Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

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  • #16
    Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

    Demonstrate it, don't talk about it.

    Bill
    Free Script Tips:
    http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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    • #17
      Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

      I have a 4 page lore dump full of exposition in my script, but it works well because who's saying it is interesting, what he's saying is interesting, where he's saying it is interesting, and why he's saying it is important to the plot.

      I think if you nail most of those you'll be in good shape.
      I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

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      • #18
        Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

        Maybe it should be said that that scene was the worst part of Matrix. Culminating in the Duracell moment when I fought the urge to chuck stuff at the screen. Multiple levels of bad all sledgehammered together there.

        Since Neo just birthed out of a frickin' slimy egg, was dumped down the toilet and was rescued by some spaceship, it could have gone a bit differently and for the better.

        Since reality is in question, he would likely not believe that what was happening was real during that sequence. A couple lines of dialogue challenging his notion of reality would have sufficed.

        Since "lore" is in the title, I like Conan the Barbarian, teaching the boy about Crom on his Mountain of Power, you know, stuff that would likely happen in such a society.
        Hell of a Deal -- Political Film Blog

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        • #19
          Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

          If you find yourself fighting the urge to chuck stuff at the screen while watching an influential movie that tens of millions of people have enjoyed, at least acknowledge that maybe... just maybe... you're struggling to consume entertainment in a healthy manner.

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          • #20
            Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

            There's a funny chapter in Blake Snyder's "Save The Cat" about how to deal with this, using his "pope in the pool" method. IE, you can sometimes get away with a character unloading exposition, as long as something particularly interesting or weird is going on while it's happening. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.
            https://twitter.com/DavidCoggeshall
            http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1548597/

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            • #21
              Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

              Ya, I'm not getting the Matrix hate either. I thought that scene was the most visually breathtaking exposition dump I've ever seen. And the Duracell battery was a clever choice. Symbolizing how puny and worthless humanity had become.
              I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

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              • #22
                Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

                Originally posted by polfilmblog View Post
                Maybe it should be said that that scene was the worst part of Matrix. Culminating in the Duracell moment when I fought the urge to chuck stuff at the screen. Multiple levels of bad all sledgehammered together there.

                Since Neo just birthed out of a frickin' slimy egg, was dumped down the toilet and was rescued by some spaceship, it could have gone a bit differently and for the better.

                Since reality is in question, he would likely not believe that what was happening was real during that sequence. A couple lines of dialogue challenging his notion of reality would have sufficed.

                Since "lore" is in the title, I like Conan the Barbarian, teaching the boy about Crom on his Mountain of Power, you know, stuff that would likely happen in such a society.
                We don't really know what could happen in a society like the Matrix... In the story world, the alternate reality is truth and our normal reality is an elaborate construct to keep humans in check. It's a lot to process, right? But I think they were going for a birthing kind of vibe rather than an egg and toilet, which IMHO makes sense for the story.
                life happens
                despite a few cracked pots-
                and random sunlight

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                • #23
                  Re: Explaining lore without using too much exposition?

                  Originally posted by Anthony94 View Post
                  I'm trying to have my 'mentor' character explain to the protagonist some of the lore of the film but I'm struggling to explain it without him using obvious exposition.

                  Just wondering how much exposition is too much? What he's explaining can't really be 'shown' it has to be explained?

                  I've noticed on the Matrix script Morpheus gives Neo a lot of exposition explaining the matrix to him, it is acceptable using that kind of exposition where the characters explaining things to both the protagonist and the audience?

                  Thanks.
                  If you want to see a great example of telling lore through exposition watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The setup for the Grail story was perfect. And interesting.

                  You can try to make the exposition a back and forth discussion - like in The Last Crusade. Where each character brings something to the story or a question answer sort of thing.

                  Or better yet break it up over a course of a few consecutive scenes containing action to create one nice interesting sequence. A overland travel sequence for instance.

                  Or make it an interesting "campfire story" -- like Meatballs. Yes. I said Meatballs. The hook hand story was a good page and a half of exposition all to set up the final joke. And the hop foot line. Literally telling some lore. It;s a bit on the nose but down well.

                  And by campfire story I just mean how it was constructed -- telling an interesting tale -- not actually around a campfire.

                  Good luck. Exposition sometimes is a necessary evil.
                  Last edited by giantELF; 03-26-2014, 10:41 AM.
                  Sincerly,

                  the giantELF

                  (The writer is Robert -- the company is giantELF)

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