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)].
<b>THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY</b>
<b>THE HERO'S JOURNEY:</b>
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...
*****Sirens of the Coming of The One*****
Previous to the Seizure of the Sword, some communication will reveal that the Hero is imminently about to gain the Expansion of Consciousness, an Enlightenment. In Dances with Wolves (1990), the women know that the there is something between John and Stands with a Fist.
Antagonists attempt to prevent this. In Star Wars (1977), Tarkin explicitly states that they must not be allowed to get away.
The Antagonists realise that the Hero's Expansion of Consciousness will lead only to conflict between them. In Star Wars (1977), Vader feels a disturbance in the force. He knows Obi Wan is near.
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Go to http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html for more info on the 188+ stage Hero's Journey....
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