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]
*****Hero surprises himself*****
Post the Crossing of the Return Threshold and before the Master of Two Worlds and Selves, a hell of a lot happens that is rarely given mention. The Final Conflict (a metaphor for this stage) follows a distinct process. It is not unusual for the hero, even though he (or she) may have been confident beforehand, to be surprised at his (or her) own overcoming of the antagonism. In Straw Dogs (1971), David whispers to himself, "...Jesus, I got them all....."
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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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