Penguin November 9th, 2008
This page lists 36 plots for RPGs, but they’re just as applicable to film.
- Supplication – Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority
- Deliverance – Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer
- Revenge – Avenger, Criminal
- Vengeance by Family upon Family – Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative
- Pursuit – Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer
- Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune – Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person
- Disaster – Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger
- Revolt – Tyrant, Conspirator(s)
- Daring Enterprise – Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary
- Abduction – Abductor, Abducted, Guardian
- Enigma – Interrogator, Seeker, Problem
- Obtaining – Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator
- Familial Hatred – Two Family Members who hate each other
- Familial Rivalry – Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object
- Murderous Adultery – Two Adulterers, the Betrayed
- Madness – Madman, Victim
- Fatal Imprudence – Imprudent person, Victim or lost object
- Involuntary Crimes of Love – Lover, Beloved, Revealer
- Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman – Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer
- Self Sacrifice for an Ideal – Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed
- Self Sacrifice for Kindred – Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed
- All Sacrificed for Passion – Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed
- Sacrifice of Loved Ones – Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice
- Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior – Superior, Inferior, Object
- Adultery – Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers
- Crimes of Love – Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution
- Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One – Discoverer, Guilty One
- Obstacles to Love – Two Lovers, Obstacle
- An Enemy Loved – Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater
- Ambition – An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary
- Conflict with a God – Mortal, Immortal
- Mistaken Jealousy – Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake
- Faulty Judgment – Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person
- Remorse – Culprit, Victim, Interrogator
- Recovery of a Lost One – Seeker, One Found
- Loss of Loved Ones – Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner
Related posts
Tags: Film, Plot, Structure, Writing
Penguin August 19th, 2008
I love scifi and this “news” comes as a real wet blanket.
The major problem is that propulsion — shooting mass backwards to go forwards — requires large amounts of both time and fuel. For instance, using the best rocket engines Earth currently has to offer, it would take 50,000 years to travel the 4.3 light years to Alpha Centauri, our solar system’s nearest neighbor. Even the most theoretically efficient type of propulsion, an imaginary engine powered by antimatter, would still require decades to reach Alpha Centauri, according to Robert Frisbee, group leader in the Advanced Propulsion Technology Group within NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- Wired
Luckily for us writers, most people don’t know that much about space or how difficult it is. But it also goes to show how important “magic” is, such as “hyperspace” (Star Wars), “FTL” (Battlestar Galactica), “Gates” (Stargate, Babylon 5), and of course “warp” (Star Trek).
Most of them take the right approach by not getting into the technicalities of these systems. They just assume that they “just work” and thus, we assume it too. And it’s a good thing too, otherwise, there would be a lot of boring scifi out there.
-Penguin
Related posts
Tags: Scifi, Space, Travel, Wired, Writing
