04.13.08
Posted in Publishing Infos at 9:37 pm by admin
From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters….
The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.
Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.
The Hero’s Journey:
a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.
b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.
c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.
and more…
Sample Movie Deconstructed: Lord of the Rings (2001)
FADE IN: Context: the backstory of the ring; introducing Allies and Enemies: an alliance of men and elves fight the dark Sauron etc.
Introduce Hero in his Ordinary World: Frodo Baggins.
Introduce the Mentor: Gandalf.
Creatures in the Hero’s Ordinary World: the people in the village.
Hero and Mentor relationship: “Gandalf, I’m glad you’re back.”
Foreshadow of the Journey: “you haven’t aged a day.”
Status and Capabilities of the Hero: Gandalf and Bilbo discuss Frodo.
Meeting Allies: Sam, Pippin et al.
Ally’s Challenge: the girl.
Developing Characters and Relationships: at the party.
Call to Adventure : Bilbo disappears with the ring.
Interdiction: “there are many rings in this world and none of them should be used lightly…”
Refusal : Bilbo won’t leave the ring behind.
Foreshadow of the Journey: Bilbo leaves.
Pull of the Call: the rings speaks and Frodo picks it up.
Magical Gift: Gandalf puts the ring in an envelope and gives it to Frodo.
Antagonism Developed: the castle; the night riders leave.
Backstory: Gandalf in the ancient library.
Time Pressure: the night riders reach the border of the village.
Foreboding of the Journey: Gandalf afraid on his return to the hobbit village.
Backstory of the Antagonist: Gandalf and Frodo discuss Sauron.
Time Pressure: the enemy is approaching.
Hero forced out of his Ordinary World: “the ring cannot stay in the Shire…what must I do…?” Pushed to a New Self: “you’ll have to leave your name behind.”
Allies forced to travel with the Hero: “I have a better use for you, Sam…”
Warnings of the Journey: “be careful, the enemy has many spies…”"the ring wants to find its master.”
Marker out of the Ordinary World / to the First Threshold : the scarecrow; “this is it, if I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest I’ve ever been…”
Time pressure / Pursued by the Enemy: night riders.
Threshold Guardian battle on entry to the First Threshold : Gandalf meets and battles Saruman.
Meeting Allies: Frodo meets Pippin et al.
Meeting enemies: Frodo et al barely escape the night riders.
Threshold Guardian to the Inner Cave: the gate keeper.
The New World and Creatures of the Inner Cave: the Inn.
Rules set by an Authority Figure: the barman.
Meeting the Shape Shifter: Aragorn.
Backstory of the night riders: they were kings who each received a ring.
Physical Separation : leaving the Inn under Aragorn’s lead.
Character Development and Relationships: “we have no choice but to trust him..”"what about second breakfast…?”
Antagonist Development: Sauron asks Saruman to build an army.
Mentor’s challenge: Gandalf must escape from the tower.
Road of Trials:
Trial 1: Frodo et al attacked by the night riders; stabbed; rescued by Aragorn.
Mentor’s Challenge: Gandalf speaks to the moth.
Antagonism Developed: the birth of the ferocious army.
Trial 2: the wound is killing Frodo; saved by Arwen; the river of horses.
Trial 3: Frodo near death; saved by the Elves.
Mentor’s Challenge overcome: Gandalf escapes Saruman.
Celebrating the passing of the Trials: Sam et al join Frodo.
Meeting the Oracle: Elrond.
New World of the Sword: the Elvish World.
Marker of Change: Bilbo is older and has written a book.
Pulled Back: “Sam wants to go back and so does Frodo.
Time Pressure: Sauran’s evil cannot be contained by the Elves.
Meeting New Allies: Legolas, the dwarf et al.
The Oracle guides toward the Sword: the fires of Mount Doom.
Hero and Shape Shifter meeting: Aragorn confronts Boromir.
Hero’s Romantic Challenge: Aragorn and Arwen.
Hero and Shape Shifter confrontation: Boromir and Aragorn confrontation.
Warning against seizing the Sword: there is evil there that does not sleep.
Push toward the Sword: Legolas stands.
Time Pressure: Dwarfs and Elves argue.
Seizing the Sword : Frodo will take the ring to the fires of Mount Doom. The Fellowship is born: Aragorn, Legolas, the Dwarf, Boromir, Sam et al join Frodo.
Magical Gifts given by the Mentor: Bilbo gives Frodo a sword and a vest.
Warnings of the Journey: Bilbo momentarily turns devil.
Developing Characters and Relationships: the break on the rocks
Night Sea Journey: forced onto the pass by the birds.
