Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters. This is the template you must master if you are to succeed in the craft.
[The terminology is most often metaphoric and applies to all successful stories and screenplays, from The Godfather (1972) to Brokeback Mountain (2006) to Annie Hall (1977) to Lord of the Rings (2003) to Drugstore Cowboy (1989) to Thelma and Louise (1991) to Apocaplyse Now (1979)].
THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY
THE HERO'S JOURNEY:
a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.
b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.
c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharses, of which there are usually four).
d) Gives you a universal structural template upon which you can superimpose your situational story. This is why stories such as Alien (1979), Gladiator (2000), Midnight Cowboy (1969), American Beauty (1999), The Graduate (1967) and many others (all deconstructed at the URL below) appear to be different but are all constructed, almost sequence by sequence, in the same way.
and more...
*****Supernatural Aid's Ordinary World*****
The Supernatural Aid will invite the Hero into his Ordinary World. The Supernatural Aid often is not a passive bystander, but has his own challenges to conquer. In Spiderman2 (2004), Aunt May has severe money problems. In Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal Lecter must escape his cell.
The Supernatural Aid may have his own Mentor(s). These Mentors help the Supernatural Aid overcome his own challenges. In Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000), Li and Shu Lien have their own mentor is Sir Te.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html for more info on the 188+ stage Hero's Journey....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------