Every Story is the Same

human Society runs on stories they create our reality [the] way we as Individuals see the world they make [us] sad they make us happy they inspire us It's no surprise that Hollywood TV and books bring in hundreds of billions of dollars each year And it's no surprise that the entire nation except for Ohio was rooting [for] the cubs the eternal underdogs Finally had their shot It's why day in and day out most people want to live the best story they can we love good stories at this point in Human history It feels like there are infinite stories, and we're told they're all different But what if I told you the basic structure of all of those stories is the same? I'm not talking about the stuff [that] ends up making them different like style. Just a basic structure for every story That's ever been recognizable as a story well many people have tried different formulas But perhaps no one has done it better than the widely respected Philosopher and Theologian Joseph Campbell he developed the monomyth also known as the Hero's journey Which he lays out in his masterwork a hero with a thousand faces Joseph Campbell's hero with a thousand faces. It wasn't a screenwriting book It was just a book about a guy who grew up a boy scout in a catholic who was really passionate about these native American Stories who started noticing similarities between parables about christ and like these native American folktales that Predated Christ, and also had no way of of being touched by Christian culture So he started you know his life work became comparative mythology and mythology doesn't isn't just stories around a campfire It's it's pop music. It's it's the dream You're describing to your friend on the subway It's it's it's drawings on a napkin it's it's it's basically everything indeed after years and years of studying Campbell concluded there are characteristics of an effective story and those characteristics are consistent regardless of Religion Race time or ancestry It's nothing short of genius [but] what if you could simplify his monomyth into an even more basic? Structure one that helps anyone build a story well dan harmon who we were just listening to did exactly that He created the story circle a distillation of the monomyth into eight steps he believes his circle is Universal for any story in any medium before we get to the eight steps he sets out I want to bring the circle back to its most basic form To first understand the theory behind it so we have a circle And we draw a horizontal line through it the top of the circle represents where the [character's] journey starts and finishes the bottom represents The world that needs to be traversed in order to grow and change In a basic sense this is the ordinary world, and this is the special world So why this ritual of descent in return well for Harman every story has a rhythm or balance he lays out three Dualities to explain this the first being life and death take for example the story of life You're alive And then you're dead then your dead body decomposes and feeds plants giving new life Which then dies that's a story it goes back and forth they rely on each other a balance is needed for things to happen Same goes for the next one he lays out consciousness and unconsciousness [upstairs] in your consciousness things are comfortable [well-lit] And regularly swept downstairs in the basement is your unconscious where it's older Darker and much freakier. It's the stuff You don't want [and/or] can't think about however your pleasure your sanity [and] even your life depend on occasional round trips ventures by the ego into the unconscious through therapy meditation Confession sex violence or a good story keep the conscious in working order just like the health of an individual depends on the egos regular descent and return to and from the unconscious a Society's longevity Depends on actual people journeying into the unknown and returning with ideas in their most dramatic Revolutionary form these people are called heroes but [everyday] Society is replenished by millions of people diving into darkness and emerging with something new or forgotten to [Harman] all Stories follow this pattern of [descent] and return of diving and emerging as he says all life Including the human mind and the communities. We create marches to the same pick beat if the story marches to this beat it will resonate it will send an audience's ego on a brief trip to the Unconscious and back the audience has an instinctive taste for that, and they're going to say yum But how does one venture between these dualities in order to create a story let's build the rest of our circle? We draw a vertical line down the center now We have four intersections and four spaces or quadrants starting at the top and going clockwise We number the four points where the lines cross the circle one three five and seven now we number the quarter sections Themselves two four six eight each number has a label, and they'll take us through the story piece by piece One you a character is in a zone of comfort to need they want something Three go they enter an unfamiliar Situation for search adapt to it five find get what they wanted six take Pay a heavy price for it seven return then return [to] their familiar situation eight Change having [change] now each of the semicircles has an important meaning Crossing from one half to the other these are major sources of drama in the story from top to bottom you Delineate the moment that the hero enters a new situation And is forced to adapt often struggling to do so this usually means that the protagonist Fights some external force the second line is defining the inner struggle of the hero once the hero crosses this dividing line He or she finally faces and tries [to] overcome his or her inner flaws or problems if we took for example [die] hard we'd have failing marriage and terrorist attack and left to right we might have Stubborn not stubborn once he descends and returns to here [McClane] No longer Stubborn now has the power to change his failing marriage in simplest terms order Chaos Stasis change now that we have our circle ready. I'd like to apply it to a well-known Story star wars episode four a new hope one you establish a protagonist when a story starts the audience is just Loading like a ghost [you] have to give them some place to land [how] do you do this how do you put the audience? Into a character easy you just show one is fade in on them, and we are them until we have a better choice Okay, let's go To need something ain't quite right this is where we find out something is off balance in the universe [no] matter how large or small that universe is if this is a story about war between Earth and aliens This is where we see the ship coming toward Earth if it's rom-com our protagonist is on a terrible blind date We're learning that things aren't perfect and things could be better. This is [the] reason why the story is going to take place? What's this? What is what? He asked [her] a question. [what] is