- The Goal: all of the characters are striving for the same goal, but for different reasons (they can even be mutually exclusive). The goal itself is something very important (to the characters).
- The Journey: naturally, the characters have to work together to attain this goal. There'll be a leader, which will produce conflict.
- The Setting: no other people - the characters can't escape from each other. Also danger - there has to be a real sense of risk to the endeavour and to the characters themselves.
- The Characters: they have to feel like real people. This goes without saying for all characters, but with much sci-fi and fantasy being plot-driven, the characters don't need to be as well thought out as they could be. In Stalker, the many layers of each person's character are the story.
- Conflict: there are many sources of conflict: the different motivations, abrasive characters, one character knowing more than others (secrets are a subset of this).
- The Philosophy: Stalker has one world view, the other characters different ones. This leads to conflict, but it also works in revers, with the conflict bringing out these ideas. Not only that, but it forces the viewer to think about their own philosophy, because of the film's
- Openendedness: not everything in Stalker is shown, and the end is ambiguous. This forces the viewer to extrapolate, and leaves room for their own ideas.
Not, of course, an exhaustive list, but I'm just trying to clarify, mainly for myself, what it is that I really need to work on. For example, having written this I now know that I need to work on the characters' motivations.
Comments (2)
You are going for the openendedness then? >.<
@fat_squirrel - Mrow, maybe. Not exactly sure yet, but there will probably be openendedness as regards the relationships etc. Decidedly less than in Stalker though.