible for the audience to find the seams between the pieces.

As every journey begins with a single step, the same is true of the foundation for the series. The first narrative introduces the characters, setting and a problem that can be solved within the confines of the first ride while hinting at a larger arc. This is the same as crafting a 'hook' in the first piece. It draws the audience and leaves them wondering what comes next. The largest issue in crafting this element is maintaining the cohesiveness of the solitary ride. If the first piece ends with a less than satisfying ending to tie-in the next ride it will greatly reduce the chances of having the audience continue on to that next ride. The balance of the Thriller elements needs to be complete.

The subsequent steps in the series behave as the consistent thrilling ride with multiple twists, turns, ups and downs. Each narrative in this greater piece can focus on a multitude of sub-events that help the audience explore the world and characters through various trials. These serve to develop characters and demonstrate their place in the world, each is a complete ride in-of-itself yet they hint at something larger.

The timeline of a series is very fluid and often has been subject to influence from publication. While a piece can be constructed in such a way as to move through periods of time out of internal chronological order the strongest come from a consistent sense of progress. Typically timelines for installments in a series have gaps between those installments varying from months to years. These gaps permit writers to 'refresh' characters and even add additional elements to each new installment. The failure of this pacing is the audience may forget the previous ride and the Epic will lose some of its impact. Some series actually carry the narrative from one to the next with no time in between installments.

An Epic is defined by the over arching plot or theme that the audience needs to experience on a small scale before they finally reach that conclusion at the end of the series. Because the satisfaction of the excitement must match the suspense and tension of the ride, many series focus on a grande-scale world changing event. Like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series, the characters start on a small-scale adventure and end by changing the world. A great many Urban Fantasy and Thrillers rely on these as the tropes to make an Epic series. Just as many also fail because they do target such world shifting problems that breaks the audience's connection with the ride. Believability falls to the wayside and there is no recovering. Not every Epic needs a world changing event, it can still be as small as changing the world of a single character. In the series Veronica Mars, the entirety of the first plot arc centered on finding the true killer of the main characters' best friend. The arc did not change the world but changed the world for the protagonist. 

Crafting a perfect thrill ride that keeps the audience enraptured can be a challenge to keep that tension and excitement balance. The key to crafting the Epic is scaling. Every component is a cohesive thrill ride set at a given scale that alludes to something that drives the characters. Rapidly shifting scale from one installment to the next can break believability and sever the connection between audience and attraction.