Collaboration: Film Lecture 1 - Myths and Storytelling

 To start our series of lectures, we explored the ideologies of myths and legends. It's important to remember that myths are not lies, they would have come about from real life situations and their narrative would have transformed over time. 

 - Myths are about teaching morals and meanings, each having their own reasoning behind them.

- Myths have been passed down though the ages, and many are still believed in whilst being incorporated into modern storytelling.

- Modern story telling is now seen on a digital format - Film, Games, etc.

- Fandom's takes on the appearance of recent spiritualist and religions beliefs. (Jedi)

  When talking about myths and storytelling, the Hero's Journey was one of the first structures formed. It can be found in most fictional writings, even if in a different orders. There are 3 main writers to have expanded this structure:

  Joseph Campbell - The Mono-myth

  Seen as the hero with the thousand faces, Josephs Campbell theory of the Hero's Journey takes on the complexities of the world and breaks it down into more simplified stages. The Hero's Journey looks like this: 

 To expand on these, the following stages 17 can be described as so;

0. Stability -  Naive and unknowing hero lives in a normal environment with personal attachments. Conflicts may be noted. 

1 . Call to Adventure - Shaken up by internal and external pressures, bringing conflict to the hero.

2. Refusal to the Call - Feels can not leave due to personal responsibilities, or fears.

3. Supernatural Mentor - Meeting of the mentor, received special object/powers and given advice.

4. Crossing the Threshold - Joins new comrades, committed to the change (accepting the new and disregarding the old).

5. Belly of the Whale - Entering danger, hero becomes consumed by evil but emerges alive. Hero mind set begins to change, becoming more cautious.

6. Road of Trials - Hero begins to train skills, exposes powers, weakness and relationships.

7. Meeting the Goddess - Meeting with love interest. This can be a physical or a abstract notion, becoming the symbol of a the end goal and a better life. This gives the hero a boost.

8. Temptation - This can try to draw the hero away from end goal, can be a physical of abstract.

9. Atonement with the Father - Hero becomes more like the father figure, bringing conflicting relationships between father and son (independence vs manhood).

10. Apotheosis -  This is the change to becoming god-like and the shaking off of innocence. This leads to growing in responsibility, and can come from dramatic events (death/loss).

11. The Ultimate Boon - The ultimate goal of the story, but is not the end of the adventure.

12 - Refusal of Return - The adventure continues, the goals had been achieved but another appears. This goal is improving the lives of others. 

13. Magic Flight - This is the do or die sequence, the one in a million shot with great outcomes.

14. Rescue from Within - The hero is not alone, rescue comes from a unlikely source. 

15. Crossing the Return Threshold - The final trail, the hero's last chance to win against evil.

16.  Master of Two Worlds -  Hero as risen up over fears, saves the day and has control over inner and outer worlds.

17. Freedom to Live - The hero as transformed and carries the treasure of power. Hero and friends can live peacefully.

 Myths and the Movies - Chris Vogler: The Writers Journey

 Coming to the digital age, Chris Vogler reviewed the Hero's Journey and adapted it down to a more simplified version. However, its believed this more user-friendly version has brought more repetition, creating possible boring and dull storytelling. Vogler also created the structure so it can be move about, allowing different storytelling sequences. 

  

Vladimir Propp - Morpheme, Morphology and Narrateme.

  These are the based forms of storytelling that gets passed on, Vladimir looks more into the structuring of fairy tales.

 - Morpheme: All parts of the story should hold the same value.

 - Morphology: The study and description of word formation. (The changing  meaning behind words)

 - Narrateme: A building block of word (a storytelling journey). 

Film review 1 -  Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

  For my first review, I decided to do Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Having read all the books (but not being overly keen on the films), I felt that Harry's encounters takes on a almost perfect representation of Josephs Campbell's "Hero's journey", although with a more magical persona.

Harry being made to cook breakfast

  Our hero starts in an undesirable beginning. An unwanted orphan, Harry is forced to live in bad conditions by an oppressive aunt and uncle. His body language is downtrodden, with a longing for something more in life. In this film, "the call" mainly comes from the letters that the uncle refuses to allow Harry to read (due to family fears against magic), but Hagrid's appearance can be seen in two notions. He is enforcing the call and is the first of two supernatural mentors. Dumbledore is the more obvious mentor, but though out the film Harry approaches Hagrid more in learning about the what lies in the trapdoor. Hagrid also helps in Harry crossing the threshold, guiding him into the wizarding world.

Hagrid's appearnce

  Although seeming innocent on first appearnce, the boat journey towards Hogwarts as actually a indirect form of entering the beasts belly. Here is when Harry will encounter multiple dangers throughout various stages of the narrative, starting with the Troll, being Jinx on his broom, and finally coming across the parasitic Voldemort. Harry's continued learning inside and outside of lessons is a symbolic reference of the trials, but he seemingly never goes though his trails alone, often accompanied by his chosen companions. 

The journey to Hogwarts

  In terms of the "Goddess", a more abstract version is that of the golden snitch. Learning to fly early on and gaining the position of seeker gives him a closer connection to the father that he never knew. When in the first Quidditch match, the capturing of the snitch against the house he so desperate wanted to avoid (Slytherin) represents the "Goddess" boost. However, this boost is also seen in the relationships he has with Hermione and Ron. 

The Golden Snitch

  As the hero continues on, temptation comes in few directions, the first being the enchanted mirror in which Harry sees his parents. Having never seen them before, encountering them gives him a sense of fulfilment, but also a longing to stay with them. He chooses to continue returning there, diverting him from his journey until intervention comes from one of his Mentors. However, it seems that temptation is present twice. Voldemort's empty promises of bringing his parents back during the final trail makes him rethink fleetingly about his decision to try and stop him. 

  The choice to no long seek out the mirror as Dumbledore instructed (Harry's current father figure) would be a small part of atonement, showing growth in Harry's mental strength. A this point, atonement is only built up half way. Ron's later sacrifice in the chess game helps him to come to the decision to keep going alone, even if it means facing his fears in order to protect others.

Ron's later sacrifice

   A boon is about half way into the narration. The invisibility cape is a overpowering gift that gives him the powers his father would have had, becoming a great help in the continuing adventure by sneaking into the library and trapdoor.

  The more Harry learns about the trapdoor and the stone, the more his integument grow. This build up sequence leads to the dangers in the forest, where unlikely help comes from a centaur fighting a shrouded daemon to save him. Harry's discovery about Dumbledore's departure brings him to the realization that he and his friends are no longer safe, sealing his decision in the magic flight down the trapdoor. 

Where the "No Return" begins

   A second unlikely form of rescue comes from Harry's departed mother. In placing the spell on him before death, Voldemort is unable to harm Harry, ensuring his safety. Harry's unlikely protection works not only as deterrent, it also enables him to become a master of his fears. He knows that Voldemort can return from the brink of death, but he is safe from direct harm. This point leads to his ability to have the freedom to live in safety at Hogwarts, due to not only his mentor, but enchantment placed on him. 

An Unlikely Protection

 Growing atonement with the father seems to have the largest impact in this film. Harry's relationship with Dumbledore and sense of belong is a seemingly large factor, and sets up the narration for more films. Harry's abilities to overcomes future trails becomes heavily dependable on his mentors, and his strength to get fight when all is seeming lost.

 

 

 Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone - Warner Brothers Pictures (2001).