Q: I am wondering what happens on this scale and whether there are discreet entities at different sizes of story; how does the Dramatica model deconstruct with size? My starting point for all this cerebration was in considering how to do really good 2-3 minute video profiles for business websites. Thinking about how a business might explain itself it occured that there is a good way to present an argument. But 2-3 mins seems like a tall order for a complete Dramatica compliant job. Does insanity lie this way?

A: In Dramatica terms, the smallest "story" setup requires a quad (a noun, a verb, an adjective, and an adverb--"Dying dog barks defiantly"). Stories also contain time so they should include a progression of some sort ("Life sucks and then you die"). It requires at least one perspective, though more give you more story.

For your short business profiles, I suggest you use the four throughlines for your framework: I, you, we, and they. Figure out where you want your client in those perspectives and where you want their audience. Keep this in mind:

• "I" is the personal perspective.

• "They" is the objective, dispassionate perspective.

• "We" is the subjective, passionate perspective.

• "You" is the oppositional perspective (to the "I" perspective).

Couple these with the four domains, Situation, Fixed Attitude, Activities, and Manipulation (Psychology).

Let's say your client is a lender of some sort who targets people with money troubles. You might set things up like this:

• "I" + Fixed Attitude -- Your Client (Money Lender) has a particular attitude

• "You" + Situation -- Your client's target audience (Borrowers) are in financial need

• "We" + Activity -- Professional relationship between your client and their audience and working together

• "They" + Manipulation -- The Competition plays games and manipulates their customers (bad)

You then play this out something like this:

"Hi. I'm an agent at 'My Money Lenders' (your client) and I do not believe in the word, 'No.' If you are in a tight financial situation, avoid those other vendors out there trying to manipulate you into bad deals, and come to us. We will work with you to get your debts paid and maybe even save you money in the process."

By tying up all four perspectives and all four domains, you've made a basic argument for what things are and how they are to be resolved (in a general sense). Obviously, the more specific you get, the more "story" you'll want to include.

Another way to play this is to stay within a single domain and explore the Types, and so on.

---

Copyright © 1994-2008 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Based on theories and materials developed by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley
Dramatica is a registered trademark of Screenplay Systems Incorporated. Patent #5,734,916; #6,105,046