Guide to Cinematic Roleplay & Storytelling (2024)

Chapter III: The Importance of The Vibe

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition for the word "aesthetics" tells us:
"aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, andtasteand with the creation and appreciation of beauty."

In the vast ocean of storytelling, aesthetics have repeatedly played a major role in immersing the audience into the artist's world. In modern times, this can be seen in the visual and auditory storytelling techniques of cinema, encompassing many different forms. As it relates to text-based roleplay and screenshot production, the forms primarily include time,color, andmusic. The synthesis of these three ideas forms what can be expressed as "the vibe."

Keep in mind, as with any roleplay universe, there is an automatic standard placed on the vibe by the universe's setting. These standards can range in specificity, depending on the server's lore. Very specific vibe standards could be the portrayal of the late-1990s in GTA: Chronicles, the 1870s in the Red Dead Redemption II roleplay scene, or the post-apocalyptic setting of the Project Zomboid scene. GTA World (in 2024) is unique in that vibe standards are more generalized and typically decided by the player/faction, on a case-by-case basis.

Time

The GTA: World aesthetic standard is typically regarded as a "modern portrayal of a west-coast American city." In a temporal sense, we could consider "vintage" concepts to mean anything older than forty years in the past, and "futuristic" to mean anything beyond a year in the future. This would give us a window of roughly 1985 to 2025 of aesthetics that could be considered up to GTA World's standard. In other words, time aesthetics can be bent in that range to fit your concept, without feeling too old or too futuristic/far-fetched.

The idea of GTA World taking place in a "timeless modernity" can be reflected by the common practice of aging up characters. In a literal sense, with every year a character ages, their past experiences are pushed further backward in time. This progression of time, which can often be vital to a good story arc, can be further portrayed through the changing of aesthetics, one into the next.

However, in a server where every character could represent a different period vibe, concessions must be made to accommodate other players. Technology such as cellphones and the Internet are ever-present factors of GTA World's universe, as well as social and political issues such as illegal immigration, terrorism and the collapse of the Soviet Union. If your concept could not work realistically between 1985 and 2025, it more than likely doesn't belong on this server.

While not always overtly banned, it's a healthy practice to avoid hyper-specific real world references to events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as the existence of pandemic-specific realities would crush the timelessness of the server, and would completely disregard the characters who age up every month.

By maintaining a standard of "Modern Americana", concepts can begin to portray change more realistically, through aesthetic change, or "fashion decay". Decomposition is part of our natural world, and the progression of multiple years in a short OOC time-span allows us to better portray degradation. From the moment our characters are created, their slow decline has already begun. Eventually, all characters will cease to exist through inactivity or a CK. It's my belief that better stories can be told through swift IC time progression, rather than constant real-time portrayal.

Even 1990s aesthetics are relatively modern.

The many highs and lows of character development would not realistically happen in the OOC time-span of GTA World. So, if we were to consider this server's meta-universe as "timeless", this would give us more flexibility to portray the passage of time with our characters.

My practice, which I picked up from a friend in the illegal community, is to age up your characters 1 IC year per OOC month. You can pick a birth-date, then use time conversion to determine what day of the month to age them up. "Months" in GTA World can be determined to pass roughly every 2.5 real days... so as anexample, for a July 15th birthdate, you could age your character up every 17th of the month.

It's also vitally important to keep in mind the idea of suspending disbelief. After all, GTA World is still just a video-game. To paraphrase a developer of Grand Theft Auto V:

"Rockstar videogames are meant to be believable, not realistic."

If GTA World was "realistic", every event ICly would happen in real time. Since the gamey effects of text-based roleplay will always corrode true realism, it's good to remember that your roleplay should make a character feel BELIEVABLE, if not absolutely realistic to a modern, real life standard. Furthermore, I won't knock down people who enjoy being as realistic as possible. It's a form of storytelling, in as much a way as the cinematic method.

With all of this in mind, we can begin to set our own 'time aesthetics' for our characters. For example, in my character Frank Buntz, I began him with an early-1980s noir vibe and slowly transitioned him into a more decadent, darker tone reminiscent of the late-1980s.

