DeadpoolMLP
Too many characters, I have
So, over the last few weeks I've been rewatching the original trilogy and the prequels with a friend of mine who wanted to poke my brain on star wars, specifically from a film maker's perspective. I've been in film school for a few years now, slowly working through a bachelor's degree. And while I don't necessarily think that makes me a better or worse writer than anyone else, this rewatch did bring me to think about the way Lucas writes, and the tendencies that he set for this universe we all obsess over.So, mostly because I'm hyperfixating on it at the moment, and because I do love helping people improve, here's a few things I noticed about the OT and Prequels writing wise that could maybe possibly help people improve.
Noodle Incidents, Lucas's Favorite Trope
So, one of the first things I noticed as a film maker and screen writer about the OT especially, is Lucas loves Noodle Incidents. What is a noodle incident? Well, it's basically an adventure that happened offscreen, that we never get to see, and yet the characters talk about it like we have.
It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now.
This line acts as our introduction to the Millennium Falcon. Despite the fact we haven't even seen the damn thing yet, it already sounds impressive, hypes up Han Solo as an amazing pilot, and builds on the universe. All in one line of dialogue. Dialogue like this makes it so that we don't need to see Corellia, or the Kessel Run to know it exists. And for about 40 years, fans desperately tried to figure out the specifics of that. Only when Solo, a Star Wars Story came out did we finally see it.
And that's kinda the downside with the Noodle Incident. Anything the audience comes up with will be cooler in their head than what the writer can. Because they came up with it.
But how does this apply to RP? Noodle incidents can give your characters a chance to a history beyond what we see in threads. Maybe
Valery Noble
and
Kahlil Noble
went on a vacation where something crazy happened, and agree never to talk about it. Maybe my new character I want to look cool says he beat
Darth Carnifex
in hand to hand combat. Maybe
Jonyna Si
dated a Sullest at one point, and is weirdly proud of that fact. We never need to see these events, we just need to know they happened. It gives your characters intrigue, and acts as an effective way to get across backstory without having to turn your posts into info dumps.Star Wars, and It's relationship with Realism
So, this is something I took note of specifically during the Prequels.
Star Wars is a very dirty universe. Despite the fact that the Prequels tried to paint it as a shiny galaxy to give the illusion that things were better before the Empire, even then it's still very...grimy. Everything is slightly weathered, as if it has a history behind it. It's subtle, but it's there. And that's kinda the thing. Star Wars' relationship with Realism is a strange one. It's soft realism at it's best, in my opinion. The world feels real, because of how grimey and lived in everything is, and yet, star wars never pretends to be 'realistic'. Walkers replace tanks, despite the objective disadvantages of this. Blasters replace firearms, and lightsabers rule the battlefield. The Force, despite what anyone says, is just space magic, and starfighters act like they're in-atmo fighter planes.
All of this makes the world feel fantastical, but never fake. It's a hard balance to strike, and yet Star Wars always seems to stick to it.
One of the things in RP I've tried to stick to is that aesthetic of fun, but lived in worlds and tech. Putting stuff like bedrooms in my starship subs, cupholders, or even just quality of life stuff. Remember that the items you make in factory are things your character will have to use on the regular, and maintain. Giving a personal ship a name, having your character's bedroom or cockpit have trophies or trinkets lying around, all these do a lot of work to show your character's history within the world.
The Inspiration Behind It All
Of course, Star wars was inspired by a lot of things. A shameless rip off of Akira Kurosawa, of John Wayne and cowboy fiction of the 50s, of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Star Wars is an odd duck in that it never really stopped wearing it's inspirations on it's sleeve. The jedi are just Samurai in Space. Han Solo is just a cowboy with a blaster. X-wings and Tie Fighters fly like repainted Spitfires and Messerschmitts, and Rebel Commandos might as well be listening to Fortunate Son.
One thing I've learned when it comes to writing fanfiction over the last ten years is, don't sweat too much about the specifics of any given media. Rather, get a feel for what the original inspirations of the media were. Watch some samurai movies, read some old sci fi comics, and listen to The Good The Bad and the Ugly soundtrack.
But most importantly, understand the tone that Star Wars is going for. I've seen people try and make Star Wars 'gritty' a few times over the years, both in my original TTRPG group, and now on Chaos a handful of times, and I've always noticed how it doesn't really stick for very long. Sure, your Andors and your Rogue Ones are good on occasion, but overall the franchise is very lighthearted fun, even if the stakes get dire. Remember that Star Wars is supposed to be, ya know, fun.
Conclusion
While I'm sure most people on this site already know most of this, this was more an exercise for me to get my thoughts out about the first six movies, and hopefully give people some insight and wisdom on what I've seen the franchise is, and maybe help them improve their writing in that regard. Cheers, happy writing!
Or don't listen to any of this, I dunno. I'm not your dad. >:C
