Optionlock and Bringing Up Baby... Huh?

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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Optionlock and Bringing Up Baby... Huh?

Postby Geoff1975 » Mar 10, 2013 9:08 am

I've caught the notes about how optionlocks work. With a certain defined goal, you have these options (or sometimes steps) to achieve it. Once these run out, the story crisis kicks in at the end. I've checked the story report for Bringing Up Baby. Okay, there are certain options David has to obtain the grant from Mr. Peabody, but they're not listed. Actually looking at the film, the first is obviously playing golf with Mr. Peabody. Then I've used Dramatica to try looking for the others. There can't be just that one. The others seem like preconditions: pretending to be someone else in front of Mrs. Random, chasing after the leopard, etc. I don't know whether the lack of clarity is due to it being screwball genre or the writer's freestyle.

In Star Trek IV, the options spread out: going back in time, getting the whales in Acts Two and Three, and getting the tank. The necessity of Chekov getting photons would be a precondition to fix the starship's engine, not part of the whale goal specifically.

"Who's That Girl?" has a nice scene in Act 1 where Louden displays his linear schedule that day. Following "Baby" type screwball style, his options keep being torn asunder. It's interesting that Nikki has all these options to get vengeance on her framer: get the gun, get the bank and box number, get the key back during one of Louden's options. Same with "Bringing Up Baby". It still seems David has his options which are overshadowed by Susan's options about the leopard.

So, I guess if I'm writing in this style, I'd have my MC have her options with establishing a company be intertwined with the IC's options of a different goal. Both goals being of the same type.

Does anyone have insight on this?

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