The Writer’s Journey. Appendices

Jewish Johnston, Dylan Cooper, Philip McDowell, Paul McGrath.

Stories Are AliveStories can help us deal with difficult emotional situations by giving us examples of human behavior, possibly similar to the struggles we under go in stage of our lives. Externally viewing these emotions might inspire us to try a different strategy for living.

Vogeler believe stories have survival value for the human species and that they were a big step in human evolution, allowing us to think metaphorically and to pass down the accumulated wisdom of the race in story form. I would agree From cave drawings to Shakespeare there has been a meaning and a lesson encapsulated in every story

An easy example of this is the bible or the quran. They have stood the test of time for over 2000 year. Through their story’s and their metaphor in which a hero faces some crisis of the spirit or test of character that leads to transformation have shaped the world we live in.

Stories Are Alive

The Power Of WishingWishing may be an underlying principle of storytelling. The hero is almost always discovered in a difficult or uncomfortable situation, very often making a wish to escape or to change the conditions. The wish is often verbalised and is clearly stated in the first act of many movies.

The expression of a wish, even a frivolous one, near the beginning of a story has an important function of orientation for the audience. It gives a story a strong through line or what is called a "desire line," organizing the forces in and around the hero to achieve a clear goal

The Power Of WishingThe aim of good storytelling is to get the audience to make the wish along with the hero. Identifying parts of themselves through the sympathy of misfortune that befalls the character. Reeling audiences in to invest themselves in the fate of the hero.

AUDIENCE ----------------

The Power Of WishingThe story's response to the wish is often to send a messenger, some-times a magical man, always some kind of agent who leads the hero into a special kind of experience we call an adventure

Wants vs NeedsTake the case of Harry Potter in the book / film. He want to defeat voltamort by himself but what he really need is his team. The story teaches the hero to look beyond.

The hero is set with difficulties, but also these very difficulties will be the means to your ultimate victory.

The Wishes Of The AudienceThe audience will inwardly cheer for poetic justice — the hero receiving rewards proportionate to his struggle, the villain receiving punishment equivalent to the suffering he has inflicted on others. If that sense of poetic justice is violated, if the rewards, punishments and lessons don't match up to our wishes for the characters, we sense something is wrong with the story, and go away unsatisfied.

From Wishing To WillingWilling is a kind of filter, separating those who only wish from those who actually take responsibility for improving themselves and pay the price of real change, so that even when distracted or set back by obstacles, the developing personality can return quickly to the center line of its intention

Polarity● Persistent feature of Hero’s Journey.

● Stories are polarised like a magnet. Positive and Negative.

● Organises elements into opposing camps, contrasting properties and orientations.

Unity● Stories need unity.

● A single theme.

● Gives a satisfying and complete expression.

Duality● Level of two-ness

● Creates tension

● Possibility of movement

Unity begets Duality.

Strong PolarityWe enjoy stories polarised by a struggle between two characters.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989) Toy Story (1995)

The Rules Of Polarity● Opposites Attract.

- Two magnets, properly aligned, will repel. Same happens with opposing characters.

● Polarised Conflict Attracts The Audience.- Characters explore and challenge each other’s boundaries.- Attracts and focuses the attention of the audience.

● Polarity Creates Suspense.- Suspense of the outcome.- Audience watches to see how the situation turns out.

● Polarity Can Reverse Itself.- After conflict between two polarised sides, forces may reverse.- Change from attraction to repulsion.- Part of story lifecycle.- May be temporary or major plot hinges.

Planes, Trains + Automobiles (1987)

Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

The Rules Of Polarity● Reversals Of Fortune.

- Can be abrupt overturn of character’s fortune. Change of luck.- Good stories has 3 or 4 reversals for main character.- Punctuates the story. Thrilling and memorable.

● Aristotle’s Concept Of Reversal.- Describes essential dramatic device of the reversal.- Calls it ‘peripateia’, refers to the ‘Peripatos’, walkway of Aristotle’s Lyceum.- Build up and demolish arguments.- Sudden reversal for protagonist can produce desirable emotions from audience.

Fight Club (1999)

Fargo (T.V. Series 2014- )

The Rules Of Polarity● Catastrophe Reversal

- Biggest reversal in fortune.- Catastrophe comes just before the end of the classically constructed drama.- Creates cathartic effect.

● Recognition - Disguised identity or secret relationship revealed.- Often catastrophe- Opportunity for emotional honesty.

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

The Rules Of Polarity● Romantic Reversals

- Flow of energy with someone, want to be with them.- Good Chemistry. - Actors, romance. - Buddies, comedy. - rivals, adventure.- Audience emotion when polarity of relationship reverses.- Lovers may go through several reversals.

