Mistborn Allomantic Abilities - How do they look visually?

[sostington]

Hello! Brand new here. Finished Mistborn, WOA, and on HOA. I'm keeping track of all the Allomantic battles that happen because I'm a storyboard artist and want to make fan art storyboards of the fight scenes. 

When a character pushes on a coin for example, should there be any indication visually that they are burning metal? Like glowing, etc. I've been trying to find any sort of reference to this and have come up short.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

 

[Lunamor she/her]

I don’t believe that there’s any visible indication that someone is burning metals. For stuff like ironpulling and steelpushing, the blue lines extending out from the allomancer that only they can see could be a potential visual representation that they are burning iron/steel.

[Treamayne]

Welcome to the Shard

1 hour ago, sostington said:

Hello! Brand new here. Finished Mistborn, WOA, and on HOA. I'm keeping track of all the Allomantic battles that happen because I'm a storyboard artist and want to make fan art storyboards of the fight scenes. 

When a character pushes on a coin for example, should there be any indication visually that they are burning metal? Like glowing, etc. I've been trying to find any sort of reference to this and have come up short.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Brandon has discussed possibilities on how this could be done in a visual medium. WoB:

Spoiler

Quote

Questioner

Now that you’re writing the Mistborn screenplay, what would be your ideal way to show emotional or non-physical Allomancy on the screen?

Brandon Sanderson

I’m playing with a lot of different things. The screenplay right now, we’re using blue as a signifier that Allomancy’s being used. The blue lines work pretty well. Mostly, you’re gonna see a very faint blue line, and you’re gonna see the object that the person is pushing or pulling on flashing blue. That is your indication.

And right now, I have someone’s eyes flash blue when they’ve been hit by emotional Allomancy. The problem with that is, it can’t be diegetic. It can’t be in-world; it has to be a thing for the audience. Which, non-diegetic music is fine. Everyone’s used to that in movies. But something like this, we may want to try to find a better way. But right now, that’s what we’re doing. That’s at least what the screenplay is. The person uses their power, someone’s eyes flash blue; they are being affected by emotional Allomancy. You now know. Again, I assume most people who watch the film will assume that’s diegetic. Which makes for problems and a huge weakness in emotional Allomancy that I don’t intend.

It is a trick, right? To show, “How is someone using Allomancy?” I kind of want someone, when a Thug is lifting something and burning pewter, you’d be able to see. I have it written right now that blue veins move across their arms like lightning, being like, “They are using Allomancy to enhance their strength right now.”

And it might be the answer, just make emotional Allomancy be diegetic. That it’s got this big weakness in the film version of the cosmere that it didn’t have in the books, in order to actually make it visual so that people can understand what’s going on. But there might be another answer.

And remember, I am not going to be writing the screenplay. I am going to write a rough draft of the screenplay, and then I’m going to work with a real screenwriter to actually make it into a screenplay. My goal is just to get down on paper what things I think are justified and important changes to make from the book to the film, and what things I think still have to be there. My goal is that anyone I work with would be able to take this screenplay or treatment, look at it, and say, “I am willing to commit to any changes we would make to this being approved by you.”

Because what they won’t do, is they won’t give me creative control. I don’t have enough power in Hollywood to get creative control over a film. J.K. Rowling got it. But Stephanie Meyer had to go to a second-string film studio to get it. And George Martin didn’t get it. That’s kind of your hierarchy. And I am below George; I’m probably actually where George was when he got that deal, I would say. I am in the category of, I don’t have enough power to demand this. I would have to be two ranks in popularity and influence more than I am, and I don’t think that is legitimately something we could wait to happen, because to get to Twilight or Harry Potter level popularity is just not something that you can count on. I don’t think you can count on getting to the level of popularity we’ve gotten to.

So I think, moving forward, my goal is to find ways that I can work with the system. And I think that if they have a screenplay and a treatment, and they’re like, “All right. We can agree that this is good enough that if we have to make any changes to this, we will let you have approval.” Having them say, “Brandon has to have creative control” without any screenplay or thing like that, no one’s ever gonna give me. So that’s the main goal of this. The main goal is to say, “Here is Brandon’s vision. Are you willing to make Brandon’s vision as a film?”

Dark One Q&A (July 2, 2020)

 

 

[alder24]

12 hours ago, sostington said:

When a character pushes on a coin for example, should there be any indication visually that they are burning metal? Like glowing, etc. I've been trying to find any sort of reference to this and have come up short.

No, there are none - only Allomantic pulses detectable by A-bronze are indicating that someone is burning metals. But visually nothing is happening except for coins flying.

 

[Duxredux he/him]

Most of the time you won't be able to use this method, but the Mists of Scadrial respond to an Allomancer burning their metals. They will subtly begin to swirl around the Allomancer giving an indistinct visual cue pretty much only noticeable if they are motionless, as a Pewterarm running through the Mist will disturb them anyway. This would be hard to show via a storyboarding medium as it's generally only recognizable through the increase of motion of the Mists which would be very hard to show via stills. Hemalurgists repel the Mists.

I think it's worth to think about the POV you are portraying because what each person can sense can vary dramatically. The world through Kelsier's eyes is far different from the world through Breeze or Spook as a Savant. The terror of a Hazekiller confronted by a Mistborn is not a perspective we often see, but seeing someone move around seemingly by levitation or punching through armor is it's own brand of dramatic. Tineyes see through the Mists, and Coinshots see metal lines, and keeping that in mind based on what perspective you show will be quite relevant. 

[Colors]

On 2/23/2024 at 7:05 PM, sostington said:

Hello! Brand new here. Finished Mistborn, WOA, and on HOA. I'm keeping track of all the Allomantic battles that happen because I'm a storyboard artist and want to make fan art storyboards of the fight scenes. 

When a character pushes on a coin for example, should there be any indication visually that they are burning metal? Like glowing, etc. I've been trying to find any sort of reference to this and have come up short.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

 

My preference is the blue lines that we mostly associate with steelpushing/ironpulling, as Brandon mentioned in one of those WoBs. These are metaphysical lines of connection that can't be perceived by most, but for the audience they would be an artistic representation of the ability and the item(s)/person(s) being affected. 

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

Personally I hope that if we ever get an adaptation we only see the lines/etc when a misting/mistborn is burning iron/steel, but I hope we get the visual clues of the mist swirling and I'd be open to really subtle low tone pulses in the soundtrack kind of thing

[Zapata]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:08 PM, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

Personally I hope that if we ever get an adaptation we only see the lines/etc when a misting/mistborn is burning iron/steel, but I hope we get the visual clues of the mist swirling and I'd be open to really subtle low tone pulses in the soundtrack kind of thing

I think you could have a near-constant low-tone pulse whenever the viewpoint is in Luthadel that swells when a character uses emotional Allomancy, which also works because of the Lord Ruler's soothing stations and soothing aura. It foreshadows that reveal.