Jean Grey

Unit 72 – Computer Game Story Development

Who Is Jean Grey?

• Age?

• Status?

• Backstory

• Going forwards

Jean Grey Speaks

• But how does she sound?

• Authoritative?

• Approachable?

• In control?

Activity

• Write one line of dialogue for the following:

A Soldier

An Alien (who speaks English!)

A Lawyer

Characters Tell Stories

• In a moment you’ll be set a story writing task for your blog.

• Before all of that – let’s create a timeline of Jean’s life

• In pairs, please use your powers of research to create a brief timeline from 1963 to 2009– Include key facts like Phoenix/Phoenix Force– Marriage to Scott– Significant stories or storylines relating to Jean

Storytelling Devices

• Stories come in all shapes and sizes – we’ve seen and read a couple already.

• To get from point A to point Z there are a few devices you could use. – The Hook– The Shit/Deep Shit Point– The Reveal

The Hook

• Some stories hook you in straightaway: RPGs are great at this….

– Mysterious deaths– Strange visitors– Weird symbolism

What is the purpose of a hook?

Shit Points

• Some stories put their protagonists and antagonists under the gun. Some story liners and writers refer to this as the shit or deep shit point because bad luck in games and film can often come in pairs!

– Your father is a very dark lord– The character gets so far and his/her target is shot dead– Your character accidentally (on purpose) learns about the

rouse he/she has been lured into

Can you associate with any of that in gaming or films/tv?

The Reveal

• As with the last slide, sometimes thing are there to test, but often they can be there to draw up all of the loose ends. That’s called a denouement – we’ll talk about that later…

– Bad guy revealed– Missing gold/treasure found in unlikely place– Protagonist has a reason for living once more (barf!)

Does it feel familiar?

Golden Ages of Stories

• Cave dwellings• Fables and myths• Old Wives Tales• War Stories

Do you know any? Tell us one!

Plenary

• We’ve covered loads of ground and so far have a good foundation to build on.

• Using 1 character in depth, you can often get a story told relatively quickly.

• Storytelling has been around for much longer than any of us really know (or could speak)

• Devices are there to keep your audience interested… USE THEM!

Jean Grey Walks Into A Bar

By the ocean there is a bar… They called it Hannah’s Roadhouse once… I don’t know what they call it anymore. I just knew that she’d come and bring that thing with her. That thing that to me, was so precious, so deeply moving that just looking at it would blind me. But I had to have it and I knew that I couldn’t have it if she didn’t show up today…There she was, red hair with a slight orange fleck in the Ocean’s sunrise. She wasn’t old, in fact, she was new, as if reborn, she didn’t see me as she opened the door to the bar. I let her walk, I had no plans. She bought 2 drinks and sat at the bar……..

Jean Grey Walks Into A Bar

Now what?

Please blog for next week’s lesson….. Failure to do so equals concern notes…