Horror movies can't be a non-stop scream fest. Even Mad Max: Fury Road had to have moments where the characters - and the audience - stopped to catch their breath.
And at this point in the story, just before the midpoint, you can take this opportunity to allow the reader, audience, and protagonist to catch their breath and regroup.Īction thrillers can't be a non-stop chase sequence. They've met the allies that will help them and the enemies that are trying to hinder their progress. They've gone through many tests after Crossing the Threshold from their Ordinary World to the Special World where the major conflict lays in wait.
We're talking about the approach to that cave. It can also be an emotional or physical challenge that the protagonist has been preparing themselves to take on - a killer shark in Jaws, a World Championship fight in Rocky, or finding the dead body of a missing boy in Stand By Me.īut this isn't the stage where your protagonist actually enters that cave to face the central conflict that you've been building up to. It can be a physical place like a tower holding the princess, a dungeon holding a captive, a vault containing the Ark of the Covenant, or a weak point in a world-destroying Death Star. The "cave" represents the core element of your story's conflict. Allows the Audience and Protagonist to Catch Their Breath Here we feature three ways how the Approach the Inmost Cave stage can better any story, even those that don't follow each and every stage of the Hero's Journey. Once you've put your protagonist through those tests and once they've met their allies and enemies, they're going to need to Approach the Inmost Cave of the story - preparing to face their greatest fears and conflicts. And, even more important, we're introduced to the first shift in the character arc of the protagonist as they decide to venture out into the unknown.Īnd it's within this unknown that the protagonist faces many tests and meets their allies and enemies - all of which define the meat of your story by introducing the conflict, expanding the cast of characters, and offering a more engaging and compelling narrative.
It showcases the difference between the protagonist's Ordinary World and the Special World to come. Such a moment shifts everything from the first act to the second, allowing the reader and audience to feel that shift so they can prepare for the journey to come. Beyond that, they help you to offer empathetic relationships within your story, as well as ways to introduce themes, story elements, and exposition to the reader and audience.Īt some point at the end of the first act, your story may showcase a moment where your protagonist needs to cross the threshold between their Ordinary World and the Special World they will be experiencing as their inner or outer journey begins. Meeting the Mentor offers the protagonist someone that can guide them through their journey with wisdom, support, and even physical items. And it also manages to help you develop a protagonist with more depth that can help to create empathy for them.Īlong the way, your protagonist - and screenplay - may need a mentor. It also gives you the chance to amp-up the risks and stakes involved, which, in turn, engages the reader or audience even more. When your character refuses the Call to Adventure, it allows you to create instant tension and conflict within the opening pages and first act of your story. Giving your story's protagonist a Call to Adventure introduces the core concept of your story, dictates the genre your story is being told in and helps to begin the process of character development that every great story needs. And it allows you to foreshadow and create the necessary elements of empathy and catharsis that your story needs.
Showing your protagonist within their Ordinary World at the beginning of your story offers you the ability to showcase how much the core conflict they face rocks their world. The first stage - The Ordinary World - happens to be one of the most essential elements of any story, even ones that don't follow the twelve-stage structure to a tee.
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Welcome to Part 7 of our 12-part series ScreenCraft’s Exploring the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey, where we go into depth about each of the twelve stages and how your screenplays could benefit from them. We dive into this archetypal story structure according to Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey and Christopher Vogler's interpreted twelve stages of that journey within his book, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.
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