Dramatica Weekend Workshop Syllabus

2 Character

Hero is a four letter word

* Video Clip: Familiar central characters/”heroes”

• Protagonist -- the prime mover in the objective story throughline

• Main Character -- the character through which the audience experiences the story

* Video Clip: Examples of characters from To Kill A Mockingbird.
• Main Character: Scout
• Protagonist: Atticus
• Antagonist: Bob Ewell
• Obstacle Character: Boo Radley
• Role of Narrator (v. Main Character): Author’s commentary

• Objective Characters vs. Subjective Characters: Central to Dramatica’s theory of character are the notions of objective and subjective characters. An objective character is defined as a specific collection of dramatic characteristics that remain consistent throughout the story. Objective characters fulfill dramatic functions in stories and subjective characters invite audience points of view. Dramatica divides objective characters into two basic types: archetypal and complex. Subjective characters represent internal conflict played out by the main character and obstacle character. The objective characters present the story to the audience and the subjective characters allow the audience to participate in the story.

 

Archetypal Characters: Motivations

Eight Archetypes: In Dramatica, there are eight archetypal characters: Protagonist, Antagonist, Guardian, Contagonist (a term unique to Dramatica), Reason, Emotion, Sidekick, and Skeptic.

 

Archetype

Star Wars

Wizard of Oz

Protagonist

Luke

Dorothy

Antagonist

Empire

Wicked Witch

Reason

Leia

Scarecrow

Emotion

Chewbacca

Tinman

Sidekick

R2D2 & C3P0

Toto

Skeptic

Han Solo

Cowardly Lion

Guardian

Obi Wan

Glinda

Contagonist

Darth Vader

Wizard of Oz

 

 

• Sixteen Motivation Elements: Each of the eight archetypal character contains an action characteristic and a decision characteristic. These sixteen characteristics, termed motivation elements, describe what actuates the archetypal characters to achieve or prevent the achievement of the story goal. The goal is not necessarily an object; rather, it can be many other concerns such as a state of mind, degree of knowledge, or a certain feeling.

 

Motivation Elements in Star Wars

 

Archetype

Character

Action

Decision

Protagonist

Luke

Pursue

Consider

Antagonist

Empire

Avoid (Prevent)

Reconsider

Reason

Leia

Control

Logic

Emotion

Chewbacca

Uncontrolled

Feeling

Sidekick

R2D2 & C3P0

Support

Faith

Skeptic

Han Solo

Oppose

Disbelief

Guardian

Obi Wan

Help

Conscience

Contagonist

Darth Vader

Hinder

Temptation

* Video Clips: Archetypal characters in Star Wars: protagonist, sidekick, skeptic, guardian, reason, emotion, contagonist, antagonist.

 

Motivation Elements in The Wizard of Oz

 

Archetype

Character

Action

Decision

Protagonist

Dorothy

Pursue

Consider

Antagonist

Wicked Witch*

Avoid (Prevent)
Hinder

Reason

Scarecrow*

Uncontrolled

Logic

Emotion

Tinman*

Control

Feeling

Sidekick

Toto

Support

Faith

Skeptic

Cowardly Lion

Oppose

Disbelief

Guardian

Glinda

Help

Conscience

Contagonist

Wizard of Oz*

Reconsider
Temptation

* Video Clips: Archetypal and non-archetypal characters in The Wizard of Oz: protagonist, sidekick, skeptic, guardian, reason, emotion, contagonist, antagonist.

Character Dimensions

• Four Dimensional characters: Motivation, one of four dimensions necessary to flesh out a character, drives characters to achieve their goal. Characters also aspire to different purposes, exercise different methodologies in the effort to achieve those purposes, and use different means of evaluation to determine the effectiveness of their efforts. Fully realized characters are four-dimensional and possess an action and decision element in each dimension

 

 

Table: The Four Dimensions of Archetypal Characters

 

 


