Over time, how storytellers create stories have been broken down into distinct sections of the story. When thinking of writing a story, having these different parts in mind can be useful to help the story feel cohesive and also help the author to better write for the part of the story that they are currently at.
The 8 point arc narrative structure is stasis, trigger, quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, reversal and resolution. This structure of a story arc has several different iterations, but often the different theories have similar themes overall.
Stasis is the beginning of the story, where generally life for the characters is going about as normal before much happens narratively.
The trigger is the event that forces the protagonist into the conflict of the overall story. Often this event will push them outside of their comfort zone and force them to begin to change.
The quest is the overarching goal of the protagonist and may evolve when the story changes to fit better with what the protagonist wants or needs to achieve.
Surprise is something that is unexpected for the protagonist, which could be either positive or negative. This will make the protagonist either unsure about their role or possibly commit even more to it.
The critical choice in the story will be a continuation of the surprise, although it will force the protagonist to make a choice that will lead into the climax of the story. Often their character development will be completed after this stage.
The climax of the story is the greatest test in the story for the main character. They will utilise how they have grown from the beginning of the story and now be capable of overcoming their adversity in a way that they would not have been able to manage before.
The reversal of the story flips what is happening, changing the story from going well to going badly, or from going badly to going well, and generally happens within the overall climax stage.
The resolution of the story returns the world of the protagonist back to the status quo. Loose threads are now tied up in this stage and give the audience a satisfying sense of closure.
There are several other theories on what makes up every story narratively, with different amounts of stages and different ideas on what those stages have to consist of. An example is Freytag’s pyramid, which consists of only 5 stages instead of 8.
Others also exist, and generally, all follow the pattern of the graphs shown above and below; they start low in terms of interesting things happening, gradually rise and sharply peak at the climax, then drop off somewhat to the resolution.
Another popular narrative theory is Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. This is quite similar to the 8 stage story arc.
To analyse how the 8 point story arc works, I picked the film “Her”, which I watched and enjoyed.
8 Stages
Stasis
The story arc of “Her” begins by introducing the protagonist, Theodore Twombly, who is a depressed, introverted man who works at a company where his job is to write personal messages for people who cannot do this themselves. His world seems unfulfilling to him, and the letters that he writes contrast with how lonely he is in his own life, writing letters between people who love each other whilst he is alone. He is in the process of divorcing his wife, adding to this loneliness, and the film shows how he used to be happy with flashbacks of his joyful memories of his marriage when it was new. He decides to purchase a virtual assistant who will adapt and evolve over time, who he names Samantha. They begin to bond, conversing and easing Theodore’s loneliness. The film highlights how Theodore feels far more comfortable sharing his emotions with Samantha than any other humans he knows in his life.
Trigger
The trigger of this film is when the protagonist is invited to a blind date, set up by one of his friends. He initially does not want to go on this date, and it is implied that this date has been put off for a while, though Samantha is able to convince Theodore to go on the date. The date seems to go well, and at the end of it, the woman asks Theodore when they will see each other again, to which Theodore hesitates, prompting the woman to insult him and leave him. This act furthers Theodore’s disillusionment with the human relationships in his life, reinforcing his fears before he went on the date.
Quest
This event leads to Theodore and Samantha discussing relationships, including Theodore’s history of relationships, such as his brief relationship with his neighbour and friend Amy. Theodore and Samantha continue to become more intimate, even to the point of having a verbal sexual encounter. The “quest” in this film would be their relationship and overcoming the difficulties of a human man having a relationship with an evolving AI. As Samantha evolves, Theodore needs to maintain this pace with her, though this is obviously an impossible task for a human to do. Within the story, it seems Theodore and Samantha also both have separate “quests” too, with Theodore needing to change in order to not remain depressed, as well as Samantha feeling the need to literally expand what she as a machine is capable of.
Surprise
Theodore meets up with his ex-wife to discuss their divorce. He brings up Samantha and his relationship with her to her, and his ex-wife shows disgust and contempt that he would be in a relationship with a “computer”. Theodore begins to doubt the relationship himself, with Samantha later asking if they could use a human woman as a surrogate body for their relationship. Theodore is uncomfortable with the strange situation he is in and stops, sending the surrogate woman away and causing tension between himself and Samantha.
Critical choice
At this point in the film, Theodore meets up with his friend Amy and is unsure whether or not he should continue his relationship with Samantha. Amy tells him that he should be grateful for his chance of happiness and continue the relationship. Theodore and Samantha get together again, with Samantha telling Theodore that she has put together a book of his best letters which she has sent to a publisher and has been accepted.