Foreshadow of the Shape Shifter’s turning: Boromir hesitatingly gives back the ring.
Antagonist Developed: Saruman sends out his army.
Night Sea Journey: forced into the mines.
Serpent Battle : Frodo taken by the serpent.
Inner Challenge Conquered: “I wish the ring had never come to me..”
Reward: “that’s the way out…”
Atonement with the Father : Gandalf taken by the ancient beast.
Hero and Shape Shifter conflict: outside the mines.
Refusal: they have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood, they cannot go back.
Shape Shifter’s Inner Challenge: “even now, there is time…”
Apotheosis : Frodo knows what he must do, he is just afraid to do it; “even the smallest person can change the course of the future…”; looking in the water; meeting with the Lady of the Wood.
Antagonist Development: Saruman releases his armies.
Magic Gift: the Lady of the Wood gives Frodo the Light…
Time Pressure: Saruman’s armies approaching.
Ultimate Boon : Looking upon the Kings of Old; the huge statues.
Time Pressure: “something draws near, I can feel it…”
Shape Shifter shows his True Nature: Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo.
Magic Flight : Frodo runs from Boromir and then Aragorn and then Saruman’s army; “can you protect me from yourself;”"run Frodo, run…”
Crossing the Return Threshold : the Antagonist’s armies arrive.
Rescued from Without : Boromir saves Pippin; the horn of Gondor.
Shape Shifter’s reward: Boromir dies.
Master of the Two Worlds : Aragorn defeats the beast leader; comforts Boromir.
Refusal of the Return : Frodo get on the boat; refuses to go back; Sam walks into the water.
FADE OUT: Boromir buried; Aragorn et al follow Pippin et al; Frodo and Sam go on.
Learn more…
The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/
You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.
Kal Bishop
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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.clickok.co.uk/
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04.09.08
Posted in Publishing Infos at 5:05 pm by admin
Have you ever fallen asleep when listening to a speech or presentation? Sometimes a little nap during a presentation can boost your energy for the rest of the day. Speakers- if you want to be the one to send your audience to sleep, so they will be fully alert for other people’s presentations follow these ten tips.
1. Make sure that your material is dry and boring. Make sure that your material is either highly technical or complex. If at all possible fill your speech with specialized academic content that is not easily understood without prior study and research.
2. Do not include any explanations or illustrations to make the content understandable to the average person in your audience.
3. Schedule your speech to be at the end of a long day or after a big meal. This will give added incentive for drowsiness and lethargy.
4. Speak softly and avoid any expression or vocal variety that might distract or interest your audience.
5. Stand still behind the lectern for the entire speech. Any movement or sudden gestures could wake up your audience.
6. Avoid any variation in style in your presentation. Do not change from talking to using a flip chart, PowerPoint or any other kind of visual aid or prop that will attract attention.
7. Do NOT include any humor or stories in your speech that might illustrate the important points you wish to communicate.
8. Do not keep to the topic of the speech. Spend a large amount of time rambling about subjects or personal experiences that are boring and totally off topic.
9. Speak about a topic that is very familiar to your audience. Keep your content to things that they already know.
10. Provide highly detailed handouts, so that your audience will not miss out on any important information during their snooze. Make sure that you do not say anything that is not included in the hand out. For best results, just read the handout word for word.
Hopefully, by following carefully the ten tips outlined here, you will have the satisfaction of seeing an entire audience snoring quietly and happily throughout your entire presentation. If you do not follow these tips you may be alarmed to discover that your audience is alert and interested in what you have to say.
Barbara White of Beyond Better Development is speaker and trainer. Barbara inspires and empowers people and organizations to become Beyond Better . For more informative and inspiring articles visit her websites www.livingbeyondbetter.com and www.articlesbeyondbetter.com
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04.06.08
Posted in Publishing Infos at 7:03 pm by admin
Certainly sometimes you are assigned with the topic, but sometimes you have the possibility to choose one. It seems so easy yet so many students either have failed their assignments or did not write the paper they wanted to because no interesting, exciting and challenging topic had been chosen. Many students follow some simple and mistaken route- they choose the topics according to its popularity-if it is popular nowadays to evaluate this event or research this subject, than it might be worth my while to write the term paper on this subject as well. However, your interest, the topic that attracts your attention is what matters.Once famous Chinese philosopher Confucius said: “Choose a job you like and you will never have to work a day in your life.” What pertains to the life in general, pertains to the process of writing and designing of your term paper. Your aptitude to the term paper as well as your enthusiasm and your eagerness with which you will research, depends on that.
