I finally got a chance to watch this film over the weekend and I have to admit, I have no idea what the storyform is. I’ll probably lose a lot of respect from my readers, but I had a really hard time keeping my eyes open for the whole thing. There was just so much exposition that I really found it hard to keep my concentration. And while I’d like to blame my inability to concentrate on the story to overall sleepiness, afterwards I watched the last hour of Flags of Our Fathers without batting an eye. (A film that had some serious story problems).

There are perhaps a couple of things I can take a guess at:

• Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is the Main Character (he’s the character we empathize most with - when he gets knocked out, we get knocked out, we learn things as he does)
• Actions drive Decisions (his partner’s murder (Inciting Incident) and the Falcon turning out to be a fake are the only Signposts I can think of off hand…)
• Optionlock - (There are only so many places the Falcon can hide)
• Sam is a Do-er (he prefers to solve things externally - facing them head on)

You know, writing these out - I don’t really have good concrete examples for them - save for maybe the Main Character. This is usually a clear sign that you have no idea what the storyform is! In class we are always required to give several examples - and not just from one part of the story - they have to be examples throughout the story. There are several reasons for this - the most important being that the more solid examples you have the stronger your argument is - but a lesser known one - and more important to Dramatica - is the idea that these story points exist in each act. It is the audience’s appreciation of these points through different contexts (acts) that give them meaning.

In researching this post I came across this critique that matches up with Dramatica’s definition of a Main Character Throughline:

By shooting the material from Spade’s point of view, it’s possible for the audience to enjoy Spade’s petty, sadistic victories and his sense of triumph as he proves he’s tougher than anybody.

So - what does this mean for class tomorrow night?

I’m sure that I’ll be pleasantly surprised at the storyform. There has to be one, right? It’s a very popular movie and critically praised (which usually points to a good strong meaningful story). I feel I am so out of practice that I am probably missing out on some painfully easy realities with this story.

One thing else I’d like to mention is the idea of the Impact Character. My opinion is that, in this film, both the Impact Character and consequently the Subjective Storyline, are drawn simply.

My guess for the Impact Character would be Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor). I have a feeling that their romantic relationship was supposed to be the Subjective Storyline as well. Unfortunately, I just didn’t feel that there was a strong enough bond between them to warrant that closing scene. “It’s the stuff that dreams are made of” is a fantastic line - but perhaps if there was a stronger emphasis on their relationship throughout the rest of the story (again, instead of in just one place) I might have felt differently at that climactic scene.

But again, I could be missing out on something. After reading that review of The Maltese Falcon (referenced above), I feel like I really missed the boat on this one. I highly suggest reading that review and of course, listening to the Podcast of tomorrow night’s class.

If nothing else, it’ll prove to be a learning experience.

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