Motivations


Methodologies

Means of Evaluation


Purposes

Protagonist

Consider
Pursuit

Certainty
Proaction

Proven
Effect

Knowledge
Actuality

Antagonist

Reconsider
Avoid

Potentiality
Reaction

Unproven
Cause

Thought
Perception

Emotion

Feeling
Uncontrolled

Possibility
Protection

Hunch
Test

Desire
Self-Aware

Reason

Logic
Control

Probability
Inaction

Theory
Trust

Ability
Aware

Skeptic

Disbelief
Oppose

Induction
Non-Acceptance

Non-Accurate
Process

Chaos
Change

Sidekick

Faith
Support

Deduction
Acceptance

Accurate
Result

Order
Inertia

Guardian

Conscience
Help

Reduction
Evaluation

Expectation
Ending

Equity
Projection

Contagonist

Temptation
Hinder

Production
Re-evaluation

Determination
Unending

Inequity
Speculation

 

 

Complex Characters

• Complex Characters: Complex characters contain one or more problem-solving elements in a non-archetypal arrangement.

• Characters Vs. Players: In the Dramatica theory, a character represents the elements and how the elements function. The player is a vessel into which a character (and therefore a set of character elements) is placed.

• Two Objective Characters in the same player: To avoid confusion, a player should never contain two or more characters at one time, unless an author wants to create a character like Sybil or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If more than one character inhabits a single player, the player will appear to have multiple personalities.

 

Subjective Characters

• Main Character Vs. Obstacle Character

• The Main Character: The main character is the central character of the subjective storyline who allows the audience to experience the story emotionally and who also holds the key to resolving both the objective and subjective story problems.

• The Obstacle Character: The obstacle character is the subjective character who blocks the main character’s path and forces the main character to address personal problems.

* Video Clips: Main and Obstacle Character montage, “You and I are just alike.”

• Alternative Paradigms: To completely explore the issue at the heart of a story, an obstacle character must present an alternative approach to that pursued by the main character. The obstacle character throughline is the advocate of this alternative paradigm and the manner in which its impact on the main character develops.

* Video Clips: Examples of Obstacle Characters: The Ghosts in A Christmas Carol, Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Belloch in Indiana Jones Subjective Story #1 from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sala (et al) in Indiana Jones Subjective Story #2 from same.

Back to the Dramatica Weekend Workshop
Table of Contents

Index of Dramatica Theory Materials

Storymind.com is pleased to present this collection of materials about the Dramatica Theory of Story. We hope you find it both useful and through-provoking.

This information is divided into three sections:

The Dramatica Theory
A complete exploration of the theory in every detail

Historic Documents
The development of Dramatica from the beginning

Speculations
Dramatica applied to psychology, physics, religion and more

The Dramatica Theory

Dramatica Theory Book Online
Free online edition of the 400+ page book, Dramatica: A New theory of Story, in which Melanie Anne Phillips & Chris Huntley originally documented their work.

Dramatica Dictionary
Official definitions of all terms in the Dramatica theory and software.

Dramatica Writing Tips
Useful and informative articles on how to approach and employ both the Dramatica Theory and Software.

Constructive Criticisms
Practical illustrations of how applying the Dramatica theory could have made some well-known successful story's even better!

Dramatica Q & A
Answers to questions from users of the Dramatica Theory and Software.

Instant Dramatica
Even more directly practical essays on using Dramatica for real-world writing situations and problems provided by noted screenwriter Armando Saldaņa Mora.

Historic Documents

Dramatica - The Lost Theory Book
Early attempts to document the theory, including many unfinished conjectures and false starts.

Dramatica Development Archives
Early documents created during the development of the foundations of Dramatica.  Often later discarded, they show the roots of the thinking that ultimately evolved into the theory as it stands today.

Speculations

Deep Theory
Transcript of a class on the outer fringes of Dramatica Theory I taught as part of a now-defunct Dramatica Certification course.

Dramatica Math
A mathematician takes a stab at describing the Dramatica model in terms of dimensional distortions.

Mental Relativity
An exploration of the theory of psychology modeling which grew out of the development of Dramatica.

Dramatica I Ching
Several of our users have noticed a similarity between the character grid in Dramatica and the elements of the traditional I Ching.  Though unintentional, perhaps all models that look deeply into the mind will resemble each other.

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20 Hour Writing Course on CD ROM

This intense program features 20 hours of video documenting the entire college-level course in creative writing given by Melanie Anne Phillips, creator of StoryWeaver and co-creator of Dramatica.  Just $19.95  (Details)

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