A conceit or gimmick on the series ‘24’ was that it took place in real time. One hour on the show was one hour of activities, and the 24-episode season covered the events of a single day.
As entertainment, I loved that show, and appreciated the gimmick of it with the ticking clock at the end of every show, and before and after every commercial. The commercials allowed the show to “skip” a few minutes and I always imagined that during the commercials, all the characters in all the subplots would drop what they were doing and run to the bathroom.
Actually, since there were multiple subplots going on, there would have been time for characters to take care of their mundane activities like showers and bathroom breaks. Sleep rarely happened; the events of each day were intense enough to keep everyone going around the clock for that day.
But I remember really appreciating a couple of moments, early on in the series, where Jack Bauer would be seen shoveling down a quick meal and/or guzzling a glass of water - or coming out of the shower. Just those few seconds of acknowledging those mundane needs was enough to keep me believing in what was going on. Later I found the series did NOT take the time somewhere in the season to do this, which took away from the show I think.
Maybe they didn't have time, they figured, or didn't want to waste effort on that kind of thing - or maybe they just didn't think of it. There would have been a lot to keep track of. But I missed that - just once per season, of some kind of hint of eating/brushing the teeth/coming out of the shower would have kept things just a little better. Might be nitpicky, I know. I still liked the show all the way through!
I remember appreciating the show “Dexter” for how often the characters were seen eating. So many scenes happened around the breakfast or dinner table. Dexter talks about how much he loves eating and driving in the first episode I think. Apparently part of the character in the book was his super-fast metabolism that required him to eat a lot. But it helped make an extraordinary character and universe to seem real!
In a book it might be easier - you can mention these things in a few words (the first books I ever read where these things were mentioned were Piers Anthony's Xanth novels, where he would quickly say that the characters took care of those things after waking up, and had to eat during their journey.
And hey, is there really only one bathroom on the Enterprise?
Eh, that's a study for another day.
In my comics, I love writing and drawing my characters eating and drinking or dozing. It helps capture the vibe I want. I admit though, that even when my slacker Typical Strange characters are out on adventures, outside their workplace or home, I don't include that stuff at all. It just doesn't occur to me. Maybe now it will!
Do you appreciate seeing a hint of those mundane activities in what you read/wash? Do you add them in
to your own stories?
I need to take a break - I'm out!
Have a good one,
Banes
Mundane Activities
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 26, 2021
6 likes!
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hushicho at 3:50PM, Aug. 27, 2021
I've always said that as long as what some consider "filler" has some development in it or does something to make the setting come alive or add depth to the characters, I often prefer it to the breakneck plot-heavy nonsense where you can't get a break to breathe for a moment. I would always rather enjoy stories that tell us more about who the characters are and what the world is like than what mega-plot the writers want to shove down our throats this week, and the rest of the season, without any moments to sort of take it all in. It's why I love "iyashi-kei" or "healing genre" stories, since they often eschew the frantic umbrella plot nonsense in favor of just events that may not have a real conflict to speak of in them at all. But everything that happens enriches the story, crafting a tapestry that the reader can feel living around them, and can experience and immerse themselves in.
Banes at 6:37AM, Aug. 27, 2021
Very true - the mundane needs can add a LOT to the worldbuilding! I like bravo's scene with a guy avoiding a monster attack because he's in the bathroom xD
Ozoneocean at 12:32AM, Aug. 27, 2021
Many of my breakfasts are pretty epic ocasions. They'd make great fodder for a comic :)
PaulEberhardt at 11:34AM, Aug. 26, 2021
I think very much like bravo. Mundane activities can form a backdrop for some dialogue, and as a bonus they also characterise the universe the story is set in. I remember a Star Trek parody where the crew indeed had just one restroom per corridor. Unrealistically, the captain and the first officer are talking tactics in the men's room, where one urinal is at nose height and used by an alien whose long nose very obviously isn't actually a nose... Why unrealistically? Because of men's room etiquette. You just don't talk tactics or about anything else at the urinals. Still, this illustrates how a plot can - umm - flow on while at the same time you can add some incidental details to your world, illustrating how strange it is. This works just as well with breakfasts and other things - think of Bruce Willis' character's morning routine in the Fifth Element, with odd details like the long-filtered cigarette.
bravo1102 at 4:40AM, Aug. 26, 2021
So what I'm saying with these multiple posts is that mundane matters can be made into plot points and world building just like mentioned in the article about the show Dexter. His eating alot was part of his characterization. Bankjob it was important that one character always took cold showers and ate saltpeter to keep his concentration.
bravo1102 at 2:41AM, Aug. 26, 2021
Running water could also be a luxury in space travel. Water would be a valuable resource on a spaceship where everything has to be accounted for and you just can't waste gallons of it on bathing when there are waterless alternatives. So again a water shower could be a luxury only available on larger ships and stations as I depicted in the Belle's Best story GOOB.
bravo1102 at 2:38AM, Aug. 26, 2021
A post apocalyptic world usually includes the end of running water. So showers and working bathrooms become a luxury. And every one if those skimpy cars has a bucket and a shovel just like tanks in the field do. See a tanker with a shovel he's off to the shitter.
marcorossi at 1:41AM, Aug. 26, 2021
In Fist of the North Star (and many other post-apocaliptic stories inspired by Mad Max) characters are aleays going around desert with skimpy cars. Where do they shit? Can you imagine Kenshiro taking a dump behind a dune? Won't they stink horrendously?
bravo1102 at 12:48AM, Aug. 26, 2021
There's only one bathroom on the bridge. It's on the opposite wall you never see. Since it's a great way to show characters naked I have plenty of shower scenes. Even did a communal barracks shower room so there could be reactions to what was going on. In Belle's Best whenever the cameras stop rolling everyone has a bottle or cup in hand to stay hydrated between takes. There was a running gag in Attack_of_the_Robofemoids about coffee breaks and in Interstellar Blood Beasts there was the scene where the doctor went to the bathroom and missed an attack by the monsters.