Approaching/Distancing the Goal

#1

So one of the things I noticed when rewatching A Beautiful Mind was that Act 1 felt like a win. John has his original thought, writes his paper, and gets recognition for it. Then Acts 2 and 3 largely feel like losses as he falls deeper and deeper into his delusions. Then act 4 is kind of a win again, but a much weaker feeling one. It’s like he doesn’t win by coming up with brilliant math (even though that is in the storytelling) but by ignoring Charles, Marcee, and, uh, Ed Harris. Ignoring the things that make him feel alive is the win.

Anyway, I’m sure this up/down, win/loss feeling has been covered before in other theories, though I can’t remember what they’d call it. But I keep wondering where this approaching/distancing the solution or goal, or the improving/declining of the conflict-or whatever it is-would go in Dramatica. I’m really kind of feeling around in the dark here, but I’m wondering if this idea of getting closer to or further from the solution act by act might be part of, say, a dynamic view of structure within Dramatica. Or , because each act is giving a different direction, maybe it could be a structural view of dynamics?

Anyway, just a thought likely spurred on by Jim’s recent articles looking at Dramatica dynamics.

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Dynamic halves of the dynamic questions
#2

Awesome. More of this please. (Encroaching/Distancing Dynamic for the Story Driver???)

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#3

Now I’m definitely going to be obsessed with this idea. Lol. I wouldn’t have thought to pair that up with Story Driver because the encroaching or distancing seems to play out over the act rather than to drive the story into that act, but then I guess that playing out of the process would be what makes it a dynamic point and not a structural point, right?

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#4

It sounds a lot like the Catalyst / Inhibitor in the OS.

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#5

“Improving/declining of the conflict” kind of does. But I don’t think what I’m describing works that way, exactly, because both still have the story moving forward.

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#6

I’m not great with catalyst and inhibitor, but I’m thinking one can be moving toward or away from the goal in a given scene while the inhibitor stops that motion, or the catalyst pushes it into motion regardless of which direction it’s moving.

The encroaching/distancing I’m looking at, depending on which eye I have open at the time, might look like he’s addressing conflict (winning/solving the problem) in order to bring an end to the problem or creating more conflict (losing/falling deeper into the problem until something gives), or it might look like he feels good about his efforts (winning/encroaching) or feels bad about them (losing/distancing). The first I can kind of see going along with story driver, the second more with story judgment.

But again, feeling around in the dark here. I’m probably going to take a break from this before I mess myself up. Haha.

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