General Discussions
Leaves on the Wind #4 Discussion (Spoilers)
POSTED BY: MUTT999
UPDATED: Thursday, May 8, 2014 20:49
VIEWED: 5682
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Thursday, May 8, 2014 8:49 PM
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Respectfully, I say that I think you're mis-definining "filler and fluff."
No, don't think so. And don't respectfully me. If you think I'm an idiot, then just call me one.
Filler and fluff is anything intended to please the fans of a character without a direct impact on the story and which doesn't further the plot.
Inara and Zoe having a conversation about "faking" in Trash and Zoe thinking it would be difficult to be a companion (with some implied mild contempt and judgement from Zoe) is filler. It is, however, INTERESTING.
Similarly, so is Jayne apologizing to Mal (and basically getting the cold shoulder), and so is Inara talking to Kaylee about why the Operative is on the ship when they don't trust him. Or whenever a character makes a self-referential comment about something that we'd already seen happen to them. These are all things that have already been established, and those conversations are not likely to be setting up anything plot-wise that will happen later. They're just there.
But they're necessary.
Breather moments, irrelevant information, unimportant interactions between characters, jokes, and other kinds of filler are all very useful storytelling tools that flesh out the setting and the world and the characters and provide emphasis as well as a buffer for the pacing. All stories should be a good 60-90 percent progression of plot, but a story loses it's sense of realism if it is always 100% plot focused, because in the real world, plot does not happen all the time. The storytelling medium allows us to cut to the chase, but one of the most common pitfalls of storytelling is when people try to rush it.
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NICE to foreshadow that Denon is an Operative, but it's pretty clear what he's all about when he shows up in Issue 4.
Ooh, I actually didn't even notice it was the same guy. Nicely spotted.
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The fact that the new resistance is somewhat disorganized is INTERESTING -- but not necessarily interesting enough to merit a full page. It also seems at odds with the resources they later demonstrate.
Eh, I've actually observed that disorganized groups with no idea how to even find their own hands in front of their faces aren't necessarily synonymous with not being able to get resources or backers.
You'd think some people around here would appreciate that the new Independents seem to be just as clueless and incompetent as the Alliance though. I definitely enjoyed that touch, it appealed to the heartless cynic in me.
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Looking at this entire issue, there's maybe 3 pages that AREN'T filler.
I don't think these issues were meant to be self-standing stories. Which admittedly might be a problem in of itself. But if I look at the very first issue as like the introduction of a movie with six acts, it makes a fine amount of sense to me that the main conflict is only revealed towards the end of the introduction and that the introduction is a lot of filler and fluff. That's actually right in keeping with standard storytelling plot progression.
Hell, the movie had them rob a bank and go to Beaumonde before Miranda was even mentioned. Yeah, the opening scene gives us the Operative... Which is why in the comic we're shown another Operative immediately after we see that report on the state of the verse (via loud mouthed and annoying cortex personalities and political pundits).
Look, Back to the Future. The CLOCK of story telling and pacing, right? We're introduced to the Time-Traveling DeLorean about ten minutes in. But before that's there's ten minutes slice-of-life about Marty derping around with guitars, then going to school, then his rather pathetic family, before he even heads out to the mall to meet with Doc Brown for a science experiment.
And after the DeLorean, what do we have? Probably a good ten more minutes of establishing that he's back in the past, including one probably unnecessary altercation w
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