About this video

• Video Title: Building from Canon & Managing Context
• Channel: Subtxt Dramatica
• Speakers: [No speakers identified in the transcript]
• Duration: 01:36:06

Overview

This video demonstrates how to build stories using existing "canon" (established lore or backstories) within the Narova platform. It covers using tools like "Deep Research" to gather canon, uploading it into Narova's story context, and then leveraging this context with different "agents" (like Story Guide, Story Encoding, etc.) and "story forms" to develop plot, characters, and relationships. The presenter walks through examples using James Bond, Daredevil and Elektra, and Boba Fett/IG-88, showcasing how Narova integrates canon to create richer, thematically consistent narratives.

Key takeaways

• Narova Agents for Story Development: The platform offers specialized agents like Story Guide (for starting from scratch), Story Forming (for defining narrative structure), and Story Encoding (for fleshing out the story with context and canon).
• Utilizing Canon with Deep Research: The "Deep Research" tool (or external research) can gather extensive canon information, which can then be uploaded into Narova's "story context" to ground the narrative.
• Context Management: Narova allows users to upload documents into a story's context, enabling the AI to reference this information for more accurate and grounded storytelling.
• Story Forms Drive Narrative: A "story form" defines the underlying structure and thematic argument of a story, guiding the AI in developing characters and plot points that align with this intent.
• Iterative Storytelling: The process involves creating canon, defining a story form, and then using agents to encode the story, with the ability to refine and iterate based on the AI's output and user input.
• Example Walkthroughs: The video provides detailed examples of applying these principles to different fictional universes (James Bond, Daredevil/Elektra, Star Wars) to illustrate the practical application of building stories from canon and managing context.

The distinct stages of communication mentioned in relation to Dramatica theory are:

• Story Forming: This stage is about figuring out the unique narrative structure or "story form" for a particular story.
• Story Encoding: Once the structure is established, this stage focuses on how to illustrate that structure, making the story personal and specific.
• Story Weaving: This is a future stage that will help put all the elements of the story together.
• Story Reception: This is a much later stage that will likely deal with how the audience perceives or receives the story.

The presenter suggests that for better results when preparing canon information from "Deep Research" (or any source) before uploading it into Narova, users should split the information into separate files.

This is recommended because:

• Organization: It allows for better organization of different aspects of the canon, such as characters, settings, relationships, etc.
• Context Management: It provides more granular control over which pieces of canon are active in the story's context at any given time. While the current version might require deleting and re-uploading, future updates are planned to include on/off switches for different context files, making this management even easier.
• Richer Input: By separating information, Narova can potentially process and reference it more effectively, leading to richer and more nuanced storytelling that is still grounded in the uploaded canon.