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: THE VALUE OF SEIZING THE SWORD
The Seizing of the Sword is a critical stage of the Hero's Journey. The Sword is a tangible representation of a number of intangibles and it is not seized without reason; there is purpose in doing so.
One of the intangibles is that it represents is de jure acceptance into the New World and as a New Self.
In Dances with Wolves (1990), it is only after John has partaken in the buffalo hunt and tasted the buffalo's heart that he becomes a fully accepted member of the village.
In Scarface (1983), it is only when Tony takes over Frank's territory that he becomes a legitimate doper.
In The Godfather (1972), it is only after Michael marries Apollonia that he becomes a de jure Sicilian.
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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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