Because the film I want to create is similar to the film 21, I am going to write about how the book ‘The Writer’s Journey’ by Christopher Vogler examines a film, and how close the book is from the way 21 is told. This book is useful for help with the narrative, which is what I’m going to write about.
1. Ordinary World - The opening of any story always has some special burdens to bear. It must hook the reader or viewer, set the tone of the story, suggest where it’s going, and get across a mass of information without slowing the pace.
Because so many stories are journeys that take heroes and audiences to Special Worlds, most begin by establishing the Ordinary World as a baseline for comparison. The Special World is only special if we can see how it contrasts to a mundane world of everyday affairs from which the hero issues forth. The Ordinary World is the context, home base, and background of the hero.
- In the film 21, we see that the ordinary world is a 20 year old boy, who has very little money, but enough, studying at college, getting the subway, having dinner with friends and his mum. The dad has died, and he is very intelligent and has a dream of going to Harvard University and getting a high doctors degree. Even though not many of the audience will be like this boy, a lot of the audience will be able to understand him. It also helps the audience understand him as a character, and his situation, with the help of a voiceover.
Throughout the whole opening, in any film, we always see different stages of this ordinary world. These stages include:
- introducing the hero to the audience
- identification
- the hero’s lack
- tragic flaws (not having enough money to go to Harvard)
- backstory and exposition
2. Call To Adventure- The Ordinary World of most heroes is a static but unstable condition. The seeds of change and growth are planted, and it takes only a little new energy to germinate them. The call to adventure gets the story rolling. It often involves the temptation of something, which could fix the hero’s problem.
- In 21, the call to adventure is being asked to go to Las Vegas, with a serious amount of money, and count cards. Seeing as the student is a grade A maths genius, the teacher who asks him to join the team badly wants him to join it. The temptation of this is so that he can use the money from his winnings, to pay for Harvard.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- synchronicity
- temptation
- heralds of change
- reconnaissance
- disorientation and discomfort
- lack or need
- no more options
- warnings for tragic heroes
- more than one call: call waiting
3. Refusal of the Call- The problem of the hero now becomes how to respond to the Call to Adventure. If you put yourself in the hero's shows, you can see that it’s a difficult passage. You’re being asked to say to a great unknown, to an adventure that will be exciting but also dangerous and even life-threatening. Theres an avoidance, different excuses, calls and positive refusals.
- In 21, when Ben has been asked to join the Blackjack team, although he would love the money, he would prefer to wait on the scholarship and concentrate on doing well via his school work.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- avoidance
- excuses
- persistent refusal leads to tragedy
- conflicting calls
- positive refusals
- artist as hero
- willing heroes
- threshold guardians
- the secret door
4. Meeting with the Mentor- Sometimes it is not a bad idea to refuse a call until you’ve had time to prepare for the ‘unknown zone’ that lies ahead. In mythology and folklore that preparation might be done with the help of the wise, protective figure of the Mentor, whose many services to the hero include protecting, guiding, teaching, testing, training and Vladimir Propp calls this character type the ‘donor/provider’ because its precise function is to supply the hero with something needed on the journey. Meeting with the Mentor is the stage of the hero’s journey in which the hero gains the supplies, knowledge, and confidence needed to overcome fear and commence the adventure.
- In 21, the meeting with the mentor occurs when Ben decides to join the club, and goes into the secret classroom with Kevin Spacey and the other teammates. Here he learns how to count cards, and how to play the game properly.
The different parts of this stage include:
- heroes and mentors
- sources of wisdom
- mentors folklore and myth
- mentor himself
- avoiding mentor cliches
- misdirection
- mentor-hero conflicts
- mentor-driven stories
- mentor as evolved hero
- critical influence
5. Crossing the First Threshold- Now the hero stands at the very threshold of the world of adventure, the Special World of Act Two. The call has been heard, doubts and fears have been expressed and allayed, and all due preparations have been made. But the real movement, the most critical action of Act One, still remains. Crossing the First Threshold is an act of the will in which the hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure.
- In 21, this is again where we see Ben learning to count cards takes priority over his school work, and how he is eager to start winning big money.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- approaching the threshold
- threshold guardians
- the crossing
- rough landing
6. Tests, Allies, EnemiesNow the hero fully enters the mysterious, exciting Special World which Joseph Campbell called “a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials.” It’s a new and sometimes frightening experience for the hero. No matter how many schools he has been through, he’s a freshman all over the world.
The different parts of this stage include:
- contrast
- testing - test in the chinese restaurant where they play small blackjack
- allies and enemies
- sidekicks - helpers who help count the cards
- teams - the Blackjack team, and the cctv team
- the rival - head security guard
- new rules
- watering holes
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave- Heroes, having made the adjustment to the Special World, now go on to seek its heart. They pass into an intermediate region between the border and the very center of the Hero’s journey. On the way they find another mysterious zone with its own Threshold Guardians, agendas, and tests. This is the approach to the inmost cave, where soon they will encounter the supreme wonder and terror. It’s time to make final preparations for the central ordeal of the adventure. Heroes at this point are like mountaineers who have raised themselves to a base jump by the labors of testing, and are about to make the final assault on the highest peak.
