"How to start? I'm hungry. Coffee and a muffin. Okay, so I need to
establish the themes. Maybe banana-nut. That's a good muffin." Have you ever felt like you're
stuck in a creative loop? You start a script,
get halfway done but because you can't figure out
that ending you abandon it. Then start a new one. Then it happens again. And again. So writer-director Dan Harmon
tackled this exact problem. He took centuries of
storytelling principles and turned them to
an easy-to-use guide for building a compelling story. One circle. Eight steps. Understanding good narrative structure,
won`t just make you a better writer. It'll make you a
better storyteller. Today, we're going to be
looking at Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight." A film with a
seemingly complex plot. And we can can break down into the
eight simple steps of the story circle. Step 1 - You. The protagonist. By calling the first step you we create an active tense, which creates an active drive that you and The Dark
Knight is Bruce Wayne. In this step, we also establish
the status quo of this world. And as you know,
Bruce's status quo is to fight crime. Step 2 is Need. You need. Adding a need for
your protagonist begins their story. In the Dark Knight, there's a scene where
Alfred says to Batman. "-Know your limits,
Master Wayne. -Batman has no limits. -Well, you do,sir." It may be time to
hang up the cape. That's the external need. However, the internal need is that
Bruce also wants to be with Rachel. "-You once told me that if the
day came when I was finished and we`ll be together. -Bruce, don't make me your
one hope for a normal life." So now,
Bruce Wayne needs a third thing. A replacement. "-He doesn't want to do this for
the rest of his life, how could he? Batman is looking for someone
to take up his mantle. -Someone like you, Mr. Den't? -Maybe." Step 3 is Go. You go. This is where your main character
enters the chaos realm of the circle. Batman needs a replacement. So he actively seeks that out
in the form of Harvey Dent. The new promising D.A. "I believe that on his watch,
Gotham can feel a little safer." But Harvey also has needs. He needs to capture Lao. A key individual in Gotham's
organized crime scene. If Batman could
deliver Lao to Harvey, Harvey can then
put him in prison, which allows Bruce Wayne to
retire Batman and be with Rachel. "-I get him to you.
Can you get him to talk? -I'll get him to sing." End of movie, right? Not quite. Step 4 - Search. You search. When "Go" doesn't work,
you have to keep searching. This is where the writer
has to put a host of roblox between the protagonist
and their need. Just because Batman caught Lao,
doesn't mean Gotham is any safer. As they celebrate their victory, a new kind of criminal
crashes the party. "Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen." This pushes Bruce Wayne's
drive into a higher gear as the Joker unleashes a
new crime wave on Gotham. "Some men aren't looking
for anything logical. Some men,
just want to watch the world burn." Section 5 - Find. You find. This step is critical. Here, protagonist finds what
they were looking for in Step 2, but it doesn't quite go
the way they expected. In fact, things go sideways. "Batman must take off his
mask and turn himself in. Or and everyday he
doesn't, people will die." Therefore, Bruce Wayne
decides to take off the mask, but before Bruce has
a chance to do it. "I am the Batman." And once again, Bruce has seemingly
great plan is foiled. Take. You take. Because once you get your hands
on whatever it is that you want, you have to take it. But that may also mean that you have to pay the
price, as Dan Harmon puts it. In this case,
Batman finally captures the Joker. But the Joker reveals
his trump card. "-Where are they?! -You choose one
life over the other. Your friend,
the district attorney. Or his blushing bride-to-be." And he gives Batman a false
location for both of them. So Batman mistakenly
rescues Harvey, but Rachel. This is the price Bruce pays. The loss forces Bruce to
reconsider his future. And indeed, has initial need. Now, he has no reason
to retire Batman. The lesson here is that you have to
push your antagonist to the brick. It can't just be something bad. It has to be something
totally devastating. "-But Rachel, Alfred... -Rachel believed in
what you stood for. What we stand for. Gotham needs you." Step 7 is Return. You return. He's emerged from
the chaos realm, but has suffered a heavy loss. He's returning
back to the start. Altered by his
experiences in second act, but now equipped
with a new need. And Gotham still needs him because the Joker has
flipped Harvey's moral coin. He is now Two-Face. No not that Two-Face. This one. Two-Face has a need
of his own as well. To avenge Rachel's death. "The Joker just a mad dog. I want whoever let
him off the leash." As these characters
come to ahead, what they have become on this
journey as finally exposed. Change. You change. Change has to be made visual. This is often called
testing the change or the final showdown. "-What did you do? -I took Gotham's White Knight and I brought him
down to my level." Batman has to stop Harvey. Unfortunately,
the only way is to kill him. Thus he takes blame
for Harvey's crimes and becomes The Dark Knight. "They can never
know what he did. I killed those people." A villain made to absorb
the chaos of Two-Face, in order to preserve the heroism of Harvey Dent. "A hero. Not the hero we deserved
but the hero we needed." Which brings us full circle. A Hero's growth is often demonstrated by
returning them to the start of the story. Everything may look the same, but the hero is now different. The journey not
only changed Bruce. It changed Batman. And that's what makes
this a great Batman story. So if you're stuck in the
middle of that creative looping, can't find a way to
finish your script. Just think about the story
circle and don't worry, you don't need to
memorize all of this. You can click on the link
in the description below and download a free
Story Circle worksheet to plot out your own story. Also, be sure to check out
StudioBinder for more videos and storytelling resources,
just like this one. We'll see you in the next video. "He's a silent Guardian. A watchful protector. The Dark Knight."
Dan Harmon..... or Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey.
Or you know, go to the classic: Hero's Journey on Wikipedia.
Dan is my biggest anti hero, i listen to his podcast Harmontown daily, for years