|
|
 |
 |
 | | | | |
 |
|||
 |
||||||
          |
 |
 |
||||
|
Four
Ways to Use Symbols to Add Symbol Type #4: ASymbol That Takes on More and More Emotional Associations This is
another plot-deepening technique, as it too tends to extend throughout
an entire plot. It can be either a visual object or a verbal phrase. One
symbol of this type is a very familiar one: the American flag. What does
the flag mean? It means a lot of things: democracy; courage; the right
to live the life you choose; freedom of speech and religion; a nation
ruled by law; Yankee ingenuity; and more. Yet when we look at the flag,
we don’t consciously think of all these things, we just experience the
emotions that these associations evoke in us. When a symbol
reappears over and over again during emotionally charged moments, some
of the emotion rubs off on the symbol, and the symbol thus takes on more
and more emotional associations as the plot advances. Visual
Example When Wallace
is young, a little girl, Murron, gives him a thistle at the funeral of
his father and brother, who have been killed by the English. So the thistle
is associated with love. When they’re older, the two begin dating, and
he gives her back this same, dried thistle. Once again it is associated
with love. When Murron marries him, she gives him a handkerchief with
a picture of a thistle embroidered on it. It is still associated with
love. Later, Murron is murdered. Had this been the only way the handkerchief had been used, whenever Wallace looks at it with sadness, we would understand and feel his personal anguish. It would evoke in him (and in us) emotional memories and feelings about her uniqueness, the beauty of their love, and the sadness of her passing. At this point, we could call this a highly personal symbol, as it would be highly personal to him for reasons we can understand and which move us too. A highly
personal symbol, and a character’s reaction to it, can be an effective
way to evoke a lot of emotion. It’s a character-deepening technique. However,
in Braveheart, the handkerchief goes on to take on more and more emotional
associations throughout the plot, and so it becomes a plot-deepening technique. After killing
the English magistrate who had murdered Murron, Wallace stares at the
handkerchief. By now it’s begun to be associated with revenge. The handkerchief
will be with him as he becomes a leader of the Scots in their fight for
independence, so it eventually comes to be associated with freedom. And finally,
after Wallace is killed, wishy-washy landowner Robert the Bruce takes
up the fight. Robert leads his men into battle holding the handkerchief,
which is now associated with courage. Throughout
the film, the handkerchief with the thistle keeps reappearing, always
during emotionally charged moments and always associated with love, revenge,
freedom, or courage. By the end, the handkerchief is simply saturated
with emotional associations, sort of like the American flag. An important
point to make here is that when we see the handkerchief in Braveheart,
we don’t consciously think about all of these meanings and associations.
Instead, the handkerchief evokes feelings in us from the many emotional
experiences with which it has come to be associated. Hypothetical
Game Example: Visual The first
time we see the pendant is in a cinematic, when the father, as he lies
dying, gives it to the son. So the pendant is associated with love. As
the player character goes on his quest to bring down the villain, he can
recharge his life force (if he doesn’t do it too much) by clenching the
pendant. So the pendant comes also to be associated with life. At some
point the player character needs to give the pendant to a fallen, dying
friend, to save her by recharging her life force. Now the pendant is associated
with the act of self-sacrifice for a friend. And if the pendant eventually
comes back to the player character and gives him a decisive superboost
of life force for the final battle, it would then be associated with victory. Although
it would operate outside the player’s conscious awareness, the pendant
would be a symbol that takes on more and more emotional associations,
thereby adding emotional depth to the story. However, because the pendant
also plays a role in gameplay, it’s doing double duty as a usable symbol. Game
Wxample: Visual and Verbal If this
symbol only made Max Payne players think about these different
associations, then despite the fact that it was a wonderfully bold and
inventive attempt, it was, to a great degree, unsuccessful. But if it
evoked in players a variety of emotions that accompanied these different
associations, then it was successful. Going Deep This article has covered four distinct techniques for evoking emotional depth with symbols. Each use is quite different from the other, and they can be used in combination. If no one notices your work after it’s done, that’s just fine — in general, they’re not supposed to notice. When using
symbols, you’re not creating intellectual exercises for your audience,
forcing players to try to figure out what a symbol means. Using a symbol
for that kind of mind game would detract from any emotional impact. Instead,
when you use one or more of the techniques presented here, you deepen
the player’s emotional experience in the game by letting the symbol evoke
the player’s emotions. While many
of the examples of these techniques come from film, their use in games
presents a unique tool to designers in the form of usable symbols functioning
in gameplay. Games with stories have come far, but still have a distance
to go. When game designers and writers master techniques to create complex
characters and artfully evoke emotions during cinematics and play, this
new entertaining art form will truly have come into its own.
 [Back
To] Putting
Emotion into Game Stories |
||||||||||||||
|
|
Features
