Charlie Roberts
IMG Year 2 Portfolio
Writing Experimentation
This section of my blog will include the few tasks carried out during writing related workshops that were held during lessons, as well as the writing task that I plan to carry out towards the end of the project.
Script Writing Introduction
Before being given the main task, we were explained what sort of information each line of an example script contained.
This allowed us to see how a script looks, and also how the script changes when various elements within the script take place (such as how a scene is introduced, and how dialogue and actions are shown).
Field, S. (2005) Screenplay, Revised ed. Edition, New York
Script Task
Once we had an idea of how scripts looked and are written, we were provided with a section of a story which we had to edit down into the form of a script, using the tips from Syd Field (which we were shown during the first task).
Original:
Character Biography Experimentation
One of the experimentation tasks I wanted to carry out for the writing role was the creation of a character concept and biography/short story for my own original character.
Originally I was going to create a concept for an original story and make a character for that story, but I realised that that might take too long.
Instead I decided to make an original character for a game I often play, being 'League of Legends' (Riot Games, 2009).
The game itself is a MOBA , so there isn't a story mode, or a single main character in the game. It's more like every playable character is an important, and when it comes to character stories, they're the main character of their own story. However, the game includes over one hundred character that each have a place within the world of League of Legends, known as Runeterra.
Stage 1:
The first task that I carried out was the creation of a mind map. The main areas I wanted to think about where character traits, the combat/weapon of the character, story concepts/themes, and the different regions I could put the characters in.
If I was to make an actual character, I would need to think about a lot more than this, since there other types of characters such as supports and tanks, but just for this I left it as shown since it revolved around the type of characters I enjoy playing. Additionally, I only noted down a few of the games regions, but the ones I did note were the ones I was a bit more interested in, and knew a bit more about from my influence research.
Once I had some ideas down, I then expanded upon some of the story concepts.
Backstory/ Concepts:
1: Magic Swordsman
Boy learns both swordsmanship and magic.
Main event being combining the two into one (A sword formed by the use of his magic).
Ends with character leaving to lean from different lands.
Themes – Magic, adventure, mastery
Region – Ionia
Primarily positive trait focused – Dedicated, skilled, adventurous? Righteous?
1.5: Concept 1, but the swordsmanship and magic don’t combine into one, meaning the characters life is about mastering a style which utilises both swordsmanship and magic (Likely water, wind, or electricity).
2: Character masters the use of a particular weapon
Boy cannot learn magic in a land where magic is common, and is looked down upon by others. Vows to learn mastery over some sort of weapon to become stronger than those who looked down upon him.
Themes – Mastery, Revenge
Region – Ionia
Combination of both positive and negative traits – Dedicated, vengeful
(However, this could be a concept where the character becomes more villainous due to the childhood events, and therefore becomes ruthless, sinister, or heartless, or alternatively could be a more righteous character who is looked down on, but doesn’t become villainous, but still strives to earn the respect of those around him).
3. Rapid fire mage / Dual wielding staffs
From a young age the character is obsessed with magic. They grow up learning various types of magic, but have an un quenchable thirst to learn more. This thirst for knowledge leads the character to different lands, some ancient, some not, until the point where they become extremely efficient at using magic (learnt many different types of magic).
The character then stumbles upon the knowledge of how to create magical weapons. After learning the steps, they make their own weapons, consisting two identical staffs that allow them to cast spells simultaneously, and more efficiently than without the use of them.
However, the character still hungers for more knowledge, and continues travelling to distant lands in their quest for magic.
Ability Concepts
The concepts below aren’t important in terms of the character biography, but they still have links to the character, since it’s what their abilities would be in game.
For the concept where the character use magic and swordsmanship separately.
Character ultimate ability – Character changes between ‘forms’. This form change being that the character would cycle to sword based melee abilities, to magic based, most likely ranged, abilities. This form change would change the other three abilities of the character.
Other characters in the game have a similar ability/mechanic to this, so it’s not like it’s too farfetched.