● Polarity + Character Arc- ‘Two-hander’, story with two protagonists, in antagonist relationship.- Dependable polarised plot, buddy comedy.- Outer and inner/emotional dimensions.- Characters on opposite ends of spectrum.- Formulaic in 80’s + 90’s.

Lethal Weapon (1987)

The Rules Of Polarity● The Doctrine Of Change

- Polarised relationship may temporarily balance.- With extreme polarity, tendency for polarity reversal.- Doctrine for change, things are always flowing into their opposite.- Taoist symbol, Yin + Yang.

Liar Liar (1997) The Nutty Professor (1996)

The Rules Of Polarity● Polarity Seeks Resolution

- Big Ideas will seek resolution by changing to something else.- Heroes typically learn from their polar opposites.

● Polarised Universes- Polarity, meta-pattern, operates on all levels in stories.- Large scale clashes to human relationships.

● Inner Polarity- Polarities that exist within one person.- Fight Club, Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde.

LOTR: The Two Towers (2002)

Catharsis● A term that has become the general theory of drama

and narrative.

● Meaning an emotional discharge or a sudden release of emotions.

● A metaphor in the poetics by aristotle to explain the impact of tragedy on the audience.

Origins Of Catharsis ● A concept found in the works of Aristotle.

● Roots go back to the beginnings of language, art, and ritual.

● catharsis is a greek word meaning cleansing.

How its used● The emotional release that characters or the

audience experience during the catharsis can lead to a sense of forgiveness and renewal.

● Most tragic works of literature end with catharsis.

Examples ● In shakespeare's macbeth the audience

experiences a catharsis. the audience or reader usually feels pity for the figure character because he was blinded by his destructive ambition.

● Romeo and Juliet also leave the audience and reader with a catharsis when Romeo commits suicide by drinking poison because he thinks that juliet has drunk the same position. The audience usually find themselves crying for several reasons mainly because losing a loved one is something we all share.

THE WISDOM OF THE BODY

The Wisdom of the Body“There is more wisdom in your body that in your deepest philosophy” - Friedrich Nietzsche

Joseph Campbell pointed out that the archetypes speaks to us directly through organs, as if we were programmed to respond chemically to certain symbolic stimuli.. For Example:

The character of Dobby in the Harry Potter films was given huge,babyish eyes to gain certain emotions from the audience. Dobby not the most attractive of creatures, was given big-eyes and fragile-physique. Christopher Vogler in The Writer’s Journey states that we react to art and to stories about our fellow creatures with the organs of our body. And Dobby’s physical traits trigger sympathy protectiveness from us and cause us to say things like “How cute!”

There has been many experiments to enhance the physical effect of entertainment and drama

- The Greeks would burn incense at rituals to target the audience's sense of smell

- The Romans simulated real acts of violence on condemned criminals that would suffer the bloody fate of fictional characters to evoke stomach-wrenching reactions from observers

- The late 1700’s introduced puppet character Guignol that gave birth to a new wave of plays knows as Grand Guignol their point was to provide thrills of terror and literally shudder the human body with realistic depiction of torture, beheadings and other insults to the human body

- The Great Train Robbery used moving pictures for the first time and remarked on the realism and physical power of images projected on the screen, the film caused audiences to physically jump and move their body backwards when the train came towards them

- The 1950’s experiments were done with 3D, an effect in theaters specially rigged for William Castles unique effort, The Tingler. Seats were wired with buzzers that made them vibrate at sholing moments on screen

- Alfred Hitchcock was a master organist and used music to provoke physical reactions such as holding the breath in suspense and then exhaling in relaxation when the on screen tension is released

- In the 1970’s the special effect-laden movies of Irwin Allen were advertised as a new wave of visceral entertainment, playing to the body rather the mind. With the arrival of the modern special effects masters of the Spielberg and Lucas generation movies were able to seduce the eye and other organs ever more convincingly.

Body as a guide to critiquing“Sometimes the best way to measure a stories effect is ask, how did it make me feel?”Stories apply to organs at different levels, there is a hierarchy reflected in the indian concept of the ‘Chakra System’ along the spine

Christopher Vogler said “When I started critiquing screenplays and stories for a living, I soon found that what I was really reporting was how they had triggered chemical reactions in the organs of my body...If it isn’t making at least two of body and organs squirt fluids it’s no good”

1 - Root Chakra: It’s function is survival and grounding. It’s inner state is stability

2 - Navel: It’s funtion is sexulaity and pleasure. It’s inner state is tears

3 - Solar Plexus: Will, Power it’s inner state joy and anger

4 - Heart chakra: It’s function is love. It’s inner state compassion

5 - Throat: It’s function is communication, creativity. It’s inner state is synthesis of ideas into symbols

6 - Third Eye - It’s function is seeing, intuiting. It’s inner state is I know

7 - Crown Chakra - It’s function is understanding. It’s inner state is bliss

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