Spider-man Into The Spider-verse 4k Ultra Hd
Darth Gupta
As a veteran of the animation industry for over 20 years, I was constantly blown away by every creative choice they were able to get away with during production. Story. Art design. Animation style. And then, story again.
While it may be difficult, and ultimately unnecessary, to pinpoint one reason for this triumphant success, the complete story and solid narrative argument at its core can claim the lion's share of responsibility.
A screenwriter new to us and the Dramatica theory of story wondered if he could ask us a few questions about the Spider-Man film. Of course, we took the opportunity to make it a learning experience rather than a dictating one, and figured others might enjoy the journey as well.
Jim: I saw SpiderVerse yesterday, and really--there's no point in doing anything anymore. that was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life. They didn't hold back on anything.
Jim: Actually - question - do you want me to lead you through it or just give straight answers LOL - I always find you learn more drawing it out, but just let me know when you want to hit the buzzer :)
Jim: both Steadfast and Changed characters take leaps of faith - it just depends on what side of the ledge you're leaping from (or into) - in other words, leap of faith is more a natural result of creating a narrative.
Jim: I guess what I mean is, by wanting to do things his way - that's the MC's Throughline - how he "does" things - but what is it about how those things are done that is shown to be problematic? What's out of balance? What's giving him angst? (To the exclusion of anyone else's viewpoint)
Jim: right - but you see how the spiders talking about him in the basement creates the same kind of emotional angst that he was getting from his dad in the beginning? that's why he turned invisible...
Jim: was the grief caused by his dad a problem of Ability? was the grief caused by his guidance counselor a problem of Ability? were the Spiders gathering together and whispering about him creating an imbalance of Ability?
Jim: that's good - really good. Approval works great. So then at the end - does he seem still struggling with that - or is he doing things differently? (btw, don't know if you follow me on Twitter, FB, or IG but you might want to turn them off for the next couple of hours since I already have a post in the queue about his problem! LOL)
Jim: I'd hold off on looking to the chart this early - it's enough to identify the terms in your own words. Remember that in reality, each of those terms is really just the same four words seen in different contexts -- so it's REAL EASY to get mixed up and focus in on a term that doesn't mean what you think it means. That's why the top down approach works well.
Writer: both of them have "been there done that" and lived through it all before... they know what's likely gonna happen and how to likely solve things. The dad has a problem with his brother because he doesn't approve of his ways (and rightly so, cuz the brother was actually a minion of kingpin who gets himself killed) ... and Peter who can literally predict what Kingpin is gonna say... has handled so many cases already he just calls the critical item a Goober, wasn't it? There's always some Goober he needs.
Jim: right (that might be more of a Relationship Story type of thing) - they both Remain Steadfast in their perspectives...awesome!So now you have all the dynamics down...well, wait - Miles Approach and/or Problem-Solving Style...
Jim: let's skip it for now...you already identified Universe as the Domain of the Objective Story Throughline...which would put the Relationship in Mind. So...LOL...where do you see Miles' Main Character Throughline - Physics or Psychology?
Writer: (btw, earlier you said every element is really the same 4 repeated. what is that exactly again? that each are really some form of TKAD or PRCO or Uni, Act, Manip, Fixed? What's the 4 core repeated "things"?)
Jim: The four core elements are Knowledge, Thought, Ability, and Desire. Repeated over and over again in every single quad - just arranged differently. This is why the model is complete - it's looking at every possible combination in order to understand where the true source of conflict is coming from within the mind.
Writer: right? Like... if his angst is about approval... whether or not his dad approves, or his teachers, or peter... or the spiders... it eats at him being concerned with approval... approval of HIM, right?
Writer: like, at the end... he is still doing things his way to a degree. he didn't ask permission to spray paint the classic suit... he just did it and wore it and became a new spider-man
Jim: So when you're looking at Doing as a Source of Conflict that means specifically how you Do things is a problem. Like if you're a swimmer, you're not taking the right amount of breaths, you're going under too soon when it comes time to change direction, you're jumping the gun, you're not tagging the next swimmer in the relay soon enough - it's the things you're doing that is an actual Problem.
