12 Steps to Mythic Screenwriting: Part 1 – World of Origin
Screenwriters have looked to classical mythology for inspiration ever since the dawn of cinema – and there’s a good reason, too.
Mythology has successfully stood the test of time because of the way the characters, themes, and overall stories engage audiences universally. These elements create myths that tap into our nature as humans, our psychological motivations, our animalistic aspects, situations we’ve experienced, common fears we share, and other aspects of our true nature.
In other words, mythology is a narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form.
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To understand why screenwriters find it helpful to look to mythology for inspiration, ideas, and guidelines, we need to acknowledge what mythology is:
my⋅thol⋅o⋅gy [mi-thol-uh-jee]
–noun, plural -gies.
1. a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person: Greek mythology.
2. myths collectively.
3. the science or study of myths.
4. a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered: the Fascist mythology of the interwar years.Origin:
1375–1425; late ME mythologie < LL mȳthologia < Gk mȳthología. See mytho-, -logy
Mythology is a collection of stories within a larger world of story. In this case, we won’t be exploring a specific mythology, such as Greek, Roman, or Star Wars, but rather focus on mythology as a whole instead – even more specifically, the 12-step mythological structure screenwriters have adopted with the help of Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler.
Why screenwriters look to myth
Because mythological stories are usually universal, the stories, characters, and themes within any collection of myths can be a goldmine of inspiration and guidance – hey, if it’s been working for thousands of years, it’ll probably work on screen.
Remember, it’s not about copying mythology – it’s about using it as a guideline and re-telling what worked before in a fresh, compelling way.
The world of origin
This is where act one unfolds in most cases. It’s the hero’s hometown. The village. The place in which the hero is most comfortable. It’s the Shire in Lord of the Rings, Tatooine in Star Wars: A New Hope, and even the matrix to Neo in The Matrix.
The world of origin is one of the most important portions of your story – many believe it can mean the difference between a pass and a consider recommendation, and I must admit I agree. You might have brilliant scenes, clever characters, and exceptional description, but if your first act – or, 25 to 30 pages for those counting pages – isn’t crafted well, it’s a pass.
The world of origin is merely one portion of your first act or beginning to your story – I’ll cover the other four portions in future posts.
I think Christopher Vogler simplified this portion of the mythological structure quite well, but I’m going to simplify it even further based on what I’ve come to learn as a professional script reader and movie-goer.
The world of origin portion of the mythological structure consists of three points in its simplest form:
1. Character introduction
How you introduce your character is also something to spend some time thinking about. This scene can impact your audience positively or negatively – if the latter, you’ll have to play catch up with your audience and make up for you poor character intro. Audiences are smart – it’s your job to reveal your character in the most appropriate situation while delivering a creative new intro for your audience. This sets up the tone of the world of origin and your how your hero feels about it – Luke Skywalker wasn’t too happy to be stuck in his world of origin, Tatooine, while his friends were off training to be fighter pilots; Frodo Baggins was peaceful and content along with the other hobbits of the Shire. While Luke was determined to leave the planet after discovering his Aunt and Uncle were murdered by the Empire, Frodo was hesitant to leave his peaceful Shire in order to destroy the ring.
Again, your character introduction should reveal your character’s mindset of the world of origin, which can include such major aspects as character backstory, inner conflict, and other exposition – this sets up one of the most important aspects of, not only this part of your story, but the rest of it as well – especially the ending …
2. The contrast
Whether you’re writing a romantic comedy, horror story, or fantasy tale, there’s gotta’ be a little adventure sense to it if you’re planning on telling an exciting story. You don’t have to visit deserted islands, engage in car chases, or slay giant whales, but you do have to create the sense that your character is out of their comfort zone and experiencing exciting and unusual situations. Setting up a world of origin – either existing in the imagination as with the Shire or in our very own world as in The Matrix – is one of the most efficient ways to reveal contrast. Luke Skywalker goes from being a farm boy stuck working for his Uncle on the desert world, Tatooine, to the rebel hero who destroys the Death Star, Vader, and the threat against the galaxy – that’s quite a contrast. Remember, contrast usually works best when blanced on both ends of your story – somewhere in the first act and somewhere in the last. This allows for a lot more within the contrast, including another crucial aspect of your overall story …
3. The theme
Using the ideas mentioned above with contrast, screenwriters can create vivid themes that resonate with audiences. I think of theme not as a single entity or idea, but as a dynamic arc similar to character arc – in order to work properly, the theme must be expressed through two perspectives, usually negative and positive. For example, while Luke turns down the call to adventure (the next step) from Obi Wan due to his obligation to his Uncle, Obi Wan reminds him that “You must do what you know is right, of course.” Later, Luke not only embarks on the adventure, but also follows this very advice and reveals the truth behind it in positive light.
