Incanus
Auror
I've noticed that some stories don't have a goal that goes all the way from the beginning through to the end. This pertains to the overall story goal, however, and not to any particular character's personal goal.
I've been thinking about the structure of two movies that seem to work this way:
Jurassic Park (not the book version, which I haven't read)
Alien (the very first)
As far as I can tell, the story goal changes as the situation changes.
In the case of Jurassic Park, however, it could just have a really, really long set-up. It is fully an hour into the film before the characters begin the goal of--we're in trouble, let's get the hell out of here.
In Alien, the goal keeps changing. At first, they're just heading back to earth (or wherever they're bringing they're payload). The computer gives them a mission and they have to investigate a planet (new goal). And then, again, it is fully an hour into the movie before we have a full-grown alien and a goal of--survive, or defeat the alien.
Another curious feature about alien: The alien is the antagonist, but isn't a full-fledged character until half-way through the story.
I'm contemplating a story that has similarities with these structures.
My questions are: Has anyone around here worked on anything like this? Are there any pitfalls to these structures? What effect do these structures have on a personal character goal that does go through the whole story? If I make each goal a logical extention of the previous one, will that be enough to make it work? Am I missing anything crucial?
I've been thinking about the structure of two movies that seem to work this way:
Jurassic Park (not the book version, which I haven't read)
Alien (the very first)
As far as I can tell, the story goal changes as the situation changes.
In the case of Jurassic Park, however, it could just have a really, really long set-up. It is fully an hour into the film before the characters begin the goal of--we're in trouble, let's get the hell out of here.
In Alien, the goal keeps changing. At first, they're just heading back to earth (or wherever they're bringing they're payload). The computer gives them a mission and they have to investigate a planet (new goal). And then, again, it is fully an hour into the movie before we have a full-grown alien and a goal of--survive, or defeat the alien.
Another curious feature about alien: The alien is the antagonist, but isn't a full-fledged character until half-way through the story.
I'm contemplating a story that has similarities with these structures.
My questions are: Has anyone around here worked on anything like this? Are there any pitfalls to these structures? What effect do these structures have on a personal character goal that does go through the whole story? If I make each goal a logical extention of the previous one, will that be enough to make it work? Am I missing anything crucial?