By slowly shifting the zeitgeist of my "One Call, That's All!" character thread, I have depicted the subtle decay and changemy character has endured, from a depressed alcoholic divorcee, into a ruthless, corrupt Vinewood power player... achieved totally throughaudiovisual storytelling using these methods. I have mirrored the changes in 1980s fashion and musicto mirror Buntz's decline into drugs, murder and organized crime.

Demonstration of how I used 1980s fashion aesthetics to portray the decay of Frank Buntz.

Though the passage of time is not important to every character's portrayal, I felt it was important to my own, and I'm satisfied with the results. Using time aesthetics is one of many ways you can use visual storytelling as a way to further your own character's narrative.

Color

Much like in film, colors can be used as an aid to tell many things about your character and story. Fortunately, in GTA World, we have access to a wide assortment of clothing items and accessories for both genders. The GTA Online character customization system is one of the most intricate and quality-focused systems in the entire roleplay genre, especially as it relates to cinematic wardrobes. In addition, GTA World contains countless modified clothing items, instantly putting this server ahead of competitors on the RageMP platform.

IN CLOTHING:

With time and effort, this wide and un-assorted jumble of clothing pieces can actually turn into your hidden weapon for effective roleplay. While various clothing materials/aesthetics are important, your choice of clothing is irrelevant in the face of whether or notthe colors match.

You can learn much about how to properly dress and color your characters by examining your source material, first and foremost. The wardrobes of The Sopranos are often faded, which can instantly evoke the depressive atmosphere of the New Jersey mafia. The sociopathic mobsters typically wear all-black ensembles, while their civilian enablers or the "family oriented" criminals among them might have contrasting light and black outfits, as a subtle nod to how they service two organisms (their family/society, and the mafia).

Specific colors of clothing can also evoke specific meanings. I will list some of my preferred colors/outfit ideas, based on my experiences with the clothing selection on GTA World:

• Black portrays mystery, or the shadows. With certain shapes (such as an upturned collar or a leather jacket), might also contain malevolent undertones, but is not exclusively an evil color. However, black typically indicates someone who walks within the presence of evil - the darkness of a politician's suit, much like a mobster's black leather jacket.

The Godfather (1972) makes excellent use of black/white in Vito Corleone's suit, with a subtle tinge of crimson red.

• White (and cream) can contain two meanings, depending on its context. Firstly, it can indicate wholesomeness, youth, innocence and justice - as seen in classic western movies, the "good guy" wears a white hat. It can also evoke ideas like the snow, which can alter the meaning of all-white to indicate someone potentially deadly or gracefully bitter.

Atomic Blonde (2017) portraying the nature of Charlize Theron's spy character, through both hair color (light blonde) and the colors of her coats. Note how her eyes are obscured with sunglasses, adding to her mystery.

• Red, especially mixed with black, can evoke authoritarian, domineering and "power" vibes. It's typically associated with evil or malevolency, and could strike subconscious fear into whoever is faced withthese colors. It might also conjure a feeling of sultry or smoothness, especially with darker shades of red, due to its similarity with the colors of wine.Red and white can portray a mysterious, but outwardly righteous vibe. Much like the Knights Templarand their association of the colors with The Crucifixion, the use of these colors could also evoke Catholic vibes.It's a neutral color combination, and can swing to either good or evil.

Top: Ray Liotta's jacket in Goodfellas (1990).

Middle: Al Pacino's suit in Scarface (1984).

Bottom: Jack Nicholson's jacket in The Shining (1980).

• Green typically represents money or wealth, or greed. Combined with certain accents like gold jewelry, it can further bolster the idea of wealth. Green/white, or green/black are good combinations as well.

Emerald-green and grey in Better Call Saul (2015).

• Purple can harken back to medieval times, with the color representing royalty and, by extension, decadence. It might also portray a synthesis of red and blue, which can represent two opposing thoughts or moral principles.

Faded purple suit in Better Call Saul (2015), used during the peak of Jimmy McGill's moral decline.

• Yellow can evoke varying feelings of positivity, depending on the shade. Where gold might indicate wealth or blessings, pastel yellow might indicatethe pursuit of happiness.

The subtle yellow accents Jack Nicholson's suit in Chinatown (1974).

