Perfect Endings: A Showrunner’s Reflections
Five months ago, I began the journey of AURELIA. It seems like I’ve lived a lifetime since then. From hiring a creative team for the first time, to recruiting actors (many of whom quickly became friends), to traveling to Los Angeles and being featured on a Huffington Post blog to experiencing the ups and downs of a story that went exactly where I thought it would (and nowhere near it at all!) . . . it’s been a whirlwind of a journey.
Along the way, in the spirit of Kelly’s latest post, here are a few things I’ve learned, from a showrunner’s perspective:
1. The world is always deeper.
Whatever I thought I knew about Aurelia from Rise of the Tiger, the Aurelians always found a way to challenge it. Sometimes it was as simple as a really smart question that set me thinking. Those questions often led to clarifications or even adjustments to my personal (or our collective) understanding of the world. At the end of the day, the deeper the world, the more for actors to play with. Don’t be afraid to confront those gaps.
2. Collaboration enhances story.
As writers, it’s so easy for us to be possessive about our worlds, or obsessively anxious about our “intellectual property.” While common sense is always good, I think for most of us it goes too far. The digital age, and digital storytelling thrive on that cheesy acronym TEAM: “Together, Everyone Achieves More.” If you’re not willing to create together, you can’t achieve the “more” that’s waiting.
3. Detours are part of the journey.
As a showrunner, it’s tempting to want to get somewhere . . . fast. The story has to hurry. The actors have to hurry. Everything has to hurry, or we don’t think we’ll make our deadlines. If I learned anything, it was to slow down and let things unfold naturally. Often, in that time, the actors would invent whole new plot lines or take things in a completely different direction. And nine times out of ten, that direction was better than what I had in mind.
4. Characterization is exaggeration.
Aurelia’s best characters weren’t strictly “everyday people.” They were the people who evidenced a particularly exaggerated trait or two that colored their every appearance on stage. Now that I’m going back to my usual writerly “grind,” I’m taking that principle and filtering every character through it. Before, I understood characterization at an intellectual level; now, I’m beginning to understand it from an experiential level–having lived characters and watched them unfold through others.
5. Questions drive storytelling.
At the end of the day, human beings love mystery. The more mysteries you can spin, and foster, the better off your story will be. Not that showrunners (or writers) should invent things superfluously, but if the more you can build organic mystery into your story, the more invested your audience will be as the story unfolds. And as an added tip, I’ve found that questions involving people’s true loyalties (ie: political/social intrigue) are the juiciest, and most polarizing.
And with that, it’s time to wrap up Aurelia. I hardly know what to say at the end of the journey. Except that it’s been phenomenal. Our actors, audience, and partners at Theatrics have been more amazing than I could have ever hoped.
May the City of Aurelia live on, in many more stories, and in our imaginations.
Rise Above, Citizens of Light.
Hail Aurelia.
Introducing . . . the AURELIA BESTIARY
Today I’m pleased to formally announce the development of an Aurelia Bestiary: a compendium of monsters, machines, mutants, and mythic creatures that inhabit the City of Aurelia and her surrounding plains.
This 32-page (comic-sized) volume features creatures from the original novel Rise of the Tiger, new additions from the show Aurelia: Edge of Darkness, and even a few never-before-seen horrors from Aurelia’s deepest, darkest mad science labs! Written as if by Aurelian scientist themselves, the Aurelia Bestiary will include original field notes, poetry, scientific analysis, and other fun tidbits in the style and tone of our infamous world-in-crisis.
Aurelia Bestiary will be released by City Beast Studio, the sequential art and multimedia development cooperative I helm, along with my co-conspirators Terry Reed and Cole Norton. The release date has been set for the end of Aurelia’s current season: October 17th.
Interview with Daily Steampunk
This past week, the Daily Steampunk blog reached out to us for an interview about Aurelia. We happily obliged and discussed steampunk’s influence on Aurelia, among other things. It includes contributions from Lisa, Kelly, and the Marketing Director for Theatrics, Nick DeMartino. Read the interview yourself by clicking the image:
Meet Octavia
You open the door and take a seat near the bar. Smoke fills the air. A group of seedy-looking individuals sits in the corner, whispering amongst themselves in the confines of the shadows. Those must be the people you’re looking for, but that can wait. It’s been a long day, and you could use a bite to eat and maybe a drink first. A woman approaches you from behind the bar. “Welcome to Octavia’s,” she says. “What can I get you?”
We’ve got some artwork to unveil today, showing off our new character Octavia. This piece comes courtesy of artist Ignacio Narbona.
