From Brazil to L.A. : Transmedia and Audiovisual Creators Raphael Draccon and Carolina Munhoz (Part Two)
/Stephen King (2010) said “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” What were the main inspirations during your trajectory as book authors and, if in the transition to audiovisual, these inspirations changed and what would they be? Could you talk about the process of creating narratives in books, TV series and now in comics?
Our main inspirations as authors have been classic literature, folklore, and mythology. Whether in books like Dragons of Ether and For a Golden Touch or series like The Chosen One and Invisible City, we like to bring our version of the stories that made us storytellers, especially in a way that makes the reader/viewer wonder if it could be real.
In the transition to audiovisual, our inspirations have expanded to include films and TV shows we admire, from Breaking Bad and Succession to Spartacus and Supernatural. Creating narratives in different mediums is always challenging, but we try to stay true to our vision and adapt our storytelling to fit the medium.
There is an immense number of courses and manuals on audiovisual, cinematographic language, technical aspects, script, writing manuals in books. Today, for someone starting a career as an author, especially in a multiplatform market of fictional content, what would be the main sources for study?
The main sources for study for someone starting a career as an author in a multiplatform market of fictional content would be to read widely and study the craft of writing. Many resources, such as writing blogs, courses, and workshops, are available online. It's also important to stay current on industry trends and network with other professionals.
The amount of free material available on YouTube these days is more than anything I had access to in film school. Not to mention that an iPhone can shoot better quality movies than the digital cameras of years ago. The directors and the entire editing team of Everything Everywhere All at Once never took visual effects courses and learned to edit through internet tutorials. If you really want it, it's all there. Just go get it and practice!
McKee (2014) said “the audience´s emotional involvement is held by the glue of empathy. If the writer fails to fuse a bond between filmgoer and protagonist, we sit outside feeling nothing. Involvement has nothing to do with evoking altruism or compassion. We empathize for very personal, not egocentric reasons. When we identify with a protagonist and his desires for him in life, we are in fact rooting for our own desires in life.”
The audience consumes entertainment more and more, especially audiovisual. TV series have become a phenomenon in the last ten years outside the USA, where they are consolidated in countries like Brazil. This consumption sophistication can denote that everything has already been seen and known in terms of storytelling, so how to awaken this empathy with readers or spectators?
An observation that I believe is part of this question is the fact that your series, “Invisible City,” was built with contemporary characters formed from the archetypes of characters from Brazilian folklore. Characters so endowed with specific, local, and cultural characteristics, ended up awakening empathy in spectators who had never heard of Saci, Yara, Cuca around the world. What is the connection point? Would it be possible to rationalize this in an answer?
figure 4: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile
figure 5: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile
figure 6: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile
We believe that empathy is the key to engaging audiences with storytelling. We can make audiences emotionally invested in the story by creating characters that audiences can identify with and root for.
In the case of "Invisible City," we wanted to introduce Brazilian folklore to a global audience and create relatable and contemporary characters. We believe the connection point was the story's universal themes of love, loss, family, and identity.
I always like to use the example that nobody cares if your story is about a knight going to slay a dragon. But if your story is about how that knight must slay the dragon to protect his village, about the sacrifice for his daughter, about the love left behind and the price he is willing to pay to become a legend, then that story everyone will care.
“Storytelling is as much about the way in which you choose to tell a story as it is about content” (Bernardo, 2015). What do you think about developing narratives for videogames? If so, where and when?
Developing narratives for video games is a unique challenge that requires a deep understanding of game design and mechanics. We believe that storytelling in games can be just as powerful as in other mediums and can create immersive and interactive experiences for players. It's important to approach game storytelling with a different mindset than other mediums and to collaborate closely with other professionals. It is a collective work, squeezed between an original work, our vision as creators, and the expectation of a fan base.
We have had many contacts with producers ranging from the makers of Sonic to the Playstation games, and at some point, one of these game adaptations for other media will happen on our part.
Before becoming a couple, you already had your respective careers as authors. Together you conquered memorable steps inside and outside Brazil. Collaboration, for Syd Field (2005), “is a relationship. And a half-and-half split. Two or more people are working together to create a final product, a script. Collaborators tend to lose sight of this quickly. They get bogged down in 'being right' and other ego conflicts, so you better ask yourself a few questions first. There are no rules when it comes to collaboration. You have to create it, make it grow as you go along. And like a wedding. You have to create it, sustain it and maintain it.”
What is it like reconciling a professional life so close to personal in creation, not getting lost in relation to the ego and also in the company of other screenwriters in the conception and development of series and projects? Could you talk about the experience of collaborating cultural and entertainment products in Brazil and the US? What did you learn where you are and what you could contribute in terms of experiences?
