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: EVERY HERO MUST BE A FISH OUT OF WATER AT SOME POINT
One critical element of any successful story - as all stories involve Transformation - must be the Fish out of Water stage. The Hero demonstrates the Devolved State upon entering a new domain and the Evolved State upon leaving it.
In Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Axel arrives in Beverly Hills as a Fish out of Water and departs it as a Master [of that World].
The Fish out of Water stage is commonly seen at a number of points [along the Hero's Journey], including:
Upon entry of the First Threshold, where the Hero enters a New World. In Departed (2006), both Billy and Colin are initially Fishes out of Water in the police department. In Brokeback Mountain (2005), both Ennis and Jack Twist are Fishes out of Water when they first make their way to camp on the mountain.
Upon entry of the Road of Trials and Transformation. In The Godfather (1972), Michael is initially a Fish out of Water when he arrives in Sicily. In Gladiator (2000), Maximus is initially a Fish out of Water in Rome.
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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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