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Dramatica For Screenwriters armando > Dramatica Notes > Flashcards

Dramatica Notes Flashcards

0
Q

Universe is now referred to as?

A

Situation

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1
Q

Universe is?

A

A Throughline.

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2
Q

Activity is?

A

A Throughline

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3
Q

Activity is now the term used for?

A

Physics

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4
Q

Fixed Attitude now is the same as?

A

Mind

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5
Q

Fixed Attitude is?

A

A Throughline

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6
Q

Manipulation is now the same as?

A

Psychology

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7
Q

Manipulation is?

A

A Throughline

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8
Q

Why isn’t the Dramatica model arbitrary?

A

It is a model where every story point (every plot event, every character trait, every thematic argument) supports all the other story points.

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9
Q

What is a story premise?

A

A premise is a single sentence that holds the thematic core of the story.

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10
Q

Does premise reflect a personal truth or a universal truth?

A

A personal truth.

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11
Q

How and where is the premise (personal truth) demonstrated?

A

By the end of the story.

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12
Q

What 3 ingredients are included in a premise?

A

Character, plot and theme.

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13
Q

What part of the premise is character?

A

It describes the nature or condition of a central individual in our story, such as “merciful” or “impoverished”.

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14
Q

How does plot express itself in the premise?

A

The plot shows a major incident such as a “violent death” or “innumerable quarrels.”

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15
Q

How is theme expressed in the premise?

A

Theme is the central idea or expression of the story. Such as “corruption” or “the existence of God.”

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16
Q

In the following example premise what is character, plot and theme. “Insatiable ambition leads to self-destruction.”

A

Insatiable - Character; a moral condition
Ambition - Theme;
Leads to self-destruction - Plot; suggests the final incident, the final change.

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17
Q

Which part of this premise relates to character, plot and theme. “Excessive thinking lead to painful realizations.”

A

Excessive - Theme (Armando says plot)
Thinking - Character
Leads to painful realizations - Plot (Armando says theme)

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18
Q

What are 3 good questions to ask when developing a premise?

A
  1. How can I define my character?
  2. What is my theme?
  3. What is the major event in my plot?
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19
Q

Nebraska disguises a grand argument beneath stark landscapes and authentic characters.

A

Narrative First

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20
Q

While it resolves nicely (with a clear Main Character Resolve), the throughline itself becomes lost along the way. This dialing back of personal issues creates a sense of detachment within the Audience, preventing honest involvement with the on-screen events (Forte’s uncomfortable performance only adds to this).

A

Narrative First, Nebraska

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21
Q

As David (Main Character) learns more about where Woody (influence character) came from and why he did the things he did, the two grow closer in ways they never thought possible. Their Relationship Story Throughline captures the true heart of this story, resolving with touching sincerity.

A

Narrative First, Nebraska

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22
Q

A war film that aims to be nothing more than a retelling of the US Navy SEALS mission Operation Red Wings, Lone Survivor excites, but fails to engage.

Those that criticize the film for emphasizing action over characterization are right to do so: without a consistent Main Character point-of-view (and related Issues that accompany such a throughline) Audiences can only experience the on-screen events, not empathize with them. As a result we care about what happened–we just don’t feel what happened.

A

Narrative First, Operation Red Wings, Lone Survivor

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23
Q

Lone Survivor wants to communicate what happened, not why.

A

Narrative First, Lone Survivor

24
Q

Stories prove their point when they juxtapose competing approaches and synthesize a solution in the minds of the Audience. When built properly, a story communicates it’s argument without the crutch of dialogue. Unfortunately, this film takes the obvious approach and says what it means. Don Jon wants to say something important, but the message gets lost in the noise of a broken story structure.

