The Hollywood Formula

Universal Archetypes Defined Universal archetypes are images and motifs stored in the collective consciousness, or the realm of  mythology . Fairies and cyclops are universal archetypes, as are gigantic sea monsters and mermaids. All cultures have their own version of these mythological creatures, which humans have invented collectively with the use of our  creative imagination . The concept of universal archetypes is kind of like electricity. Electricity has always existed, but it wasn't till the mid 1800's that people started experimenting with it, labeling it, defining it. Thanks to these experiments, we discovered we could use this great universal light power as a source of energy to help with our survival. In other words, we didn't create electricity. We simply discovered a mighty natural power that was already there to begin with. In the same way, universal archetypes have always existed. They are like a cloud of images that float ...

Mythology and the Visual Language of Movies Mythology is the language of symbols, the language of the senses. Pictures, visions, sounds, sensations, feelings, anything you can describe with words or represent symbolically in physical form comes from the world of myth, the world of  universal archetypes . Storytelling goes hand in hand with mythology, because it draws from the same symbolic language that myths do. The language of myth is the language of movies, and this is how the  Hollywood Formula  was originally developed. The Hollywood Formula, as we will refer to it on this site, is a structural model , like a picture frame or an artist canvas. It is a symbolic receptacle that will help us turn our creative imagination into a work of art, which, in this case, is a movie. The Hollywood Formula is modeled after literary classics, including timeless works of art like the  Epic of Gilgamesh  from ancient Mesopotamia ...

Joseph Campbell: The Man Behind the Myth Joseph Campbell  was born on March 26, 1904, in a New York City suburb and passed away on October 30, 1987. Mr. Campbell is best known for his work in comparative  mythology . In his research, he compared myths from different world cultures and identified certain patterns that repeated in all of them. This discovery led him to introduce a highly influential storytelling concept known as the  monomyth .  The monomyth is a template of  universal storytelling  and it is based on the principle that all storytellers in the world tell the same story. Only, they tell it in different ways, recycling and disguising old plots and character archetypes and weaving them into seemingly-new tales. The singular universal story that we all tell, according to Joseph Campbell, is the story of the hero, who, in turn, represents our ideal self. The monomyth model, more popularly kn...

Concept Art as Inspiration Concept art is of utmost importance when developing a story for a film, but it is also crucial when a writer is searching for inspiration for a story. The more specific and detailed your concept art is, the more assurance you'll get that your original vision will make it to the screen intact, exactly the way YOU IMAGINED IT!  If you happen to be an artist AND a writer, you're one of the luckiest individuals in this world, I kid you not. Read on to see how your art and writing can literally take over the world much the same as it happened with multibillion-dollar franchises like Star Wars . Also referred to as conceptual art, this type of illustration has become an industry standard not only for movies, but also for other media such as animation, video games, graphic novels, comic books and TV shows.  Art directors, hair and make-up artists, cinematographers, directors, and set designers all look to a movie's concept art ...