A Hero With A Thousand Faces: Journey #1
In my previous article I explained the basics of creating a story. We will talk about which methods are used when creating a story. The methods described here have been used for centuries. I do not offer any new way of narration. I want to create awareness on the existing method and to use these methods better. If you become aware of the methods, you can use them better. The discovery of these methods was also made by Joseph Campbell, which i use his book name on my series. A Hero With A Thousand Faces. If you missed the previous post you can get it from the link below.
Adventure Begins
I mentioned archetypes last week. We have seen how these archetypes are used in cinema and storytelling. This week we will be on a long journey: Hero's Journey. Christopher Vogler best describes this adventure. Vogler was inspired by Campbell's book and expanding it. Every hero has an archetype. In the direction of these archetypes, they all follow different paths. But the end of this road is always the same. We call this road the Hero's Journey. Hero's Journey consists of steps. Here are the steps of Hero's Journey:
- Ordinary World
- Call to Adventure
- Refusal of the Call
- Meeting with the Mentor
- Crossing the First Threshold
- Tests, Allies, Enemies
- Approach to the Inmost Cave
- The Ordeal
- Reward
- The Road Back
- The Resurrection
- Return with the Elixir
Before we start ...
Let's decide what we want to tell you when laying the steps on the road before going on a journey. First of all, how many heroes do we want in the story? What characters will be in front of these heroes? What are the weaknesses of the heroes? All these questions will strengthen the answer before you write the story. As the story goes on, we can know how the hero will react to even the smallest events. Does the hero hold his mouth with his right hand or left hand while sneezing ? When we answer all these questions, we are ready to begin. But the most important thing is the beginning of the story. When starting the story, we should show what we want to tell directly to the reader or the audience. For example, the opening scene of Star Wars movie not begins with Luke Skywalker. First, the evil character kidnap the princess. So the audience will know which way to go before they see the hero. The better the opening letter or scene, the sooner the third person connects to the story. People are connected to the story and the ordinary world is shown.
Ordinary World
The ordinary world is very important for the story. Because how much the mysterious world is attracted depends on the ordinary world. We realize how different the mysterious world is from the ordinary world. If the ordinary world is not engaging, we will not even notice the mysterious world. The most important thing is the opposition. There must be contradictions in the ordinary world and the mysterious world. For example, the opening scenes of the Wizard of Oz is black and white. Here it is desired to create a complete opposites. Entrance is made from the ordinary world when starting the story. What does the hero wear? Who are the heroes around and how are they reacting? We describe them all in the ordinary world. It's also where the hero is identified with people. The hero becomes one of us with the life we live in. Then what happens to the hero will also affect us. At the same time we see the hero's wounds in the ordinary world. So we figure out what hero will get in his/her journey.
The beginning of the Wizard of Oz gives us clues. For example, Dorothy is saved from the evil woman's hand by three loyalists. We actually know these 3 loyalists. These are lions, tin man and scarecrow. So we get a clue at the beginning of the story. We will see Dorothy's wounds at first. It is a girl under pressure by a bad woman. So we want her to run away from there as soon as possible. Now we are in the story. We are ready for the mysterious world's adventures. I will tell the characters that accompany us before continuing with the adventure on my next post. So we can understand who the characters are in our adventure and what their mission is. Stay in follow !
