Movie Report – FORMAT AND EXPLANATION
So in this first one, I’m not actually reporting on a movie, just giving a brief overview of the 8 archetypes and 12 plot-points as presented in ‘The Writers Journey’ so that future reports will hopefully make as much sense as possible. We’ll start with archetypes and finish with plot points.
>The Hero – This is fairly self-explanatory. The hero is the main character of our story, the one who is going on the proverbial quest. This is almost always the protagonist and the viewpoint the writer wants us to relate to.
>Mentor – Taking it’s name from a character in the Odyssey who first fulfilled the role. This character gives our Hero knowledge, gear, advice, allies or some other resources to help them on their way.
>Allies – This is another fairly obvious group – and it is usually a group – those who follow the character in his journey to help him along.
>Herald – An interesting and difficult archetype – not always a character. This one has the role of calling our hero to his quest. This often overlaps with an ally, mentor, or even the shadow or other ‘negative’ characters.
>Shadow – This is the Hero’s dark reflection, whether they be corporeal or a facet of the hero’s own personality – maybe a trauma or fear that keeps him from engaging with the world, for example.
>Trickster – A comic relief character, can also be an aspect of another character or a character in themselves. They also help to bring in questions and ideas that may be foreign to the hero.
>Threshold Guardia – This is a character that tries to stop our hero. They may be doing so in cooperation with the enemy, or they could be doing so in a misguided (or not) attempt to protect the hero. They correlate with the First Threshold.
>Shapeshifter – A very difficult archetype. This is a character who defies the expectations of the hero. In a story where romance is not the main theme, this is often the hero’s romantic foil.
Now to the 12 Plot Points:
>Ordinary World – Most stories begin by showing what our hero’s normal, everyday life is like, who the other characters are, what their motivations are, and what the rules of the story will be.
>The Call – The Herald calls the Hero out of his Ordinary World to complete a quest, often for the good of others.
>Refusing the Call – The Hero almost always says no, using excuses or delays. The hero’s reticence is usually overcome immediately, otherwise it often can be the duty of the mentor.
>Mentoring – At this point the Hero get the main benefit of the mentor. This is often something like a training montage, the giving of a piece of equipment (think Q in the Bond movies), or researching.
>The First Threshold – This point is where our hero irrevocably enters into quest. Maybe she’s sailing from home to a new shore, or just leaving home in general.
>Tests, Allies, and Enemies – This is actually a big chunk of story, often comprising the ‘Act II’ portion of the traditional story structure, where our hero encounters multiple obstacles to overcome, usually with their allies, that move them along the quest.
>Approaching the Inmost Cave – Here our hero and allies are getting ready for what they feel will be their biggest challenge; maybe they’re coming upon the villain’s base and have to figure out how to enter, or have to take down a monster and have to learn it’s weaknesses.
>The Ordeal – The moment that our hero and her team have been working toward, breaking into the castle, battling the dragon, wrestling their inner demons to do the right thing, etc.
>Seizing the Sword/Reward – They seem to have won, and receive their reward, gaining the artifact they’ve been chasing, slaying the dragon and getting his treasure, or proving to their fiance’s parent’s that they’re good people.
>The Road Back – Now that they have the artifact, it’s time to go home, but things are usually not so simple, with obstacles on the way – maybe temptations to abuse power, to keep the treasure for themselves, or maybe the enemy’s not as dead as we once thought and now they’re being chased.
>Resurrection – Very often this will be a showdown scene, the final battle; however it’s shown, we see the hero at their lowest moment where they seem to be dead, about to die, or like success and happiness are about to be eternally stolen from him, often to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This is the foundational moment of all stories in the opinion of Campbell and Vogler, and I agree – this is the moment we love stories for.
>Return with the Elixir – The hero brings home the cure to the sick village, shares the treasure with the poor, or rides off into the sunset; this moment either closes the circle, bringing the Seeker back to the Home Tribe – to use Campbell’s work – with food and water and stories to tell, or it is the final divergence, setting our hero on a new path with a call to enter this new world in its fullness.
That’s my best summary of Mr. Vogler’s book, and how I will be presenting them in my posts. I hope this will help anyone who’s reading these to follow along. And, fair warning, every single one of these will contain spoilers, so read at your own risk!
