Yup, another technology blog. And it’s not that I’m complaining about technology. It’s just that creating a comprehensive arena for your characters to live in can be a real challenge.
Unless you’re in steampunk land, the PAST is pretty much set. But Hollywood calls that a “period piece” and doesn’t want to fund those projects. Too expensive, and they think kids don’t look backward.
The future… Creating that can be expensive too. And might include stuff like self-driving cars that entertain you on the way to work. This “Johnny-Cab” from Total Recall meets X-Box is actually closer to reality than you may think. Of course, who can afford it?
The snag
Even if you’re writing CURRENT time and not sci-fi, consider that even in the best case scenarios, it will take 3 years to get your script to screen. That’s 3 years of iPhone advancements, social media leaps and political changes.
Remember that most software is obsolete the day it hits shelves. And technology is part of your setting, the arena for your dramatic conflict.
On the bright side… Human nature doesn’t change. The stupid things we think about, the false beliefs that dictate the coping mechanisms that drive the tragic character flaws of our heroes, these haven’t changed since that caveman tossed up a bone in 2001: Space Odyssey, and certainly won’t stop after we get our Back to the Future hoverboards.
So know thyself. Study man. Make your memesis (Aristotle’s “man in action”). And take your best guess at the 3+ year arena of NOW.
And remember, as William Goldman says, “Nobody knows anything.”