Three Grandmas: Process

Chris Goodwin Three Grandmothers
Main characters: Purple (the spiritual one, dour but driven), Orange (the physical one, cheery and impulsive), and Green (the intellectual one, clever and logical).

Context

Previous work focused around an anthropomorphic black dog character named “Hundo” in a post-apocalyptic setting after political upheaval and environmental collapse.

That plot featured Hundo wandering a “wintery” American wasteland looking for others willing to restore the environment and preserve some form of democracy while avoiding further calamity as represented by a smothering amorphous white stuff which visually reads as snow.

It was a project in anticipation of unknown turmoil to help with personal anxiety, and it developed far enough for the planning of nine individual scenarios and a visual design consistent with mainstream entertainment meant for children.

However, in the light of increasing actual socio-political disaster and environmental disruption in the form of the covid-19 pandemic, this project became unbearably distasteful and was set aside as no longer useful.  This effort was instead reworked into a story with an even more hopeful framework, by necessity.

Currently

Whereas the previous work speculates on formless, oncoming disaster with no obvious solutions, the current story takes place as a flashback. This already suggests not only survival, but thriving longevity.  It is a science-fiction setting, and the plot concerns three women who have raised a young foundling girl to adulthood.

They are telling her adult self the story of how they rescued her as an infant.  Each woman is capable yet selfish in a different way, according to their inclinations and world views.  One is intellectual, one is physical, and one is spiritual.  They each compliment and conflict with each other, and have to face their own antagonist counterparts who represent their selfish natures to an extreme.

Through gameplay, the player is able to shift the point of view of the story being told.  As each “grandma” tells it, the dialogue and mechanics change.  Ultimately, the game can be replayed often, resulting in a different thematic emphasis each time.

As the story is told in flashback, the foregone conclusion is success, but how it was achieved can still be determined.  I see so much going wrong now that seems due to divides and narrow concerns, inconsideration and an unwillingness to own bad behavior or address antisocial practices.  As a result, it felt better to work through a story of three people who might be this way, yet who also found the means to get along, and who came through the otherside together as a stronger unit.  This project was a healthier creative place for my psyche as a work of contemplation.

Story Development

In working with my mentor, I developed the overall thematic structure of the work; specifically the sequence of dialogue exchanges to reveal motive and account for possibilities in points of view.  The dialogue is interspersed with actual game play mechanics that are still being developed intuitively, according to narratological principles.  The story plan is here.