WJ.8: Three Acts and the Hero's Journey

Three-Act Structure and Hero's Journey#

Before discussing the three-act structure, let's talk about how to analyze the composition of a story. There are two common methods:

Element Analysis Method
Narrative Process Analysis Method

The element analysis method involves analyzing the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" (5W) of a story. If combined with the narrative method, the analysis can include the "how" element, resulting in a 5W1H structure:

Who (人物)
What (事件)
When (时间)
Where (地点)
Why (为何发生): the background reason for the story
How (如何叙事)

The narrative process analysis method commonly uses the "setup, confrontation, twist, and resolution" structure:

Setup: the beginning of the story, how it starts, and the triggering event.
Confrontation: the development of the story, the unfolding of the plot.
Twist: the climax of the story, unexpected developments.
Resolution: the ending of the story.

This storytelling method of "setup, confrontation, twist, and resolution" is consistent with Aristotle's interpretation of the "basic elements of a story" (beginning, middle, and end). The three-act structure follows the same pattern.

The classic three-act structure, also known as dramatic structure or conflict structure, divides a story into three parts:

Setup: also known as the trigger or departure, it is the first part of the three-act structure. It is the beginning and origin of the story, usually used to introduce the audience to the story and explain the setting and background, in order to develop the conflict.
Confrontation: also known as the conflict or twist, it is the second part of the three-act structure. It is the moment when the characters face difficulties or major setbacks. The second act serves to push the characters to their lowest point and intensify the dramatic tension.
Resolution: also known as the ending, it is the conclusion of the story and the last part of the three-act structure. It usually resolves the conflicts that occurred in the second act, whether by overcoming obstacles or crossing personal barriers. The third act needs to elevate the characters' emotions, reach the climax of the story, and provide closure.

The above image is a timeline of the three-act structure from Wikipedia, linking each act together forms the plot, and the representative points of the three acts are the inciting incident, midpoint, and climax.

It is worth mentioning that when writing a story, it is not necessary to have only one three-act structure. Multiple three-act structures can be mixed together in the narrative process, such as:

Trigger → Conflict → Resolution → Trigger → Conflict → Resolution → ...

For example, the movie "World War Z" is a film composed of multiple copies of three-act structures, which is one of the reasons why the movie has a tight pace and feels like playing "Left 4 Dead" when watching it on Bilibili. The barrage comments are also immersive ("Mission complete", "End of Chapter"):

By observing the popularity of the barrage comments in this movie, an interesting phenomenon can be noticed:

In the image, each chapter is named by me, and the story can be roughly divided into 6 three-act structures. Each chapter has a peak in the barrage comments, which corresponds to the climax of that act:

Point 1: Climax of the first act, the outbreak of zombies on the street.
Point 2: Climax of the second act, the protagonist group's escape from the building before dawn.
Point 3: Climax of the third act, a gunfight at the North Korean airport.
Point 4: Climax of the fourth act, the protagonist group's encounter with a zombie horde breaking through the salvation wall in Israel.
Point 5: Climax of the fifth act.
Point 6: Climax of the sixth act, not very obvious.

In addition to the overlapping of three-act structures, in order to highlight the coherence of the plot, sometimes the three structures can be changed to five structures:

Trigger → Conflict → Conflict Resolution → Conflict → Conflict Resolution

The Hero's Journey is a template for the growth of the hero proposed by Hollywood screenwriters based on mythology and common scripts. It consists of 12 stages:

Ordinary World: represents the background and origin of the protagonist, introduces the protagonist to the audience, and creates a sense of identification.
Call to Adventure: various forms of demands for the protagonist to embark on the journey.
Refusal of the Call: highlights the dangers and costs of the journey, no matter how the protagonist refuses, they will eventually embark on the journey.
Meeting the Mentor
Crossing the First Threshold: the end of the first act, the hero arrives at the boundary between two worlds, starts the journey, and the story truly begins.
Trials, Allies, Enemies: entering the extraordinary world, the hero begins to face trials, make allies, or establish enemies, the order of the three is not fixed. Enemies are often replaced by competitors.
Approach to the Inmost Cave: about to reach the core of the extraordinary world, usually more mysterious, showing the second threshold.
Ordeal: the core of the story, the protagonist's ordeal before rebirth.
Reward (Seizing the Sword): the protagonist who survives the ordeal receives a reward, exchanging it for something they seek in the extraordinary world.
The Road Back: the beginning of the third act, the protagonist may continue the journey or return to the ordinary world.
Resurrection: the climax of the story, the final battle against the last boss.
Return with the Elixir: the ending of the story, the protagonist returns from the extraordinary world to the ordinary world with the spoils. If it is an open-ended ending, the plot will continue.

In addition to the above, there have been other variations of the Hero's Journey:

But regardless of the variation, they all follow the three-part structure: Departure, Initiation, and Return.

This template is very common, and movies like "Kung Fu Panda" follow the classic Hero's Journey.

However, most of the time, rigidly applying templates will only lead to clichés.

In fact, plots are not limited to the formulaic "beginning, development, climax, and ending." Many excellent works and TV series adopt a "cross-section of life" structure. The beginning is often not important and is often mentioned in the middle of the events. The ending is not strictly defined.

For example, the movie "The Invisible Guest" does not have a strict "beginning." The plot unfolds layer by layer, incorporating the background into the story, constantly arousing the audience's curiosity and immersing them in the plot.

Another example is the short story "Kong Yiji," which does not reveal the background of Kong Yiji but incorporates his story into the description of the setting. One of the three scenes in the story does not even feature Kong Yiji.

Excellent stories do not have eternal formulas. As "The Art of Fiction" says, "A story is a metaphor for life." Its core comes from the creator's belief, it is the embodiment of the creator's thoughts and passion. Every plot and every moment in the work must be filled with passionate beliefs.

A movie is like a physical manifestation of something spiritual. - John Carpenter

The root cause of clichés is not the rigid application of templates but the lack of deep understanding and insight into the world of the story by the creator.

It is important to note that narrative form is not the most important aspect; it is just a medium for the creator to tell the story. The most important thing is the core of the story.

Weekly Recommendations#

This week, I recommend some useful note-taking software.

Obsidian#

A classic card-based note-taking tool that I currently use for Markdown writing.

LogSeq#

An outline-based double-linked knowledge base note-taking tool, a replacement for Roam Research (and even better). It is the only note-taking tool I am currently using.

Hepta#

The author is a Taiwanese college graduate who has his own thoughts on note-taking. He updates Hepta almost every day, which I admire.

Weekly Record#

Recent Viewings#

Reading: Emotion | "Letters Seen as Faces"
Watching: Anime | "Summer Days"
Watching: Anime | "Spy Pretend"
Watched: Movie | "The Tunnel" (second viewing)
Watched: Movie | "Doctor Strange 2"
Watched: Game Stream | "Quarry of Terror"
Played: Switch | "Snipperclips"
Played: Switch | "Human: Fall Flat"

Because I'm a bit timid but curious about the plot of horror games, I really enjoy watching others play horror games, and the barrage comments provide a sense of security. I don't panic at all.

By the way, "Snipperclips" is now free and I logged into my Switch. The direct gameplay experience is great, you must try it! (Games should be pure joy)

Recent Code#

TypeScript React    40 hrs 12 mins ██████████████▋░░░░░░ 70.1%
TypeScript          13 hrs 43 mins █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 23.9%
JSON                1 hr 2 mins    ▍░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  1.8%
JavaScript          41 mins        ▎░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  1.2%
HTML                38 mins        ▏░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  1.1%