Screenwriting : Grounded Sci-fi by Harold Vandyke

Science fiction that is grounded in real science.

So, to what degree would fantasy be involved?

Yes hard science. Like Interstellar versus Star wars or Star Trek. The place of the story has no effect on the definition.

Science Fiction is the near possible in the not too distant future. It doesn't need to be firmly grounded in current scientific reality. These are stories of human potential and dealing with the unknown future.

Think District 9 instead of Star Trek. Perhaps The Hunger Games and other dystopia films could be included. I think one reason is the budgets are lower. Another reason is that the focus is more on humanity and universal themes being favored over spectacle films with huge amounts of CGI.

Lyse -- In my search for info. I'd read that quote and others. Lisa and Lyse -- I understand the difference, but most sci-fi films have an element of fantasy, that's why I wanted to get others opinions on the subject. Gordon -- thing is, D. 9 has aliens in it. So, once again, we have a question being answered in different ways. What would we consider time travel movies to be? Scientists believe it's possible, but we can't do it. Twelve Monkeys is a good example.

Aliens, space battles and journeys to other worlds are not fantasy. I took 3 writing classes Fiction Writing, Sci-Fi writing and Fantasy writing. Fantasy is werewolves, vampires, past ancient worlds delved in magic and mystery. Sci-fi is a fantastical journey but with scientific elements such as space travel,technology and machines. Sometimes they merge and become both but there is a clear line between them. Hunger Games is sci-fi. It does not have to take place in space but it is a new world that is controlled by scientific elements. Underworld is Fantasy. D9 is sci-fi. Science fiction can be earthbound look at The Man Of Steel. Has an alien but mostly takes place on earth. Close Encounters all on earth but has aliens. Indiana Jones and the Crystal skull is a merge between fantasy and sci-fi with the other movies having elements of magic and mystical things in them but this one has alien races. Poltergeist is fantasy and all the movies therein.

Fantasy likely has no place in grounded science fiction. Those sci-fi films that have an element of fantasy are not considered "grounded sci-fi". Something like the light saber is "grounded" - it feasibly can exist even though we currently do not have the capacity to do so. My opinion is time travel is fantasy and not grounded in scientific facts. so a time travel sci-fi film would not be grounded sci-fi. Reading the responses it's clear that there is no general consensus as to the correct definition.

Hard science is the use of theories and tech that are being used now by real scientists. Asimov has some hard science books Heinlein too. warp drives and FTL are not plausible because they have the Mcguffin. Dylithum crystals and Hyper drives don't exist. FTL is a cheep way out. I use Mcguffins in all my stories to make them work. Intersteller used real science like the time dilation and the effect on the body with space travel. The worm hole was a theory but a hard theory due to the math that proves it works.

The reason I brought it up is because it was stated as one of the genres (more of a sub-genre) being looked for in a pitch session. Because I wasn't sure what their definition was, I held off on entering. The story I had in mind, I believe is grounded -- it takes place on earth and deals with familial struggles, but has aliens in it. I always considered stories with sorcery, magic and things mythological as falling into the fantasy category. Contained Sci-fi is another one that has come up. Limited locations? How about, elevated horror?

Does a grounded sci-fi have to be low/lower budget? I think my story might be half way between grounded and regular sci-fi. Thanks guys, you've been great help.

I don't believe that grounded sci-fi has anything to do with budget. It's about the fiction being grounded in actual science. "Silent Running" (1972) is a big budget studio film that could be considered grounded sci-fi. All the science is grounded in actual science yet it's still big budget.

Seems there is no consensus as to the correct definition. Joey says "grounded sci-fi" means lower budget. The executives I have spoken to say it means grounded in actual science regardless of budget - different sub-genre than "hard sci-fi" or "fantasy sci-fi" or "social sci-fi" or "recursive sci-fi" or "gothic sci-fi". All can be high or low budget.

I've also heard the term "Low SciFi" Limited special effects, like "The Man from Earth," "Under the Skin, or "Coherence."

