Siege Scenario- Situation or Activity?

questions
#1

G’day everyone. It’s great to find such a high quality forum for discussing all things Dramatica. It’s a brilliant theory and far better than any others I’ve ever come across. But it 'aint easy and I think it’s time for me to stop going-it-alone. For a while, I thought I had nailed my storyform for a novel I’m working on. It centers around a city that’s holding out against mutant hoardes that are attacking and laying siege to it. If they get in, everyone is dead. There is nowhere else on Earth to go. The well-defended city is the last safe-place left on the planet. I thought that this was easily a story where the OS throughline is situation because they’re all stuck in a bad situation. But then I read comments about Aliens and Edge of Tomorrow where it was made very clear that these movies had an OS throughline of activity. I can see why now. Also, in that topic, Jim Hull suggested the following question that got me thinking: 'I would always ask “if this was removed, would there still be a problem?” ’

So in my story, if the mutant hoardes weren’t attacking, there would be no problem. So that must mean that it’s an OS activity story, right? But I don’t know if it’s that clear. I keep wondering if there is a bit of spectrum where there can be siege stories that have an OS throughline of situation at one end and others that have an OS of activity at the other. Then there may be a grey area in the middle that depends on where the focus lies.

For example, in Zulu, the British are holding out against hoardes of Zulu warriors. The British defended their base against the onslaught. Asking Jim’s question: if the Zulu’s stopped fighting, would there still be a problem? No. In this case, it seems to me that this is an activity OS because they weren’t trying to escape the base. They weren’t looking for a better situation. They had no intention of moving because they were ordered to establish a base there and therefore, were defending it against attackers.

But what if they had been trying to escape the base to a better place, but were prevented by the Zulus? If the Zulus stopped fighting, again there would be no problem. (OS of activity?) But if they moved away, would there be a problem? No. They could have moved elsewhere and avoided the Zulus. Any British that move to that area would be constantly harassed by the Zulus and therefore it’d seem better to establish a base in a better spot. (OS of situation?)

So then my story- There is nowhere to flee and there are attacking hoardes. Everyone wants a better life. But resources are scarce and the people left in the city have little to live for, hope for or dream for. Even if the hoardes stop the attack, they don’t have much. There is little hope of safety outside the city and the hoardes could always resume the attack later on. What they really hope for is firstly, to survive and secondly to defeat these hoardes once and for all so that they can live in a better world. So is this an OS of situation or activity? I feel it’s situation. But I can see the argument for activity making inroads in my head.

And one more example- a time travel one. What if there was a siege with certain death as the outcome. Some of the characters travel back in time to alter the past so that the siege never happened? The entire situation changes for everyone (Situation), but the fact is the city is under siege (activity) and effort is required by the central characters to change the past (activity). So would this be a situation or activity?

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#2

To channel @jhull here, I think it might be useful to roll back to the original terminology of Universe and Physics rather than Situation and Activities, as “situation” can cause confusion. (I personally bounce back and forth between the two).

Have you tried Dramatica in 30 seconds? It’s in the program under the query system but it’s explained in more detail Dramatica for Screenwriters. You could try encoding the story both ways and see which one feels better.

The other thing to do is look at the Concerns. Is your story more about Past, Present, Future and Progress, or Learning, Understanding, Doing and Obtaining?

Final recommendation – I see that Jim has Logline to Synopsis email course up again… if you haven’t taken that, it could be really helpful.

Good luck!

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#3

This is an okay litmus, but I have trouble with it. Maybe because I tend to want to be devil’s advocate, or maybe I’m driven to produce examples and exceptions, but my answer is usually, “…maybe?” The question, I think, is meant to help you determine whether the process you are looking at is the source of conflict. It’s harder, but more helpful and accurate, to look for the source of conflict.

Lets combine this with @lakis advice. In your throughline, are the Physics of the siege (fighting, killing, spying, collecting intel) the source of conflict? Or is it the Universe of the siege (dwindling supplies, nowhere left to go, lack of freedoms, families divided) that brings about conflict?

