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Stop with your logic | |
Posted By: Cody Miller <cody@halo4.isnotcanon.net> | Date: 12/28/12 1:49 a.m. |
I'm actually kind of surprised by ennui or in some cases outright dislike of the Halo 4 story here and among Halo fans. If this is not the general consensus then by all means correct me, but it seems most people are not on board. While I admit what 343 is doing with the expanded universe is probably going to ruin the Halo universe forever, if you simply ignore all that and concentrate only on what Halo 4 has to offer, I found it to be compelling in terms of emotional storytelling. When you look at the first two Star Wars prequels, two of the most well known and prevalent criticisms approach their critique from opposite ends. You have the Plinkett reviews, which for the most part critique the films by picking apart the logic of them, and then you have the Phantom Editor who picks apart and seeks to correct the deficiencies of emotional engagement with his recuts. As fun as the Plinkett reviews are, I guarantee you that none of the things he nitpicks are what made you leave the theatre feeling disappointed. What left you sour was the lack of emotional engagement. Most films don't make a lick of sense when you break them down logically, but as long as they hit the right emotional beats, then the film works. A New Hope. The Death Star approaches Yavin, and begins orbiting the moon. What follows is one of the best action sequences in film history. But that makes no sense logically. Why did the rebels not lead the Death Star to a remote system to mount their assault instead of to their actual base? Why did the Death Star orbit the planet instead of blowing up Yavin, then with a clear shot blow up the moon with the rebel base on the other side? Why do the fighters enter the trench so far away from the exhaust port? Why not drop in 200 feet away and bypass all those guns? None of that matters, because the sequence is so engaging. It's gripping emotionally, and it is effective. This is the key. So while Plinkett picks apart logically what was wrong with the first two prequels, the Phantom Editor's changes actually make the movies better. If all Plinkett's nit picks were fixed, you would STILL not be engaged by the film, whereas all those logical holes are still there in the two recuts but the films work better (The Phantom Edit Marginally improves the phantom menace, while Attack of the Phantom substantially improves Attack of the Clones). Plinkett's main criticism of Attack of the Clones is that Anakin is a whiny bitch, and realistically Padme would not fall in love with him. Probably true. But does that matter at all? Unlikely couples exist everywhere in film. Who gets with whom is governed by the script; the real issue is having the audience care about the romance. The real problem was that the emotional aspects didn't work. If you haven't seen Attack of the Phantom, do it, and you'll see how editing can make the romance work much better on an emotional level. (It's shocking really how much better it is). The point of all this, is that I see a lot of Plinkett Style logical criticism of the Halo 4 story, but to be totally honest I think it hit all the emotional beats to where none of that mattered at all while playing through. I felt it worked on that level. It could have been better sure, but honestly it's second only to Halo in terms of emotional satisfaction (in terms of purely the narrative). I came at this from the perspective of not really giving two shits about the books and the forerunner saga, so perhaps that perspective enabled me to emotionally engage while others weren't. I don't know what the reason is. Who knows. I cut a TV pilot recently. Getting the story to logically make sense was a huge challenge. The producers were concerned about this, and urged me to make it make sense. I was able to do this, but while it logically made sense, it was not engaging. On the second try I ignored logic, and aimed only for the emotional beats to the story. The resulting story did not make perfect logical sense, but was very engaging. In fact, they told me when screened for test audiences absolutely zero people complained about the story not making sense, despite it being a bit messy. Logic and coherence does not make a story good. On some level Halo 4 must not have engaged people emotionally otherwise they wouldn't hate it, but I can't help think that the reason why is that people went into it with certain expectations, just looking to pick it apart the moment something was off in order to find fault with 343's decisions and use shortcomings as evidence that they aren't fit to carry the franchise forward. Narcogen, you totally did this. The Loftus approach is not how you get better stories, and it's not how you enjoy yourself.
