Forms of Story

Story fascinates me. Maybe you don’t nerd out as hard as I

do, maybe you nerd out even more. Every once in a while, I look at story in its many forms, and I am just wowed. Not just at the stories themselves, but at how the stories are built from the ground up and what contributes to them. When was the last time you contemplated how story forms only work within certain frameworks, for example? In my case, it was a few weeks ago, a few days ago, oh, and today, too. Maybe you have only thought about it in the box of why books are always better than movies, and yet we still crave movie versions of our favorite books. I have really been mulling that over, especially as my students beg me to skip reading the novel they are working on to just watch the movie instead. Some of them took it upon themselves, and now I have to fight them to keep from giving away spoilers. However, beyond the fact that this is an English class, we are going to be reading the book, it is like so many other cases where the book is just better. Which is what sent me on my most recent ponderings about how story functions in different mediums.

War Room by Fabry is an interesting example because it

circumvents one expectation while maintaining others. It is a reverse adaptation in that it was a movie that was adapted into a novel. That fascinates me, and I find it rather interesting that the book is still better than the movie. Why? If a film was so good/meaningful that it was made into a book, then shouldn’t the film at least be equal? Well if that was the case, the same would be said about great books becoming movies. A parallel quandary is thinking about those who only know the movie and can laud it as if it were the book. In analyzing this notion, the factor we will set aside for today is the adapter's skill. Sometimes their skill and passion allow them to beat the odds or meet them; look at the original Lord of the Rings trilogy movies.

What it comes down to is that the story lives in different

ways depending on its form. Books will always be better because they offer more length, detail, and nuance than other formats. Few people would want to sit through a whole reading of The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien, more but fewer the extended Peter Jackson film, and more the theater cut versions, and yet there are many who still find them too long and involved. Movies use music, facial expressions, and visual action to augment the language in the story in a way that cannot be replicated fully in print. Novels use tricks of literary elements and cadence, but rely more on the reader being able to interpret those cues. Movies and Novels are not hot-swapable. Adaptations require the story to meet the medium in which it is to be told. It even extends into storytelling in video games.

I played Clair Obscur Expedition 33 written by Jennifer

Svedberg-Yen, Guillaume Broche, and Victor Deleard aand developed by Sandfall Interactive when it first came out, and I have been chewing over the story ever since. In fact, it kick-started one of these rounds of considering story in different formats. You will find it difficult to find someone who claims Clair Obscur’s weakness is storytelling. For me, and many others, it slaked a deep thirst that has become the void of shallow, vacuous storytelling much of modern media has become. A fun game play and good music composition, and it is unsurprising that they have seen success.

However, did you notice the nuances of being a video game

that framed the story's structure? An easy-to-grab example comes right from the prologue, where Maelle duels Gustave so he can de-stress before confronting his feelings and the horror of the day when he meets Sophie. Now, in a cheeky summary, you could say Maelle’s argument for the duel is along the lines of, “hey, old man, how about you let me try (and maybe succeed) in kicking your butt so you can feel better before seeing your gomaging ex.” Doesn't feel like it makes sense. What man would feel better facing his ex after beating or being beaten by a teenage girl who is in many ways his daughter? Men, feel free to chime in. You could make an argument that it is just messing around or that is the type of relationship they have, but it doesn’t change that when you sit and think about it, you have to make excuses for it, yet you didn’t probably even think of it while playing. Why? It works for us because all video games have a tutorial phase, and this is it. So, no, it totally makes sense within the framework that the story lives.

There are so many examples of this in Clair Obscur and

other video games. If I wrote a scene like that in one of my novels, you may second-guess my writing chops; my proofreaders/editors would definitely mark it as something to cut. However, in a video game, it fits because that is how stories are told.

What makes a good story doesn’t change much, but how it

is told does, depending on mode, time, and culture. Isn’t that fascinating and beautiful! If you think so, too, you may be a story nerd like me. Also, show of hands, who wanted to go on lengthy side tangents with the stories I just discussed? I sure did. Had to rein it in tight just to stay on topic. That is the power of story. It is connection, passion, discussion, and reaction. No matter whether it dresses up as a book, movie, video game, or something else. Story fascinates and captures beyond the one being told. If you enjoy thinking about the ebbing nuance of story, join in. I love it here.