In my previous analysis of the film I Am Legend, I examined the meaningful differences between the theatrical and the alternate version released on DVD. In this “deeper” look into the film, I’ll go into more detail why I made the choices I made using the Dramatica theory of story as my key reference point.

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Although the software is not properly set up for it, you can create the structure of your story based on how you want your audience to receive your story, i.e. how you want your story to feel to them. In order to do this, you need to understand the connections that some appreciations have with one another.

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For the most part, the mechanics of storytelling cross over easily into different cultures. After all, we all have essentially the same physiology/brain chemistry necessary to comprehend the meaning of a story. Klingons, however, don’t.

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There are some very interesting relationships in Dramatica that aren’t covered in the manual or in the software itself.

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Something to think about:

If your Main Character is a man of action, then the Impact Character will challenge the Main Character’s status or what he does.
If your Main Character is a man of deliberation, then the Impact Character will challenge the Main Character’s mindset or how he goes about thinking (depending on the MC Domain - Fixed [...]

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A Do-er maintains his or her personal identity - regardless of what is thrown at them.
At the beginning of Dirty Harry, even with all the mayhem erupting on the street outside, Clint maintains his cool persona. He’s not going to let a couple of thugs keep him from enjoying his hot dog.
Contrast this with a Be-er, [...]

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Dramatica can seem a bit overwhelming when you first start out. I remember flipping through the dictionary at the back of the theory book and thinking, “This is insane!”
But after eight years of working with it, I’ve got the model pretty much memorized (at least down to the Variation level) and have a pretty good [...]

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As with all things Dramatica, the Main Character Dynamics (Resolve, Growth, Approach and Mental Sex) can be seen as relating together in a single quad.

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An interesting thing I learned at the DUG last week - that regardless of who your Change character is (whether it’s the Main Character or the Impact Character), part of that change includes a change to their Approach.
So if the Main Character was a Do-er and Changes, his Approach at the Climax of the [...]

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