Characters like Jayce have a form change, where his weapon has two transformations, being a hammer and a gun. Another character is Nidalee where she changes into a human form and then an animal form.
When both characters change forms, their abilities are changed.
Sword based abilities could consist of a number of things. These abilities in game would need to have some sort of effect, whether it’s that they deal damage, or they also deal an additional effect, such as a knock-up/back, silence, root, or stun etc.
Some basic abilities could be as follows.
(Sword form) CHARACTER lunges at the enemy and swipes their sword dealing damage and knocking them back. If the enemy champion collides with a wall, the enemy becomes stunned for a short period of time. If the enemy is knocked back into another enemy champion, both become stunned, but for a shorter period of time.
(Magic form, electric) CHARACTER fires a shock wave that travels through enemy units damaging and slowing all units hit. As the shock wave travels further, the damage dealt and slow time is increased.
For the concept where magic and swordsmanship are combined together (the magic of the character being water).
Character ultimate ability – Character stabs their sword into the ground causing pillars of water to burst up from the ground. Champions hit by these pillars are knocked up and damaged. (Similar to ultimate abilities other characters, such as Braum, with the exception of more damage and not as much crowd control/reduced knock-up time)
Basic ability – When activated, basic attacks (which would be slashes with the sword) deal area of effect damage. When an enemy is hit by the character auto, a wave of water is fired from the character blade, dealing minor damage to all nearby units
Concept That I Will Use
I have decided to go for concept 1.
Bio in a bit more detail:
The character would be a young Ionian boy who, during his youth, learns both swordsmanship and magic from his parents (one from each).
After years of training from his parents, he then attempts to combine their teachings to form his own style, being magical swordsmanship, where he can give form to his weapons by moulding and manipulating water.
I could also implement an events that have occurred in the history of Runeterra, that includes Ionia. One of the major events is the Noxian invasion. This event could be the event that leads my character to combining both magic and swordsmanship.
Maybe upon joining the fight with an ordinary sword and fighting the Noxian soldiers his sword breaks, leading to him manipulating the water of the land itself to create his new blade.
This could then also lead to the character bio ending, with the character deciding that if he’s to protect his family from the threat of the Noxian invasions, he must further master his combination of skills.
Naming Process
I started the naming process once I had completed the biography, since I wanted to try and have the character name reflect the character as much as possible, and I felt that by writing the biography, I would have a better idea of the my character.
Personality/traits/region of the character will dictate the origins / type of the name.
Name relating to their key characteristics.
E.g. character has a link to fire, then name them something like Pyra
Give the character names goals – to do with the characteristics of the character
(Reference link below)
Since I plan to create a character based / born in a region of the games lore called Ionia, I need to give my character a name that suits the region itself. After looking on some discussions on online pages, I’ve found that many of the names of characters from Ionia have names of an Asian origin/background, and therefore I should aim to give my character a name that fit with this.
Possible names?
Torrent (Links to the water magic he uses and the strength of his swordsmanship, and himself as a character)
Kýma (Wave in Greek, wave linking to the water magic)
Bō (Wave in Chinese)
Mizu (Water in Japanese)
Second Part of Name (Like the slogan part):
Just for context, all of the characters of the game have the name their basic name, such as Ekko, but then there's an additional part which somewhat explains a bit more about the character.
E.g. 'Ekko, The Boy Who Shattered Time', 'Garen, The Might of Demacia'.
Concepts:
The Water Swordsman.
The Mage Swordsman.
The Torrent of Ionia.
The Torrent Swordsman.
After finishing my character biography, I decided to go for the name
Mizu, The Torrent of Ionia. I would have preferred to spend more time on the naming process, but I began to run out of time, and decided to go for my favorite out of the current concepts I had.
Character Biography
From my research into existing biographies for the game ‘League of Legends’ (Riot Games, 2009), I have been able to see that the character biographies are more in the form of short stories and don’t include all of the information about a character that other biographies might include. Because of this I have decided to write down some additional information about the character before writing the biography/short story (so the information not included in the story should be stated on the list)
during another section of character biography research I found a website that provided the list below, which I plan to fill out to note down other features of my character that might not make it into the biography/short story.
