There are Objective Story Throughline appreciations, Main Character
appreciations, Obstacle Character appreciations and Subjective Story Throughline
appreciations. There are even appreciations that are the synthesis of all four points of
view such as Goal, Requirements, and Consequences. These central appreciations seem the
most plot-like because they affect the Concerns of all four throughlines. As varied as all
of these appreciations are, there is one quality they share: they stay the same from the
beginning to the end of a story. Appreciations of this stable nature are called Static
Appreciations.
• Goal: The story goal describes a specific item that is a shared concern. The
item being sought after or seeking to avoid.
* Video Clips: Montage of stories whose goal is “Obtaining.”: Raiders
of the Lost Ark, Body Heat, The Searchers, Rain Man, Ace
Ventura, Ruthless People, Unforgiven.
* Video Clips: Montage of stories with differing goals: Lawrence of
Arabia (Learning), Dave (Being), An Officer and a Gentleman (Becoming), Back
to the Future (Future).
* Video Clips: Comparison of goals between Casablanca (Obtaining) and
The Godfather (Obtaining).
• Consequences: The results of failing to achieve the Goal.
* Video Clips: Comparison of consequences between Casablanca
(Becoming) and The Godfather (Becoming).
• Requirement: The steps needed to taken or conditions needed to be met to
reach the Goal.
* Video Clips: Comparison of requirements between Casablanca
(Understanding) and The Godfather (Doing).
• Forewarnings: The foreshadowing events that indicate the approach of the
consequences.
* Video Clips: Comparison of forewarnings between Casablanca (Memory)
and The Godfather (Progress).
• Prerequisites: The steps necessary to get the requirements accomplished.
* Video Clips: Comparison of prerequisites between Casablanca
(Conceptualizing) and The Godfather (Being).
• Preconditions: Conditions imposed on meeting the requirement.
* Video Clips: Comparison of preconditions between Casablanca (The
Past) and The Godfather (The Preconscious).
• Costs: The price to pay on the way to the Goal. Every time a character
endures some displeasure as a result of trying to achieve the goal, this additional price
is a Cost.
* Video Clips: Comparison of costs between Casablanca (The Future)
and The Godfather (Subconscious).
• Dividends: During the effort to achieve the goal, certain benefits are
enjoyed or accrued along the way. These serve to add motivation for the characters to
continue.
* Video Clips: Comparison of dividends between Casablanca
(Subconscious) and The Godfather (The Future).
Progressive Plot Appreciations
• 3 Acts Vs. 4 Acts
4 Act Plot: Each Class in the Thematic Structure has four Types in the level
just below the Class. Each Type in a throughline will be the subject matter of one of four
Acts in that throughline. The order in which the Types are explored determines the
Progressive meaning of that throughline’s evolution.
3 Act Plot: Some two thousand years ago, Aristotle proposed that every
functional plot should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Since that time, this
notion has evolved into a widely held view that there should be three Acts in a complete
story. Act one sets up the dramatic potentials. Act two plays these potentials against
each other. Act three describes how it all turned out.
• Signposts and Journeys
At first, a three act progression might seem in conflict with Dramatica’s four
act view. The two actually go hand in hand.
The illustration above shows how a plot that covers four different Acts (designated
as signposts) will automatically generate three different transitions (called journeys) as
the subject matter shifts from one concern to the next. When Aristotle saw a beginning,
middle and end, he was seeing Signpost 1, all three journeys lumped together, and Signpost
4. When successive generations of writers evolved a three act structure, it became very
difficult to determine, “What happens in Act 2*” as all three journeys and two
of the signposts were simply blended into “the middle”. By adopting a Four Act
structure which coincides with three dynamic acts, the true nature of a throughline’s
plot is far easier to understand and construct.
Plot Act Order Examples
Objective Story throughline act order for The Godfather.
* Video Clip: Act 1 -- Understanding.
* Video Clip: Act 2 -- Obtaining.
* Video Clip: Act 3 -- Learning.
* Video Clip: Act 4 -- Doing.
Obstacle Character (Obi Wan) throughline act order for Star Wars.
* Video Clip: Act 1 -- Conscious.
* Video Clip: Act 2 -- Preconscious.
* Video Clip: Act 3 -- Memory.
* Video Clip: Act 4 -- Subconscious.