Your term paper will be more interesting to read and will gain consequently more points if you choose the topic that really concerns you rather than pick up the topic that will leave you indifferent. Once you have chosen the term paper topic, you can start organizing it. Your topic, whatever subject you research should not be too broad. At this stage it might be advisable to consult with your tutor. He will be able to advise you on this point; however most of the tutors require making of the topic more specific. For example one should not choose the topic “History of American continent in the 20th century”. Unless you write some 100 pages book, you will not be able to research and write a detailed story of American continent of the 20th century. It might be advisable in this case to narrow your topic to the following: “The collapse of France and its influence on political life of American continent in 1940″.
However, one should not try to choose the topic that are highly specialized or too technician or on which there is not enough material. Once the topic of your term paper has been chosen, you can start investigating and researching available material to gain a term paper idea on the subject. Start with one of the most popular and one of the most convenient sources of the information- online network. However, you should be very cautious in using of different sites. Remember, that some of the sites contain outdated or not credible information, and some of them just advertise the product and do not provide any information. You can use many online libraries or databases that contain useful and credible sources.
Domains that have such endings as gov, edu, and org. should be considered more credible ones; however you should treat information on other websites cautiously. Do not forget that many tutors and some of the educational institutions might not recognize web sites as the credible and trustworthy source, so it you can turn to more traditional ones -books and printed journals.Finally, whatever sources you use, read guides on plagiarism before you start using other sources for your term paper.
www.superiorpapers.com
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03.31.08
Posted in Publishing Infos at 3:32 am by admin
Nike’s ad has taken on new meaning for me of late; “Just do it!”
runs through my mind like a mantra. Although my dreams have
nothing to do with athletic shoes and little to do with
athletics (unless you count the long list of ideas I have
developed which revolve around my sons and their activities), I
have spent a long time avoiding the one thing I’ve always wanted
to do - write.
Writing has actually been a part of my work life for a very long
time. I’ve written and edited in the business world. I’ve taught
writing to high school students. I’ve written countless lesson
plans, activities, etc. I have never tried to get any of my work
published, until now.
Making the decision to write for a living was actually one of
the most difficult obstacles I needed to overcome. (”Overcome”
is probably too strong. I am still scared to death that I won’t
be able to pay my mortgage.) I never doubted my ability to
write, but I did doubt my ability to write for a living. My
former employer helped me make the decision by firing me. (They
actually called it a reduction in force, or RIF for short.)
After avoiding the application process for weeks, then staring
at an online application for close to an hour, I finally had to
come to terms with myself and my goals for the future.
While I love teaching, I am tired of the politics that accompany
teaching. I can’t face it any more. I need to pay my bills and
be financially responsible, but part of raising my children
involves being a role model. I don’t want them to be afraid to
take a risk that could help them realize their dreams because
they watched their mother play it safe.
Having said that, I must admit that my new found bravery
faltered when I wrote two checks totaling $1100.00 for two
children to play travel soccer next year. Nevertheless, I
developed a game face and hid my fears from everyone. I even
fooled myself for a while. As the school year ended, my
colleagues began asking me about my plans for the fall. I
answered - with confidence that I only partially felt - that I
planned to write. After repeating this statement to the tenth
person, I began to feel somewhat guilty. After all, I was making
it sound as if it were a done deal, when I really had barely
started. I had a bunch of “how to” articles stacked in my home
office that were conflicting and sometimes confusing. I had not
even read some of the articles yet.
Many of my well wishers countered with questions that
unintentionally poked holes in my game face. “Write what?” they
asked. “For whom?” they asked. The answers to their questions
involved explaining the vast quantities of research through
which I had only recently begun to sift. I felt my courage
failing because I could not adequately explain the process I was
only beginning to understand myself. That insidious self-doubt
began to erode my courage.
But I persevered. As I plodded through articles about query
letters, marketing skills, and copyright I began to see
opportunity in the mountains of material.
That opportunity belongs to the writer who can stick it out. As
I delve into some of the markets listed online and read about
their requirements, I now think: “I can do that!” A torrent of
ideas spouts out of me as I work, as I sleep, as I drive car
pool. I have several pieces started, a myriad of sticky notes
hanging from shelves in my office, and a legal pad with several
pages of notes. My game face is back and for the first time it
is supported with real confidence.
Looking back on the those first weeks and months, I realize what
I have accomplished. I have taken the first step - I made the
decision to write for a living. I have learned that writing
query letters is the standard and expected practice for pitching
ideas to potential markets. I have learned what information
should be included in a query letter. I have learned that
Writer’s Market is the best place to find those markets.
I am now taking the next step: I’m looking for appropriate
markets and writing query letters to pitch my ideas. We’ll see…
If you like this article, read Starting a Writing Career (or How I Sifted Through the Muck and
Found My Way)
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