Character name: Mizu, The Torrent of Ionia
Age: 17 (Bio/short story covers multiple life points, from youth to teen/young adult)
Occupation: Student / helping (learning magic and swordsmanship from his parents)
Family members and/or significant others: Mother and Father (Yet to be named)
Personality traits: Dedicated, Skilled, Brave.
Character history (where is he/she from?): Ionia (small village west of central Ionia)
Highest level of education: Did not attend a school, taught the ways of life by his parents. (Also taught magic/swordsmanship from parents)
Physical traits: Medium build/muscle size (from swordsman training), height around 5’7, Natural Black hair (messy/untidy hair), Blue eyes.
Biggest motivator: To complete and gain mastery over the combination of teachings from his parents (use of magic and swordsmanship), to form his own style/form being magical swordsmanship.
Biggest fear: That his family and village will be lost to Noxus during their invasions, and his homeland of Ionia will be lost.
Things he/she likes: Both swordsmanship and magic, learning the teachings of these from his parents.
Things he/she dislikes: ???
Biography/Short Story
From a young age the Ionian boy, Mizu, was fascinated by the skills that both of his parents possessed. He would often bear witness to his father’s swordsmanship capabilities, and his mother’s adept use of unique magic. Perhaps if Mizu’s parents were any other individuals, he wouldn’t have become the person he is of the present.
At the age of five, Mizu was finally granted his one wish from both of his parents, to become their student, and learn not only the ways of the sword, but also of the flow of magic.
The years that followed were harsh and tiring, but this meant little to Mizu, whose dream was finally becoming a reality.
The training consisted of early mornings, with his father teaching him the ways of the sword, ranging from how to hold a sword and attack with precision, and then later afternoons with his mother teaching him about the flow of magic.
Magic wasn’t an uncommon sight in the lands of Ionia, as it was a region with vast natural magic which went hand in hand with the lands natural beauty. But the magic that Mizu’s mother was capable of using was one that was more rare of a sight than others. Her magic enabled her to manipulate water. Mizu’s mothers training taught the principles of moulding and manipulating water magic, which was just as tiring, if not more so, then learning the sword as it required an immense level of concentration and attention. But throughout the years of training, the boys capabilities changed, but some things remained. His dedication to his training and his respect for his parents never faltered.
Many more years of teaching and training passed, and Mizu had learnt all that his parents could teach. Mizu, now at the age of 18, was not only a capable swordsman, but also a capable magician who could manipulate water to his will.
Now he trained himself, aiming to find a way to combine the teaching both of his parents had bestowed upon him.
It was around this time that the lands of Ionia lost the peace that it once sustained.
The day seemed like any other, but it was the start of what ended up being a slaughter of both Ionians and Noxians. The Noxians had begun their invasion on Ionia.
A group of the Noxian invaders had entered the village, their goal most likely being to ravage supplies for their journey to Navori.
The soldiers kicked down the doors of innocent people and threw them out of their own homes, taking no hesitation to beat down anyone who retaliated. The village was only a small farming village that lacked any sort of combat professionals. The only ones who had a chance at standing against the blades of the Noxian soldiers were Mizu and his parents. His parents, upon hearing the screams and shouting of the village people, had already begun retaliating against the invaders, showing them what Ionia is capable of. Mizu noticed another group of Noxians barge their way into another innocent family’s home. His parents were still occupied with the other groups of Noxians. He found himself dashing towards the soldiers. The young Ionian knew that he had the strength to protect those around him, and that it was finally time to use it.
The family, like many others, retaliated against the group of Noxians. But they were no match. The man attempting to retaliate was easily thrown to the ground by one of the weaker looking soldiers. The soldier then drew his sword and attempted to thrust their sword through the man’s chest. To the Noxians surprise, the soldier was defeated by one slash of a young Ionian man. The man on the floor thanked Mizu before running back to family. Mizu continued fighting. The Noxian soldiers were not used to seeing the boy’s range of fighting styles, defeating soldiers up close with his swordsmanship, and others from a distance with his water manipulation magic.
