In Chapter 6 of our textbook, author John Yorke discusses his theory of
fractals as they relate to dramatic structure. A fractal is a small geometric
structure that's repeated multiple times to create a larger formation. Crystals
are formed this way and so, Yorke argues, are stories. In both cases, a great deal of
beauty and complexity is possible simply by repeatedly interlocking units of the
same basic shape. For stories, this shape is the dramatic arc. So far we've been
looking at this dramatic arc as a five- act structure extending over the length
of a complete story. In Act I, the protagonist is thrust into the story's
events. Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle are killed by Imperial Stormtroopers for
instance, prompting his decision to leave with Obi-wan to rescue Princess Leia.
In Act II, the protagonists finds themselves in a new environment (going into the woods,
as York says), becoming more engaged and committing further to the journey.
Luke travels from his home to outer space, fights alongside Han Solo against the
Imperial fighters, and begins studying the force with Obi-wan. In Act III, yet
another world unfolds. A major discovery is made and the results of that
discovery have instant consequences for our hero's journey. We witness the
destructive power of the Death Star and are sucked in by its tractor beam only
to find the princess on board, forcing Luke to assume the role of hero,
swinging her safely across the chasm toward their escape. In Act IV, the result
of the midpoint discovery creates a major crisis (often represented in the
form of a loss or even death). To ensure their successful escape, Obi Wan Kenobi
stays behind to fight Darth Vader and is ultimately killed in Star Wars fourth
act. Finally, in Act V, the protagonist
confronts the forces of opposition and some resolution is effected.
Luke flies the decisive bombing run against the Death Star and with Han
Solo's help destroys it. Later, Luke Han, and Chewie are all given medals of
valor by the princess. I hope by now this basic setup is clear, but zooming in
on it, something interesting happens. Take a look at just our first act, for
instance. One: after Princess Leia's transport vessel is overtaken by the
Empire, she sends two droids to the planet Tatooine with a secret message
for a man named Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke, a farm boy on the planet, purchases the
droids from the local traders and cleaning them that night discovers the
princess's message. That's an inciting incident. Two: then after that night R2D2,
the droid carrying the message, runs away into the desert and Luke must pursue him,
heading into the woods as it were (or in this case the desert the unfamiliar and
hostile territory where he's attacked by the sand people and eventually rescued
by an old hermit). Three: the hermit takes Luke to a cave which as Yorke has told us is
the classic site of third-act drama. There he reveals that he is in fact
Obi-Wan Kenobi and that Luke's father didn't die the way he'd been told by his
aunt and uncle but was actually a great Jedi warrior. This is a major midpoint
discovery! Obi-Wan then gives Luke his father's old lightsaber and asks him to
fulfill his destiny. Four: Luke initially rejects Obi Wan's request, telling him
he's needed back at the farm by his aunt and uncle only to discover that the
Imperial Stormtroopers have followed the sale of the two droids to his uncle's farm,
burned it to the ground, and killed Luke's family members. Thus, what was the
inciting incident of the whole story now translates as Act one's "fourth act crisis
moment." Five: to conclude Luke now knows that his
destiny lies with Obi-Wan and that together they must find a way off the
planet to rescue the princess. This sends them to the cantina to find a
pilot and sets up their climactic escape from Tatooine. In other words, just as
Yorke predicts, an entire five-act structure is present in the film's first
act. But that's not all! Zoom in a little further, say, to the
moment when Luke first gets his droids and we find once again this same
familiar pattern. One: Luke tells his aunt that he needs to purchase new droids for
the farm (the inciting incident). Two: Luke makes a journey into the woods (or in
this case to the Jawa sandcrawler) and begins haggling with the Jawa traders.
Three: Luke chooses the C-3PO unit but not R2D2. This is the scene's midpoint.
Four: R2D2 sabotages the second droid Luke chooses, destroying it.
Five: Luke confronts the Jawa traders; he assumes to have tried to cheat him (the
climax) and settles on the R2D2 unit to take back to his uncle's farm. With the
resolution, the moves are obviously smaller, but they're all still present
and accounted for. In fact, we will find the same structure that we expect to see
in a completely developed story repeated in each of its acts and even the
dramatic scenes which compose those acts. Not only that, but as stories continue to
grow beyond the limits of a single installment, we can expect to see this
pattern repeated on the macro level as well. Consider Harry Potter, for example.
Seven books and movies make up that franchise's complete story,
placing Harry Potter IV right smack in the center or the midpoint of the series.
Do you think it's any coincidence, then, that the fourth installment tells the
story of Voldemort's return? Or look at Game of Thrones. For all of its many
adventures, conflicts, surprising turns, and unexpected developments; we are told
from the very first episode of that series that the overarching concern--the
series' largest dramatic mark--will be "Winter is coming."
67 episodes comprise the full run of the Game of Thrones television
series, making episode 34 its exact midpoint. What happens there? The
Night King, the face of the ultimate war to come is introduced for the
very first time. It's important to note that these features don't need to be
part of any writer's conscious design. Neither Yorke nor I are suggesting that
the creators of these stories counted the number of episodes on their fingers
in order to determine where to place their key discovery. Rather, the dramatic
arc of story--where an inciting incident leads to a journey, that journey to a
discovery, that discovery to a crisis ,and that crisis to some sort of
confrontation--is a natural formation, which repeats in sometimes dazzling
combinations. When a quarterback throws a pass to a
receiver downfield, they may not realize it, but some part of them is aiming the
ball not at the receiver but at the highest point in the trajectory, which
that pass will have to follow in order to meet the receiver downfield. They're
aiming, in other words, much as a storyteller does at the trajectory's
midpoint, the moment when rising action ends and momentum takes over. For that
matter, I'm attempting to do much the same with this class. Our midpoint, which
is fast approaching, will be the moment when I have given you all the tools
you'll need in order to begin composing the television pilot for a series of
your own devising. In order to do that, we're going to be looking at something
called a "Series Bible." This is the document, which, among other things, tells
everyone for producers to other writers on a show how that particular show will
be. Using this same pattern that we've been discussing, we'll compose 1.) a series
length mark 2.) season length arcs within that series 3.) the single and
multiple episode arcs which occur within each season 4.) the character arcs--those
key transformations which are in store for each character as they undergo their
individual journeys. Ultimately, we'll be seeing how writers manipulate this same
basic structure to build whole worlds for stories.