Story Chess: Character Collaboration in Aurelia
I’ve said before that Aurelia is more a co-created story than a game. The show will have no clear “winner,” and no one risks “losing” during the show, as they would in an traditional game.
Aurelia is, however, a lot like playing chess.
Given the cloak-and-dagger nature of Aurelia, individual plots tend to unfold like a carefully-plotted chess game. Characters have competing—even hidden—motivations. Some actors plan their characters’ stories weeks in advance, while others work out the details as they shoot. All strive to move across the board on their own terms. Yet they must work together and against each other.
In such a checkered landscape, how do Aurelians ever collaborate?
Here are a few of the most popular methods:
1) Video Tagging
The Theatrics platform allows actors to “tag” other actors in their video posts. Many actors use this feature regularly to notify another actor via email that s/he has been mentioned in a video. Often, this is the start to a more extensive series of back-and-forth videos that represent a kind of “subplot” for that actor’s story.
2) Out-Of-Character Dealing
Actors have two easy options to contact each other “back stage” as we call it around Aurelia. The first is through our closed actor Facebook group, which serves as a home for general announcements, out-of-character discussion, and a springboard where actors can find and friend each other for deeper conversations.
The other option is our Public Discussion forum on the Theatrics platform. This feature uses Disqus to power a similar type of interaction to Facebook.
3) Surprise Challenges
In this instance, a character challenges another character to take a particular action without prior notification. For example, in a recent video, noblewoman Eugenia Sphazomai begged scientists, Marius Menchevit and Nicodeamus Barzimon, to shelter her fugitive son. Will the actors behind these scientists choose to take Eugenia’s son into their storyline? Or will their characters refuse to help him? The actress playing Eugenia (and incidentally, her murderer too!) doesn’t know. She awaits her opponents’ next move, so she can plan her future story installments accordingly.
Starting to understand why I compare Aurelia to chess?
In Aurelia, I make a move. You make a move. We ponder our options and make a different move. And suddenly, somehow, we find ourselves moving across the board.
New Aurelia Artwork Takes Shape
Today, I happily returned to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design to provide feedback on illustrations-in-progress for upcoming episodes of AURELIA. John Matson and his fantastic pre-college students shared their wide-ranging work and a fresh new vision for Aurelia that will delight our actors and audience in weeks to come.
Flights of Aurelian Imagination
This morning I had the privilege, once again, of presenting the world of Rise of the Tiger (in this case AURELIA) to a class of pre-college students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.
Over the next week, they’ll be producing concept art, symbology and location designs inspired by the landscape of our fair mountain-bound city. Thanks to instructor and talented professional fantasy illustrator John Matson (whose credits include Magic: The Gathering and Game of Thrones) for coordinating the partnership, offering his students a taste of professional concept design.
It’s Launch Day! Welcome to Aurelia
The big day has arrived. This morning, AURELIA: Edge of Darkness show site went live for the whole world to view and participate! Hurry on over to see what’s been brewing around town. And while you’re at it, applaud these 16 citizens who entered Aurelia and made it their own—many of them, before they even really knew what it was. We would have never made it this far without our crew! Congratulations to them. (And now, go watch them PERFORM!)
Actors Take Stories to Next Level
Who says AURELIA is all work and no play? Our creative actors have taken things to the next level with custom sets, costumes and props. Everyone’s approach is different—but we thought you’d enjoy this peek behind the scenes. Haven’t joined us in AURELIA yet? Email aureliashow@gmail.com for your personal invite.
Kelly shows off his Flavius costume, pieced together from various sources.
Heather sports a jaunty hat for her character, Phaedra.
Michael shared this photo of his home “set” for his character Marius.
Lisa hunted down this bird figurine, some paint, gears and other goodies to create a mechanical bird prop.
AURELIA Showrunner shares at Crimson League
Can interactive storytelling help writers overcome perfectionism? Aurelia creator and showrunner Lisa England thinks so. In her guest post THE PERFECT FEAR, she shared her theories at Victoria Grefer‘s blog Creative Writing With The Crimson League.
LAUNCH DAY: Last Minute Preparations
Finishing up last-minute touches for the beta launch, including a brief home page video that sets the stage for the story and helps new players get started. Flipeleven Creative’s lead video editor Chad Halvorsen provided voice talent (and the video edit), while Director of Photography Jon Kline directed the recording.
Meet Kelly Cook
Kelly Cook, a long-time live action role player and open-air actor, will be sharing tips throughout the summer as our neighborhood actor coach. In anticipation of tomorrow’s launch, get to know Kelly in this brief video:
New background sketches by Julie Roth
After preparing some preliminary sketches for our upcoming launch, Julie Roth has taken to the streets of Aurelia for her next background projects. Check out these rough sketches and learn more about Julie at her website.
