Applying Dramatica to a Story Arc TV Series

Discuss the practical use of Dramatica. Have questions about how throughlines should be used, how to create Complex Characters or even the various combinations of the 12 Essential Questions and how they will affect your story go here.
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Geoff1975
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Applying Dramatica to a Story Arc TV Series

Postby Geoff1975 » Feb 09, 2013 7:52 am

V: The Series was a favorite from my youth. It still holds up by the way. Because there's a clear over arcing story, I was applying Dramatica to it. The theory still applies. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but here's what I got.

The alien visitors are the antagonists, the Human resistance fighters (or their leader, Donovan) are the protagonists, and the contagonist was clearly the Science Frontiers CEO who makes Los Angeles a free-zone for both alien and human. Something like the Cigarette Smoking Man in X-Files, he butts heads with the alien leader while still trying to maintain a treaty with her. He also hinders the Human's World Liberation Front.

How many plots? The alien-human hybrid was experiencing a romance... an RS. Thus the other story lines were toned down in terms of emotion. The CEO was the Contagonist OS. Each episode expressed a second OS as the Antagonist's new option, battled by the Protagonists and their counter option. I would make Ham Tyler the Sidekick because of his tenacity in the resistance cause and that he's frequently a duo with Mike Donovan.

The alien-human hybrid experiences new sensations while attracted to a human. That would make her a change character to the young man's steadfast love. Interestingly, their respective relationships with their parents would make up the MC and IC throughlines. I'd venture to say, if there is one, the hybrid is the MC because we're introduced to her some episodes before the male steps in. Also, new experiences can serve as an easy audience pull.

Mike Donovan - Protagonist
Nathan Bates - Contagonist
Diana - Antagonist
Julie?? - Guide
Ham Tyler - Sidekick/Skeptic

Shooting schedules for a tv series being so chaotic, I don't expect the episodes to follow the PSR order of themes, but it would be interesting to see if there are larger acts built into a season, or perhaps in a planned series if it were like Babylon Five.

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