@miles_per_life @chrismcquarrie 1/ Well. The 1st thing you have to do to discuss this issue is make sure we’re all using the same terms the same way. IMO, if you are trying to make a film in which actions and behavior seem “lifelike” then BACKSTORY is a necessary thing for dramatists and actors to think about.
@miles_per_life @chrismcquarrie 2/ BACKSTORY is a term that describes the lives that were lived by your characters b4 they arrived in your film. IMO, its kinda impossible to write or act or block a scene without thinking 2 some degree about backstory. Have they been in this room before? Do they know each other?
@miles_per_life @chrismcquarrie 3/ EXPOSITION is a term related to backstory but is not the same. Exposition is usually in the form of dialogue & seeks to lay out the past, or at least the parts of the character’s past deemed dramatically important for the audience to know.
@miles_per_life @chrismcquarrie 4/ thus, I think the “explain-y” writing you were thinking is unnecessary for modern audiences is more aptly described as awkwardly written exposition. My point is that backstory is almost always necessary. Exposition is not. When it feel like “exposition”, it’s been done badly.
