Be Brave with Your Fear

Did you ever want to tell the story after the story, but you decided that you couldn't because beginning at that point requires an emotional investment in the characters from the audience for it to mean anything to them? Did you ever want to have an event in your story that seems arbitrary, but has a good reason behind it, it's just that you can't tell it too early or you will spoil it? Did you ever want to tell a story in chronological order, but you couldn't because no one would stick with it long enough for the right things to happen to make for a great pay off later on? Did you ever want to tell a very subtle story, but it was just too much effort to build in everything to grab and keep audience and not leave the subtlety lost in the clutter? There are a dozen more questions like this that can be asked. There are dozens of variations on each and every one of them.

Some of these scenarios have resolutions. They can be conquered. The first question is do you want to surmount the obstacle? Sometimes the question is are you brave enough to embark on such a challenge? Will you stick with it or give in when the pressure becomes too much? The worst pressure may come from within. Just like last week I'm asking you to consider what happens when we break from script and do something different rather the same old thing--whether the same old thing is bad in the first place, or especially if it does work already. It's one thing to jettison a failed idea, to not repeat bad execution, but what if the thing are you looking to replace always works, gets certain people going, and ultimately is what will definitely sell to some fraction of the desired audience? You might ask who am I to do these things. I may be the one to do them or not, but I am here advocating them to others.

Are you going to do such a thing now? Be brave; be bold. If you are telling your stories and getting them in front of people, no matter how many or few, then you are already one of the brave. Look at the positives. Turn negatives around into positives. Think big even if you're doing it by thinking small. Bring the excitement whenever you can, as hard as you can. Go now and be the object of fear--not the recipient--tell your stories. Remember to scare them silly and leave them panting for more. I'll leave you to it.

Mood: invigorated.
Music: You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) by Meat Loaf and Brave New World by Iron Maiden.

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Subtle, Real Subtle... Actually No

I just watched the movie "Paranormal Activity" for the first time on Monday. It is a slow burning film with subtle horror for the most part, as far as horror movie goes. It is very inline with movies like "What Lies Beneath" as much it is similar to "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" in their strict documentary style with less than stable camera shots (though P.A. is much smoother with the camera) and lack of soundtrack or score unless such sounds are rooted in the scene. After watching the movie I was struck with the idea for this Hump Day Horror. This mostly applies to movies but it could also be to used for novels and creating scenarios for role-playing games. Subtle is good, but sometimes, or rather there reaches a point where, it's time to take off the gloves and go for the blatant. It can be a fine balancing act to decide when and where to do either.

Looking through the discussions for a movie like Paranormal Activity at the different sites illustrates the vast differences between people expectation of what is scary. There is a disappointment with the scare levels, with, in essence, the film's reality as it pertains to how paranormal happenings occur. There is also the old incorrect stand-by that one person's preference overrides everyone else's. This is all a part of that balance in its own subtle ways, but isn't exactly my point. I was watching the movie and thinking how I like subtle, but I like it to pay off too. While I enjoy these slow little movies as I call them I like the in your face horrors more. That does not preclude subtle. This is especially true if the subtle parts stick with you and provides ongoing horror after the movie or book or game session is over.

The point is that subtle is fine, subtle is great. It's a needed part of good layering. It can bind action to themes. It can be a by-product of deep thinking peeking through, things only hinted at, hiding in the fringes of a subject matter. That is the way much of the world works and that approximation in fiction adds realism, grounds the fantastical, and as previously stated provides something to mull over, debate about and savour after the fact. The benefit of subtlety and layering is the strength it adds to a work upon repeat reading or viewing. It also widens the audience. Everyone gets something out of it. It's like the grown up or horror equivalent to animated comedies with obvious jokes for the children and the savvier, mature or more intellectual humour--or requiring foreknowledge such as with in-jokes--for the parents watching the feature with them.

Mood: bifurcated.
Music: Dragula by Rob Zombie and La Mer by Nine Inch Nails.

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