Setting your story in another time or place, somewhere where the current norms of society cease to
apply, allows you to write your own rules, set your own limits, and construct your own "altered
universe". Then you transport your audience there, to their great delight, as that's where they
want to be--transported somewhere else for a few hours. Then they don't mind so much when you give
them your morality play, your fight between good and evil, in fact they enjoy the hell out of it.
What are some examples of 'altered universe' in film?
The best examples of these altered universes in cinema are the Western and science fiction, which
encompasses time travel, outer space, undersea, altered physical dimensions, etc. Westerns are
famous vehicles for the moral message, the higher ideal, the black hats and the white hats, the
American Way.
How does the 'altered universe' work with science fiction?
Science fiction stories, especially those involving time travel, offer the same potential and more
as now you can bring in the battle between man and technology. Setting your story in a different
era also grants you special liberties to tell the story you want to tell. Or put the story into a
different place dimension, e.g., Outer Space, the Deep Blue Sea, deep within the Earth. You can
also alter your universe via imagination, perhaps with a change in size, shrinking or growing your
characters, or by using computer technology like cyber games, etc. Once there all bets are off and
you can tell the kind of story you want to tell unencumbered by the limits of reality.
Are Westerns and science fiction the only examples of an 'altered universe'?
Without resorting to the Western or science fiction genre, you can also take your story to
an 'altered universe' such as a deep
jungle, or forbidding desert. Perhaps the tippy-top of a snowy mountain, or even a rogue
airliner. Anywhere that's far from th
ordinary world we all know, and where the ordinary rules no longer apply.
How do I use the 'altered universe' to tell my story?
The story can start and end in this alternate dimension or place. It can also go there at some
point and stay there until the
characters have gone through the major psychic and emotional change you intended. Then they return
to the "normal" universe
with the "magical elixir", and nothing's ever the same again. This works particularly well with
hero journeys.
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