Screenwriting : What do we meand by "Grounded" as in Sci fi? by Thomas Ray

To me, it means the story is grounded in our reality - even if it goes beyond it. I would include movies like The Martian, Moon, Ex Machina into this. The sci-fi elements will take them beyond our reality, but we can identify with the characters and settings up until they diverge. Sci-fi like Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, Blade Runner, etc. are grounded in completely different settings. In those situations, their worlds and their rules have to be introduced to us as part of the narrative.

Hi Thomas. :) "Grounded" in this context means plausible/believable. "Grounded sci-fi" is a catch phrase execs sometimes use—again, meaning science fiction that's plausible or could seem "real" as opposed to "fantasy." Here's an older thread that discusses the topic: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Grounded-Sci-fi. I hope that helps!

In addition, a "grounded sci-fi" is usually set in a realistic future world. With that notion, I would consider The Martian to be "grounded" whereas Star Trek is "fantasy." I'm sure others may be better able to describe the meaning and application of this catch phrase! :)

I agree with Beth, with the note that plausible usually means in regards to our contemporary reality. Stories set far in the future, for example, become difficult to judge as to what is plausible. Star Trek may be plausible, but not in the context of our current perspective. So, I'd say it's not grounded though many of its narratives are. And, the reverse can also be true... Children of Men may not be plausible, but it still is very grounded because we can identify with the settings, characters, and concept. And then, there are always exceptions or grey areas... AI starts off feeling a bit more grounded, and slowly becomes more fantastic as it unfolds. Mad Max would be a good counter to Star Trek. It takes place in a future far different than our present reality, but it's close enough that we can still identify with the reality of it.

Laser guns that will blast a six inch hole in steel exist: https://www.laser-gadgets.com/laserguns.php

Grounded scifi, in today's fast moving tech world seems a little improbable. We have an Australian that has materialized molecules from one location to another, a local company now has a thread made of glass as strong as titanium, think Wonder Woman's invisible jet, the Royal Institute has a Youtube video that depicts the twelve dimensions, There are now 12 laser fusion facilities using water pellets to generate electricity. Quantum physics now believes the Universe is a thinking quantum computer. MIT invented a trillion frames per second camera several years ago. Yes ONE TRILLION frames per second. Do a Google for technologies you didn't know about. Then think about what hasn't made it to the net for publication and general viewing.

I assumed it meant "easy to film for a smaller budget" since the more "fi" in your "sci-fi" means bigger budget.

"Grounded" is a codeword for cheap. So no space ships, instead Earth based science fiction stories. Think everything from GATACA to THEY LIVE. These are actually better stories because they happen to people like us - like the audience.

Based in reality, or rather, a plausible reality with an emphasis on logic in addition to science/technology.

Well, that clears up one piece of misinformation that I was told. Thanks Beth.

So it can mean a few things. I suppose William is right, "groundedness" could just be motivated by the desire to do things cheaply instead of epic unrealistic (expensive) laser battles... but that is not really what it MEANS, it is just being used as a euphemism for the producers real intentions, but being budget conscious is definitely something you should think about when writing scifi. But onto the real definition. On one hand, grounded sci-fi can mean hard science fiction, like the Expanse, which maintains an intense attention to detail with scientific accuracy in everything from portraying how rockets work, to the effects of different gravity on the human body, and all of these aspects which behave realistically to our own universe, are tied into the plot in a way that they become a part of the problems our characters overcome, not just set dressing. So this kind of writing is ambitious and requires probably not just a physics consultant or something but also a great deal of research on the writers part... in the case of the expanse, the man who wrote the novels did a lot of the heavy lifting but you can tell there was a lot of scientific consulting even at the VFX and art direction stage to make it look as accurate as possible.

The other possible meaning for grounded sci-fi, is essentially the sci-fi equivalent of something similar to magical realism, in other words, it involves a universe where there are these fantastical things, but they exist in a world not dissimilar to our own, and people really live and breathe with these concepts. I think part of that is exploring all the sorts of unintended consequences this sort of magic or technology would ACTUALLY have on a living breathing society. Maybe it makes the fantastical mundane, or boring, or explores weird alternate case uses people would find to exploit it. In the case of game of thrones, i think that there is the sense of bringing this groundedness to a genre where the hero always wins to the murky grey areas of politics and mistakes of the real world where wars are messy people are fickle and sometimes the one who thinks of himself as the "hero" gets beheaded. Black Mirror is grounded because it generally explores a single futuristic technology and explores the dark ways that kind of tech would ACTUALLY affect our society in a way that hits audiences "way too close to home".... Even as fantastical as it is, one could call Dune grounded, because it explores how an addictive superdrug becomes the basis for a cult and a global economy. It should be noted that this is a great example of a sci fi where the WORLDBUILDING is grounded, as it explores what the actual impacts of these futuristic technologies on a society would be, but the science itself is not really that grounded, and it doesn't always need to be. What is important is what works for the kind of story you are trying to tell. Another great example of this kind of groundedness would be, say, the magicians by lev grossman vs harry potter by jk rowling. Harry Potter is anything but grounded... The magicians on the other hand explores what actual college students would do with magical powers, without attempting to gloss over the drinking and fucking, and doesn't attempt to erase harry potter from their social media fed lexicon... there is no such idealism or genre blindness. Its like, what actually happens in college, but with magic to fuck everything up.

And the third type of grounded, is more just a sense of being "grounded" in the characters and plot, rather than some kind of sci-fi macguffin or space war. You focus deeper on character driven plot and it all just happens to take place in a sci-fi universe. These especially are much easier on the budget and a greater focus on character development generally also makes them better stories.

Also finally there is the type of "grounded" mentioned by my idiot blacklist reader... "grounded for greater audience comprehension" which really means absolutely nothing and is just an example of a person talking out their ass using buzzwords to make it seem meaningful. Just to show you that a lot of times, these kinds of descriptors can be utter fluff.

YESSSSSS i finally found it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYbl66iLRxk

here is a fantastic video essay comparing how magic systems are written in games, it should give you a perfect understanding of "groundedness" as per my second example

Anyone putting out queries for amateur scripts on Inktip and other such places 100% of the time means 'can be filmed on a low budget'

Rob, read Beth's explanation. Yes, it is no secret that a $100 million sci-fi film will not be sold on Inktip.

Hello all. I am responding to this thread in the future (2022 vs original year of 2016.) Beth Fox Heisinger a quick question for you, and for everyone I suppose...the concept of "Grounded Scifi" has been wonderfully explained here; would you consider a universe with earthly rules, ancient myths, and hushed up religious traditions, as not being grounded, even if its entire construct is based off of Earth's existence...no matter if it's set in a forgotten, possible past? I have video clips on my profile to show what I mean. Anyway...thanks for reading if you do. Best to all.

Thank you, everyone.