CODE GEASS TO LIVE ACTION: Article 3 How Characters Fuel Plot
By Sam-2 aka wildmoo6
Before we get into more character profiles, it is important to understand the roles that support characters play in a story. Code Geass is an extremely complex story with a protagonist that is always in mental chess matches with his opponents. Finding ways to explain what he is planning and why it matters is extremely important for adapting the story to a western style live action film. Code Geass is so complex that the anime has several major characters whose role is to support the plot by making sure the viewers understand what is happening and why it is important. This is more difficult than it sounds and requires that we go over a few concepts before we go further into our profiles in the coming weeks.
Viewers have limited Focus
First, writers understand that viewers have a limited amount of focus and work to engage that focus as much as possible. There are some studies that suggest that focus can only be sustained for 8 seconds at a time. If this study is correct, it means that every 8 seconds, a visual story requires some change, some new element in order to keep viewers engaged. This is one of the reasons that marvel films rely heavily on humor. Plot points are typically sandwiched between multiple one-liners. This is also the reason that movie stars are often people who are unusually attractive. If you are attracted to someone, you pay attention to them for longer. This is one of the reasons the Bond franchise has featured an attractive male spy, and a host of attractive female actors.
The Human Element
As people, we are inclined to care about issues when they affect us or people we care about. We care about plot as it affects characters. Even if we do not understand the gravity of a plot point, we can empathize with characters and their reactions to the events. If we like a character, we tend to be at ease when they are happy and anxious when they are in peril. This is a critical realization to understanding the roles of many support characters.
Knowing this, writers will often “employ our empathy.” People have an easier time empathizing with hardships when they have a personal connection to the circumstance. You, for example, are probably sympathetic to people who have diseases that you or someone close to you have experienced. The same goes for hard circumstances. Knowing this, writers will craft likeable characters and put them in harm’s way in order to add weight to a scene. They are there so that the protagonist(s) can advance into the plot, and the viewer can emotionally empathize.
Complexity Requires Explanation
Complex stories require a lot from the audience. They demand that the audience focus, observe, and anticipate the events of the story; but doing this is difficult for an audience member, especially if he or she is not an expert in the field. There are certain expectations in every field, that only come with experience, and chances are that the audience will not have this experience. Consider the following example of dialog for a military drama:
Soldier: “Captain. There’s a gap in the enemy center.”
Captain: “Send in third cavalry.”
Unless you already understood something about military tactics, you as an audience member would have no idea how big of a deal this is for the story. There is no emotion, no explanation, only action and reaction. You have no idea which parts of those two lines are important and thus the payoff you have waited an hour for will be missed. But what if the exchange goes something like this:
Soldier: “Captain! There’s a gap in the enemy center!”
Captain: “This is the break we’ve been waiting on! Send in the cavalry, we can’t let them close it up. We’re winning this battle this hour. Get the reserves ready on the double!”
This dialog is much better for the viewer. Now from these two lines, you as a layperson to military strategy would understand that a gap in the center is an opportunity for us, we need to act quickly. Even if you were an expert, the second example is better because you may have missed the big reveal while eating popcorn. Having such moments explicitly explained is helpful as viewers try to follow the plot.
You learn all of this, even though you don’t exactly know exactly what a gap in the center is, and probably aren’t very familiar with military strategy, tactics, or terminology. As a writer, one must provide enough contextual information for a viewer to understand what the characters understand and why this information matters. Without doing so, even clever schemes will seem boring and dull.
Sometimes, as in the James Bond franchise, writers can use other forms of value such as physical attraction to provide information. In the Bond film The World is Not Enough, the Nuclear Physicist is played by Denise Richards (in short shorts and a crop top). Because the viewer is already looking at Richards before she speaks, this provides an opportunity for her to explain very technical (or pseudo technical) information without losing focus. Because the viewer values Richardson, the viewer is more likely to value the information provided by her, much more than an obese and balding male.
Question Time
Questions are another important element of plot exposition. Characters can expand the plot by asking other characters questions that allow them to explain the answer. These answers allow the writer to directly speak to the viewer. A character may explain that a certain enemy soldier is too powerful to overcome by normal means. A character may explain that the most simple solution cannot be attempted without causing some other harm. These answers allow the viewer to understand the situation more clearly and to appreciate the peril of the characters.
It can also allow the writer to cut off solutions that the viewer might come up with, ideas that are naïve or are inconvenient for the plot. After all, many people still think that car doors are bullet proof and that you need to put a spoon in the mouth of a person who is having a seizure. Bad facts like these can give viewers false assumptions about what will happen next. Having a character provide bad solutions or bad facts allows the writer to correct bad information and advance the plot. Furthermore, a writer might notice a plot hole, 30 pages down the line. Rather than fixing it, it may be easier to shoot down a solution by having a foolish or unlucky character bring it up. The alternative would be rewriting the pages.
Drum Roll Please!!!
This was all important because many of our characters, especially our female characters in Code Geass have roles that explain the plot. Understanding how this is done will help you understand why certain female characters will need certain changes to support the plot. With all of this said and done, the next character profile will be a fan favorite female. The fiercest of the black knights, the pilot of the Guren Knightmare frame, the red headed wonder: Kallen Kozuki!
See you next week everyone!
I’m Sam-2, aka wildmoo6, part of team JVS, the really tall guy who has an excited but slightly nasally voice. If you haven’t seen me yet in a video review, you should know that I’m a bit of a die-hard and am competitive. When someone says “can’t,” my interest is immediately piqued. Another thing that is important to know is that Code Geass is my favorite anime of all time. I personally consider it the best anime ever made, even as someone who grew up during the days of Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing. I love the way that it blends genres, mecha and psychological, mystery and coming of age. The story is a tasteful buffet of characters, options, and themes, and I for one loved every second of the ride.