Dang! So it would appear it's more of a subjective issue. Kind of like, who likes your screenplay and who doesn't. Joey, does that mean you'll have to ask each executive to be more specific?

I understand what your saying, Lyse. I just don't want to have to guess at what someone is looking for. Sure, each "tickie" costs $45, but these can add up over time. One would hope their price of admission has some value going in. And, no, I don't have a problem with you "stepping in" to comment..

Good discussion. Where do you all think time travel fits in this? Like Looper. I'd call that grounded sci-fi because, other than time travel, it operates in the real world of a possible distant future, and explains itself in real terms. On the other hand, I'd call Back to the Future more like fantasy, because the 'science' it uses veers pretty far from reality (adding beer cans to provide fuel, for example). Thoughts?

Perhaps this is what happens to naughty little space creatures when they don't eat their vegetables? (Just a thought)

From a producers perspective - "Grounded Sci-Fi" is the current buzzword. It refers to Sci-Fi set in a realistic future world. It's generally earth-bound Sci-Fi as opposed to something like, say, ELYSIUM which features space ships and stuff. Check out the description for the novel Proxy by Chad J. Shonk which we recently optioned... that's a good example.

Love this discussion, many things that I write cross into paranormal as well, to make it even more confusing! To me Grounded Sci-fi sounds like a question. Can I make this movie without the budget ending up in space?

Thank you for that reasoned, what the science community might call, operational definition. I find all of my paranormal stories are grounded. That makes the twist a bit more startling when it occurs.. okay, when THEY occur.

Paranormal is Fantasy not Sci-FI.

Jason, that's not necessarily true. If you have a "rational, physical law world-based explanation for the events, it becomes sci fi.

I must admit, I had absolutely no idea there were so many types and classifications for Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Paranormal, etc... This is an interesting thread. Perhaps someone should take the time to write a summary for each type, classification, sub classification so that those of us with no clue can get a better understanding?

This discussion of Grounded Sci Fi shorts out my brain. It appears that what the term means depends on the eye of the beholder, a recipe for confusion.

@Brian. Many people have http://www.writing-world.com/sf/genres.shtml

When I see 'grounded sci-fi' I think 'Sixth Sense' type of thing. Set on present-day Earth, but with one or two different 'rules'.

S.S. would be more of a supernatural story, would it not?

The issue, apparently, is different for novels/short stories, than for film/tv/stage. If you are writing a novel, it is important to target the genre of agents you are querying. Hence, the more broad-based categories of sci-fi, fantasy, YA fantasy etc. I wonder how important it is to do so for film. Does it fit the form for a pitch?

Sci-fi that must go to it's room without any supper until it learns it's lesson and stops upsetting people. Character driven, understandable, believable. Still a lot of room to move around.

Cute. I agree. Grounded = Character-driven. If you take the sci-fi elements out of say 'Terminator', then you still end up with a single mother who is trying to save her son from the face-less evil mega-corp (which is the plot for many a John Grisham novel/film). Whereas if you take the sci-fi elements out of something high concept like 'Men in Black'... I think that to studios 'grounded' is often code for 'not high concept' and/or 'we're trying to keep the budget down on this one'.

That said, what would you call a grounded - high concept sci-fi? Or did I just answer my own question? Or would you say there's no such animal?

I think grounded sci-fi is where the leap you take into fantasy is shorter or non-existent. Like The Martian with Matt Damon. (The opposite of the sci-fi I write. Lol.)

I'd say "Gravity" or "Interstellar" could be named grounded Sci-fi...basically any story that goes along and explores some facts of the given subject can be called grounded regardless of the genre...say grounded horror could be serial killer, grounded war could be historical battle, etc...

Still awaiting grounded afterlife movie, through...

My take is "grounded sci-fi" places less emphasis on the "sci" and more emphasis on the "fi". These types of stories go light on facts and technology and tend toward more speculative fiction, where the line between magic and science is a lot more blurry.