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plutherusContinuing my series about the writing in the video game Life is Strange: Before the Storm.
For the whole series, see https://plutherus.dreamwidth.org/tag/lifeisstrange
The last scene was all about revealing character. This one advances the plot.
Warning again: Major spoilers ahead.
Since it is a game, there are some mechanisms you can use to convey information that you don’t have in a novel or TV. These include Chloe’s journal and her cell phone text messages. (“You can just say text. You don’t have to say message.”)
At the start of the scene there are a couple of journal entries and a text. All are humorous and refer to things that happened in the previous scene (and, in the case of the journal, the previous game).
The first journal entry mentions her wanting a car in the future and contains the phrase “Car first, embarrassing number of moving violations later.” A purely fan-service reference to the number of unpaid tickets we later learn she has.
The other refers to her interruption of Nathan’s bullying by Drew. “Why do I get the feeling I just prevented the assassination of baby Hitler.” Which is a rather heartbreaking statement for those who played the first game.
The text, on the other hand, is more relevant. In it, Victoria learns that Chloe has sabotaged her homework with her superior knowledge of chemistry and calls her a “Copper Uranium Nitrogen Tin”. The exchange is a joke, but also shows off that Chloe has a quick mind and a good education up to that point. Victoria of course sees only the delinquent in her and falls for it. The CUNSN deserves what she gets.
It’s a good, quick bit of character reveal there.
Gonna stop and mention one of my favorite bits of world building ever, just for how economical and clever it is. It’s from the TV series The Orville. The ship has just been attacked and the captain asks for the “Damage report”, as starship captain’s do.
The first officer looks over her console as it comes in, tells him about the hull breach, the structural damage on a couple of decks, no casualties, etc., then gets to “And Ensign Jones spilled coffee on his uniform.”
The captain looks over at her, scowls, and asks, “He put that in a damage report?” and she just kinda shrugs.
Three lines of dialog, played for laughs, and from it we learn:
The ship is damaged. Not critically, but it could get there if they don’t stop the attacks.
How the damage reports are compiled. This isn’t an automated scan by the computer, it is individuals filing their reports, and then they get filtered and compiled all the way up to the XO, who summarizes them for the captain.
This is not the Enterprise. The crew may be competent and even good at what they do, but for the most part we’re not dealing with Starfleet’s Finest here.
Beautiful, economic, and funny.
But, back to the game. Chloe and Rachel head into the drama lab where Rachel is preparing for her part as Prospera in the Tempest. After a couple of character bits for Chloe (where, remember, game not novel here, so you get to make the decisions about how cynical and how bold she is) , Rachel talks you into skipping school for the day to go with her on an adventure. We’ve already established how much Chloe skips anyway, so it doesn’t take much convincing.
They end up hopping a train and there’s some great character moments there, as the two girls begin to bond, which continues as they get to the park and play games with the telescopes.
Following that is another great example of using comedy while advancing the plot, I love this scene where they steal the wine. It’s a comedic, low-stakes game they’re playing, that reveals more of their characters and advances the plot. We see them cooperating, working together well. We also see that Rachel is definitely the instigator on their adventures, and Chloe the follower. Follower, but far from hapless. She definitely has her own ideas and the interplay between her and Rachel, and the way they’re messing with each other as much as they are with the picnickers whose wine they’re stealing had me laughing out loud. It’s a scene well worth looking at. They reveal more about their character. They deepen their relationship. And they obtain something - the bottle of wine - that is used to strong effect in the next scene. A comedic isn’t just a comedic moment.
The next scene, when they’re drinking the wine, nothing is said about it, but the acting/animation makes it obvious that Rachel is drinking far more than she’s sharing, and not just in a happy greedy way. Chloe’s facial expressions show she’s concerned more for her friend than she is for not getting her share of the stolen wine. In a novel of course, this would have to be described instead of conveyed through facial expressions. Maybe something like:
But, they get away with their caper, they’re bonding, laughing, everything is awesome, everybody’s happy. Then BAM! It all falls apart.