These three things aren’t meant to sustain your entire first act, but rather to create a compelling world of origin. Regardless of genre, setting, style, or story, the world of story will help you write an engaging screenplay as a storyteller, which is surprisingly one of the biggest challenges.
Create a compelling world of origin for the beginning of your story and let it lead you and your hero to the next step in the mythological structure- the call to adventure!
Again, these three points are mythic screenwriting and mythological structure in its simplest form – it’s important to remember that every story is different. Storytelling has nothing to do with formula. While it might seem easy to craft or “build” a screenplay using several formulas, structures, and ideas, I promise you it’s not.
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Well said Chris, this is one of the best enjoyable things about writing a story because you get to think about myths and how your able to put that idea into use with your own story.
However, I do want to share one thing, and please help me out if you could, and that is, since you’ve mentioned that audiences are really smart, and I think they are getting smarter everyday as we move into the future. I feel that its becoming more and more difficult to make them believe our creation of our own kind of myths. I don’t know if this sounds right, but I’ve felt the difficulty lies in the fact that, mythology itself perhaps needs to change according to time and the world.
We couldn’t really still use the same old kind of story thats been written down already from thousands of years ago, because although they represent the perfect example of myths, but still they came from the ancient cultures from the past.
So what my concern is, is that how do you feel about trying to create a myth in today’s world? what is your view on this? Because I have a strong feeling that in today’s kind of world, we are losing the traditional values of mythology all around. Other than the two of us, kids nowadays don’t really bother to look for books on Greek myths or to even know what mythology means. We are constantly and forever bombarded with the constant advancement of future technologies, politics, societies, economy, everything, and I think its kind of like a curse because we’re now stuck in this cycle together with no way to get out.
I get the feeling that people now in this world are forgetting the value of mythology or the importance of tradition because we’re worried about money, economy, and success in life to make a living. Maybe for a few poor countries who still holds strong ties to tradition would still have connection to their own traditional myths, but I was just trying to show the differences between now and the past.
So How can we create a myth, that can easily be accepted and able to relate to the world today? particularly to the people now in this modern society? How can it be accepted and not deemed as some cheezy or any story that don’t make any sense?
William
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Again, I think it’s about interpreting the myths from long ago – not copy them, but re-tell them in an exciting new way.
I think people will always be willing to suspend their disbelief, so we’ll always be able to tell stories like Beowulf or Lord of the Rings, but you’re right – it’s getting harder … I suppose that’s what the screenwriters and filmmakers’ job is all about, right?
I don’t think it’s so much as creating a new mythology as it is touching upon the stepping stones from the mythology we all know – either consciously or subconsciously. Star Wars is its own world of mythology because there are so many stories going into the collective world of story – especially if you count the comics and novels, but what made the first movie so great, aside from the overall mise en scene (except the cantina scene), was that the story retold a classic tale of coming of age, religion & faith, rebellion, and the took audiences on the ultimate hero’s journey – right through the steps of mythic storytelling.
All very true. Myth is universal, recognizable, colorful and full of adventure and themes. Its a great place to start when needing a bit of inspiration, too.
Seems like the movies we’ve seen like the ones you’ve mentioned Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings, all seem to show the audience the journey of the heroes. I think the meaning of the “Journey” itself is for me, kind of difficult to define what it is because even though when you talk about myths, it does seem that they have this sort of a basic task for the hero to undertake, but it is always shown in a different way.
It scares me, because I’ve always feared that if I used this kind of approach, the audience would always see it as an attempt to create my story in a mythic manner. I’m scared that they would see my story even though it appears to be different than Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, but it does follow that kind of style. Where the hero encounters the hermit, fights the monsters, saving the world and people, bring back something good to the people…etc.. In a way the reason why I am scared of this is because I think for those people, and I think for the majority who has seen and loved both of these great films are well aware of not just the plot, but indirectly, they have a feeling of what mythic stories are like.