- In 21, this is when Ben takes it too far and trys to gamble his money, instead of beating the system and counting. He then wants to go on his own, with the rest of the team, instead of using the mentor.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- courtship
- the bold approach
- preparation for the ordeal
- obstacles
- beware of illusions
- warnings
- an impossible test
- higher steaks - gambling instead of counting
- get into your opponent’s mind - going alone without mentor
- breakthrough
- no exit - beaten up by security
8. Ordeal- Now the hero stands in the deepest chamber of the inmost cave, facing the greatest challenge and the most fearsome opponent yet. This is the real heart of the matter, what Joseph Campbell called the Ordeal. It is the mainspring of the heroic form and they key to its magic power. With this, heroes must die so that they can be reborn.
- In 21, when the hero dies to be reborn (loosing all the money, getting beating up), he comes back as a bigger person, wanting to be part of a bigger team, and using the mentor again.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- death and rebirth
- change
- the crisis, not the climax
- placement of the ordeal
- points of tension
- witness to sacrifice
- a taste of death
- the elasticity of emotion
- hero appear to die
- hero witness death
- hero causes death
- facing the shadow
- death of a villain
- the villain escapes
- villains are heroes of their own stories - Ben is told how Kevin Spacey (mentor) was a great card counter
- heroes cheat death
- youth versus age
- death of the ego
9. Reward - With the crisis of the ordeal passes, heroes now experience the consequences of surviving death. With the dragon that dwelt in the inmost cave slain or vanquished, they seize the sword of victory and lay claim to their reward. Triumph may be fleeting but for now they saviour its pleasures. Encountering death is a big event and it will surely have consequences. There will almost always be some period of time in which the hero is recognized or rewarded for having survived death or a great ordeal. A great many possibilities are generated by living through a crisis, and reward, the aftermath of the ordeal, has many shapes and purposes.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- celebration
- campfire scenes
- love scenes
- taking possession
- seizing the sword
- elixir theft
- initiation
- new perceptions
- seeing through deception
- self-realization
- epiphany
- distortions
10. The Road Back- Once the lessons and rewards of the great ordeal have been celebrated and absorbed, heroes face a choice: whether to remain in the Special World or beging the journey home to the Ordinary World. Although the Special World may have its charms, few heroes elect to stay. Most take the road back, returning to the starting point or continuing on the journey to a totally new locale or ultimate destination.
This is the time when the story’s energy which maybe have ebbed a little in the quiet moments of seizing the sword, is now revved up again. If we look at the hero’s journey as a circle, with the beginning at the top, we are still down in the basement and it will take a long push to get us back up into the light.
- In 21, this is when Ben goes back to his hometown and has a ‘sorry’ talk with his friends, talks to his mum, and tries to take things much further with his teammates for his card counting.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- motivation
- retaliation
- chase scenes
- magic light
- villain escape
- setbacks
11. Resurrection- Here comes one of the trickiest and most challenging passages for the hero and the writer. For a story to feel complete, the audience needs to experience an additional moment of death and rebirth, similar to the supreme ordeal but subtly different. This is the climax (not the crisis), the last and most dangerous meeting with death. Heroes have to undergo a final purging and purification before reentering the Ordinary World. Once more they must change. The trick for the writers is to show the change in their characters, by beaviour or appearance rather than by just talking about it. Writers must find ways to demonstrate that their heroes have been through a resurrection.
- In 21, this is when Ben trys to work together with his mates to try and get Kevin Spacey (the mentor) caught, so it is revenge.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- a new personality
- cleansing
- two great ordeals
- physical ordeal
- the active hero
- showdowns
- death and rebirth of tragic heroes
- choice
- climax
- character arc
- false claimant
- proof
- sacrifice
- incorporation
- change
12. Return with the Elixir- Having survived all the ordeals, having lived through death, heroes return to their starting place, go home, or continue the journey. But they always proceed with a sense that they are commencing a new life, one that will be forever different because of the road just traveled. If they are true heroes, they return with the elixir from the Special World; bringing something to share with others, or something with the power to heal a wounded land.
- In 21, this is when Ben and the team-mates find a way to capture the mentor. They do this by allowing the mentor to be part of the group so they can share the winnings. After this, they get caught on cctv, he makes a run for it with the chips, but they end up being the wrong chips. However, Ben finds a way to beat of Kevin Spacey.
- The different parts of this stage include:
- return
- denouement
- two story forms
- the circular story form
- achievement of perfection
- the open-ended story form
- surprise
- reward and punishment
- the elixir of love
- he world is changed
- the elixir of responsibility
- the elixir of tragedy
- epilogue