Syd Field compared the collaboration between writers to marriage; in our case, we are married. So the trust, open communication, and preferences were already established between us by our married life, which were transported to our screenwriting partnership.
We had years of following and cheering for each other's careers before joining them, so ego and hurdles were prevented. We love entertainment and are workaholics, so sharing life and work for us feels natural. Even the pandemic didn't affect because we were already used to working from home and with each other twenty-four seven.
Collaborating professionally and personally can be challenging, but we believe it's worth it when the result is a project we are both passionate about. It's important to communicate openly and honestly with each other and to value each other's contributions. We have learned a lot from collaborating with professionals in Brazil and the US, and we believe our unique perspective as Latin American creators can contribute to that.
In cultural studies and the entertainment industry and the creative industry studies, there are criticisms about the use of reward resources and loyalty in attracting and maintaining an audience, such as bonuses and ratings. According to McQuail & Deuze (2020), “not just as loyal customers, but also as participants (in publicizing and promoting activities) and sometimes even co-creators in maintaining a profitable value chain. As fans migrate within a franchise across multiple media properties, and franchises are increasingly created in ways as to entice such migration, metrics for the multi-channel audience become an important property of media business decision-making.”
When developing projects for companies like Netflix and HBO, do you feel pressure to generate this type of engagement and create worlds parallel to the central narrative source for commercial promotion of the content?
These strategies are important for media business decision-making and maintaining a profitable value chain. This pressure extends to the creator because the algorithm counts every minute watched as a statistic, forcing creators to think even if the opening scene of their series would benefit that metric.
It is not ideal if we think only as storytellers, but this is the game, and if you want to play, you have to know the rules.
figure 7: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile
Well-constructed turning points are essential for the success of a series, a movie, a book. Could you say if there are differences in the construction of these moments of narrative turn in books, comics, movies and TV series, or would the principle be the same?
While there may be some differences in the construction of turning points in books, comics, movies, and TV series, the basic principles are the same. A well-constructed turning point should be a moment in the story where a significant change occurs, affecting the plot's direction and the characters' development. It should also create tension and keep the audience engaged. The way these moments are presented and executed may vary depending on the medium, but the overall principles remain the same.
Perhaps the biggest difference is that a movie and a series have the opinions of many more people than a book. And the more success and attention it receives, the more it will try to please the established audience.
The most impactful would be the soap opera structure, where the audience can change plot twists in the same week, according to the rating numbers.
How was the experience of creating a comic book? How has it been received by readers? Do you intend to develop others? Could you talk about upcoming projects?
figure 8: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile
figure 9: Credit: Authors´ Facebook profile
Creating a comic book can be a challenging and rewarding experience. For us, it was easy because it is a medium we love and because we work with characters we grew up with.
We had the experience of being novelists and screenwriters before doing a comic, which helped. We can't wait to do more and have plans about that for now, we can't share, but we hope to announce them soon.
References
Bernardo, N. (2015). Transmedia 2.0: how to create an entertainment brand using a transmedial approach to storytelling. Lisbon: Beactive Books.
Bradbury R. (2017). Zen in the art of writing. New York: RosettaBooks.
Field, S. (2005). Screenplay: the foundations of screenwriting. New York: Delta Trade Paperbacks.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.
King, S. (2010). On writing: a memoir of the craft. Scribner trade pbk. ed., 10th anniversary ed. New York: NY, Scribner.
McKee, R. (2014). Story: style structure substance and the principles of screenwriting. HarperCollins e-Books.
McQuail, D. & Deuze, M. (2020). Mcquail's media and mass communication theory (Seventh). London: SAGE Publications.
Biography
Renata Frade is a tech feminism PhD candidate at the Universidade de Aveiro (DigiMedia/DeCa). Cátedra Oscar Sala/ Instituto de Estudos Avançados/Universidade de São Paulo Artificial Intelligence researcher. Journalist (B.A. in Social Communication from PUC-Rio University) and M.A. in Literature from UERJ. Henry Jenkins´ transmedia alumni and attendee at M.I.T., Rede Globo TV and Nave school events/courses. Speaker, activist, community manager, professor and content producer on women in tech, diversity, inclusion and transmedia since 2010 (such as Gartner international symposium, Girls in Tech Brazil, Mídia Ninja, Digitalks, MobileTime etc). Published in 13 academic and fiction books (poetry and short stories). Renata Frade is interested in Literature, Activism, Feminism, Civic Imagination, Technology, Digital Humanities, Ciberculture, HCI.