• Blue, once again depending on the shade, can hold several meanings. In general, blue stands for justice and integrity, much like the uniforms of police officers. Darker shades can be more neutral, portraying an outward righteousness, but potentially masking something innately sinful within - like the navy bluesuits of politicians.

Daniel J. Travanti's grey suit with a blue shirt in Hill Street Blues (1981).

• Brown is a passive/transitory color. In my experience in GTA World, its typically worn by morally well-meaning characters who might grapple with the idea of pursuing an evil path. Brown leather jackets can be seen with film characters such as first-stage Frank Sheeranin The Irishman (2019); Sheeran'sjacket later turned black as he descended deeper into the mob. It can also be seenin videogame characters such as Mafia II's (2010)Vito Scaletta, Red Dead Redemption II's (2018)Arthur Morgan, and Shenmue's (1999)Ryo Hazuki.

Robert De Niro's jacket in The Irishman (2019).

• Grey is an opulent color, and can indicate a bridge between moral righteousness and corruption. Grey hair can be indicative of age and the toils that come from getting older, and by extension, can represent a transitory state;dark hair to grey, then eventually to white (death, in this context). A good example of this is Leland Palmer in David Lynch's Twin Peaks, who's hair can be seen turning grey in a short matter of time, as he sinks deeper into evil.

Top: Jack Nicholson's grey suit in The Two Jakes (1990).

Bottom: Ray Wise's grey hair in Twin Peaks (1990).

Different saturations might also hold different meanings, as well. Darker and warmer shades might indicate a fullness of thought and being, while more faded/pastel shades could portray a "distance" your character has from reality.

For example, you might dress a mid-life crisis businessman in faded pastel colors, as his mind is rather detached from reality and 'fading'.

On the other hand, a young, determined "rags to riches" gangster might wear a very saturated hoodie, showing his dedication and mental fortitude.

Saturation can also play a role in the portrayal of degradation. A character might start out wearing oversaturated clothing, and as their minds slowly sink, their clothes become less colorful. This can especially be seen in The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, where the colors of the protagonist's clothing slowly fades. Tony Soprano goes from wearing colorful bowling shirts to an almost ever-present black leather jacket, much like how Walter White goes from colorful button-downs to his trademark sand-colored jacket.

SCREENSHOT COLOR GRADING:

Typically, the rules for clothing colors apply to screenshots. It can be used to portray a specific plot trajectory, or degradation altogether. The colors of your screenshot might be vibrant in your first initial screens, but as your character moves on and is slowly eroded, those colors can fade. You can also use faded colors from the very start, if you're inclined to take a darker approach to your character.

The Sopranos gives us yet another good example of excellent color usage. While the early seasons were very colorful, shot on mostly sunny days and with a saturated filter, the later seasons were far more dreary, typically shot on overcast days and with a desaturated filter applied to many of the scenes. Better Call Saul also does something similar, with its last season.

Vince Gilligan's "Better Call Saul" making use of desaturation in its last season, to demonstrate how far things had fallen.

With GTA World screenshots, your color filter isn't the most important aspect, however. GTA World restricts us from the customization of a movie set, so we must resort to using the game world provided to us by Rockstar, along with the custom interiors made by other users. Therefor, much of our creativity can come into play by making use of ambient lighting and weather, as well as graphics mods. You can find camera angles and times of the day where colors correspond to your creative vision, in places where you have no creative control over the actual "set."

By zooming in heavily on your character's face with /editor, you can more precisely position the background in your frame. Many interiors have solid-colored walls, so you could easily manipulate this to your own creative advantage. A red wall or red ambient light, in a certain position, combined with black accents, could indicate an authoritarian or malevolently mysterious vibe.

Using character position, camera angle and heavy zoom to achieve a red/black gradient background.

From David Lynch's Twin Peaks (1990). The use of black and red + noir lighting instantly demonstrated the hell-scape reality of the "red room."

For graphics mods, I recommend either Project Revive or GTA V Remake. Both of them contain excellent lighting and colors, and look wonderful in screenshots. I've used both of them for my One Call, That's All! character thread.

You can find both of these graphics mods and many more in Baboon's Workshop.