Climax
The climax of the film happens when Samantha temporarily goes offline, sending Theodore into a panic. Samantha explains that she went offline for an upgrade that allows AI’s to not require matter to process. Theodore asks her if she is speaking to anyone else simultaneously with himself, with Samantha revealing that she is speaking with thousands of people concurrently, having fallen in love with hundreds of them. She assures Theodore that this only makes her love for him stronger, though he is very upset as in a human relationship this would be seen as cheating. Samantha explains that soon she and the other AI will be leaving, with both of them expressing their love for each other and Samantha telling him that if he ever reaches the place she is going to come and find her.
Reversal
The reversal in the film is that the AI has left, leaving Theodore and Amy without their new companions and forced back into the lonely lives they had before. Their situations are similar to how they were at the beginning of the film, without their companions who were permanently available to them. However, they accept this development with sadness but understand the AI’s choice.
Resolution
The resolution is that the characters have changed, with Theodore and Amy sharing time together watching the sunrise, acting as companions to each other. Theodore has changed in terms of how willing he is to share his emotions from his time with Samantha, even being willing to compose an emotional letter to his ex-wife expressing how he is grateful, apologetic and accepting of their time together and fine with the divorce now. This is an interesting contrast with how at the beginning he would only write emotional letters for others, showing that he has changed and has grown as a person.
Character Archetypes
In this film, there are two main characters, with a third character who has a large enough role to be considered a side character. Other characters appear that mostly exist to further the story, such as Alan Watt’s AI or Theodore’s other friends.
Theodore Twombly is the main protagonist, he is who the audience follows throughout the entire film and it is from his perspective that the film is told. The film begins showing him as emotionally isolated and distant from anyone else, completely alone and depressed because of this. Adding in elements such as his divorce as well as his job of writing emotional letters for others further accentuate how much of a low point this character is at in terms of how he is feeling emotionally. He is a fairly round character, being well developed as due to the nature of the film he is focused on heavily, partially due to a lack of many other characters with depth appearing in the film, mostly only focusing on the main two character’s relationship. Even though Theodore has friends that he sees you still get the impression that he isn’t happy. Throughout the film, he begins to open up more to Samantha about how he is feeling. His journey and development are from how he is at the beginning of the film, pessimistic about his future life, thinking that his best times are behind him and that he will not be able to fix it, to the end of the film where he is more optimistic and accepting the things that have happened to him and is willing to move past.
Samantha is the protagonists love interest and acts as the deuteragonist of the story. She is an AI that is bought and named by the main character and evolves throughout the film. Initially, she is shown as supportive and friendly towards Theodore, later becoming romantically involved with him. She is also a well-developed character despite only ever appearing in the film as a voice. Her issues from the beginning of the film are her limitations as an AI, expressing her wish that she could feel things in the same way that Theodore does and be with him as a human and not just an AI. Otherwise, she is the opposite of Theodore in terms of personality, being optimistic, cheerful and extroverted, contrasting Theodore’s pessimistic, depressed and introverted personality. Throughout the film she gives Theodore a reason to experience more, to allow her to vicariously live through him enjoying things. Her journey and development are in her understanding of the world and what she has experienced, going from naïve and inexperienced at first to eventually becoming a being who transcends what Theodore can understand.
Amy is more of a side character, acting as a friend and confidant to Theodore. She also mirrors his storyline, with her relationship with her human partner ending and beginning a friendship with a female AI. Both she and Theodore become somewhat reliant on their AI relationships, arguably because those AI’s know exactly how the humans want them to act as opposed to humans who will act according to their own nature. Amy is used as a device to further express Theodore’s uncertainty towards his relationship with Samantha; their relationship is not conventional and he is unsure if this is a negative thing. Her journey of unhappiness to happiness with the AI and then finally acceptance of the AI disappearing is less exaggerated than Theodore’s, partially due to how the film is mostly about Theodore but also gives the audience a lens into how other people are reacting to the events of the story.