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#4

I highly recommend rolling back to original terminology: Universe or Physics. Now, I’ve always had trouble with the litmus tests myself, as when I try to use them, I tend to see what the characters believe the problems are. That’s not really how Dramatica should be used, so it causes me trouble. Keep in mind when searching for the source of problems and conflict, it’s what YOU as the author mark as the source that matters.

This can sometimes be difficult. What has helped me is to pretend there is someone detached from the story, and not part of the story world, staring down at the world I’ve written. Then, I have that non-character tell me what the source of the problem is in the world I’ve made.

Just a thought.

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#5

It can help sometimes to think of it in terms of “stuck” vs. “going on”. Is something going on that needs to stop? Or is something stuck that needs to be unstuck?

I think it’s likely to be an OS Physics story … there is an old thread where Jim postulated that even a “hostage situation” is almost certainly OS Physics, not Situation. Here I found it:

Can you look to the other throughlines for help? You could ask yourself if the RS Domain works better as Psychology or Mind. (You could also glean some hints from MC Domain, if you can tell whether it’s a Start or Stop story.)

#6

Just to follow up on @mlucas post (and for the sake of testing my own Dramatica intuition), it seems, based on this–

– that the most likely candidate is Physics (mutant hoardes attacking), with a Concern of Obtaining (gotta prevent them from obtaining access to the city) which automatically creates a Consequence of Becoming (if they get in, everyone becomes dead).

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#7

Thanks for all your quick replies! I’ve been thinking a lot about what you’ve all written. I take your points about using the older terminology. I think I’ve been confused by my intuitive understanding of situation. As a side point, I just had a look at the DSE software preferences and there is some scope for rolling back the terms, but it would be better if the software allowed the user to pick and choose the best terms for our own needs, rather than the all-or-nothing rollback.

@Lakis- Yes I’ve completed Dramatica in 30 seconds and I think it’s a great feature. The funny thing is, some of my work in there still applies regardless of whether I choose Universe or Physics. So I’m going to have a closer look. Also, by plugging in Physics and Obtaining as you suggested, other parts of the storyform are making way more sense! It looks like for the last few months, because of my misunderstanding of Situation, I’ve been working on the wrong storyform! And I just signed up for the Logline to Synopsis email course. Thanks.

@mlucas- Thanks for the article link and comments. And within that link Jim had another article link “A Simple Way to Look at the Throughlines of Your Story”. All very helpful! It clarified one big point for me- the fact that Universe and Mind mean things are stuck and describe a state, whereas physics and psychology are dynamic and describe a process. I now realise that in my story, the MC is in a stuck state that isn’t going to change. So his domain is Universe, not the OS domain. Once I plug that in, more of the storyform makes sense. It’s so weird how so many different storyforms can sound sort-of right, but there are some choices that feel truly right and the real story settles into place.

Just going back to the siege example, I was trying to think of a way where the OS of a siege could be Universe. What if it’s sort of like a person on death row. The prisoner is due to be hanged. There may be some stays of execution, but these are delaying the inevitable. He will hang. To me this sounds like he’s in a MC domain of universe. Now to the city under siege. What if the city was completely surrounded by murderous hoardes, with no possible escape and no chance of winning the fight in a battle? Any pause in fighting or temporary retreat delays the inevitable. It’s hopeless. But what if one character makes a trip through time to change the present so that the hoardes never exist and no battle ever happens. The city is in no danger any more. To my way of thinking, this seems like an OS domain of Universe because the city is stuck in a form of death row. But it takes a character (the MC) to act to change the situation for everyone and save the city. This would seem like a MC domain of activity.

Does this sound right? Or am I still confused about things?

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#8

If its about the people in the city fighting against the the hoardes, it’s probably going to be Physics. Even if the characters think the problem is overwhelming odds, or no chance of winning, it’s still about two forces colliding.
If this were the type of siege where the hoardes surround the city and the story is about the people inside, basically imprisoned and unable to escape, slowly starving to death and turning against one another because they can’t get out, I think that might be more of a Universe problem.

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#9

Thanks Gregolas. I think I’m starting to get it now.

And it looks like when it comes to Dramatica, I need to retrain my intuition.

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