What Makes Good Worldbuilding?

This is an in depth guide and analysis on worldbuilding, from planting the seed to growing your story, characters and landscape into a well-developed narrative. We'll discuss the process and describe films that make great use of worldbuilding that may help you in your journey to forging a good story.
Thanks for watching! All media used belongs to their respected owners and is covered under fair use.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:30 Chapter 1 - The Seed
2:35 Chapter 2 - Architect vs Gardener
3:44 Chapter 3 - Hard & Soft Worldbuilding
10:03 Chapter 4 - The World Serves the Story
12:16 Chapter 5 - Integrating Lore
15:18 Chapter 6 - Your World
16:28 Outro
Music:
Yu-Peng Chen - Genshin Impact OST #99
Yuji Ohno - Toward the Patrol Line
Yuji Ohno - Fire Treasure (variation 3)
Yu-Peng Chen - Flow of Mildness
Gusun - Candy Package
Yu-Peng Chen - Make Haste, Partner
Kupla - Valley of Hope
N/A - Game of Thrones Theme (Kazoo)
Chillhop - Night Sky (lofi)
Chillhop - Orchid (lofi)
Takashi Nakatsuka & Various Artists - Shukippi
Chillhop - Lull (lofi)
Paraoka - Summerghost
Onoken - Ivy Cable
Onoken - Our Garden
Mintjam - Distance
Takashi Nakatsuka & Various Artists - Thank You
Other Sources:
Photography Credits (via Unsplash.com)
Marlon Corona
Keisha
Lina Durell
Chad Kirchoff
Mike Tinnion
Mockup Graphics
Raspopova Marina
James Laderoute
Kevin Dulap
Valdemar Brandt
San Fermin Pamplona-Navarra
Thomas T
Dan Cristian Padure
Video Credits:
Boxlapse - Tomato Plant Timelapse
Museum of Pop Culture - George R.R. Martin Interview/ Game of Thrones
Canadian SlapShot - Witcher 3 Film (In-Game)
Films/Media Shown:
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Peter Jackson)
The Hobbit Trilogy (Peter Jackson)
Harry Potter Series
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Watership Down
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Avatar the Last Airbender
Made in Abyss
Violet Evergarden
Game of Thrones
Amelie
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Princess Mononoke
My Neighbor Totoro
Star Wars: A New Hope
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Walle
Arcane
Dune
Avatar (James Cameron)
The Golden Compass
#worldbuilding #fantasy #writing #anime #movies

[@redpandaproductions]

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:30 Chapter 1 - The Seed
2:35 Chapter 2 - Architect vs Gardener
3:44 Chapter 3 - Hard & Soft Worldbuilding
10:03 Chapter 4 - The World Serves the Story
12:16 Chapter 5 - Integrating Lore
15:18 Chapter 6 - Your World
16:28 Outro

[@michaelmitchell6089]

Excellent video! Yaaasss to the show don't tell. A philosophy I hold is that if you must convey lore or important info through exposition or an info dump, make the audience want it. Build up questions in the reader's head by hinting at elements of lore without explaining them right away. Then once the audience is invested in the story, that info dump will feel more like a reward than a thing you just have to get through.

[@redpandaproductions]

Absolutely! There are stories where I can't get enough of the lore, and one of the main reasons for that is usually because of how well the world is sprinkled in between the events of the plot. It makes me feel like every time I learn a piece of lore it brings me closer to understanding the world and the characters, helping to immerse me further in the narrative and growing my interest.

[@LZantho]

Awesome video, thanks for the work put into it! i've been writing since I was 14 and still have not finish one story but the world is still the same! hahah

[@s0ulwind]

I am constantly guilty of the having worlds without stories, lol

[@redpandaproductions]

Me too :)

[@michaelbraxton137]

Great video

[@elshebactm6769]

👍🏿🤠👍🏿

[@66oyoyo]

Hard disagree on chapter 4. Worldbuilding is its own art form - it doesn't need to exist solely to serve narrative storytelling.

[@noobcon2073]

I agree but I believe the point he is getting at is a narrative can live in a less developed world whilst a well developed world with no narrative can’t stand on its own, thus making it a medium of art used to serve the storytelling

[@redpandaproductions]

@66oyoyo For a lot of cases I tend to build the world as its own entity before I integrate a story. I agree with your point and @Noobcon as well - worldbuilding is certainly its own art form and in a lot of cases is well developed enough to exist as its own entity. However, I do feel when a person wants to express this world to others through media, the vision has to change somewhat. The story becomes sort of a vessel or a way for your world to be expressed or communicated to other people.