TRILOGY BUILDING Part I: Story Mapping the Star Wars and Halo trilogies

Some of you may remember a video I made back in 2008 talking about the concept of “Trilogy Building” and the connections between one entry in a trilogy and the trilogy as a whole. In terms of story mapping, it’s basically using the Story Maps beat sheet to break down a trilogy as if it were one movie narrative. My buddy James Robert Martin and I originally developed this material with the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movie universes, but we eventually made the decision to sideline Rings in favor of Halo, to acknowledge the increasing importance of story in games. We believe that this analysis can be used to construct a trilogy of screenplays, books or video games, depending on your interest.

James is here for an exclusive guest blog series that contrasts and compares the most popular movie series in history with the most popular video game in history. Enjoy.

Story Mapping the Halo-verse
by James Martin
Part I: The structure of a trilogy

Crafting a good story is, like any art form, more than just a matter of coloring inside the lines and making sure everything is in its place. In fact, the best artists, photographers, and storytellers are able to composite their respective images in such a way that the viewer or reader isn’t even aware that a “form” is being followed.

When we talk about a “map” or “structure” for a story, we’re not referring to a formulaic, predictable series of events, but rather a framework on which any story can be comfortably draped. In Dan’s Story Maps method, the plot points we all struggle for in our writing have clearly defined beats that work for any story, even ones in the interactive medium. What’s even more surprising is, trilogies follow the same pattern.

In the film medium, trilogies have always been out there, but only recently has this trend been so widespread in electronic media. Now more than ever, the art of storytelling is one of the central pillars to a successful video game franchise, almost as much as it is central to a film franchise. Now, whether you don’t live in L.A., don’t have the right contacts, or simply haven’t gotten the right break yet, writers can make sure that improper pacing of a story is not holding them back. As we prepare for the advent of a new trilogy in the Halo universe (Halo 4) let’s take a look back at the story crafted for the original Halo trilogy and see how it lines up with an iconic film trilogy, the classic Star Wars trilogy.

For those of you who are arriving late to the party, let’s start with some background information. The Halo saga tells the story of Master Chief, a super soldier pressed into action against a new threat to humanity, an alien race known as The Covenant. In the first installment, a colony ship called the Pillar of Autumn encounters the enemy force near a mysterious installation which we learn to be the titular Halo device.

Already parallels can be drawn between Halo and Star Wars: Episode IV with the existence of a super weapon (Halo/Death Star) as well as a “Hero of Mankind” (Master Chief/Luke Skywalker) and a menacing group of antagonists (The Covenant/The Empire.) Notice how certain elements are revealed and the same point in each saga. Very early on in each story, we are introduced to our protagonist, and the existence of an ominous device. In the case of Halo, our heroes are fleeing to the ring shaped “space station” which later turns out to be a superweapon. In Episode IV, Luke discovers a message from a stranger which, in full length, reveals the existence of the Empire’s superweapon. That’s no moon… it’s a space station! No, wait, it might be a moon… that blows everything up!

Now, in any story, your opening is key. A strong hook is what captures the interest of your viewer. For Halo, the action begins from the first scene, an opening in which the Pillar of Autumn is under fire from Covenant forces and fleeing to a then-unknown ring-shaped “space station.” This hook serves equally well for the first installment of the trilogy as well as the trilogy as a whole. By the time our Inciting Incident rolls around, we have a raging conflict and a gauntlet being thrown down by Keyes in the form of attempting to escape the attacking force, as well as attempting to hide the existence of humanity.

Likewise, in Episode IV, we are immediately hooked by the image of a massive ship crawling onto the screen, being fired upon by an even larger ship from behind. They are moving towards a mysterious, dead-looking planet, and inside the ships are two droids, one of whom is carrying a message left by another inhabitant of the ship. At this point, much is unclear, but our interest is hooked by each of these pieces of the puzzle, and each piece plays an important part in the unfolding of the saga.

The important thing to remember, here, is that without  these events, the trilogies would have started on a very weak footing. If, say, the Pillar of Autumn were just a colony ship floating through space which accidentally stumbled onto Halo, the story would lack conflict and urgency. The crew would have neither the immediate need for self-preservation nor the long-term dire need of protecting humanity itself. It would just be a story about some intergalactic travelers that, for all they knew, had just discovered some giant’s wedding band. In Episode IV, if the consular ship had not been being attacked in that exact location, our droids would not have been able to escape to the planet which was home to both Obi Wan and our main protagonist. Or, if the attack hadn’t taken place at all, then events would be very anticlimactic at this point – Leia would make landfall, find Ben, and give him the message in person. No excitement. No hook.

Now, having successfully set up the first installment and the trilogy itself (albeit unbeknownst to the player/viewer) there’s a lot left to accomplish in the first leg of a trilogy. Much like act one of a single film, film one of a trilogy must establish the first major conflicts, the major players, basically, everything that sets in motion what is to come. Often we reach the end of the first entry in a film series and don’t have much of an indication that more is to come. In retrospect, however, it becomes more obvious. Sure, the original Star Wars had a “happy” conclusion with the destruction of the Death Star, but there was so much unresolved, and it was set up perfectly by the trilogy’s first “act,” if you will.