Why We Love Death Note's Info-Dumping

I have watched a fair amount of anime in my time but a classic that I have been dying to make a video on for quite a while is Death Note pun halfway intended and with the release of new Death Note material I thought now would be the perfect time to take a look at one of the most popular animes of all time Death Note is pretty much legendary for its complex plot lines story structure and genius level characters in fact I would say that these components are the bedrock of its success and due to the complexity of the story there is a lot of explaining going on in each episode and if you've watched Death Note you know when I say a lot I mean a lot like a lot a lot even if someone figures out that there's a fake base I've set things up so that there's no way they could get their hands on the notebook and once the ink reservoir is inserted it acts as an insulator preventing the flow of electricity around the circuit because through a shape humans aim in the season rubber events not only badgers they see their life so ever as well if someone discovers not somehow the confidential information [Music] there is a ton of explanations and exposition or as some might of it info dumping but throughout the entirety of this show these moments of characters delivering information don't feel like exposition they don't feel boring or forced or awkward in fact some of these moments of exposition are downright captivating today I want to talk about the little details that go into turning what would typically be horrendous info dumping into the information-packed calling card of this series there are two scenes in particular that I want to look at in death note they demonstrate how the show can feel so smooth and well paced even with minutes worth of exposition and info dumping the first scene takes place at the end of episode two and is one of the most famous in the show it is when our main character Light Yagami learns that world-famous investigator L is hot on his trail the scene is almost three minutes long exactly and consists of roughly 400 words to put that in perspective the average novel page holds between 250 to 300 words so this scene in Death Note would equate to reading a full page and a half of nothing but straight explanation and exposition now I'm not going to show the whole scene because one that would be a lot to sit through and to fortunately it isn't necessary what we are going to do is focus on three sections from the info dub here is number one if you did indeed kill Linda Taylor the matter you just saw died on television I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today me here is number two although this was announced as a worldwide broadcast the truth is we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan then here is number three the police treated your first killing so why are these specific sections of the exposition important well because all three of them reference events and information that the audience had already seen in that significant see the usual use of exposition and by extension info dumping is to provide readers or the audience context on what is ahead of them in this story take this short exchange of exposition from solo for example we said one day we're gonna get out of here this is it the information shared between han and kira is meant to inform the audience that the characters plan to sell stolen kalaxian to escape the planet thereon by stating this information in the first few minutes of the film the audience will understand why the ensuing events happen the exposition came before the events it come textual eise's this is by and large the most frequently utilized structure of exposition and it's also the reason why exposition is usually boring and distracting in robber Mickey's book story which I cannot praise enough please read it if you want to analyze narratives and story structure he explicitly states what goes into making interesting exposition he writes if at a certain point in the telling a piece of exposition must be known or the audience wouldn't be able to follow create the desire to know by arousing curiosity but the question why in the filmgoers mind why is this character behaving this way why doesn't this or that happen why with the hunger for information even the most complicated set of dramatized facts will pass smoothly into understanding Robert McKee's advice on delivering exposition basically funnels down to making the audience want an explanation to something mysterious that you have shown them and if you are a sharp eared listener you will have recognized that this is the opposite of how traditional exposition is structured remember the general format is to deliver exposition which gives context to the upcoming events but by doing this you are delivering explanations to questions that the audience doesn't have yet essentially you were giving insight into a topic that nobody asked for and in a jam-packed narrative that kind of thing sticks out like a sore thumb the events of the narrative caused curiosity and well delivered exposition demands the audience be curious with all this in mind then Robert McKee's advice would be that the events of the narrative come before the explanation the story needs to do something that warrants an explanation in the first place and deathnote consistently makes excellent use of this format remember those three moments of interest that we pointed out earlier well there is another moment of interest just a little bit before them after light writes Elle's name in the death note we get this event lights face says it all he's mystified and is looking for answers who did I just kill how is L still alive what kind of trap have I fallen into and of course it's not just light who has these questions it's the audience right alongside with him starving for answers to this narrative event this is the moment that arouses curiosity which we can call the curiosity event and because this curiosity has been created we happily accept the three minutes in 400 word explanation that comes after but even during the explanation the structure of the exposition stays the same the information being conveyed gives context to events that have already happened take our first moment of interest for example if you did indeed kill Lind L tailor the man you just saw died on television I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today Lind L tailor