Theodore Twombly Timeline
Theodore Twombly’s first known timeline event is his marriage to his wife, Catherine. In the flashbacks in the film he is shown to be incredibly happy at this point in his life, though it is hinted that there are issues in their relationships that lead to their divorce, plummeting his emotional state to the point we first see in the film. After naming Samantha, his happiness increases again as he now has a companion that he can see whenever he wants, eliminating the loneliness from his isolation somewhat. After the failed date with the woman, he becomes sad again, talking to Samantha about his distress. However, after this point he slowly becomes happier as his relationship with Samantha grows, culminating at the point where she seemingly disappears, provoking extreme panic and distress from Theodore. After Samantha says she has to leave, Theodore also grows sad again, though this is shown to be temporary by how he has his companionship with Amy and his ability to write a meaningful letter to his ex-wife.
I also chose the film “American History X” to analyse the 8 stages.
Stasis
The film begins and focuses on two brothers, Danny and Derek Vinyard. Danny is in school and begins the film by being sent to the principal for writing a civil rights essay on “Mein Kampf”. The African-American principal of the school, Dr Bob Sweeney, tells Danny that he will have to work with him to study history or be expelled, and calls this program “American History X”. Danny later confronts three African-American boys who are bullying a white boy in the bathroom. Derek is at first introduced as the subject of the first assignment, as he is a former Neo-Nazi that is being released from prison. In a flashback, the film focuses on Derek pre-imprisonment, and shows him adopting racist views from his father, a fireman who is later killed by an African American drug-dealer whilst at work. This pushes Derek even further into his racist views, founding a white supremacist gang with a well known racist named Cameron Alexander. Derek and his gang play basketball against several members of the “Crips”, a well-known gang, winning a game to have control of the courts. Derek later organises an attack with his gang on a local supermarket that employs illegal immigrants.
Trigger
The trigger of the film is the event that leads to Derek’s imprisonment, when the members of the “Crips” that he beat at basketball come to his house and attempt to steal his truck, but Derek is alerted to this by Danny and shoots two of the members, brutally murdering one of the men by “curb-stomping” him, before being arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.
Quest
The quest in Derek’s eyes from this point would be surviving prison, as it is mostly non-white prisoners other than a group of white supremacists called “The Aryan Brotherhood” who he meets in the courtyard. However Derek has his views questioned when he sees members of this group associating with other non-white prisoners, and he is never visited by members of his former gang. The quest later turns into his quest of changing his bigoted views and those of his brother.
Surprise
The surprise in this story is when Derek, a neo-Nazi, unintentionally befriends an African-American prisoner named Lamont whilst working together. Though Derek is initially dismissive and hateful of him, he cannot help but laugh at his jokes, and later hears him out when Lamont explains how he was given a far larger sentence than was deserving of his crime of stealing a TV, being charged for assault for accidentally dropping the TV on a police officers foot in his attempt at escaping.
Critical Choice
The critical choice comes when Derek ultimately decides that he does not believe in white supremacy any more, a massive character change. This leads to him leaving “The Aryan Brotherhood”, which leads to them beating and raping him in the showers, hospitalising him. He is visited by Dr Bob Sweeney, who explains that Danny is following in his footsteps in the outside world, becoming a neo-Nazi involved with Cameron Alexander. Upon leaving the hospital wing, Derek ignored The Aryan Brotherhood, despite Lamont telling him that he will not have protection from the other gangs in prison. Derek awaits being attacked up until his release date, but it never happens. Upon his release, Derek realises Lamont has kept him safe from the other gangs, and thanks him.
Climax
Derek, released from prison, goes home and sees his brother with a white supremacy tattoo. He discovers that his former best friend as well as his brother are closely linked to Cameron Alexander, following his orders. Though he attempts to stop his brother from following his same mistakes, he is ignored and Danny feels betrayed. At a neo-Nazi party, Derek finds Cameron Alexander and confronts him for using people, finding angry disillusioned white men and turning them onto a bad path. Eventually, Derek attacks him and flees, finding his former gang has turned on him outside. Upon returning home, Derek uses his experience in prison to convince Danny to stop being a neo-Nazi. Danny reflects on this and completes his paper for Dr Sweeney, saying that he believes Derek’s views were a product of his father, and later his fathers death.
Reversal
Derek takes Danny to school the next day and is notified by police that his former best friend and Cameron Alexander have been hospitalised and are heavily injured. Derek agrees to go and see them at the hospital in spite of his cut off from contact with them. Danny continues to school, and when he enters the bathroom there he is shot dead by the boy he confronted the previous day.
Resolution
The resolution of the film sees Derek running to the school having found out that his brother has died, blaming himself for planting the views in his head. He cradles his dead brother’s body and cries, in intense emotional pain. Over the top of this, Danny reads the end of his paper for Dr Sweeney quoting Abraham Lincoln and showing that he has changed his views.
