What exactly does "Revelation" mean within SRCA?

#1

I’m confused as to what Revelation means within the SRCA modality, as well as how it leads into Conflict. Maybe some definitions of SRCA will help clear things up?

Thanks!

#2

I think it means “2”. :slight_smile:

#3

Weirdly, I figured out the SRCA modality when I did improv classes. It just suddenly clicked. So this is my non-definition way of explaining it.

Setup - The base reality of the scene. (Who, what, where?)
Revelation - The inciting incident. (Something unusual happens that drives the scene)
Conflict - The conflict that surfaces after the inciting incident. (An exploration of the conflict of the scene)
Aftermath - The resolution to the conflict. (The conclusion of a scene, or the lead into another scene)

So, a dumb example I made up quickly without any thought:

Setup - A dentist goes to a cafe with his wife. They’re discussing their divorce settlement.
Revelation - The dentist is deathly afraid of sugar cubes.
Conflict - The dentist’s wife begins using the cubes to blackmail him into giving into her demands.
Aftermath - The dentist signs the settlement.

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#4

Sorry, I thought it would be amusing to purposely leave that ambiguous.

My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that the best way to think of SRCA is not to worry much about the definitions of each word and just think of them as the order in which they’re shown to the audience. So 1234 is actually a clearer way to think about it.

EDIT: could have saved myself some typing by just linking Jim! https://narrativefirst.com/archives/concepts/srca

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#5

Would you say the “Central Event” of a Scene, as described within Armando’s Book Dramatica for Screenwriters, should be placed within the Revelation, or could it be placed within either the S,R,C, or A?

#6

It could be placed in any of them, really. Depends on which one you want to put the emphasis on. In the example I gave with the dentist, any one of those steps could be the central event of the scene. It’s all up to the author, and how they want to tell the story.

That’s what @mlucas means when he says 1234. They can be shuffled around and presented in any order, so it’s pretty much up to the author to decide what the central event of the scene is and how it’s presented.

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