Hi all. Just started watching Westworld. So far I think it’s amazing. It’s funny what Dramatica does to you. Especially when viewing movies. I’ve been taking apart the story from the beginning. And the Designing principle behind the show! It’s fantastic! I think it is perfect fodder to feed our growing Storyminds. Also a lot of key dramatica terms are used. Anyone who’s seen it should kindly chip in. Lets all have a go at it. Thanks.
The storyform for this is SUPER CLEAR and really compelling. I was going to do a comprehensive analysis of it once I started writing articles again in March, but if everyone wants to do it as a collective, that would be super cool as well.
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I’m definitely interested. Hopefully other DSExperts like yourself @jhull will hop on board. I sincerely hope I’m not taking things too far. But all I see in life and even in the hospital where I work is narratives. It’s unreal. Lol.
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You know what will even be cooler? What if we are able to predict what the next season could hold in terms of themes and possible growth arcs of the story? That will be a major selling point for Dramatica and also we’ll get to brag too.
I’d love to participate too. Where do we start? Is it safe to say the Overall Story Domain = Situation?
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Love the enthusiasm @MiggsEye. For starters, there is more than one storyform for this show …I think. I think the main OS Domain: Activity(Everyone is doing something: Killing, Having sex, Monitoring etc). MC Domain: Situation( Dolores is in a seemingly endless “loop”.) IC Domain: Fixed Attitude (William is hell bent of finding the Maze. 30+ years coming back again and again). RS: Manipulation(Everyone is doing something behind the scenes. Ford, William, Arnold even Dolores etc).
Is everyone stuck? If everyone would like to start this, we should probably identify Throughlines first. There are a bit more than 4…
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Yes, stuck.
I was thinking the Overall Story Domain is simply “WestWorld”. It’s the physical universe, institution, system everything and everyone is contained it.
That would put the Relationship Story (or Stories) as Fixed Attitude. This could run through many of the MC and IC character relationships as a general theme of the Fixed Attitude of Humans vs. Robots much like Humans vs. Slaves.
With that there might be many MC and IC throughlines that all play within and relate through the Fixed Attitude relationship stories.
There’s Dolores, who is the first character we see (I believe, if I’m correct). And is the character we often follow from the beginning of her daily routine/default program. So I think she would be a significant MC. But who is her IC? William? Bernard? Teddy? Perhaps the story name is “Dolores’s Awakening to Consciousness” or “Dolores’s Reverie”
Then there’s Maeve, who seems to develop into an MC as the story progresses and her awareness builds. Who is her IC? Bernard? Lutz? Hector? The memory of her daughter? It seems Season 2 will be about finding her daughter. So Season 1 was about the recurring memory of her daughter from a previous life/build is what flickers to create here desire for consciousness. So perhaps its “Maeve’s Reverie”
Then there is Dr. Ford and Bernard? What about their stories as colleagues and adversaries?
And William’s/The Man in Black’s quest to find the center of the Maze. Is that linked to Dolores quest as well? Oy!
I’m stuck here. And I may be in the woods. Is the OS Activity as Khodu says? Everyone’s quest for consciousness, power, the center of the maze/solution of the game? Oy vey.
Analyzing a Series with multiple story lines will be a fascinating learning experience. Can an MC be the IC in another MC’s story line? I suppose the answer is yes. This is where it will get complicated to analyze. i gather there is an elegance in this structure somehow. And you may have your hand on it Jim because you said the structure is so clear. But I can’t see it yet.
This will be fun.
The Guests can leave at any time.
You have to think of where the source of conflict is coming from, not the storytelling.
The source of conflict is coming from everyone’s Fixed Attitudes, no? Humans vs. Robots? Conscious vs. Unconscious. Master vs. Slave?
Ahh, but the inequity for everyone seems to relate to a quest. They are all trying to find something they are missing. So that might put it into Activity. The conflict here might put the relationship stories into Manipulation. Humans manipulating Robots. And robots, gaining consciousness, and starting to manipulate Humans. The conflict is changing, not fixed, but dynamic. Does that meant the relationship story is one of Manipulation in an OS of Activity? Or vice versa? An overall Story of Manipulation (Everyone is trying to manipulate or is being manipulated) and the relationships happen in the activities (people are doing, playing the game Humans vs. robots, in order to manipulate…) Now its beginning to sound like a quest again. Sigh. I’m stuck. Anyone else? I’ve got to finish my lunch and get back to work.
P.S. Everyone is either Manipulating or being Manipulated is sounding more like the OS to me: Humans vs. Robots
If they stopped using and abusing the Hosts there would be no problem…
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@jhull Would I be right in saying that since the guests “feel” it is their right to do as they wish, and understand that there are certain rules about the park that are to their utmost advantage, then the OS is about a certain kind of mentality. So the OS is Fixed Attitude. From your suggestions I think this might be the most likely throughline. Yes?
@jhull and @Khodu I was just thinking something else. Am I in the woods? Or at all in the vicinity?