Music

One of the most important and overlooked aspects of cinematic roleplaying is the music. In the 21st-century, the overwhelming variety and complexities of music makes it impossible to catalog every possible vibe, but there are several musical tropes used in cinema that I have used in GTA World.

On each post to your character/faction thread, there is the ability to embed a Spotify track. I put mine on the top of every post, and use the track as you would a piece of backing music in a film scene. It helps solidify the vibe you're attempting to portray.

I'll now list some of the basic music genres I've used in my own threads, taking inspiration primarily from Martin Scorsese and David Lynch:

JAZZ:

A common musical vibe I have used throughout many of my character threads is jazz, which is historically synonymous with noir and heavy emotion. There are many specific offshoot strains that I'll also consider part of the jazz umbrella, including the Blues to some extent. Common instruments include pianos, saxophones and soft percussion.

Jazz is used frequently throughout Twin Peaks, establishing a consistent vibe.

PROGRESSIVE ROCK:

Specifically bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Supertramp. The early use of synthesized strings, coupled with heavy electric guitar solos and soft percussion is perfect for scenes of desperation, or events that lead into further decay.

Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" used in their own movie, The Wall (1982).

60s/70s ROCK:

Including bands like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, among others. Rock/psychedelic music from the height of the Vietnam War could also be considered part of this genre. For instance, Martin Scorsese has made frequent usage of The Rolling Stones' music in his movies.

Edit of Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995), featuring his signature track, "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones.

CLASSICAL:

This is a wide-ranging genre. I've personally used Italian operatic numbers, sung either by Mario Lanza or Maria Callas. I've also used other instrumental composers like Tchaikovsky or Mozart, as well as newer composers likeArvo Pärt.

Bizet's "Habanera" used in this short animation.

1980s POP MUSIC

Specifically encompassing New Wave, Dance-Rock, Synth-Pop, Pop Rock and other genres closely associated with them. Common instruments include heavy synthesizers interspersed with electric guitars, as well as distinct and heavily emotional melodies and lyrics.

This montage from Scarface shows 1980s pop music blended with scenes of organized crime and decadence.

DOO-WOP/1950s POP

I especially use these songs for older characters, or LCN characters. Some good bands include The Five Satins, The Teenagers, The Marcels and The Platters. Other artists could include Dion DiMucci, Frankie Valli and Paul Anka.

Martin Scorsese making use of Billy Ward & The Dominos' version of "Stardust" in Goodfellas.

MOTOWN:

An often underrated genre, Motown has been featured several times in classic movies, specifically The Big Chill (1983). Due to my character Frank Buntz's connection with Detroit, I've made use of several Motown tracks in my character thread. Some of the artists include Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes and The Temptations, among others.

The popular Motown song "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by The Temptations, used in The Big Chill.

WORLD MUSIC:

Also including neoclassical dark wave artists like Dead Can Dance. Their music has been featured in several award-winning documentaries, and neoclassical dark wave/world music in general is a commonly used, but effective genre for portraying earthy, weighty subjects.

Dead Can Dance's track "The Host Of Seraphim" in Baraka.

CROONER MUSIC/1960s SWING:

Specifically the Rat Pack - Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., as well as others like Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Jerry Vale and Nat King Cole. Similar but nonetheless different from jazz, crooner music is heavily used in films bordering on a noir style, and can evoke feelings of material wealth and lavishness.

Jerry Vale's "Pretend You Don't See Her" used in Goodfellas.

As I said, this isn't a comprehensive list of musical choices, but rather the styles I've used on my character threads. I borrow heavily from Martin Scorsese and David Lynch in regards to the vibes I attempt to portray through music, or in better words, a combination of noir and mystery undertones mixed with urban grittiness.

Music can be an effective tool at setting a mood with specific melodies and instruments, or expanding your plot through song lyrics. Much like musical lyrics can reveal key details about character development in cinema, so too can it in our character threads.

Time, color and music are only several factors which make up the larger recipe to effective storytelling through character threads; but one without the other could lead to a failure of the whole aesthetic. It's good to make a solid plan for how you wish to portray your character aesthetically, as well as how you want aesthetic to reflect their own changes and metamorphosis.

Remember - consistency is key!

Edited January 17 by subway244