The final enemy left had a different appearance to the other soldiers. He wore armour was much more magnificent than those of who he’d just defeated. This was no ordinary soldier, but was a squad leader.
Before Mizu could even realise, the soldier had appeared right in front of him and swung his two handed long sword. Mizu retaliated with a swing of his own, but it paled in comparison to the sheer power of the Noxians. The steel swords of the two warriors clashed, but the Noxian soldier was, to Mizu’s surprise, unmatched in strength. Character sword was shattered before his very eyes. The soldier grabbed Mizu’s throat, and threw him back, causing Mizu to tumble across the cobblestone path. It was simple to guess what would happen next. The Noxian would not hesitate to kill another. Mizu thought back to the teachings of his parents, and his own training. If he was to defeat this Noxian fiend, he would need to combine the teaching of his parents. Something he had yet to achieve.
Mizu rose to his feet and clenched the hilt of what was once his sword. He concentrated, concentrating harder than ever before on the flow of water, taking the form that he desired.
Where the dismembered steel blade of his sword was once connected to the very hilt he held within his hands, was a blade formed from a jet of water. But there was no time to celebrate his achievement, as his life, and the lives of those around him, were in danger.
The Noxian soldier charged once again, swinging his sword at Mizu with the strength of one hundred men. Torrent recalled the teaching of his father, and positioned his body, ready to counter attack. Once again, both swords collided, but this battles outcome was much different to the last. Torrents blade of water has cut clean through the Noxian soldiers steel blade. Mizu had finally obtained the power he had desired for many years, and now he could use it to protect those important to him.
The village was protected due to the efforts of both Mizu and his parents. But smoke continued to rise from distant villages. The invasion was still occurring over Ionia.
And so, Mizu and his family traveled to the other villages of Ionia, helping protect those who sought protection from the villainous Noxians. With every battle, Mizu furthered his mastery over his fighting style, until eventually, once the invasions finally stopped three years later, it seemed as he was a different person.
Now in the present day, travelers often speak of a warrior brimming with strength and confidence, whose sword style reflects that of a torrent of water.
How My Research Affected My Experimentation
The main areas of my research that had an impact on my experimentation was the research into character biographies.
For this research, there were two different sections of research, one being research into a general idea of what is included in a character biography and how to write one, and the other section being looking analysing the character biographies of existing characters for the game 'League of Legends', being the game I had planned to make my own original character for.
The first section of research was important as it showed me what most character biographies usually include, which was useful to understand as I had never wrote a character biography before. From this research I also found out what the general objective of the biography was, being to show how your character has arrived at the point of where they are in the game, which I was able to implement into the bio/story of my own character.
The second section of research was research into the biographies for the official characters from the game I planned to create my character for. This allowed me to gain a better understanding of the sort of elements included in their biographies. From this research I found that their biographies are more in the form of short stories, which then lead to my own biography taking a more similar form to a short story than biography. This did, however, mean that some vital information was not included, but for the most part, vital information that was not included in my character biography was included in the biography list that was created before the biography/story (looking back, one element that that was missed what the character clothes, as only some visuals were mentioned throughout the story/in the bio list).
Additionally, some of my other research, unrelated to biographies, proved useful. This research was research into the types of conflict that a story can include. I managed to implement one type of conflict into my characters bio/story, being man vs man conflict. This also linked to my research into the games lore, since one event that had happened to the region that I made my character for, being Ionia, was under invasion/attack by another region, being Noxus. By researching the two I was able to implement an event into my characters story that not only made the characters life more eventful, but also made sense within the world the character was based in.
Areas To Improve
From carrying out the creation of my own character biography, I know that if I am to carry out the writing role in the next project, I will need to continue my research into creative writing, and also experiment with writing more. This was something I wanted to do more during this project, but I ended up spending way too long reading, leaving me with little time to actually write. This also meant that my character biography was somewhat rushed.