A

Narrative First, Don Jon

25
Q

The strength of this outer-space thriller betrays it’s ultimate weakness. By placing the audience almost entirely within Dr. Stone’s (Sandra Bullock’s) first person point-of-view for most of the film, Gravity fails to provide the much needed third-person perspective on the day’s events. Without an objective view to juxtapose against the subjective, the story loses all hope of providing any greater meaning and instead becomes nothing more than an amusement park ride.

A

Narrative First, Gravity

26
Q

Four movements, not three, guarantee effective personal growth within a story. Gravity only gives three to Stone (if that many) and as a result shows her catharsis to be both predictable and mechanical.

A

Narrative First, Gravity

27
Q

Read two or three reputable reviews of Gravity and you’ll pick up on a pattern though: high praise for the spectacle, yet somehow lacking in the character department. Both the lack of a solid objective point-of-view and missing beats within the Main Character and Influence Character Throughlines guarantee this kind of disappointment in the final analysis of story.

A

Narrative First, Gravity

28
Q

In short, the storyform defines what it is the Author is trying to say with his or her work. Strong powerful films exist as strong powerful films because they have something they’re trying to say, something they’re trying to argue. More than a sequence template to follow, the storyform outlines the key points needed to make a solid argument. Solid argument, solid story, no plot holes, happy Audience.

A

Narrative First

29
Q

Stories begin with the interruption of peace. Sometimes referred to as the “Inciting Incident”, this disruption manifests within the Main Character an inequity, a separateness that must be dealt with one way or another. This inequity drives the Main Character forward, sparking the engine of story.

A

Narrative First

30
Q

Problems imply something bad, and unfortunately, this does not apply to every story. The Main Character’s Problem actually describes the nature of the inequity that infuses the Main Character Throughline with life. Inequities, unlike problems, don’t inherently claim the status of good or bad. They just are. How the inequity plays out within the story, however, does determine its positive or negative value.

A

Narrative First

31
Q

An inequity that leads to positive growth appears to the Audience as a motivating force. An inequity that creates negative growth (or difficulties) looks to be a problem. Regardless of how they appear to the Audience, they still work the same within a story and occupy the same place within Dramatica concept of the storyform. They still push the Main Character into a story.

These two alternative ways of looking at the same structural concept reveal themselves quite strongly through another key concept, the Main Character’s Resolve. When the Main Character changes (or flips if you prefer), the Main Character Problem will feel like a problem. When the Main Character remains steadfast, the Main Character Problem will feel more like a motivating force, or source of drive.

A

Narrative First

32
Q

Contrast this with the example of a Relationship Story Problem of Pursuit in another film, 1969’s beloved Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In this story, Pursuit really does act like a Problem between them. When Paul pursues Holly, she runs away–killing any chance of them being together. By pushing too hard to make a relationship, Paul insures there will never be one.

Only by applying the Relationship Story Solution of Avoidance, does Paul guarantee she’ll come running back to him. We need to separate and that will bring us together. That’s the kind of thinking at work here. And it does work.

A

Narrative First

33
Q

The Main Character of a story–regardless of medium–needs that well-defined psychological process to clue the audience in on how the Main Character thinks and thus, what kind of conflict to expect.

A

Narrative First

34
Q

To most male audience members (and like-minded Authors for that matter), holistic thinkers do wacky things.

Upon witnessing characters act like that, most linear-thinking audience members (males) cry out Why is she doing that? Why doesn’t Juno just tell him straight out? Why doesn’t Carrie work on gathering more evidence and stop playing these silly games?

But they’re not games.

A

In Juno, the titular character recreates the room she and Bleaker first did it in on his front lawn as a way of telling him the big news. Sybylla Melvyn from My Brilliant Career shifts the balance of power between her and wealthy Harry Beecham by pulling him into an area reserved for the lower class. “Did I make you jealous?, she asks, knowing the tide has turned. Carrie, again from Homeland, saunters in to a private veteran’s support group where the man she believes to be a terrorist is a member.

