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The Loftus Approach
Posted By: Leviathan <levihoffmeier@gmail.com>	Date: 12/28/12 11:16 a.m.
In Response To: Stop with your logic (Cody Miller) : 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. The "Loftus approach", and my approach for that matter, is about maintaining a consistent universe for authors and artists and designers to all play around in while helping each story or design they create support one another and enrich the whole. It is not really about creating a singular engaging story. For example, when I created A Fistful of Arrows I didn't have my Loftus hat on, I just came up with some ideas I thought were interesting, situations in which I could possibly create some emotional and intense elements with familiar characters. But as that root story emerged, I found its place in the existing Halo universe and I used what came before to enrich my story. I put that Loftus hat on. Researching the details of Castle Base, the fall of Reach's Highcom, and the beginning of First Strike, I thought I would be able to create more resonance with the reader by being consistent with those events that were depicted before. Besides the timeline of the lore, I put a lot of time into trying to capture all the tones and attitudes of the characters as well as the visual details many readers would be familiar with, to try and pull them even further into the universe and help my root story. When a reader see places and people and designs they recognize, the stakes become higher because it really feels a part of the greater story of Halo. When the reader who's familiar with the Halo EU sees Jun and Halsey arriving at Menachite Mountain, they might think "shit, in First Strike they only found Halsey there. What's going to happen to Jun?" And it goes all the way down: when they see the classic Charon-class Frigate design fighting a CSS BattleCruiser, they're going to connect it to all the other Frigates they've come to enjoy battling the Covenant. When they see Halsey trying to protect a Spartan, it's that same Halsey they know from the books. I'm not saying I succeeded in these attempts, but this is the type of approach that I love for authors to take when making sequels and EU stories. It's the approach that resonates with me as an audience. Halo 4 did not engage me on a emotional level past the first few missions because I didn't understand the new characters and enemies very well and why they were doing what they were doing, in addition to finding characters I did know behave differently than how I thought they should, which made them seem like completely different characters entirely. And when that happens, any enrichment from past stories in the universe fades away as there is nothing to relate to or fall back on to explain the events unfolding. Since the visuals and audio designs were all different than what I've grown up with as well, I didn't have much to connect to beyond the main story. Really, the only thing that seemed really Halo was Steve Downes, Jen Taylor. The game starts with an unfamiliar Forward Unto Dawn; a different armor; and the Covenant, UNSC, and Forerunner factions had been almost entirely rebooted. I'm all for new stories and new ideas, but if you're making a game called "Halo 4" I don't see why you would hit the 'reset' or 'redesign' button so much. It's not a bad game; it's obviously a high-quality, big-budget game made by talented people. It just doesn't resonate with the mythos I knew. And that's what the Loftus Approach is about doing.

Message Index

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.