2.6 – Tension and conflict
Tension and conflict is not only something that exists in the novel and that's it. It is something that has levels and progress, and more importantly: it is something that is expected to have very concrete progress.
It is difficult to define tension and conflict. The main conflict of the story would be the thing that prevents life from going normally (which breaks the status quo, as we saw in point 2.3, the trigger). The tension can be felt in the importance of the situation and the consequences. A scene in which the characters play their lives has a lot of tension, while one in which they drink hot chocolate while chatting quietly has no tension at all.
Of course, it depends a lot on what kind of history it is. In an action movie they are all the time risking their lives and the truth is that there is not much tension in an ordinary fight in which they risk their lives (usually we know that nothing will happen to the protagonists), while that cup of chocolate can be a very tense moment since it is when we know that someone will make their confession of love.
Tension and conflict have a very characteristic sequence: Calm -> Tension/Conflict -> Increase -> Peak -> Return to calm.
The plot will follow more or less that scheme in relation to the main conflict, but the tension is a more complex beast. Tension grows and resolves faster than conflicts, since that complete cycle can occur in the same scene. Let's break down the sequence:
Calm: The lowest voltage point. It is the basis, with which we compare the rest of the tense situations. There are no things at stake, the characters can be calmer and to their liking, the reading speed is smooth and the pace calm.
Tension/Conflict: There is a trigger that breaks with calm. There is something at stake, and the situation is slightly uncomfortable. The pace of reading accelerates and the scenes can no longer afford to wander or wander, we have to focus on the object of tension because it is what attracts the attention of the protagonists.
Increment: The tension is increasing and the consequences are aggravated. It is common for them to give us a sample of this increase in the consequences by making the protagonists suffer them in their own flesh. There may be a small decrease in pace to assimilate the increased tension, but even if the action happens more slowly, the tension continues to increase.
Height: It comes to be like the climax of tension. It is the moment of greatest tension of the cycle. It's a razor's edge, and any misstep could have catastrophic consequences. We have reached the peak, and there are only three options: Tension erupts in the faces of the characters (with negative consequences), or conquer the circumstances (positive consequences or without negative consequences), or the tension is deflated for some reason (it is discovered that the tension was false).
Return to calm: After the peak, you usually return to the base of tension, or build a new calm. In more cyclical and episodic stories, one usually returns to the calm that existed before the tension, while in stories that escalate their tension, after the high point a new calm is created, which is higher than the first. If at first the tension is "oh my god I'm going to suspend" and then at the peak it goes up to "IF YOU FAIL THIS QUESTION YOU WILL DIE", by overcoming that peak you can create a new base tension: "Okay, you have overcome this question, but if you fail any of those that remain ... YOU WILL DIE!".
The cycles of tension repeat until the novel is over.
False tension
Both in action movies and in other stories there are moments that are supposed to be tense but then when you see them you don't feel that there is anything at stake. In action films like Transporter this is very common. There is a danger of "false tension" (such as having a bomb strapped to your wrist) that serves as a motivator but that we really know will not be used. Just like the hundreds of men in suits who try to kill him. They are "tension" that in the end almost never becomes such. Those types of movies and stories are usually predictable and therefore, the tension feels very false.
In other action films we don't have those problems, because we see that the risk is real. An example of this is Kung Fu Zion. The first three supermegaguay warriors who look like they will star in the film not only lose, but end up incapacitated, proving that the good guys don't always win.
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