Combination Trilogy Screenplay Structure

#1

So I’m still new to applying a lot of Dramatica’s concepts, but I wanted to soundly structure a movie trilogy from the get go. While researching Dramatica and this topic, I came upon this post:

http://dramatica.com/questions/how-can-i-use-dramatica-to-help-structure-a-massive-trilogy

I found myself most gravitated toward the combination trilogy, despite its insanely high degree of difficulty. So I want each movie have a complete, stand alone story that begins, develops, and concludes within the confines of the film. They will also have elements that span the full length of the trilogy, each film exploring a part of the whole storyform.

My question is how would I use the Dramatica software to plot a combination trilogy as far as signposts and all that go? Would I still use the signposts to break the overall trilogy down into three parts, or would that make the movies not stand alone very well? Am I looking to create signposts within a signpost on some Inception “dream within a dream” wildness, and if so, how do I go about structuring that in the software?

#2

Each file in the software gives you one and only one storyform. So however you decide to structure it, you’ll have to have different files for each complete story. Not sure if that’s what you’re asking?

Another resource to check out:

I hear you! I tend to be attracted to those kind of ambitious goals myself. Alas, this has caused problems for me in finishing things. If I were to go back in time and give myself advice, I would suggest starting with a simpler approach, at least while I’m still learning Dramatica and how to apply it. And if I failed to convince my younger self to take this advice, I would suggest at least limiting the number of story points I’m concentrating on and leave room for discovery while writing.

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#3

Thanks so much for that link, and I figured I would need a single storyform for each film. This article confirms what I was thinking, that I will likely need one storyform for the entire trilogy and then three individual storyforms within that overarching storyform.

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