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Paper on Gimmics In Sci-Fi
croxis
I am the walrus
in Zocalo v2.0
Quick paper I wrote up tonight that's due tomorrow on gimmics in science fiction. I'd thought I'd share and see what you guys think.
[quote]
For a story to be successful it must suspend the disbelief of the audience. Each genera must jump through different hurtles for the different mediums to accomplish this goal. Some are more difficult than others. Science Fiction, as well as Fantasy, settings take place outside the common every-day experience in varying degrees. The backdrop of these generas are also widely diverse with settings in the present or near future, the distance medieval past to millennia in the future. Sad enough the medium to convey entertainment can not always realistically reproduce reality. The use of gimmicks in a story are the product of either the limitations of the genera, lazinesses or lack of talent on the part of the story teller, or simply a lack of expertise or knowledge of the given field.
Gimmicks, devices used in stories that don't follow or violate some kind of property in our universe, are sometimes used by storytellers to overcome the limitations of the storytelling medium. The most restrictive of the mediums is that of the silver screen. The largest of these limitations is the budget. One of the first and most popular gimmick is artificial gravity on vesicles in space. Recreating free fall is quite expensive, especially before the more recent advancements in computer aided special effects. Space Operas posses the luxury of advanced technology where gravity can be generated in some fashion. More near future settings take advantage of the forces exerted on a person inside a spinning cylinder as seen in 2001 a Space Odyssey or one thrown on the International Space Station in Mission to Mars.
Another very common gimmick is sound in space. Most space, except for nebula, contain too few particles to relay sound vibrations. This gimmick isn't a limitation of the budget, alas it would save money. The reason for sound effects in space is for convention for the audience. Our daily lives are filled with ambient sound and while 2001 made sure to omit any sound effects in vacuum, it would make for a very boring space battle. Even then 2001 and Serenity fill most of the silent space scenes with music unless the storyteller is driving the point that they are doing the physics correctly.
Artificial gravity serves another purpose on illustrating the ignorance of the story teller. The movie which figuratively rapes my intelligence is the science displayed in Star Wars Episode 3. It is assumed that artificial gravity is generated with the force always perpendicular to the habitable flooring. In the first few minutes the ship began to lose orbit and tilted nose first and everything fell to the nose of the vessel as if they were only a few kilometers from the surface. Instead of creating more action and tensions many people, even those not trained in physics, could tell that something was not wrong and belief fell out of suspension faster than a comet from Deep Impact.
Television contains less restrictions than theatrical story telling. While television series have less monetary resources they are blessed with more story time to flesh out ideas. Star Trek, a series riddled with technological and physical gimmicks, spends almost 30 television seasons to explain the hows and whys and the number of ways the script writers can kill a key character but bring them back to life. Many instances the Gimmicks were put into place to explain things that were not originally considered. One such example is the deflector dish. A micrometeor impact could be catastrophic at the speeds executed in the series. The deflector array protects the spacecraft by somehow removing these dangerous particles from the ships path. Why such a device is needed when there is advanced force field shielding technology seems a bit bizarre.
Such technology also allows easy pathways for the story teller to take to get the heroes out of a crisis. One would run out of fingers the number of times the ramscoop, the deflector, or modifying some power coupling solved a problem. Stories are much more engaging when the problems are caused by people and are solved by people. Using technological gimmicks as a middle man usually destroys the joy.
Storytellers in any medium, from the pure freedom of the written word to the visual presentation, also invent things that have no real life examples. One example involves Star Trek the original series. Initial the engines used lithium crystals in the engine, however lithium crystals exist on Earth with well document properties. Instead of researching these properties and fitting the story within the scope of the behaviors of the universe the storytellers changed the technology to dilithium crystals. In counterpoint the television series Firefly focus is on character driven plot. Despite the futuristic backdrop the specifics on many kinds of technology is never mentioned. This allows for more intimate story telling than a story about the possibilities of technology.
There is no crime in presenting a story whos purpose is to explain technology, science and the direction it could go. Rocheworld executes this goal in a very effectively. That particular story appears to be devoid of useless gimmicks as the purpose of every element is to drive the story and its message forward. Regrettably many storytellers choose not to research the associated topics or are bound by the inherent limitations of the medium. But as long as belief is suspended and the pages keep turning, the viewer keeps returning, or the audience doesn't even think about where they really are, does it really matter?[/quote]
[quote]
For a story to be successful it must suspend the disbelief of the audience. Each genera must jump through different hurtles for the different mediums to accomplish this goal. Some are more difficult than others. Science Fiction, as well as Fantasy, settings take place outside the common every-day experience in varying degrees. The backdrop of these generas are also widely diverse with settings in the present or near future, the distance medieval past to millennia in the future. Sad enough the medium to convey entertainment can not always realistically reproduce reality. The use of gimmicks in a story are the product of either the limitations of the genera, lazinesses or lack of talent on the part of the story teller, or simply a lack of expertise or knowledge of the given field.