I wondered why, that some of the other movies, fantasy or mythic films that were made are not popular at all. I don’t know how you call those movies (help me out here), but they are cheap and nobody wants to watch them, just like all those movies made about giant monsters killing people and stuff. Why don’t they deserve the kind of attention as their suppose to have? I wouldn’t blame their context or idea as lousy or just stupid, but for me, I felt that there seems to be lacking some originality. But how do I define the meaning of “originality?”
This is exactly like the “journey,” itself it doesn’t have to be within the story that your writing, but as soon as your attempting to create something you love or believe in, you would run into these moments of self-doubt, or negative psychological walls. And these are the monsters and demons being referred to within the myths.
For me, the sense of originality, is pretty difficult to define or to accomplish, because you will never know the outcome, but the important thing is how you approach it. What makes a myth great? We already knew about Frodo, and Luke Skywalker already, and all these heroes of different stories, so what makes a hero? what does it mean to be a hero? does it just only mean somebody who can save the world or bringing something back to the world?
Star Wars is great and just like you said it, it is a coming of age tale told through mythic storytelling, but this is just one example brought to us by George Lucas himself. The man is great! and I don’t think there’s anyone that you could compare him with. But now the question is, apart from how George Lucas was able to use the mythic storytelling in Star Wars, how would we, as new screenwriters, or storytellers in the new generation, find our own way to tell our own stories?
I think you could always refer back to Star Wars and other great films that has a good mythic storytelling example, but the ones that are really going to have an impact on people is just going to come from within yourself…which is very difficult to accomplish. This is just my thoughts, and if it weren’t for your comments on this Chris, perhaps I wouldn’t be thinking all this much. Thanks for the reply man!
I think I had gotten alittle ahead of myself with these comments, but I’m just hoping to show anybody that like everyone else, I’m one of them who’s also trying to write something^_^
Oh and on the other hand…as for the “Hero” aspect, I would like to know how would you guys feel if I just throw this thought out there. What would you guys say about the definition of hero in today’s society, versus…if possible, the old and traditional sense of the hero? Are there any differences? and what are the changes?
Because you see, I think that the “hero” like myth itself needs to revolve, needs to constantly change, and shift from time to time.
@Josh – For sure a great place to find inspiration.
@William – What’s great about your questions, William, is that there aren’t really any definitive answers! This is a good thing, because it allows us to explore the craft and invent where possible – no formula means more freedom!
I think it all comes back to retelling stories in a fresh, new way that excites audiences – whether you’re trying to appeal to audiences, whether you’re trying to create a modern hero, or whether you’re telling a story of a modern journey.
A journey can be considered pretty much anything – likewise, a hero can be considered pretty much anyone … the actual definitions of the terms don’t really apply. There are heros like Harry Potter that are truly on a journey to save the world and then there are heros setting out on an adventure, whether it’s a road trip across the country (Little Miss Sunshine), a scandalous mock-relationship with your boss (The Proposal), or a journey through your own Psyche (Fight Club) — no matter the scale of the journey, the protagonist is the person we, as the audience, are hoping will face dangerous situations, do the right thing, and turn out alright in the end.
So overall I’d say it’s comes back to the audience — yes, they’re intuitive regarding story and arc, but I wouldn’t say they’re as familiar with the structure of myth as screenwriters — if they are, why am I writing this series?!
Think of myth as a good storytelling tradition rather than a word — its something to build upon, reinterpret, and pay homage to with our own work as screenwriters.
Chris you had me there..when I was reading the part where you said, “but I wouldn’t say they’re as familiar with the structure of myth as screenwriters,” because when I was writing about it, actually I kind of flinched because actually, I didn’t really know if that was true or not. When I think again, yeah maybe other people might have seen films or read stories in mythology, but they wouldn’t really understand the structures or underlying meaning of it. I totally understand what you mean and its great!
Myth is a good storytelling tradition, and I really don’t know how to say this because its kinda of like if you use the mythic storytelling point of view to attempt and create your own work, the fruits would be so rewarding, because then you kind of like see new things and understand other things as you write your sole-called creative story. There’s truth and facts in the story, so its not just about creative imagination and all.
Thanks for the replies man! and I’ll be sure to keep on working on my story, and Good Luck to you as well^_^
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