that? You must learn [the] ways of the force If you were to come with me to alderaan three go crossing [the] threshold What's the story really about the you was in a certain situation and now that situation changes a terrorist attack? occurs a small-town girl leaves for the Big City remember that the top half of the circle represents the Ordinary World while the bottom half represents the special world It doesn't matter how small or large the story is but there needs to be contrast between these two worlds I want to come with you to alter There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the force and become [a] Jedi like my father for search the road of trials the protagonist doesn't need to literally train during this it's where they adapt an experiment in a hero with a thousand faces Campbell actually uses a digestive tract [braking] a person down taking out certain neuroses stripping them [of] fear and desire Nothing can save you here. I glasses credit cards promotion cell phones the purpose has become refreshingly simple We're headed to the deepest level of the unconscious mind, and we can't reach it if we're surrounded by all the stuff We think is important? why are we still in each ward a [contractor] that's pulling us in There's got to be something you can do nothing I can do about it get a full car have a shutdown Go out for two you close all outboard shields Five find meeting with the goddess the job of the road of trials is to prepare you for the meeting with the goddess This is what Joseph Campbell called this part of the story And that's why [hartmann] kept it our hero in making just found out what they're looking for Even if it wasn't what they thought they were looking for this is where the big revelation happens where there's the greatest vulnerability [whatever] you call it this is a very special pivot point the protagonist hovers here makes a choice and Descends the goddess can be a gesture an idea a gun a person or a destination whether it was the direct conscious goal Or not the need from [to] is fulfilled boy who wants to adventure rescues princess check? Who who is he? Princess Leia the Princess she's here the droids belong to her. She's the one of the message We gotta help her no look don't get any funny ideas the old man wants us to wait right here he didn't know she was here, [and] we just I'm luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you Mm-Hmm. I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi. Then Kenobi where it come on six take meet your maker This is the hardest part [it's] when you realize something is really Important to the point where it's more important than you you [gained] full control Over your destiny in the first half of the circle you're reacting to the forces of the universe Adapting changing seeking now you've become the universe you've become that which makes things happen [on] one hand This is the price of the journey the shark eats the boat [he] lose a friend on the other hand a goal achieved that we Never even knew we had the shark now has an oxygen tank in its mouth the friend has given you time to complete the mission Come on. R2 we going seven returned bringing it home for some stories This is as simple as waking up or others it's someone who needs to be pulled out of an extreme situation The Hero runs out of an apartment to stop a wedding. There's a huge car chase. It's not a journey if you never come back Can't believe he's gone oh they'd have a tighter defense an Analysis of the plans provided by Princess lea has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station eight change Master of both worlds the U is in charge of their situation again, but has now become a situation Changer life will never be the same in an action film. This is the showdown [this] is when the hero gets to the wedding in time to stop it from happening This is when the death star is blown up what I find so [interesting] About the circle is how it can apply to any piece of a story if your writer on a sitcom like Carmen is you're writing circles for each character and how they traverse the story how they change from top to bottom from left to right as the story moves forward is this the Only way to create [a] story no, but harmon believes that all stories come back to the structure otherwise They're not recognizable as stories to deconstruct storytelling like this should not make it seem dull or Repetitive or uninspiring harmons work alone is proof that dedicated Storytellers can use this basic structure to tell incredibly complex subversive and consistently meaningful stories in their own style And it's great stories having a meaningful conversation with a friend or family member Seeing your favorite sports team win a championship or reading a great book [it] [keeps] us all psychologically spiritually and socially alive they find tune as to all aspects of our existence [the] Rhythm of life and Death are Unconscious and unconscious feelings and thoughts the order and Chaos of the world and how they work together [a] great story can change someone's life So get out there and tell yours Hey, everyone if you enjoyed that Please go check out dan Harmon's breakdown [of] the circle. He does it in greater depth and in much funnier ways than I could ever do Mostly content of this video comes directly from his breakdown [of] the circle So I'll link it in the description [if] you appreciate what I do on this [channel] Please consider pledging a dollar or three dollars towards my patreon any amount gives me more time to make more content So thank you so much to the people who have pledged already you are helping make this channel happen Thank you for watching I will see you soon

Channel: Will Schoder

Views: 852,366

Rating: 4.9076686 out of 5

Keywords: star wars, a new hope, darth vader, dan harmon, rick and morty, story circle, story structure, evil, stories, mediums, consciousness, unconsciousness, order, chaos, life and death, joseph campbell, monomyth, a hero with a thousand faces

Id: LuD2Aa0zFiA

Length: 15min 13sec (913 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 23 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Another one that has the answer... Love Harmon, like his approach, but can we please stop talking about "the definite screenplay paradigm" or whatever? How ridicilous would it be if you applied that to painting/drawing, or music?

This is not how art works, while there's nothing wrong with using a certain approach for creating, don't believe anyone who says "every story follows those exact steps" it just doesn't work like that.

And that's a great thing, imagine if any story ever told, every painting ever drawn, every song ever sung followed the same basic pattern? How boring wold that be?

[u/[deleted]]

I'd like to thank you for sharing this with us. Lovely video.

[u/radar_backwards]

This dude's David Foster Wallace video is legit. Commenting to watch later

[u/mcd23]

Didn't get a chance to watch this yet, but I hope he gives Joseph Campbell credit!