"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov's_gun
By this logic, everything deliberately "shown" will play a role of some kind. A giant, monolithic tower that dominates the city skyline will almost certainly have a rooftop battle, or fly off into space. The really, really, really sketchy guy is probably going to screw you. The grubby, dirty people living at street level are mostly there for set dressing- until the skyscraper takes off, then mayhem takes place.
To this end, it's easy to get frustrated by stories which show off a lot, without letting the players do anything. We've all heard the line. "But those other guys, who do that one thing, were so cool- why can't we have a movie about them?" That's a failure on the part of the writer/director/GM to show, not tell.
Like everything else, I have to recognize there's a sliding scale. After the nuclear apocalypse, someone mentions Chicago disappearing off the map. Well, we get it. It's gone, and everything sucks- not enough attention was brought to it to make it worthwhile.
For example, what about the wall pegs Chekhov's Gun rests on? Those certainly don't need to be involved in the story- nothing interesting could happen from those.
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A colleague pointed out to me how rare foreshadowing is in real life. "Things just happen," was the quote I remember; and it's true. Conversely, I can't help but hold my instincts close- I love foreshadowing. It feels natural in a lot of cases, and I sweat nervously if I think of a story without it.
I asked a bit further, and made an important distinction: My foreshadowing, and her's, were subtly different.
Her idea of foreshadowing was, to me, more like a puzzle. X is odd, Y is odd, and... oh shit! X and Y happened because of (or lead up to) Z! It's a lot like a Hardy Boys novel, where there's a very definitive cause-and-effect relationship.
My idea of foreshadowing goes a little bit back. I like mixing irony into it, to give a more dramatic (at the price of realistic) event. The aliens, who happen to be bulletproof, can only be killed by something as dangerous as a single word, elegantly written. The son, who loathes his father, will eventually become him. The clock, which has been mentioned extensively, will signal something at midnight.
Obviously, there was a translational difference between us. I don't claim either interpretation to be "better," just like I can't compare apples and oranges trying to start a campfire. All I can do is try to keep it mysterious, a little mystical, and try to not botch it up.
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Have some popcorn, and make sure you're GMing in the same edition as your players.
~
I don't take money for storytelling. It's not right, and I do it for fun anyway. So, imagine my surprise when I realized that I, storytelling of the year month day hour minute happen to be the owner of several "brands."
I suppose they could be called franchises, or canons, or even 'verses. All that really matters is that they're different "flavors" in the same medium.
The far-future post-civilization thriller 850 has a much different tone than the international intrigue stories of Mister X, just as both are a distance from the small-town feel of Quincy, Indiana. There's a definitive style that goes with each one, and it would feel out of place in the others.
Player can't make it? Aww, that sucks. Must be Food Poisoning.
The repetition of these signatures is my job, as storyteller. It lends a sense of familiarity, and does something much more noticeable. In a significantly complex engine, these 'tells' could become a part of the gameplay. For an example- let's check out the gameplay of the Resident Evil movies.
Opening: Wake up somewhere strange, with vague memories of what happened before.
Weapons: Absolutely must use two identical weapons, at the same time, with very few exceptions allowed.
Locations: Once per chapter, there must be a top-secret Umbrella Corp bunker, defended by a crazy AI, Albert Wesker, or a shit-ton of Zombies.
Enemies: Zombie crowds, special zombies, and mercs. Each chapter, the crowds get bigger, the special ones get more ferocious, and the mercs... well, they kinda stay the same.
And, there we go. Mix in Milla Jovovich, sprinkle some Paul W.S. Anderson on it, and bake at 350 until golden-brown. Congratulations! You've just made another Resident Evil movie.
Join us next week, for cliffhangers and consistencies in content. Naw, just kidding. It'll be at least two weeks.
Stay Frosty.
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