My PPT from my paper/presentation on Creative Practice Theory and Feature Film Screenwriting at the 2013 UWS Postgraduate conference - which is excerpts from my thesis: “Understanding and Exploring the relationship between: Creativity; Theories of Narratology; Screenwriting; and Narrative Fiction Feature Film-making Practices.” - See the first 18 mins of the presentation, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJVdqgbrXQ0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUIPc-Pf5SPMlD9pLalykQdg

1. Creative Practice Theory
and
Feature Film Screenwriting
JT Velikovsky
Doctoral candidate:
Doctorate of Creative Arts
(Film/Screenwriting/Transmedia)
Supervisor: Assoc Prof Hart Cohen
School of Humanities and Communication Arts
University of Western Sydney

2. THIS PRESENTATION:
(1) RESEARCH PRACTICE
(2) METHODOLOGY
(3) FINDINGS

3. 3http://storyality.wordpress.com/
DOCTORAL RESEARCH BLOG:

4. THESIS (Title):
“UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN: CREATIVITY; THEORIES OF NARRATOLOGY;
SCREENWRITING; AND NARRATIVE FICTION FEATURE
FILM-MAKING PRACTICES.”
30,000-WORD EXEGESIS
20,000-WORD
FEATURE FILM SCREENPLAY
(90 PAGES = 90 MINUTES)
+
THESIS (Output):

5. THESIS TITLE (EXPLANATION)
“UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN:
CREATIVITY;
THEORIES OF
NARRATOLOGY;
SCREENWRITING;
AND
NARRATIVE FICTION
FEATURE FILM-MAKING
PRACTICES.”

6. INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE - JT Velikovsky
• 91-94 – Newcastle Uni (B.A. Comms - Screenwriting)
• 95-96 – Screenwriting & Filmmaking - AFTRS, 2 years
• 98 – Story Analyst (Fox, Polygram, Screen NSW, etc)
• 2000 - Inform P/L – National Games Market Analyst
• 2000-2002 - Game Writer/Designer @ Ratbag Games
• 2004-5 - Director/Game Designer, A-Rage/UniSA
• 2005-7 - Game Designer/Writer – Red Tribe Games
• 2008 – Transmedia Consulting, Film, TV, Comix, ARGS
Writing Feature Film Scripts (30)
• 2010-2013
• XCOM (Game) – 2K Games - screenwriter
• CAUGHT INSIDE (2011) – film screenwriter
• THE JUNGLE (2013) – script editor, directing attach
• Script Assessor & Judge - Australian Writer’s Guild

7. THE QUESTION:
HOW TO CREATE… A FEATURE FILM… THAT REACHES ITS INTENDED AUDIENCE?
AS A SCREEN STORYTELLER:
AND, DOES IT MATTER:
A) WHAT STORY YOU TELL
B) HOW YOU TELL IT?
OR, CAN YOU JUST MAKE ANYTHING
…DO WE HAVE: FREE WILL?
(SEE: `AGENCY & STRUCTURE’)

8. LITERATURE REVIEW:
(1)There are 2500+ Screenwriting books on Amazon.com
(2) Also, 18 years ago @ AFTRS – I did a Lit Review… (4 Edns)
Velikovsky, JT
(2011), 4th Edn.,
The Feature Film
Screenwriter's
Workbook
(Free: Google)
Aristotle, Poetics (c 335 BCE)

9. FINDING: 3-ACT
COMPARISON
See also: Truby, J (2009), “Why 3-Act Will Kill Your Writing”, www.Raindance.co.uk

10. ARISTOTLE…
Aristotle (1996) Poetics, Penguin, London.The School of Athens, Raphael, c1510

11. THE 3 HARD PROBLEMS
IN FILM…

12. THE PROBLEM(S):
(1)7 IN 10 FILMS LOSE MONEY
“…of any ten major theatrical films produced, on the average, six or seven
may be broadly characterized as unprofitable and one might break
even.”
(Vogel 2011, p. 71), Entertainment Industry Economics, (8th Ed., 2011)
Cambridge University Press, New York.
Also: (Vogel 1990, p. 70), Entertainment Industry Economics (2nd Ed., 1990)
Cambridge University Press, New York.

13. THE PROBLEM(S):
(2) 98% OF SCREENPLAYS GO UNMADE
`Less than 2% of scripts and proposals for screen ideas
received go into production’ (Macdonald, 2003 p.31).
Macdonald, I.W. (2004),
'The Presentation of the Screen Idea in Narrative Film-making',
PhD Thesis, Leeds Metropolitan University.