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If this is a fantasy show, then do I need a costume?
Many actors have asked this question. Fortunately, the answer is not as daunting as it sounds.
As an actor, you will only be seen from the chest up. All you really need to “decorate” are your shoulders, neck, and possibly your hair.
Of course, if you already have a costume for fantasy/steampunk LARP or cosplay, we hope you’ll show it off! But if you don’t, then look no further than your own closet. Vests, tunics, cloaks, watches, jewelry, hats and scarves are just a few of the many interesting items you may already have.
Check out these examples from the everyday wardrobes of character coach Kelly and showrunner Lisa:
A simple shawl (or piece of cloth) is very versatile.
Got an old cap or an accessory like a pipe?
This frilly jacket would suit a wealthier character.
An old newsboy cap and a scarf would work well.
Follow AURELIA on Pinterest!
As the Aurelia web show unfolds through the brilliance of our crowdsourced storytellers, we’ll no doubt develop an increasing variety of artwork. So where can you go to be inspired by all of it at once? Pinterest, of course. Follow our board there, and we’ll follow yours! Watch also for an upcoming board of Steampunk and fantasy inspiration, too—just in time for our actors to view, share and use to inspire the development of their characters’ stories.
What will AURELIA’s actor pages look like?
Actors have begun asking what their personal pages will look like. While our site is still under construction, we can share a page from our predecessor Welcome to Sanditon, based on the popular web show Lizzie Bennet’s Diaries as a helpful example.
Sanditon’s portal uses the town’s signature color, blue, with a simple background. The featured player’s latest video occupies the large window, with other actors’ videos visible below for browsing. On such pages, actors also can post blog entries, photos, and social media, and they can respond to each others’ videos and “cheer” great performances. (Learn more about Sanditon’s splash in the media world.)
There are differences, however, between this show and Aurelia’s approach. For one thing, Sanditon is set in modern California. By contrast, Aurelia: Edge of Darkness takes place in a world faraway—using concept art, video, and sound to bring this new reality to life. A simple example is the look of the site: the blue site “skin” of Sanditon (below) will be replaced by a landscape view of Aurelia City.
Each show is different! We’re excited to experiment with new techniques—and we’d love to have you join us as a beta actor. No experience necessary. Just three simple steps to launch your very own character and determine how Aurelia’s story unfolds. Read more about the process here and contact us at aureliashow@gmail.com to snag one of the beta show’s limited slots.
Can you guess what this image is part of?
Well, can you? Okay . . . we’ll give you a hint: it’s something that will help your character find his/her way around Aurelia when the show launches. If you said “a map,” you’re correct! This is a teaser piece of Allison Westbrook‘s beautiful diagram of Aurelia. Check out my original sketch to see how far this map has come!
Aurelia: Edge of Darkness Update #2
A quick update on the show, where I (Lisa) talk show names, our growing roster of staff and artists, and what’s next for this project!
Mapping Our Way to the Future
Milwaukee artist Allison Westbrook is hard at work on a beautiful map of Aurelia. But until then, here’s a peek at the sketch I (Lisa) recently did to give Allison a sense of some of the major landmarks he’ll need to cover inside the city. This is how everything creative starts: with a sketch, an idea, a messy collection of “maybes” that turn into something beautiful. Thankfully, we have Allison’s talent on hand, to turn this chicken scratch “maybe” into a “something” work of art.
So what is an “interactive web show,” anyway?
A lot of people have been asking us this question lately! And it’s understandable, considering that this type of mass-participation storytelling has only been launched a couple of times. How does the audience participate? What does a typical video look like? And what makes the story truly “interactive?”
Because our site is still under construction, I can’t send you there quite yet to get a taste of how it works. But the good news is, you can check out the original mass-participation web show that we’re basing ours off: Beckinfield. This paranormal drama about a small town with big secrets—some of which involve spooky happenings—began as a storytelling platform “by actors for actors.” Eventually it took the internet by storm as players from all walks of life jumped on board. With almost 4,000 actors, Beckinfield ran for two and a half years before terminating so that the Theatrics team could help other people (like us!) launch a show.
So have fun cruising around Beckinfield. Through our show will have different concept art, look, and user experience design, the core interaction will be similar to Beckinfield’s—with many (if not most) players using short videos to develop their character. Oh yeah, and our show will take place in an alternative steampunk-fantasy universe. So what does THAT mean for the players?
Well, as the Beckinfield team would say, “You tell us!”
A steampunk fantasy web drama starring you 
