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'S JOURNEY TIP OF THE DAY: INTO A NEW WORLD AND TOWARDS A NEW SELF
The idea of the Hero entering a New World and venturing towards a New Self should not be taken lightly in storytelling. It is the essence of the Hero's Journey and is symbolically prevalent in the vast majority of successful stories. So much so that this process is the skeleton around which your story should be based:
In Dead Poets Society (Academy Award Nominee Best Film, 1989), the boys arrive in their new school - the New World in which the boys will evolve.
In Platoon (Academy Award Best Film, 1986), Taylor arrives in Vietnam - the New World in which Taylor will evolve.
When Harry met Sally (1989), both Harry and Sally travel from Chicago to New York - the New World in which both shall evolve.
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Go to http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html for more info on the 510+ stage Hero's Journey....
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