MASH was the expert at this technique - get ‘em laughing before hitting them where it hurts. The higher to lift your audience before you drop them, the farther they can fall. When movie reviewers talk about “A roller coaster of emotions” this is the kind of thing they’re talking about.
When they return to the junkyard, it gets worse. Rachel doesn’t want to talk to you and you get to feel abandoned all over again, just like with Max. Feeling you have nothing to lose, and desperate not to lose what you have, you ask her why? Why is she abandoning you?
And here’s the turning point. Chloe discovers her courage. She finally steps up, and actually cares about something. Cares enough to do what she never has before: open up and make herself vulnerable.
Rachel asks “What is it you think this is?” that you don’t want to lose.
You have two options at this point. You can tell her “A friendship” or “Something more”. The first time I played through this, I didn’t want to scare her off, so I chose “A friendship”. Later in the game, there’s an option to kiss her, which I never got. I think this is the moment that made the difference, an entire chapter before that. Because I was afraid to step up when given the chance, I lost the opportunity for a wonderful romance. There’s a lesson in there, not just for writers.
But, this time through, I chose “Something more”. She still refused, told me it can’t be. Not right now. Because reasons. Sorry. Still being abandoned, only now it hurts more. It is emotionally devastating. Good job.
So, Chloe gets all despondent, has another dream sequence, and her father in the dream recommends she goes to find Rachel because she needs her. Because of her dream, she knows to go to the tree they saw through the telescope. Seeing that she came all this way for her, Rachel doesn’t push her away this time. She tells Chloe everything, and starts the forest fire. It is implied that there is something supernatural about the fire. Just vague hints at this point. Chloe has mentioned her love of fire several times before this, so the forest fire serves both as foreshadowing and as payoff of previous hints.
For the whole series, see https://plutherus.dreamwidth.org/tag/lifeisstrange
The last scene was all about revealing character. This one advances the plot.
Warning again: Major spoilers ahead.
Since it is a game, there are some mechanisms you can use to convey information that you don’t have in a novel or TV. These include Chloe’s journal and her cell phone text messages. (“You can just say text. You don’t have to say message.”)
At the start of the scene there are a couple of journal entries and a text. All are humorous and refer to things that happened in the previous scene (and, in the case of the journal, the previous game).
The first journal entry mentions her wanting a car in the future and contains the phrase “Car first, embarrassing number of moving violations later.” A purely fan-service reference to the number of unpaid tickets we later learn she has.
The other refers to her interruption of Nathan’s bullying by Drew. “Why do I get the feeling I just prevented the assassination of baby Hitler.” Which is a rather heartbreaking statement for those who played the first game.
The text, on the other hand, is more relevant. In it, Victoria learns that Chloe has sabotaged her homework with her superior knowledge of chemistry and calls her a “Copper Uranium Nitrogen Tin”. The exchange is a joke, but also shows off that Chloe has a quick mind and a good education up to that point. Victoria of course sees only the delinquent in her and falls for it. The CUNSN deserves what she gets.
It’s a good, quick bit of character reveal there.
Gonna stop and mention one of my favorite bits of world building ever, just for how economical and clever it is. It’s from the TV series The Orville. The ship has just been attacked and the captain asks for the “Damage report”, as starship captain’s do.
The first officer looks over her console as it comes in, tells him about the hull breach, the structural damage on a couple of decks, no casualties, etc., then gets to “And Ensign Jones spilled coffee on his uniform.”
The captain looks over at her, scowls, and asks, “He put that in a damage report?” and she just kinda shrugs.
Three lines of dialog, played for laughs, and from it we learn:
The ship is damaged. Not critically, but it could get there if they don’t stop the attacks.
How the damage reports are compiled. This isn’t an automated scan by the computer, it is individuals filing their reports, and then they get filtered and compiled all the way up to the XO, who summarizes them for the captain.