14. THE PROBLEM(S):
(3) “NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING”
`Nobody knows anything...... Not one person in the entire
motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to
work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an
educated one.’
(Goldman 1983, p. 39)

15. 2011 – INTERESTING:
Simonton, DK (2011),
Great Flicks: Scientific Studies
of Cinematic Creativity and Aesthetics,
Oxford University Press, New York; Oxford.
Distinguished Professor
Dean Keith Simonton
Department of Psychology
University of California, Davis

16. CRITICAL vs RoI SUCCESS
• There is little overlap in critical and commercial success (virality)
• Writer-Directors are over-represented
Simonton, Great Flicks (2011)

17. THE 3 HARD PROBLEMS:
(1) >2% OF SCREENPLAYS GET MADE
(2) 7 IN 10 FILMS LOSE MONEY
(3) “NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING”

18. A POSSIBLE SOLUTION (?)
RETURN ON INVESTMENT (RoI)
1. Story
2. Screenplay
3. Film
4. Film-making
5. Creative Individuals
COMMON PATTERNS?

19. THE DATA SOURCE:
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.php
• Box Office Mojo (?)
• IMDb (?)
• The Numbers
(Nash Information Services 1997-2012)

20. THE TOP 20 RoI FILMS
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.php

21. FINDING #16
All the 20 key creatives are writer-hyphenates:
• Writer-Director; or Writer-Producer; or Writer-Actor,
• (and/or, all 3)
What does it mean? It pays to stay involved in production.

22. FINDING #21: …A System?
FREQUENCY OF TOP 20 RoI FILMS = 2.05 YEARS (R2=96%)

23. EVIDENCE: A FILM SYSTEM…?
CREATIVE PRACTICE THEORY – AGENT-BASED MODEL OF THE FILM SYSTEM
(Velikovsky 2013)
http://storyality.wordpress.com/creative-practice-theory/

24. Figure 5-2 - The increasingly large concentric circles in this simplified schematic represent the
major levels at which creativity forces operate. (Hennessey & Amabile 2010, p. 571)
CREATIVITY: SYSTEMS THEORIES
`What we need now are all encompassing systems theories of creativity
designed to tie together and make sense of the diversity of perspectives
found in the literature - from the innermost neurological level to the
outermost cultural level.’ (Hennessey & Amabile 2010)
Annual Review of Psychology, 2010

25. CREATIVITY: SYSTEMS MODEL
Creativity: Flow and the
Psychology of Discovery and
Invention (1st ed.) New York:
HarperCollins, 1996.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s systems model of creativity
(1988, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2006)
A systems model of Creativity
(Csikszentmihalyi in Henry, 2006: 4)

26. 26
`For creativity to occur, a set of rules and practices must be transmitted from
the domain to the individual. The individual must then produce a novel
variation in the content of the domain. The variation then must be selected
by the field for inclusion in the domain’ (Csikszentmihalyi 1999: p 315)
THE SYSTEMS MODEL OF CREATIVITY

27. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Distinguished Professor of
Psychology and Management,
Claremont Graduate University
Dean Keith Simonton
Distinguished Professor of Psychology,
University of California
Creativity: something that
is “Novel and Appropriate”
• Idea
• Process
• Product
2 MAJOR CREATIVITY SCHOLARS:
2004 2011

28. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
(Psychology)
 Field
 Individual (c.f.: `agent’)
 Domain
 Internalizing the
Domain (10 years)
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s DIFi systems model of
creativity (1988, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2006)
A systems model of Creativity
(Csikszentmihalyi in Henry 2006: 4)
CREATIVITY: THE SYSTEMS MODEL

29. Pierre Bourdieu
(Sociology)
 The Field
 Agents (Individuals)
 The field of works (Domain)
 Habitus (practical sense)
 4 forms of capital:
Economic, Social, Cultural,
and Symbolic
Pierre Bourdieu’s practice theory
(1977, 1984, 1990, 1993, 1996)
Figure 1 Diagram from "Art Rules; Pierre Bourdieu
and the Visual Arts" by Michael Grenfell and Cheryl
Hardy. 2007. Berg Press. New York. :
PRACTICE THEORY

30. The new soup is the soup of human culture. We need a name for the
new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural
transmission, or a unit of imitation… Examples of memes are tunes,
ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of
building arches.
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene – (1976) & 2006, p. 196
MEMETICS
Meme = Idea, Process, Product
e.g.: A Film. A Story. An Idea.

31. GENES = MEMES
Creativity, Genes and Biological Evolution
Figure 1: Model of Biological Evolution
(M. Csikszentmihalyi and Wolfe 2000: 83)
`Creativity is the engine that drives cultural evolution.’
(M. Csikszentmihalyi and Wolfe 2000: 84)
Creativity, Memes and Cultural Evolution
Figure 2: The Systems Model of Creativity
(M. Csikszentmihalyi and Wolfe 2000: 84)

32. (Velikovsky 2012)
http://storyality.wordpress.com/creative-practice-theory/
CREATIVE PRACTICE THEORY