OS Story of Activity with OS Concern and Story Goal of Doing
RS Story of Manipulation with RS Concern (and Story Consequence) of Playing a Role
MC Story (Dolores’s) of Fixed Attitude with MC Concern of Impulsive Responses
IC Story (William/The Man in Black) of Situation with IC Concern (and Story Cost) of How Things are Changing
This would also place Dolores’s MC Approach as Be-er and MC Growth as Start.
And Story Dividend of Impulsive Responses.
“These violent delights have violent ends”
I think the OS is in Activity.
- someone tampered with host programming to make it seem like they are becoming aware
- guests are abusing hosts
- the architect is creating a narrative the board doesn’t approve of – a corporate coup
- MIB is searching for the center of the maze
- Arnold’s pursuit of real consciousness
RS = Manipulation
- Dolores and Arnold
- He’s trying to get her to break out of her cycle by revealing information to her at key moments.
MC = Situation
- Dolores is a robot becoming “aware”.
IC = Fixed Attitude
- Believes consciousness can be conjured up from the hosts
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@Dan310 That sounds pretty clear.
I hadn’t originally seen the Dolores/Arnold story. Was thinking it was a Dolores/William Story. Yours makes sense as the overall MC/IC Story.
Wondering about which others have Story Forms.
There’s probably one with Maeve.
Is William/The Man in Black an MC? IC? Protagonist or Antagonist?
And what about Dr. Ford?
@jhull With an Overall Story in Activity and RS Story in Manipulation, does that relegate ALL other MC/IC stories to be either one or the other of Situation/Fixed Attitude? As they all must be contained within the OS?
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No, that’s why I was thinking we should probably figure out all the important MC/IC combinations there are first…
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Dolores MC/ William IC. OS: Activity , MC: Situation , RS: Manipulation, IC: Fixed Attitude (As I mentioned earlier)
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Dolores MC/ Arnold IC. OS: Manipulation(Arnold has manipulated Dolores’ inner workings to help her awake later) , MC: Fixed Attitude( She is still of the opinion that all paths lead somewhere. And her memories about the maze are what guide her and trigger her awakening) RS: Activity( Arnold requires her doing things. E.g Secretly meeting him mid cycle in her narrative loops. Leaving her main loop to go outside her default location etc) IC: Situation. Arnold initially isn’t aware about himself at first. Then he finds out and has his mind blown by Ford. Plus of
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Maeve MC/ The World / Arnold as and/or Ford as IC
Maeve MC:
Arnold
I’ll keep fishing. Thanks guys. Good luck.
In OS “Westworld”, the OS Problem “These violent delights have violent ends” lies in the realm either of of Cause/Effect under the larger Issue of Skill (Creators of WestWorld have skillfully re-created the illusion of humanity in robots) OR Unending/Ending under the OS Issue of Enlightenment.
It seems more Cause/Effect to me. My initial take is the OS Problem is Effect: the violent ends. But as @jhull stated earlier “If they stopped using and abusing the hosts there would be no problem” That point the the use and abuse (the violent delights) as the OS Problem of Cause. But would that point it back into Unending–As long as they continue with theses violent delights there will be violent ends? Thoughts, Jim?
It’s real easy to find Problems and Solutions anywhere at the start of an analysis. The reason why we take the steps we do in the Users Group analysis is so we nail down exactly what it is we are looking at before we try to figure out what it is we are looking at.
So first would be to identify just the Throughlines for the season. Without Domains, Concerns, or Problems.
@Khodu has these so far:
- Dolores MC, William IC, love RS
- Dolores MC, Arnold IC, ? RS
The other I don’t understand.
We should stick to identifying the MC in each and give reasons WHY that character is an MC. Same with IC. And then give a name to their Relationship.
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Hi guys. Thanks @jhull for the RS of love. Lends some clarity as to how to label the throughlines.
Just came up with these.
Maeve MC( We get to appreciate part of the story from her POV. Almost from the beginning). The whole debacle with her child. And her going through the loss of her child. She refused to be shut down. We experience the feeling of losing a child from her POV.
As for her IC: I think there are a host of these. But the clearest one is William. He cut her down. Killed her child and basically rocked her world(She was changed forever!). So he is the primary IC. Then there’s Ford. At first It showed that Arnold tweaked her settings, but when he awoke …again, it turned out to be Ford. She was in a new narrative without her even knowing it. Despite the illusion of freewill.
So the RS: Revenge(with William), Revenge(enabled by Arnold’s revelation about her part in the new narrative).
Then For the Fouth and last MC: Arnold. This is not so fleshed out but we get to experience some of the story from his POV how he was victimized and manipulated by Ford.
MC: Arnold
IC: Ford. (Forced Arnold to plant the seeds of awakening due to their disagreement. And ultimately drove him to suicide)
RS: Manipulation( Arnold messing with the code of the early hosts , Ford messing with Arnold by wiping his memory and calling him Bernard. Making Arnold kill and so on.
Hope these make sense. Thanks guys.