Question re The Deconstruction Format and “Commentary Scenes”
I’ve been working with a group on trying our hands at The Deconstruction / Decon longform format, and most of our knowledge comes secondhand or from the Interwebs, so I was hoping some of y’all who’ve done this format might help me with a question.
How much are the “Commentary Scenes” supposed to really comment on the base/source scene? And if so, comment in what way? Are they, say, meant to be scenes that explore one of the source scene’s main character’s opinions on an issue that’s come up, so it’s like that character is themself commenting, even if it’s through the eyes or voices or actions of some new characters? Or might they be, say, scenes that explore one of the player’s opinions and offer commentary, again if done through a scene and not like a monologue?
We’ve received different takes on this, and maybe it’s just because there are different approaches. Consensus seems extremely strong that the Thematic Scenes must really dig into the two main characters, specifically their most prominent character trait, or even what is going to sort of drive them to ruin. And The Run seems like it can and should go all over the place.
But we’ve been told everything from, the Commentary Scenes just need to be game-heavy scenes and can be inspired by anything at all that came before, to, the Commentary Scenes need to be deep-dives into specific aspects of the two specific source scene characters. Or, other options, like a Commentary Scene might have nothing to specifically do with those two source scene characters’ psyches, but could go out and flesh out some other aspect of the world we’ve created.
Any thoughts at all are super appreciated. Thank you!!