33. 33
1. Bio-Psycho-Socio-Cultural background / `talents’
2. Develop a habitus (a `feel for the game’- of Film)
3. Absorb the Domain/s (films, books, courses, the web, etc.)
4. Internalize the Domain/s (e.g. Feature Films, Writing, Story)
5. Practise their craft skills (the `10-Year Rule’…)
6. Navigate the Field, and assume a position within it
7. Acquire 3 forms of Capital (economic, social, cultural)
8. Implement a `creative’ work (a Feature Film)
9. The work is judged `creative’ by The Field…
10. Acquire symbolic capital (e.g. awards)
11. Continue the cycle from # 1) above – AND/OR:
12. Retire / Die
Velikovsky (2013)
CREATIVE PRACTICE THEORY
As per the Top 20 RoI writer-hyphenates:

34. 34
Consilience: Science & Humanities 30+ Guidelines…
NEXT:

35. TEXTUAL ANALYSIS:
For common elements in their: Story; Screenplay; Film…

36. METHOD / FINDINGS
Inverse Agonistic structure: Hero (antag-) vs Villain (protag-)

37. FINDINGS #1-10
In the Top 20 RoI Films: STORY / SCREENPLAY / FILM
1. All are `Villain Triumphant’ stories
2. These films have no `character arcs’
3. All same Themes: Survival, Family/Community, Justice
4. 2 parts: Before the `tragedy’ strikes - and, After
5. None are adaptations – all are `original screen stories’
6. Set in Present Day (except: Mad Max, American Graffiti)
7. Temporally linear (no `alternate’ structures)
8. 90 screenplay pages / 90 minutes of screen time
9. Settings: US, Australia, Ireland, UK, Mexico
10. 19/20 are spoken English-language (one is in Spanish)

38. FINDINGS #11-17
PRODUCTION:
11. 17 / 20 are independent films
12. Budget Range: $7k - $11m (Avg. Budget = $1.9m)
13. None have stars
14. None have big marketing budgets
15. 13/20 had sequels
THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUALS:
16. All Writer-hyphenates (Writer- Director/Producer/Actor)
17. 19 / 20 are male, and 1 is female

39. GENRE in the Top 20 RoI
FINDING #18: There are no “Drama” genre films in the Top 20
But - there are several Dramas in the `Bottom 20 ROI’ films

40. FINDING #19 (DURATION)
HIGH RoI - TRENDING TOWARDS 90 PAGES / 90 MINUTES

41. FINDING #20: THE STORY
THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE / THE GOLDEN SPIRAL

42. FINDING #21: On Frequency
FREQUENCY OF TOP 20 RoI FILMS = 2.05 YEARS (R2=96%)

43. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

44. STORYALITY PREDICTIONS:
StoryAlity Theory predicts - a Top 20 RoI Film:
CRITERIA PROBABILITY
• Will arrive in 2014 (every 2.05 yrs) 96% chance
• Will be by a writer-hyphenate 100% chance
• Will follow StoryAlity structure 100% chance
• Will be 90 mins/ 90 scenes 80% chance
• Will be a Horror genre film 50% chance
• Will be `found footage’ 15% chance
• Will be a Drama genre 0% chance
• Will be a `monomyth’ story 15% chance
• Will be a `Villain Triumphant ‘ 100% chance
• Will have `character arcs’ 0% chance
• Will have the `3 primal Themes’ 100% chance

45. FINDING #3 (ON: THEMES)
Top 20 RoI Films - all have the same Themes:
(1) Survival, (2) Family/Community, (3) Justice (Revenge)
Biopoetics / Literary Darwinism
(Joseph Carroll, 1995, 2004, 2011)
Consilience
(EO Wilson, 1998)

46. VIRALITY

47. FINDINGS: KEY GUIDELINES

48. 48
Consilience: Science & Humanities 30+ Guidelines…
NEXT:

49. THESIS:
“UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN: CREATIVITY; THEORIES OF NARRATOLOGY;
SCREENWRITING; AND NARRATIVE FICTION FEATURE
FILM-MAKING PRACTICES.”
30,000-WORD EXEGESIS
20,000-WORD
FEATURE FILM SCREENPLAY
(90 PAGES = 90 MINUTES)
+
THESIS (OUTPUT):

50. • Psychology – the systems model (Csikszentmihalyi)
• Sociology – practice theory (Bourdieu)
• Philosophy – holons (Koestler)
• Memetics – memes (Dawkins)
• Narratology – story theory
• Communications – communication theory models
• Statistics – analysis of the story elements in top 20 films
• Probability Theory – high-ROI film predictive theory
• Complexity Theory – modelling the feature film system
• Computer Modelling – agent-based modelling
• Film Screenwriting Theory – since 1913 & `script gurus’
• Film Production Case Studies – Top & Bottom 20 RoI
• Evolutionary Literary Theory – Darwin (Carroll)
Interdisciplinary Components
of: Creative Practice Theory Narratology

51. 51http://storyality.wordpress.com/
For more see: