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...
*****Impossible Dilemma*****
Before facing the Antagonist (past the Crossing of the Return Threshold), the Hero will have to overcome an impossible dilemma. In Spiderman (2002), Peter Parker has to save the people in the lift or Mary Jane - he cannot do both simultaneously. In Gladiator (2000), Maximus defeats his opponents even though he has been stabbed and is dying.
Failed Hero. An alternative Hero may attempt to tackle the Antagonist (or the Impossible Dilemma) and be mowed down, enhancing the magnitude of the challenge.
Time Pressure becomes acute for some reason. In Goldfinger (1964), the nuke goes off in less that 3 minutes.
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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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