35
Q

Indirectly Direct
To the logical thinker they come off as manipulative and shifty, but to the holistic thinker they appear as valid attempts to shift the balance in favor of resolution. An easier way to recognize which technique is being used–particularly if one happens to be a predominantly linear thinker themselves–rests in asking whether or not the approach is direct or indirect. Technically they’re both direct, but to a linear cause and effect guy holism feels more indirect.

It might not make much sense to linear thinkers why Sybylla suddenly wanders off into that part of town until they recognize her efforts to indirectly work on the relationship between her and Harry. By taking this approach she engages in the same manner of thinking Carrie does with her cork board: concentrating and paying attention more to the relationship between rather than focusing on the individuals themselves. To holistic thinkers, the connection counts for everything even if it does come off as indirect and manipulative.

A

.

36
Q

Recognizing Problem-Solving Style
Indirect or not, the application of problem-solving technique to story provides the necessary fodder for conflict and growth within the Main Character. Leaving it out deflates potential and severs the connection between Audience and narrative. Instead of avoiding techniques of problem-solving that don’t gel with their own, linear writers should embrace the idea of holistic thinking and find ways of incorporating this foreign approach within their own work.

A

.

37
Q

Audiences come to story with the hope of experiencing the new. Key to drawing them in and keeping them there lies with the proper application of the Main Character’s perspective. Lose sight of the Main Character and writers risk losing their Audience.

A

Losing Sight of the Main Character

38
Q

A disturbing trend of late seems to be on the rise within narrative fiction: that of the undefined or ill-defined Main Character Throughline . . . But without consistency in where we witness these events from the experience falls into insignificance.

A

The Croods, End of Watch, Prometheus, and the latest James Bond thriller Skyfall all fail to offer Audiences consistent points-of-view from their Main Characters. Sure, they might entertain us with visual delights from worlds light-years away or they might engage us viscerally with uniformed life on the streets of L.A.,

39
Q

What exactly is your story trying to say?

A

.

40
Q

The Main Character offers more than simply someone to cheer for. This unique and central character grants the Audience a way into the mind of a story.

A

Dramatica theory (Narrative Science) suggests that the Main Character holds the first-person “I” perspective on the problems within a story. From this point-of-view the Audience gets to experience what it is like to personally face this issue.

41
Q

Contrast this with another important perspective, the “You” point-of-view offered by the Influence Character. The Audience does not experience what it is like to actually be this character, but rather watches what this character does and how they behave.

A

This experience of watching another work through a problem “influences” us the Main Character (as the Audience we have assumed the collective position of the Main Character) to reconsider our own issues and how we approach them.

42
Q

Thus, the Main Character Throughline offers the Audience a reference point from which to interpret everything that happens on-screen or in print. When arguing a particular approach to problem-solving it becomes necessary to establish who we’re looking at and who is looking at us.

A

Conflict does not occur within one viewpoint but rather between disparate viewpoints. You and I. Because of this reality, perspective regions supreme.

43
Q

What are your Main Character’s issues?

A

.

44
Q

Rule 4: Once upon a time there was ____. Every day, ____. One day ____. Because of that, ____. Because of that, ____. Until finally ____.

A formula for writing a tale? No thanks. If one wanted to put out a statement (which is all a tale really is) then one could use Twitter or a Facebook update. Stories argue, tales state. Unfortunately the tip above usually leads to the latter.

A

.

45
Q

Rule 16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

Dramatica (Narrative Science theory) refers to these stakes as the Story Consequences.

A

Most writers understand the concept of Goals and how they motivate characters to take action, but relatively few understand the importance of providing their characters consequences should they fail. Both exist in a story and both require each other for meaning. In Toy Story, failure to keep up with the move condemns the toys to a life of perpetual panic. Consequences work as a motivator to help propel a story forward–a solid tip that gives a foundation for good strong narrative.

46
Q

Consequences work as a motivator to help propel a story forward–a solid tip that gives a foundation for good strong narrative.

