Here are some scribbles Armando Saldaña Mora, Chris Huntley and I jotted down one day a couple years ago at Chris’ house. I was staying over that night and at the time Armando (author of “Dramatica for Screenwriters” was a longer-term houseguest. I thought it would be fun to include him in the development of […]
For you Dramatica Theory Hounds, here are a couple of cryptic illustrations I jotted down as part of the ongoing extension of the Dramatica theory. What do they mean? They are all part of an attempt to more thoughoughly define the four Super Classes and their smaller components. What are Super Classes? Think of the […]
For all you Dramatica “theory hounds” out there, here’s one of the newest parts of the theory which grew out of my ongoing development of the new dynamic model of story structure. Dramatica theory has always had eight equations that describe the relationships among elements in a quad. They are all based on permutations of […]
2012 External and Internal Dependencies Posted on December 31, 2012 by Melanie Anne Phillips As co-creator of the Dramatica theory, I often take some of the concepts so for granted that I forget to consider wider application of them. For example, in my classes I often speak of the three kinds of character relationships: … Continue reading → Conversational Inertia […]
As co-creator of the Dramatica theory, I often take some of the concepts so for granted that I forget to consider wider application of them. For example, in my classes I often speak of the three kinds of character relationships: Dynamic, Companion, and Dependent. Dynamic relationships are directly conflicting, Companion relationships have a tangential effect, […]
It is said that the measure of a hero is determined by the magnitude of the villain he must overcome. While this does help to define the scale of a hero’s achievement, it says nothing about how much he must reach beyond his abilities to succeed. To more fully measure a hero one must provide […]
As I approach my sixtieth birthday, I imagine the time is ripe to resolve some of the questions I’ve been getting in regard to the origin and development of the Dramatica Theory of Story and its principal concepts and implementations. So, here is how it happened (to the best of my recollection). The Beginning Chris […]
Here’s an article I wrote about fifteen years ago that described the reason for and functioning of the Dramatica Table of Story Elements. Though our understandings have refined over the years, the underlying concepts remain unchanged. The Model of Dramatica by Melanie Anne Phillips An Introduction to Quad Structure Just as the physical Periodic Table of […]
Sometimes the solution to a problem comes from a most unexpected source. Often, there is no relationship between the subject matter of problem and solution, but rather a dynamic resemblance, an analogy of system or operation. A case in point is when I solved the mystery of the erratic sequential patterns that were created when […]
Beyond Dramatica – a new free eBook by Dramatica co-creator Melanie Anne Phillips Predicting Human Behavior The Dramatica Structural Model Narrative Dynamics 1 – Introduction Narrative Dynamics 2 – Transmutation of Particles and Waves Narrative Dynamics 3 – The Dramatica Model Narrative Dynamics 4 – The Interface Conundrum Narrative Dynamics 5 – The Interface Solution […]