SCREENPLECTICS APPROACHING THE SCREENPLAY AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM: UNDERLYING MECHANICS, INTERRELATING DYNAMICS AND THE PLOT-ALGORITHMIC PROCESS GEORGE VAROTSIS A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies September 2013 Abstract While the first notions of dramatic writing were investigated by Aristotle, the advancement of theoretical screenwriting has been limited to the necessary transformations from silent cinema to the present day motion pictures, and the attempts of popularized “how-to” techniques to further investigate the field. These techniques were based on internalised rules-of-thumb drawn from purely inductive observations of existing screenplays, often modelled to fit the assumptions of the theories under investigation. Such analyses, however successful they may have been, failed to provide answers on two troubling fundamental questions: first, how or what makes stories emerge in the context of narrative, and second, what are the underlying dynamics that allow a screenplay to function as a unified whole? This research consolidates the notion that for the comprehension of such complex dynamics, often encountered in various forms of narrative, a more comprehensive theory of narrative is required. Further, it argues that a way of thinking similar to Popper's model for the advancement of knowledge, used in conjunction with Screenplectics, the herewith proposed semantic model for the understanding of such structural dynamics, would benefit the field. The contribution of Screenplectics lies in the centre of its initial foundation. First, by explaining how a screenplay functions synergistically, and appropriating the necessary metaphors, systemically. Second, by explaining the mechanism that is i employed between compositional interactions in various structural levels that allows the coherent accumulative derivative we call story to emerge. The transition from an empirical to a theoretical perspective is achieved by examining the aforementioned dynamics under the prism of holism, and by introducing, again with the employment of metaphors, characteristics of complex systems: a network of components arranged hierarchically that interact parallel to one another in non-linear ways. This hierarchy shapes the foundation of the different layers of structure in a screenplay: deep, intermediate and surface structure. ii Author’s declaration I declare that the work contained in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Birmingham and is the original product and sole effort of the author. No part of this thesis has been submitted as part for any other academic award other than the one it is initially intended, i.e. of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of American and Canadian Studies of the University of Birmingham. This thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas. Any views expressed hereby are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University. George Varotsis September 2013 iii Dedications To my father and the loving memory of my mother with love and gratitude To my beloved wife who has given me everything and knows my inner workings better than I do To my daughter who changed my worldview with just a gentle touch of my lips To my brother with whom I am so different yet so much alike To my in-laws for extending the immense love they have for their daughter to my person To the anonymous Cretan man who postponed my crossing of the river Styx by daunting Charon iv Acknowledgements I am hugely indebted, beyond the level mere words can convey, to all the researchers over the course of thousands of years and in a great diversity of fields, from mathematics to physics to philosophy to economics to film and screenwriting theory to biology to artificial intelligence to computer science and studies in complexity, among many other, that have been pushing the boundaries of knowledge to never-before-experienced dimensions, always acting under the prism of motivation that distinguishes our species: the inexhaustible curiosity to understand and, subsequently, explain how our world works, from ultramicroscopic structures to the macrocosm of galaxies, and everything in between. By immersing myself in their genius work, and to the extent my pre-determined mental abilities have shaped my limited understanding, I was only then able to lay down the foundations of this research. A debt of gratitude for the continual intellectual support, advice and invaluable feedback given by both of my supervisors, Dr. James Walters and Dr. Richard House. This project came to fruition thanks to their immense help on all fronts. v CONTENTS