When you're looking at Being as a Source of Conflict, the pressure is on to be something you're not. You have to act like you're OK with something, pretend that you don't know the answer to questions, and act like you long for something you don't have. But it isn't answering the questions wrong that is difficult, it's the actual act of BEING - of trying to pretend to be something you're not -- that is the focus on conflict within the narrative. The Being is problematic.
Jim: So if Miles' Source of Conflict is Being, that would mean for the narrative to be balanced out appropriately, Peter's Source of Impact would be Doing - the things he does would be creating conflict for Miles. Same with Dad.
Writer: Well for Peter... he already IS Spider-Man, he does all the tricks, knows all the things the bad guy is gonna say and do, knows just how to solve the problem, and aims to set out doing it with or without Miles. Doing it without him because of his knowledge and experience (or... wisdom)
Writer: and for the dad, he knows what it's like to run with the bad crowd.. tag up subways, etc... and that creates conflict for Miles because the things his Dad does either prevents Miles from getting in with that bad crowd... or like, publicly humiliating him for an "I Love You"... they all challenge what Miles is trying to Be
Jim: "doing it this way" would be all about HOW he is actually physically doing it. How he says I LOVE YOU, his skill with actually saying the words and his level of familiarity or experience with saying it
Jim: What is it about the pot-belly Peter that is so striking? How can he BE the Spider-man? He's more interested in bagels and burgers. He's depressed (Psychology) because he made the wrong choice with MJ.
Jim: Yes! Tagging stickers, sneaking out at night, turning invisible but not sure how he is DOING it, unable to turn invisible or shock people on command - those are all personal problems. And when he can't DO--when he can't get up--because he's afraid of approval--he disappears, turns invisible, and doesn't want to be seen.
Miles' sneaking out at night to be with his criminal uncle is a dumb move (Wisdom), his instinctual understanding of the universe makes him stand out (Enlightenment), his tripping over his own shoelaces (Skills), and his age and inexperience (Experience) show where his Conflict comes from.
Jim: theoretically yes....but you don't always have to make that connection - the fact that those Elements are under Experience will make that connection apparent anyways. Hope that makes sense - in other words, you don't have to make the connection between Issue and Problem explicit in the Storytelling - they can be connected or they cannot - one is not a function of the other - one is a smaller divisible part of the whole.
Writer: so .... and this is going to sound like i haven't been paying attention to any of your teachings... haha... Solving for the IC is really like solving for "another MC" with his own personal angst
Jim: yes - EVERYONE tries to make that connection. Because they think these are real people. They're not - they're perspectives. And they're not individual perspectives - they're I and YOU perspectives which are totally different
Jim: And see, when he shows up at the end to confront MJ - that's Ending - that's confirmation of his Steadfast perspective. He's bringing it to an End - that's why his perspective is not Changing...it's growing into, but he's still about that Ending.
Writer: But there is a balancing act with looking at this in equity. Is there something logical in that? Like, we keep having to balance the different perspectives against each other so that each of them work. I know the software starts to limit your choices, but there does still have to be a balance in the in balance
Jim: Yes--that balance is what Dramatica takes care of for you - it's not so much the individual items themselves that matter as much as it is about the RELATIONSHIPS between the items. That's why they created Dramatica - to make it easy to hold those Relationships together in one single context (narrative).
Doing it yourself is inherently impossible - because we can't be both Objective and Subjective at the same time (both within ourselves and without) -- which is why you can't make that connection between the IC's Problem and why the MC flips from Problem to Solution.
Jim: Yes - it gives the Audience that greater appreciation of how to resolve Problems in their own lives - they can literally see "behind the curtain" - to see what to do the next time they run into a similar Problem
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