![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
31 Plays in 31 Days, #16 - "Disguise"
Aug. 16th, 2018 08:50 amAn early scene from Mrs. Frost. One thing I've managed to do pretty well up to this point with the Hawking plays is make it possible to follow each play without necessarily having seen the others. For the first three, each case more or less stands alone, with the continuity providing depth but never being necessary to understanding the story. I kind of figured as long as it was always clear that Mrs. Hawking and Mary had a Holmes and Watson thing going on, you had the basics of what you needed to know.
WIth part four... that started to break down a little. Gilded Cages is a story ABOUT history, and while I don't think it was totally inaccessible, it did involve building on things we'd established before— Mrs. Hawking's unhappiness in her marriage, the stillbirth they had, even a reference to an old case. And since everything about part V grows directly out of part IV, I'm concerned the problem will be more serious here. I can't allow it to be unclear what the scenario is going in, or have it rely on having seen the last installment; then the Continuity Lock-Out will set in. But I don't want to be drowning the audience in details they don't absolutely need, which will not only bore them and slow things down, but spoil part IV for those who haven't seen it.
In scenes like this one, there are places for mentions of the past. But I absolutely HATE when characters recap details they ALL ALREADY KNOW for the sake of the audience, in a manner that no human being would actually talk. But there's got to be some clarity, or it won't make sense.
I'll have to find the right level. It may be that the audience doesn't NEED to know everything. Maybe I just need to figure out what the bare minimum is to make the story clear. But I am concerned a LOT of detail is needed, given it's not just about setting up the central conflict— superhero versus super villain —but the nuance of it, old friend versus old friend.
Hm. Putting it like that, maybe it's simpler than I thought. Thinking of it like that may be useful to me.
( Day #16 - Disguise )
WIth part four... that started to break down a little. Gilded Cages is a story ABOUT history, and while I don't think it was totally inaccessible, it did involve building on things we'd established before— Mrs. Hawking's unhappiness in her marriage, the stillbirth they had, even a reference to an old case. And since everything about part V grows directly out of part IV, I'm concerned the problem will be more serious here. I can't allow it to be unclear what the scenario is going in, or have it rely on having seen the last installment; then the Continuity Lock-Out will set in. But I don't want to be drowning the audience in details they don't absolutely need, which will not only bore them and slow things down, but spoil part IV for those who haven't seen it.
In scenes like this one, there are places for mentions of the past. But I absolutely HATE when characters recap details they ALL ALREADY KNOW for the sake of the audience, in a manner that no human being would actually talk. But there's got to be some clarity, or it won't make sense.
I'll have to find the right level. It may be that the audience doesn't NEED to know everything. Maybe I just need to figure out what the bare minimum is to make the story clear. But I am concerned a LOT of detail is needed, given it's not just about setting up the central conflict— superhero versus super villain —but the nuance of it, old friend versus old friend.
Hm. Putting it like that, maybe it's simpler than I thought. Thinking of it like that may be useful to me.
( Day #16 - Disguise )
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}