A HANDY HANDOUT

It has occurred to me that when I need to distribute handouts for my classes and presentations, I can simply post them here and direct people to chrisvogler.wordpress.com so they can read, save or print them as desired. So here, and in the previous couple of posts, are my essential handouts.

ESSENCE OF STORYTELLING MASTERCLASS

with

Christopher Vogler

© Copyright 2023 by Christopher Vogler

The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.

Its stages are:

1. THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.

2. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within,  so the hero must face the beginnings of change. 

3. REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead.

4. MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

5. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values. 

6. TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

7. APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

8. THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life.

9. THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

10. THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

11. THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

                 

                                                

THE ARCHETYPES

ARCHETYPES are recurring patterns of human behavior, symbolized by standard types of characters in movies and stories.

HEROES

Central figures in stories.  Everyone is the hero of his or her own myth.

SHADOWS

Villains and enemies, perhaps the enemy within.  The dark side of the Force, the repressed possibilities of the hero, his or her potential for evil.  Can be other kinds of repression, such as repressed grief, anger, frustration or creativity that is dangerous if it doesn’t have an outlet.

MENTORS

The hero’s guide or guiding principles.  Yoda, Merlin, a great coach or teacher.

HERALD

One who brings the Call to Adventure.  Could be a person or an event.

THRESHOLD GUARDIANS

The forces that stand in the way at important turning points, including jealous enemies, professional gatekeepers, or your own fears and doubts.

SHAPESHIFTERS

In stories, creatures like vampires or werewolves who change shape.  In life, the shapeshifter represents change.  The way other people (or our perceptions of them) keep changing.  The opposite sex, the way people can be two-faced.

TRICKSTERS

Clowns and mischief-makers, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.  Our own mischievous subconscious, urging us to change.

ALLIES

Characters who help the hero through the change.  Sidekicks, buddies, girlfriends who advise the hero through the transitions of life.

CHARACTER ESSENTIALS

MOTIVATED.  We have to know what they want, what they wish for, what drives them.   On a deeper level, what do they need to complete them or heal them?

SYMPATHETIC.  We should feel sorry for them, or appreciate something about their attitude or behavior.

WOUNDED.  They bear the scars of old injuries, or there is a shadow hanging over them of guilt or suspicion.

CHARACTER FLAWS.  They have some bad qualities, some area where they fail or make mistakes.

IDENTIFICATION.  These small mistakes make us IDENTIFY with the characters.  We all make mistakes and we feel sympathy for the heroes who fail.  We feel they are like us, and what they feel, we feel.

CHARACTER VIRTUES.  They have some good qualities that are attractive or funny.

UNIQUE.  Each character has a unique combination of qualities.

CHARACTER CHANGE.  The story creates pressure for the character to change behavior.  The audience enjoys seeing this pressure and they like to see the moment when the character begins to change.

CHARACTER ARC.  In a realistic story, characters change little by little.  They probably remain true to their basic natures, but change a little in how they think or behave.

INNER AND OUTER PROBLEM.  Every character should have an outer problem to solve, something physical or external.  They should also have an inner problem, such as becoming a better team player, forgiving someone, learning to be more responsible, etc.

IN TV COMEDIES.  Characters don’t change very much.  If they do, it is for a short time and they usually return to their old behavior at the end of the show.

The audience enjoys seeing a TOUGH CHARACTER show a more sensitive side.  They also like to see a WEAK or FEARFUL CHARACTER show a strong side of courage.

INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTERS.  Give them a strong entrance.  Tell me who the characters are by showing them doing something that expresses their basic nature. 

CHOICES.  The choices a character makes define the character.

HOW TO REVEAL CHARACTER.  Through ACTION, DIALOGUE, COSTUME, PROPS, BODY LANGUAGE, SURROUNDINGS, WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THEM, but mostly through BEHAVIOR.

CATHARSIS.  The audience enjoys seeing characters who are driven to extremes of behavior.  Sometimes they have an emotional breakthrough – crying, screaming, getting very excited about something.  This kind of breakthrough is called a catharsis.  The audience can experience it too, through sympathy with the characters.

SOME CHARACTER QUESTIONS

What does my character want?  What does he or she really need?

What makes the character laugh?  Cry?

What is the character’s greatest fear?

What is the one thing he/she will not do?

Who does your character admire the most?  Who does he/she hate?

What is his/her best quality?  Worst quality?  What are some other qualities (you need at least three to make a character seem realistic and “3-dimensional”).

What is his/her secret wish?

What is he/she hiding?

What is his/her “agon” – the one thing he/she will always have to struggle with?