A

.

47
Q

Rule 6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

Very helpful. If one wishes to write a story about the first African-American baseball player and all the issues of preconception that run along with such a predicament, throwing his “polar opposite” against him would help increase the conflict and give him reason to grow. But what would that opposite be? Someone who doesn’t believe he should be playing ball because of the color of his skin? That would challenge him, but it wouldn’t really challenge his own personal point-of-view as he would have been dealing with that his entire life already. Better to throw someone in there who shares a similar predicament but goes about solving it in a different and “opposite” way.

A

Thankfully the current model of Dramatica provides us with clues where to find this similar, yet different character through its concept of Dynamic Pairs. Pursuit and Avoid, Faith and Disbelief, Perception and Actuality all work as dynamic opposites to each other–put the two Dynamic Pairs in the same room and watch the sparks fly.

48
Q

Rule 7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

Another good one, even if it seemingly runs counter to tip #3 above. Should writers go with the flow or are they supposed to know where they’re going? A meaningful ending bases itself on the thematic arguments that preceded them. They work together to help define the Author’s argument.

A

.

49
Q

Rule 14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

The argument an Author makes runs tantamount to all. The “belief burning within you” lies in the Author’s point-of-view on how to solve a particular problem. Narrative Science helps to give those beliefs a reference point and offers suggestions for formatting a strong and coherent argument to support that belief.

A

.

50
Q

The real secret to Pixar’s undeniable success lies in their ability to write complete stories. Whether it be the dynamic clash between Woody and Buzz in the first Toy Story or the thematic interplay between Linguini and Remy in Ratatouille, each and every story effectively argued a specific approach to solving a problem.

A

Pick any film and one can easily identify the Overall Story Throughline, the Main Character Throughline, the Influence Character Throughline and the Relationship Story Throughline.

51
Q

When tragedy strikes, protagonists leap into action. Battling the forces of antagonism and facing deep-seeded justifications, the central character of any story climbs from one treacherous Act to the next, their eyes transfixed on the prize. But what meaning does this intense area of focushold?

Why is it so important tounderstand?

A

The Story Goal marks the promise of accomplishment. Having experienced disruption at the hands of the Inciting Incident (or first Story Driver), the characters set out in the hopes of acquiring the Story Goal. Whether this involves a physical tangible reward or one that sits at the edge of consciousness matters little when compared to its potential for peace. The Story Goal representsclosure

52
Q

Problems don’t exist in a vacuum. In fact, problems can’t be problems without solutions. Achieving the solution to the story’s inequity then becomes the Goal of the story.

A

P

53
Q

Note that the Story Goal does not come attached to any one character. No one owns the Goal of a story, rather it attracts and repels everyone within.

A

P

54
Q

Some will be for it (The Story Goal) while others would rather the inequity persist. Some may even be responsible for starting the problem in the first place. Regardless, look not to individual wants and needs for the Goal of a story. Seek the initial inequity and work from there.

A

P

55
Q

A problem enters the character’s lives and many of them set out to acquire the appropriate solution. That said, their motion towards this ending does not constitute what kind of resolution is needed. Do not confuse the particular type of a Goal with the concept of a Story Goal. The first defines the static nature of a structural point, the other defines the process undergone in getting there.

A

P

56
Q

Unsure what it is your characters are really working for? Look to the creation of inequity in their lives and establish the Goal needed to resolve it.

A

P

57
Q

Many recognize the difference between what the Protagonist wants and what he or she really needs. Dramatica shines by explaining exactly why this dynamic exists and why a character would be so focused on their wants when focusing on their needs would really satisfy the problems in their lives

A

P

58
Q

Other paradigms recognize the pattern, yet offer little in terms of understanding why. In addition, the theory forces a writer to decide what kind of ending they want and its connection with what they really want to say with their story. These are goodthings.

A

P

Dramatica For Screenwriters armando (1 decks)

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