LANGUAGES – GOING GLOBAL:

Writers often assume that the audience’s experience will be in common with their own, that our understanding (RED MEANS DANGER) will always be the same, but this isn't always the case. Presuming that everybody can read English is an obvious mistake, even in predominantly English speaking countries; e.g. problems of illiteracy, etc.

Well designed graphics and symbols can solve these problems. Interactivity can break through very strong international barriers; e.g. a Japanese web-site could be read in traditional text, with an English translation, or Spanish, Chinese, French. When designing multilingual applications, check text area and font sizes with content from all relevant languages, to make sure there is plenty of space on the screen or button. An Arabian or Chinese font has more character sets, and it may be necessary to use clever translations to shorten multilingual texts.

Why does a French accent remind us of the Eiffel Tower? Because an accent suggests a different culture. Writers should think about how different nationalities and their associated accents can suggest certain 'typical' (possibly negative) racial stereotypes; e.g. German 'Scientists', French 'Waiters', Italian 'Gangsters', American 'Cowboys', Arabic 'Terrorists', etc.

Consider how the incoherence of a character’s speech could suggest; stupidity, recent dental work or a punch in the mouth. Also consider dialects and parochial vernacular; e.g. idiosyncratic Australian rhyming slang like "Have a butcher's hook" (look), or the classic ‘strine "Gidday mate". There is in fact a definite form of 'prison-speak' for inmates of penal institutions, when language is pronounced through tight lips to avoid surveillance cameras.

Dialogue, sounds and music can work on multiple levels:

1: Actual 'real-time' dialogue, (External voices).

2: Character-particular Voice Over dialogue, (Internal voices).

3: Sound Effects and Musical Soundtracks.

4: Or simultaneously; e.g.

Violins play, dialogue in VO: “She looked lonely, so I said...”
Actual dialogue: “Hi... I haven’t seen you before.”
FX: “CLANG!” as she hits him over the head.

In multimedia, the user can switch all these options on and off, and do it in Swahili as well. Alternative dimensions can be included or excluded at the click of a button. Presented together or separately, these possibilities offer many innovative FORESHADOWING alternatives in your interactive scriptwriting. Cross-cultural stories can be designed to play out in a multitude of ways, depending on the culture being targeted, or a selected character’s environmental circumstances.