Hard World Building vs Soft World Building

How do you design a story?

In these winter months, I’ve been rewatching some of my favorite films from the rollercoaster of “The Hobbit” trilogy to listening to the tranquil melodies in “Princess Mononoke”. My favorite things about movies are how they construct and immerse us in fantastical, absurd, or beautiful worlds. Some of my favorite block buster franchises do this with an immense amount of detail.

The prologue to “The Fellowship of the Ring” is an example of this type of storytelling. Screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philipa Boyens, and Peter Jackson talk in length about the difficulty in condensing the original lengthy histories, languages, mythology, and races from the book into a 4 minute sequence. The short prologue meticulously sets the stage for the cinematic trilogy; concisely explaining the evil magical forces that will shape the forthcoming story. The literal explanation of the story allows the viewer to keep up with the story as it unfolds, following every twist and turn with ease.

Conversely, in the dystopian film "The Lobster,” there is no prologue to explain the absurd dynamics of this world. Instead, we see the main character in a hotel say he would like to be turned into a lobster if he doesn’t find a partner in a few days time. The viewer doesn’t get any explanation to the purpose of this world. Why do people turn into animals? Who imposed these rules? Why does everyone blindly accept these rules? The viewer keeps up with the story, but is forced to embrace the world’s unknownness in place of ‘hard’ understanding

Is storytelling about literally explaining every aspect of the the world or simply around conveying the feeling of the world?

This lovely 17 minute videos breaks down ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ world building when it comes to fiction. ‘Hard’ world building, like in “The Lord of the Rings” is about conveying realism and detail. The incredible detail from the architecture of the world, to the geographic relation of places, to the linguistic syntax from each race’s language allows us to grasp that this world could exist. Author Arthur C. Clarke writes:

“Hard world building immerses the ready by placing them in a world as believable and grounded as possible”

This style makes it easy for the viewer. All they have to do is grasp onto the details that are fed to them in order to make sense of the world.

‘Soft’ world building, on the other hand, is not necessarily easy for the viewer. Interpretations on why events unfold are left up to the viewer. In Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away,” no explanation is given for the origin of the bath house, the social hierarchy of the spirits, and why some characters can wield magic. The world departs from conventional explanation. In talking about “Spirited Away,” Miyazaki says:

“Everybody can make a film with logic. But my way is to not use logic…At certain moments in that process, the lid is opened and very different ideas and visions are liberated…I [should not] handle a scene in a certain way for the sake of the audience. For instance, what for me constitutes the end of the film, is the scene in which Chihiro takes the train all by herself…I remember the first time I took the train alone and what my feelings were at the time. To bring those feelings across in the scene, it was important to me to not have a view through the window of the train, like mountains or a forest…because they are so focused on the ride itself. It’s while working on that scene that I realized that I work in a non-conscious way. There are more profound things than simply logic that guide the creation of the story”

It’s interesting how meaning can exist without logic. In fact, the lack of logical explanation in “Spirited Away” makes it easier for the viewer to understand how the 10 year old girl feels in the new scary world she finds herself in. The immersion stronger for the story it is telling.

The different methods come down to imagined or explained immersion. Is it just a matter of style and preference? We see the that goals differ; the method of story telling conveys something more than the sum of its part. One might not be better than the other, but the method of story telling could tell us new ways to look at what is being told or new ways to think about the viewer themself. How can we create meaning without logic? What stories can we leave un-rationalized?