Kiki's Delivery Service II
Sep. 15th, 2008 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranAnother thing to take away is how well the reversals are handled. A lot of the plot, such as it is, is simply about something turning out to be something other than it first seems. A certain situation might be revealed and then a new piece of information added at the end to subtly change it.
The interesting thing is that this hardly ever happens in a jarring way - the changes are always consistent with what has come before. Some of them, of course, are major reversals on the order of "things are going well ... oh no, now they're not!" Others are so subtle they are barely noticeable. A witch flies over a fishing boat on her way to a new town and calls out and waves down to them. What do you expect to happen? Probably not to have them call and wave back. And yet, it's not so surprising that it's a major plot point. It's just something mildly unexpected that catches the eye.
This is a useful technique for building interest without needing to rely on plot tension. The little surprises help to make the background seem alive even when the main plot isn't advancing.
The interesting thing is that this hardly ever happens in a jarring way - the changes are always consistent with what has come before. Some of them, of course, are major reversals on the order of "things are going well ... oh no, now they're not!" Others are so subtle they are barely noticeable. A witch flies over a fishing boat on her way to a new town and calls out and waves down to them. What do you expect to happen? Probably not to have them call and wave back. And yet, it's not so surprising that it's a major plot point. It's just something mildly unexpected that catches the eye.
This is a useful technique for building interest without needing to rely on plot tension. The little surprises help to make the background seem alive even when the main plot isn't advancing.