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Replies: |
Stop with your logic | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 1:49 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic *SP* | Jaydee | 12/28/12 2:44 a.m. |
I.. Uhhh.... Agree...? With.... You.... | Lurono | 12/28/12 3:22 a.m. |
Also meant Adywan instead of Adi-Wan *NM* | Lurono | 12/28/12 3:26 a.m. |
Re: I.. Uhhh.... Agree...? With.... You.... | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 11:38 a.m. |
Email sent *NM* | Lurono | 12/28/12 8:56 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | uberfoop | 12/28/12 3:22 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic *SP* | rhubarb | 12/28/12 5:39 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | DEEP NNN | 12/28/12 7:43 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Metalingus627 | 12/28/12 9:43 a.m. |
I like this post. *NM* | SonofMacPhisto | 12/28/12 10:58 a.m. |
A nice hypothesis... | NsU Soldier | 12/28/12 11:05 a.m. |
Re: A nice hypothesis... | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 11:31 a.m. |
Re: A nice hypothesis... | Leisandir | 12/28/12 11:53 a.m. |
Re: A nice hypothesis... | SonofMacPhisto | 12/28/12 11:55 a.m. |
Re: A nice hypothesis... | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 12:11 p.m. |
Re: A nice hypothesis... | SonofMacPhisto | 12/28/12 5:01 p.m. |
Re: A nice hypothesis... | NsU Soldier | 12/28/12 12:19 p.m. |
This! | Chewbaccawakka | 12/28/12 12:59 p.m. |
The Loftus Approach | Leviathan | 12/28/12 11:16 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/28/12 11:24 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | mc_leprechaun | 12/28/12 11:27 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | The Lionheart | 12/28/12 5:28 p.m. |
Qouth the Falcon, "YES!" *NM* | NsU Soldier | 12/28/12 11:33 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 11:35 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | SonGoharotto | 12/28/12 11:38 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/28/12 3:09 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 3:22 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/28/12 5:56 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 12:47 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 1:26 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Simpsons Rule | 12/29/12 1:56 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | uberfoop | 12/29/12 5:15 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Simpsons Rule | 12/29/12 2:49 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | uberfoop | 12/29/12 9:46 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/29/12 9:52 p.m. |
Talking about this? *IMG* | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 4:54 p.m. |
Re: Talking about this? *IMG* | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/30/12 5:52 p.m. |
Ah, okay. | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 6:03 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Gravemind | 12/30/12 5:07 p.m. |
Thank you for this post. *NM* | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 4:15 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Ragashingo | 12/29/12 2:42 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/29/12 11:21 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 11:56 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Leisandir | 12/29/12 1:20 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 3:36 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Leisandir | 12/29/12 3:38 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/29/12 9:38 p.m. |
Same here. *NM* | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 5:01 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/29/12 9:42 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Cody Miller | 12/30/12 11:55 a.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/30/12 1:27 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 5:25 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | Archilen | 12/30/12 11:36 p.m. |
Seconded. *NM* | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 4:59 p.m. |
Re: The Loftus Approach | SonofMacPhisto | 12/28/12 5:19 p.m. |
Wow, that sounds like my kinda guy! | The Lionheart | 12/28/12 5:35 p.m. |
Agree with this also. *NM* | The Lionheart | 12/28/12 5:30 p.m. |
*applauds* You're so awesome, Levi. | Gravemind | 12/28/12 1:26 p.m. |
TOOK THE WORDS OUT OF MY MOUTH *NM* | The Lionheart | 12/28/12 5:28 p.m. |
*Salute* *NM* | Quirel | 12/28/12 5:40 p.m. |
I don't disagree, but... | SonGoharotto | 12/28/12 11:29 a.m. |
My bad | SonGoharotto | 12/28/12 11:36 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | scarab | 12/28/12 12:09 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Cody Miller | 12/28/12 12:14 p.m. |
It wasn't emotionally compelling for me at all... | Phoenix_9286 | 12/28/12 1:21 p.m. |
No. | Quirel | 12/28/12 6:15 p.m. |
Very well said, sir. *NM* | Leisandir | 12/28/12 8:11 p.m. |
As always, I agree with Quirel | Ibeechu | 12/28/12 10:38 p.m. |
Re: As always, I agree with Quirel | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 1:18 a.m. |
Re: As always, I agree with Quirel | scarab | 12/29/12 5:02 a.m. |
Not quite. | Quirel | 12/30/12 3:15 a.m. |
I know this is slightly OT, but . . . . | Leisandir | 12/30/12 8:49 a.m. |
Re: I know this is slightly OT, but . . . . | Quirel | 12/30/12 1:50 p.m. |
Re: No. | TDSpiral | 12/29/12 12:09 a.m. |
Re: No. | Quirel | 12/30/12 3:33 p.m. |
Re: No. | scarab | 12/31/12 8:51 a.m. |
This is the limbo that I find myself in now. *NM* | The Lionheart | 12/30/12 4:04 p.m. |
Re: No. | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 1:04 a.m. |
Re: No. | Flynn J Taggart | 12/29/12 2:12 a.m. |
Re: No. | Quirel | 12/31/12 1:57 a.m. |
Re: No. | uberfoop | 12/31/12 4:18 a.m. |
Re: No. | RC Master | 12/31/12 8:59 a.m. |
Your brain doesn't work the same way as mine. O_o *NM* | The Lionheart | 1/1/13 5:08 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Kermit | 12/28/12 10:59 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Ibeechu | 12/28/12 11:57 p.m. |
Consistency and the Rules of Two Worlds | NsU Soldier | 12/29/12 7:06 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Leisandir | 12/29/12 9:12 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | scarab | 12/29/12 9:30 a.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Leisandir | 12/29/12 11:08 a.m. |
Tru dat | scarab | 12/29/12 12:11 p.m. |
Re: Tru dat | Leisandir | 12/29/12 1:22 p.m. |
Re: Tru dat | Cody Miller | 12/29/12 3:37 p.m. |
Re: Tru dat | Leisandir | 12/29/12 3:39 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Kermit | 12/29/12 3:33 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | Ibeechu | 12/29/12 7:32 p.m. |
Totally disagree | Avateur | 12/29/12 1:04 a.m. |
Re: Totally disagree | Stephen L. (SoundEffect) | 12/29/12 11:30 a.m. |
Re: Totally disagree | Avateur | 12/29/12 1:47 p.m. |
Re: Totally disagree | Kalamari | 12/29/12 6:44 p.m. |
It's dog food? | scarab | 12/29/12 6:55 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic | General Vagueness | 1/5/13 7:40 p.m. |
Re: Stop with your logic *LONG* | Dundre | 1/7/13 7:42 a.m. |
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