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]
*****Fish out of Water*****
Here, on arrival into the Great Cave of the First Threshold, it is demonstrated that the Hero is obviously out of his depth, a Fish out of Water. In Star Wars (1977), Luke is obviously a Fish out of Water in the bar.
Being a Fish out of Water means the Hero is reacted to in particular ways:
Unwelcome. The Hero and his accomplices are made to feel decidedly unwelcome. In An American Werewolf in London (1981), the pub landlady refuses courteous service.
Unfriendly. The inhabitants are unfriendly. No one wants to know you if you don't fit in.
Differentiation. Those who do fit into this world will establish their suitability for it and the unsuitability of the Hero. Often symbols are used. In Star Wars (1977), one of the criminals is wanted in several star systems and shows his scars.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html for more info on the 188+ stage Hero's Journey....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------