introduction proceeded the curiosity event I am Lind L tailor and Elle's explanation gives context to it let's look at the second moment of interest although this was announced as it will align broadcast the true things we are only broadcasting in the Kanto region of Japan again the worldwide broadcast announcement preceded the curiosity event as of now we're bringing you a live worldwide broadcast of enterprise I see p.m. and the explanation gives context to it let's look at the third moment of interest police treated ear first killing is an unrelated incident but in actuality the first victims was a suspect in Shinjuku this event actually happened a whole episode prior and the explanation gives context as to why it is so important to L and the plot all of the scenes exposition is delivered and easily accepted because it comes after events which the audience would want answers to not to mention that it still gives context to the upcoming events because of this three-minute scene we as the audience now know the methods and resources that L will utilize to catch light preparing us for the events to come in this way death notes exposition is bilateral it gives context to past events and future events but again all of this is possible because of how the exposition was structured around the curiosity event however let's take a look at one other scene to investigate some wrinkles in how this structure might play out the second scene is from episode 4 and depicts light experimenting with the rules and flexibility of the Death Note the scene is 4 minutes long and is roughly 650 words being equivalent to almost three full novel pages of straight explanation luckily the second scene is constructed very similarly to the first scene which will help us in breaking it down I think I just figured out how to find the name of the guy who was following me today this should be interesting another six inmates were found dead last night all were heart attacks it's him what bizarre behavior before they died could you be more specific here is our curiosity event light has killed six inmates and has caused them to act strangely this would of course prompt the audience to ask the question what did light make these men do and why subsequently and just like in the first scene we have the explanation that follows the curiosity event now even though this all seems to be a carbon copy of the first scene there is actually a huge difference between the two and it directly impacts how the audience receives the curiosity event if we look back at the first scene L delivers information to light that contextualizes past events we as the audience experience the surprise of Elle's reveal alongside light and learn the new information with him from his perspective that is not what is happening in this second scene here Ryu is receiving information from light that contextualizes the past events why is this little detail so important well think about it like this in the first scene it's true we stayed extremely close to light and experienced the events of the narrative right alongside him the curiosity event was made possible by Elle's actions that light became informed of but in the second scene the lights actions caused the curiosity event the killing of the six criminals it is in this timeframe where we are separated from lights perspective between the night and the morning that he plans and carries out his six murders this is identical to how the audience was separated from L when he planned and executed his scheme with Lind L tailor if the audience were alongside either of these characters during the setup of their plans we would have a complete picture of their actions meaning no arousal of curiosity meaning no curiosity event meaning no hunger for answers meaning exposition that we don't care about the second scene is structured almost identically to the first it's just that the roles of the characters are altered for the first scene depicts L as the character with insight into the curiosity event the second scene depicts light in that role and where the first scene depicts light receiving explanations of previous events the second depicts Ryu in that role this is all to say that managing exposition correctly is about putting the audience in the right perspective if you want an event to be a surprise to the audience you must separate them from a character who has insight into that event but that separation doesn't even necessarily require more than one character skilled use of perspective separation can produce a situation where character creates the curiosity event and explains it all on their own this actually happens later in Episode four after the experiments light says it's time for the real thing and targets a petty criminal yesterday on the news they said this drug addict tried to rob a bank but was unsuccessful he attacked a few people and then ran away empty-handed however instead of showing what happens we separate from lights and mediate perspective and resume with him when he is on a date during the date the same criminal light specified earlier hijacks the bus he is on creating a curiosity event shortly after the criminal is struck by a car and killed finally the audience is shown lights thoughts where he explains the circumstances of the curiosity event the bus jacking 11:45 on the dot everything went just as I planned in this sequence light find his target creates a plan while the audience is separated from his perspective causes the curiosity event then explains it after all on his own boards the 11:31 Spaceland bound bus near the eastern entrance to the park immediately afterwards at 11:45 he dies when struck by a car hopefully this video has made understanding exposition and information delivery a bit easier as much as I heart on exposition and info dumping on this channel there is nothing inherently wrong with them just how they are used Death Note is a show that thrives off of explanations and is entertaining while doing it which is really all an audience could ask for anyway thank you all for watching to the end as always it was a pleasure and I will talk to you all again soon

Channel: Savage Books

Views: 115,599

Rating: 4.9802446 out of 5

Keywords: Death note, writing tips, exposition, savage books, dialogue dive, light yagami, death note netflix, anime, ryuk

Id: HVkQifId0EA

Length: 14min 32sec (872 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 19 2020