This is not the Enterprise. The crew may be competent and even good at what they do, but for the most part we’re not dealing with Starfleet’s Finest here.
Beautiful, economic, and funny.
But, back to the game. Chloe and Rachel head into the drama lab where Rachel is preparing for her part as Prospera in the Tempest. After a couple of character bits for Chloe (where, remember, game not novel here, so you get to make the decisions about how cynical and how bold she is) , Rachel talks you into skipping school for the day to go with her on an adventure. We’ve already established how much Chloe skips anyway, so it doesn’t take much convincing.
They end up hopping a train and there’s some great character moments there, as the two girls begin to bond, which continues as they get to the park and play games with the telescopes.
Following that is another great example of using comedy while advancing the plot, I love this scene where they steal the wine. It’s a comedic, low-stakes game they’re playing, that reveals more of their characters and advances the plot. We see them cooperating, working together well. We also see that Rachel is definitely the instigator on their adventures, and Chloe the follower. Follower, but far from hapless. She definitely has her own ideas and the interplay between her and Rachel, and the way they’re messing with each other as much as they are with the picnickers whose wine they’re stealing had me laughing out loud. It’s a scene well worth looking at. They reveal more about their character. They deepen their relationship. And they obtain something - the bottle of wine - that is used to strong effect in the next scene. A comedic isn’t just a comedic moment.
The next scene, when they’re drinking the wine, nothing is said about it, but the acting/animation makes it obvious that Rachel is drinking far more than she’s sharing, and not just in a happy greedy way. Chloe’s facial expressions show she’s concerned more for her friend than she is for not getting her share of the stolen wine. In a novel of course, this would have to be described instead of conveyed through facial expressions. Maybe something like:
Rachel took another giant gulp of the wine and then another as I reached for it.
Laughing, I pulled it out of her hand. She departed with it reluctantly. Seeing her expression, I took a couple of small sips then let her take it back. By the time I got it back again there were only drops left. She needed it more than me. Wish I knew why.
But, they get away with their caper, they’re bonding, laughing, everything is awesome, everybody’s happy. Then BAM! It all falls apart.
MASH was the expert at this technique - get ‘em laughing before hitting them where it hurts. The higher to lift your audience before you drop them, the farther they can fall. When movie reviewers talk about “A roller coaster of emotions” this is the kind of thing they’re talking about.
When they return to the junkyard, it gets worse. Rachel doesn’t want to talk to you and you get to feel abandoned all over again, just like with Max. Feeling you have nothing to lose, and desperate not to lose what you have, you ask her why? Why is she abandoning you?
And here’s the turning point. Chloe discovers her courage. She finally steps up, and actually cares about something. Cares enough to do what she never has before: open up and make herself vulnerable.
Rachel asks “What is it you think this is?” that you don’t want to lose.
You have two options at this point. You can tell her “A friendship” or “Something more”. The first time I played through this, I didn’t want to scare her off, so I chose “A friendship”. Later in the game, there’s an option to kiss her, which I never got. I think this is the moment that made the difference, an entire chapter before that. Because I was afraid to step up when given the chance, I lost the opportunity for a wonderful romance. There’s a lesson in there, not just for writers.
But, this time through, I chose “Something more”. She still refused, told me it can’t be. Not right now. Because reasons. Sorry. Still being abandoned, only now it hurts more. It is emotionally devastating. Good job.
So, Chloe gets all despondent, has another dream sequence, and her father in the dream recommends she goes to find Rachel because she needs her. Because of her dream, she knows to go to the tree they saw through the telescope. Seeing that she came all this way for her, Rachel doesn’t push her away this time. She tells Chloe everything, and starts the forest fire. It is implied that there is something supernatural about the fire. Just vague hints at this point. Chloe has mentioned her love of fire several times before this, so the forest fire serves both as foreshadowing and as payoff of previous hints.
