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...
[simply go to http://www.screenplay-structure.com/ or http://www.story-structure.org/ or http://www.heros-journey.info/ or http://www.monomyth.info/ for full details]
*****Inciting Incident and Greater Antagonism*****
The Inciting Incident can precede or follow the Ordinary World and Ordinary Self sequences. It is separate and distinct from the Call to Adventure.
Most often, the Inciting Incident is representative of the Greater Antagonism (one of your Four Core Challenges). In Star Wars (1977), the first sequence introduces the Antagonist and the need for a resolution [Vader kidnaps Leia].
This is where unbalance is initiated. In Lord of the Rings, the first sequences introduce us to the Ring, Mount Doom and Sauron.
The Inciting Incident has the benefit of polarizing Protagonists and Antagonists and developing context. In French Connection (1971), the Inciting Incident establishes Pierre as the bad guy and the context of heroine export from France to the USA.
The purpose of the Inciting Incident can simply be to prepare the ground for the Final Confrontation. In Titanic (1997), Jack and Rose must escape the sinking ship (the Greater Antagonism). The Inciting Incident simply shows the ship leaving dock. In American Beauty (1999), Lester has to deal with the Col. (the Greater Antagonism). The Inciting Incident simply shows him and his family moving in next door.
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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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