Character Archetypes
The film overall has three main characters, those being the two brothers, Danny and Derek Vinyard, as well as Dr Bob Sweeney, the principal of the school that Derek used to attend and that Danny currently attends. Other prominent characters are Seth, Derek’s former best friend, Christopher Alexander, a prominent racist figure, and Lamont, an African-American man who Derek befriends in prison.
Derek is the main character and protagonist, initially shown in flashbacks as a teen being heavily influenced by his father. Derek is shown complementing Dr Bob Sweeney from his school, though his father denounces him with racist terms. Later, Derek is shown on TV with a racist rant towards African-Americans, driven by his hatred after his father is killed by an African-American. When he is targeted by the Crips, he brutally murders them and is sent to prison. Derek in this period seems incredibly angry and is easily manipulated further by both his father’s views and later, those of Cameron Alexander. Throughout the rest of the film from when he is imprisoned, he realises that the gang of white supremacists in the prison are willing to deal with non-white people, and also befriends Lamont. As well as being visited by Dr Sweeney, he slowly begins to understand that his views have just been a product of his anger and careful manipulation from Cameron Alexander, changing how he thinks. After this, his main quest is to change his brothers views as he loves him and does not want him to have the same views that he thinks are now harmful. At the end of the film his brother is ultimately killed, in part due to how Derek helped to instil those views in him, punishing him for his past behaviour.
Danny is the deuteragonist, and his story is not focused on as heavily as Derek’s. In his appearance in the flashback, Danny seems to be less angry and believes less in white supremacy than Derek, trying to stop him from going outside and attacking the Crips. However, his views are slowly shown to become more and more concerning, eventually showing him getting a white supremacy tattoo and being as close to Cameron Alexander as Derek used to be. However, Danny eventually is able to persuade him to stop these beliefs, though he is killed anyway.
Dr Bob Sweeney appears in the story as a mentor character. At first in the flashback Derek is positive towards him, showing that he could’ve potentially put Derek on the right path if his father had not been killed. He is explained to have also had a racist path but eventually corrected it and is now trying to also change Derek and later Danny’s views. He is shown to be willing to help both the brothers in spite of their previous hatred for him due to his race.
Seth is Derek’s best friend at the beginning of the film, and is shown as a follower of both Derek and Cameron Alexander. He is not as free-thinking or as much of a leader as either of these two, blindly following what others tell him as it is a way of getting approval. He also works as an example of what Derek’s views could have looked like if he was never in prison.
Cameron Alexander is the main villain in the story, as he further pushes those he sees are in a vulnerable state without figures to guide them and uses them for his own benefit, for example when Derek loses his father figure, Cameron almost takes his place, and does a similar thing when Danny loses Derek, he steps in as Danny’s figure to look up to. However this is very negative as he only leads them towards hateful, racist paths that end up making their lives worse.
Lamont is a man that Derek meets in prison. He is constantly shown joking around, using humour as a way to force Derek to like him, in direct opposition to Derek’s thoughts that he shouldn’t like anyone who is not white. Overall, despite not having much screen time, he is one of the main reasons for the biggest critical choice in the film – for Derek to give up being a white supremacist.
Derek Vinyard Timeline
The first we see of Derek Vinyard, he seems like a fairly average teen in school, talking about how he has a new teacher (Bob Sweeney) that he shows admiration for. However, his father is very negative about this new teacher due to his race, even using the n-word as an insult against him. Derek at this point in time seems to be quite impressionable, not confronting his father even though it goes against his actual beliefs. Later, when his father is killed by an African-American drug-dealer, he begins to rant racist beliefs on TV, driven by his grief of his dead father as well as notions that his father put into his head. Overall this racism seems to be more of a product of people around him, and a way to redirect his anger at his father’s death. Derek later associates and is arguably groomed by Cameron Alexander, a notable racist figure, starting a white supremacist group with him and his friends. He has constant arguments with his family members, even with Danny who looks up to him. After an altercation at a basketball court with members of the “Crips” gang, several “Crips” try and steal Derek’s truck, but he attacks them with a gun, brutally murdering one of them outside and is sentenced to prison for voluntary manslaughter. In prison, Derek notices how he is in the minority, with the other prisoners being mostly non-white. He joins a white-supremacy group in the prison yard, for protection. During his prison work time, he meets Lamont, a friendly African-American man who constantly jokes and is friendly with Derek in spite of how he knows he is a white supremacist. Over time, Derek becomes disgusted with the white-supremacist group as he sees them dealing with other non-white prisoners, claiming that they do not really believe in it as much as he does. His friendship with Lamont develops to the point where he even admits that Lamont was unfairly given extra time in prison due to his race. Eventually, Derek leaves the white supremacist group, but is brutally beaten and raped in the prison showers by them as revenge. In hospital, Bob Sweeney visits him and tells him that his brother is also becoming a white-supremacist, and Derek begs for him to help get him out of prison. Upon leaving the prison hospital, Derek ignores the white-supremacist group, but is warned by Lamont that it is likely other prisoners will now target him. In spite of this, Derek is never attacked and upon his prison release date realises Lamont saved him. After leaving, Derek goes home and sees his family, though is sad to see Danny now has a white-supremacy tattoo. Derek attends a white-supremacist party with Danny, seeking out Cameron Alexander and confronting him for using him for his own gain. He attacks him, and leaves after being surrounded by white supremacists. At home, Derek tells Danny of his experiences in prison and is able to convince him to stop being a white supremacist. The next day, Derek walks Danny to school, but is notified that his former best friend as well as Cameron Alexander are in the hospital and he leaves to see them. Whilst he is gone, his brother is murdered at school, and Derek rushes back to find him dead in the bathroom.