Gimmicks, devices used in stories that don't follow or violate some kind of property in our universe, are sometimes used by storytellers to overcome the limitations of the storytelling medium. The most restrictive of the mediums is that of the silver screen. The largest of these limitations is the budget. One of the first and most popular gimmick is artificial gravity on vesicles in space. Recreating free fall is quite expensive, especially before the more recent advancements in computer aided special effects. Space Operas posses the luxury of advanced technology where gravity can be generated in some fashion. More near future settings take advantage of the forces exerted on a person inside a spinning cylinder as seen in 2001 a Space Odyssey or one thrown on the International Space Station in Mission to Mars.
Another very common gimmick is sound in space. Most space, except for nebula, contain too few particles to relay sound vibrations. This gimmick isn't a limitation of the budget, alas it would save money. The reason for sound effects in space is for convention for the audience. Our daily lives are filled with ambient sound and while 2001 made sure to omit any sound effects in vacuum, it would make for a very boring space battle. Even then 2001 and Serenity fill most of the silent space scenes with music unless the storyteller is driving the point that they are doing the physics correctly.
Artificial gravity serves another purpose on illustrating the ignorance of the story teller. The movie which figuratively rapes my intelligence is the science displayed in Star Wars Episode 3. It is assumed that artificial gravity is generated with the force always perpendicular to the habitable flooring. In the first few minutes the ship began to lose orbit and tilted nose first and everything fell to the nose of the vessel as if they were only a few kilometers from the surface. Instead of creating more action and tensions many people, even those not trained in physics, could tell that something was not wrong and belief fell out of suspension faster than a comet from Deep Impact.
Television contains less restrictions than theatrical story telling. While television series have less monetary resources they are blessed with more story time to flesh out ideas. Star Trek, a series riddled with technological and physical gimmicks, spends almost 30 television seasons to explain the hows and whys and the number of ways the script writers can kill a key character but bring them back to life. Many instances the Gimmicks were put into place to explain things that were not originally considered. One such example is the deflector dish. A micrometeor impact could be catastrophic at the speeds executed in the series. The deflector array protects the spacecraft by somehow removing these dangerous particles from the ships path. Why such a device is needed when there is advanced force field shielding technology seems a bit bizarre.
Such technology also allows easy pathways for the story teller to take to get the heroes out of a crisis. One would run out of fingers the number of times the ramscoop, the deflector, or modifying some power coupling solved a problem. Stories are much more engaging when the problems are caused by people and are solved by people. Using technological gimmicks as a middle man usually destroys the joy.
Storytellers in any medium, from the pure freedom of the written word to the visual presentation, also invent things that have no real life examples. One example involves Star Trek the original series. Initial the engines used lithium crystals in the engine, however lithium crystals exist on Earth with well document properties. Instead of researching these properties and fitting the story within the scope of the behaviors of the universe the storytellers changed the technology to dilithium crystals. In counterpoint the television series Firefly focus is on character driven plot. Despite the futuristic backdrop the specifics on many kinds of technology is never mentioned. This allows for more intimate story telling than a story about the possibilities of technology.
There is no crime in presenting a story whos purpose is to explain technology, science and the direction it could go. Rocheworld executes this goal in a very effectively. That particular story appears to be devoid of useless gimmicks as the purpose of every element is to drive the story and its message forward. Regrettably many storytellers choose not to research the associated topics or are bound by the inherent limitations of the medium. But as long as belief is suspended and the pages keep turning, the viewer keeps returning, or the audience doesn't even think about where they really are, does it really matter?[/quote]
Comments
I also like the references to 2001. To me this is the pinnacle of science-fiction movie making. Clark and Kubrick were uncompromising in their approach to this film, and while it may not be the most accessible of all science fiction, it’s definitely the one of the best. What is also unique about 2001 is that while its not necessarily tech driven, technology is a central theme of the movie.
Another film that does a very good job of using extremely advanced tech to only support the story, not tell it was the original Star Wars. It was a very character driven movie that only provides the tech as means, not as an end itself. Matter of fact, the thread running through the first 3 movies tends to eschew technology for the more powerful force.
Jake
Nebulae are still too sparse to carry sound. In fact, the density of a nebula is still far lower than what we can create in the labs now.
The other point is a plot point for Episode III, the book describes that part od the damage the ship sustained was to the artificial gravity systems and has Grievous ordering the bridge crew to get it fixed.
I'm actually going to see 2001 on a big screen Friday night with some friends. It's been at least 20 years since I've headr of it being shown in a theatre.
(edited to correct a typo)
Jake
Jake