CHRIS VOGLER’S ESSENTIALS OF STORY

WHAT IS A STORY: 

A metaphor or comparison.  Every story is taken in as a metaphor by the viewer, who thinks “In some way, this story is like my life.  Maybe there is a lesson I can learn here.”

A story is also a thought device, a method of analyzing some aspect of life.  Joseph Campbell said “A myth is a metaphor for a mystery beyond human comprehension.”  Stories give us a sense of meaning, helping us understand difficult issues that can’t be understood by the tools of science or reason.

A story is an orientation device, like a map or a compass, that gives us hints about where we are in the journey of life and what we might expect to happen next.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A STORY?

I say it must first be entertaining.  (It must hold the attention of the audience.)  That is the primary obligation.  But then its purpose is to raise the “vibrational rate” of the audience.  It tries to make them more conscious, more awake, more able to respond to their environment, more aware of their place in the world.

I believe we evolved the ability to tell stories because it has a survival advantage.  We pay attention to the lessons of stories because we hope to gain some competitive advantage in the game of life.

HOW DOES A STORY WORK? 

A story works on our emotions by first creating IDENTIFICATION with a sympathetic or relatable hero, protagonist or main character.  We must care about the hero and feel that in some way he or she is like us.  A hero is someone who has DRIVES and DESIRES, as we all do. 

Early in the story, something happens to threaten the life of the hero.  Either a VILLAIN attacks or there is some LACK, something missing, in the life of the hero or his world.  How will the hero respond?  This creates SUSPENSE, a kind of tension that keeps us hanging until the end of the story.  We are HOOKED by questions.  Even the shape of a question mark is like a fish-hook, isn’t it?

The audience must know that the hero WANTS something.  Maybe it is obvious – they just want to survive or be left alone.  Or it may be something the hero says – MAKING A WISH or stating an intention or desire.  We “get on board” with a story when we know what the hero wants or wishes for, and we wish for him to get it.

Often the hero WANTS something desperately, but doesn’t realize there is something else he really NEEDS much more.  The story seems to exist to teach the hero about what he really needs.  It may give him what he wants, too, but it will provide adventures and tests that will show the hero what is really important in life, what he really needs. 

Every hero should have two journeys or problems to solve.  One is the OUTER PROBLEM – how to defeat the villain, win the game, survive a storm.  There should also be an INNER PROBLEM, something emotional, such as a lesson the hero has to learn or a piece that is missing from his personality.  These become questions in the audience’s minds – Will the hero win? (Outer problem.) Will the hero learn the right lessons about life? (Inner problem.)

The hero should meet many OBSTACLES in the middle part of the story and there should be CONFLICT in every scene.  “It’s very simple,” the old masters of story say.  “You get the hero up a tree.  You shake the tree.  You get him down again.”  The conflicts should build, becoming more and more intense with each scene.  The VILLAIN should be strong and powerful, and very difficult for the hero to defeat.  “The hero in a story is only as strong as the villain.”

Somewhere in the middle of the story, there should be some DARK MOMENTS when it looks like the hero has been defeated or even killed.  The audience should be completely convinced that the hero has failed.  Then there is a REBIRTH, when the hero comes back to life or starts to win again.

The Obstacles and Conflicts should bring about CHARACTER CHANGE in the hero.  This change should be gradual, in small stages called a CHARACTER ARC.  Each obstacle should teach the hero a different little lesson about life, such as be more careful in making plans, learn to work as a team, don’t celebrate a victory too early, etc.

At the end of the story there should be a CLIMAX where the SUSPENSE is at its highest point.  The hero goes through one more big test, defeats the villain or restores what was LACKING from his world, and is TRANSFORMED.  The hero’s appearance, way of talking, or behavior is different.  This transformation symbolizes the hero’s new identity.  The audience should go away with a new understanding of life, perhaps in the form of a moral lesson.

PITCHING TIPS

Know what your story is about – one word, one human quality.

Know your conflict.  Point out a contradiction, a problem, a human conflict that cries out to be resolved.

Know the value of the “Not only, but also” form of presentation.  N.O.B.A.  Everyone knows X about the subject, but did you know Y?  Everyone knows Abraham Lincoln was a great President, but did you know he was a vampire hunter?

Know your turning points.  Let your listeners know where you are in the story, at least in terms of beginning, middle and end.  Use three act structure to break the story down into manageable units.

Know your audience.  Be aware of their attention span.  Put them into your story.  Somehow it’s about them.

Use questions, such as “What if…?” to HOOK your listeners.

Be specific about a few selected details to make your story real.

Be conversational.  You’re telling an exciting story to a friend rather than giving a formal presentation.  Smile.

Rehearse, prepare, but be ready to adapt and think on your feet. 

 

Happy Trails!

Chris Vogler

Tags: Christopher Vogler, screenwriting, The Hero's Journey, The Writer's Journey