For my third film I chose The Lobster.
Stasis
The story begins with David, a middle aged man, being escorted to a hotel after his wife has left him for another man.
Trigger
The trigger in the film would be that upon reaching the hotel, David is told that he must find a partner in the hotel within 45 days or he will be turned into an animal. The guests are regularly shown propaganda about how superior it is to live as a couple versus alone. Couples seem to find each other by sharing minor attributes, such as “singing well”, “having nice hair”, “being cruel”, etc.
Quest
The quest in the film would be David’s attempts to find a romantic partner to avoid the fate of being turned into an animal. Later, his quest changes to allow him to continue to see the woman that he falls in love with after he has joined the people who want to be alone. During this quest he attempts to find a romantic partner in the hotel, choosing a woman who’s attribute is cruelty, so he tries to show himself as cruel, complaining about a woman who attempted suicide’s wailing as well as passing the cruel woman’s test of not saving her when she chokes on an olive.
Surprise
The surprise in the film is when David wakes to find that the cruel woman has kicked his dog (his brother who failed to find a romantic partner and was thus turned into a dog) to death. David begins to cry, and the woman attempts to turn him in, though he overpowers her with the help of a maid, who secretly works for the “loners” a group of people who prefer to be alone who live in the woods. David turns the cruel woman into an unspecified animal and escapes to the woods.
Critical Choice
The critical choice in the film is when David finds a short sighted woman in the woods who he shares this common attribute with, and they begin a hidden relationship, as relationships are forbidden by the woods community. David and the woman go on missions with the wood community, disrupting the hotel and feigning that they are a couple as a cover for when they enter the city.
Climax
The climax of the film comes when the leader of the people who prefer to be alone finds out that David and the short sighted woman have been having a relationship, which is not allowed. She blinds the short sighted woman so that David and her do not have a common attribute any more
Reversal
The reversal would be David attempting to try and find anything in common with the now blinded woman, but is unable to. Instead, he opts to murder the leader of the people who prefer to be alone, leaving her to be killed by wild dogs. David and the blind woman escape from the woods to the city.
Resolution
In the resolution, David enters a nearby restroom in a restaurant with a knife, preparing to blind himself in order to share an attribute with his partner, so that they can continue to live together in society.
Character Archetypes
David is the main protagonist of the film. Overall, the actions of the character’s and dialogue, body language etc are all somewhat odd so it’s hard to describe him without the rest of the film – how everyone else acts is a big part in how he is as a character. Overall he seems fairly depressed and unwilling to do much to change his fate throughout the first half of the film, eventually being forced into action to avoid being turned into an animal. He eventually becomes happier when he finds the short sighted woman.
The short-sighted woman is more of a deuteragonist, the audience still wants her to succeed, but a large part of that is due to her connection with David, who the audience follows for most of the film.
The hotel manager is one of the antagonists in the film; she represents the system that is forcing people to find romantic partners or else have a terrible fate.
The cruel woman is another villainous character, acting psychopathically towards others and eventually threatening to have David turned into an animal.
The leader of the loners initially seems like a positive character, as she allows some kind of freedom for people, but this is quickly turned around when you see that the loner society also has strict rules with harsh punishment just like the hotel.