Abstract i Author's declaration iii Dedicatio ns iv Acknowledgements v Table of contents vi Chapter One 1 1.1 Summary 2 1.2 Analysis of systems and the contributions of structuralism 6 1.3 Structuralism elevated: holistic systems 16 1.4 Principles of narrative and structure 21 1.4.1 Plot: a structural tool 26 1.4.2 Narrative schema 28 1.4.3 Story grammars 32 1.4.4 Why structural and formal story grammars are inadequate 37 1.5 Universality of structure and the three-act paradigm 44 1.6 Some cognitive aspects of Screenplectics 60 1.7 Understanding the complex 67 1.8 Minor elements of justification and historical data 72 Chapter Two 81 2.1 Problems arising from methodology 82 2.1.1 The importance of universal knowledge 84 2.1.2 Avoiding pitfalls of abduction and interpretation 86 2.1.3 Cross-linking inductivism with empirical justification 95 vi 2.1.4 Avoiding pitfalls of reductionism and logical formalization 101 2.2 What Screenplectics has to offer 106 2.2.1 Descriptive and explanatory adequacy 114 2.2.1.1 Explanatory adequacy 114 2.2.1.2 Descriptive adequacy 117 Chapter Three 120 3.1 A holistic and systemic approach 121 3.1.1 Holistic systems 124 3.1.2 [CSS]: Both 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' 135 3.2 Complex systems: first order complexity 137 3.3 Abstracting about complex systems: second order complexity 145 3.3.1 The author as part of the [CSS] 148 3.3.1.1 Rule-based systems 149 3.3.1.2 Connectionist systems 151 3.3.1.3 Comparing rule-based and connectionist systems 152 3.4 Complex Screenplay Systems [CSS] 158 3.4.1 Characteristics of [CSS] 162 3.4.2 Organised complexity in [CSS] 175 3.4.3 Contributions of complexity theory in [CSS] 177 3.5 Emergence in Complex Screenplay Systems [CSS] 179 3.5.1 How information affects the dramatic components 180 3.5.2 Internal complexity of the dramatic components 186 3.5.3 Flexibility vs. Rigidity 189 vii Chapter four 192 4.1 Inner logic and determinism of Complex Screenplay Systems 193 4.2 The story-world [SW] in [CSS] 198 4.2.1 Boundaries of a [SW] 205 4.2.2 The function of plot in a [SW] 211 4.3 Story-world [SW] configuration and set-up 224 4.3.1 The plotting schema 232 4.3.2 Configuration of the individual components 238 4.3.3 An example of story-world [SW] configuration 242 4.3.4 Breakdown of the story-world [SW] components 244 4.3.5 A fundamental component: the character 248 4.3.5.1 Character as the core structural component 258 4.3.5.1.1 Goal-orientation 270 4.3.5.2 Fictional characters and their actions 279 4.3.5.2.1 Functions and events 290 4.3.5.2.2 Actions, functions and causality 293 4.3.5.2.3 Goals, motives, needs and conflicts 293 4.4 The interactions of components 303 4.5 The interrelations of the components 311 4.6 Three levels of structure 317 4.6.1 Deep structure: The abstract level 321 4.6.2 Intermediate structure: The strategic level 328 4.6.3 Surface structure: The implementation level 329 4.7 The plot-algorithmic process: the generative aspects 330 viii 4.7.1 A brief introduction to the concept of algorithms 331 4.7.2 The plot-algorithm [PA] mechanism 336 4.7.2.1 Non-linearity and the [PA] mechanism 343 Epilogue 352 Appendix 366 Bibliography 371 ix Chapter One An introduction to Screenplectics 1 1.1 Summary As an academic discipline, screenwriting has come a long way since the first motion picture was projected in April 23, 1896. As a film theorist with a keen interest in screenwriting, and its peculiar status of lacking 'literary' merit, Steven Price gives one explanation for the neglect of the screenplay in the field of film studies: "...at the same time as film theory was in the vanguard of attempts to decentre the individual human subject, a dominant strand in film criticism was committed to the quite opposite project of reconceiving what had previously been considered a collaborative medium as a vehicle for expressing the world view of individual directors. " (Price, 2010, p. 6) Price continues by adding that with: "...such a radical devaluation of the role of the writer, which in Anglophone countries had never acquired significant cultural status in any event, it is hardly surprising that film writing became the last place in which to search for evidence of literary merit." (Price, 2010, p. 6) While the first notions of narrative were investigated by Aristotle, the advancement of theoretical screenwriting was limited to the necessary transformations from silent cinema to the present day motion pictures, and the attempts of popularized “how-to” techniques, such as Syd Field's (Field, 2003; Field, 1984a; Field, 1984b), Robert McKee's (McKee, 1999) and Linda Seger's (1994), to further investigate the field.