Shirocco
2008-01-30, 10:13 PM
Didn't see anything like this on the first page of posts, so i'm starting this to see what people here have to say.
What i'm talking about is the nuts and bolts of what makes a good story, what makes it better than simply a story for entertainment's sake. While there are many books and movies around which can be entertaining most of them don't leave you with much of a message, or a strong meaning - they simply entertain. For example, a lot of action flicks like Die Hard may be entertaining but lack the real message of some dramas or really good action flicks, like The Power of One. Another example is that while the Slayer books of Warhammer are entertaining, they don't have much of a meaning compared with Lord of the Rings, wherin the heroes made sacrifices and by the end had changed the way they lived their lives, and what they believed.
One of the creators behind a recent film (Constantine, a movie depiction of the old Hellblazer comics) said in an interview that the key of a fallen hero myth is to have a protaganist who has lost his "holy" grace - he's no longer living good life and has fallen into a rut. Typically another character shows the hero what he must do, and does do over the story, is change his life. He makes a sacrifice, a word which he said means literally "To make holy", changes how his lives and breaks the rut, becomming a true hero again. This, according to the film mogel, is the foundation of many old myths and stories.
However there's more than one type of myth, and i'd wager more than one way to go about making a good one. What do you guys think makes a great story, one that inspires?
What i'm talking about is the nuts and bolts of what makes a good story, what makes it better than simply a story for entertainment's sake. While there are many books and movies around which can be entertaining most of them don't leave you with much of a message, or a strong meaning - they simply entertain. For example, a lot of action flicks like Die Hard may be entertaining but lack the real message of some dramas or really good action flicks, like The Power of One. Another example is that while the Slayer books of Warhammer are entertaining, they don't have much of a meaning compared with Lord of the Rings, wherin the heroes made sacrifices and by the end had changed the way they lived their lives, and what they believed.
One of the creators behind a recent film (Constantine, a movie depiction of the old Hellblazer comics) said in an interview that the key of a fallen hero myth is to have a protaganist who has lost his "holy" grace - he's no longer living good life and has fallen into a rut. Typically another character shows the hero what he must do, and does do over the story, is change his life. He makes a sacrifice, a word which he said means literally "To make holy", changes how his lives and breaks the rut, becomming a true hero again. This, according to the film mogel, is the foundation of many old myths and stories.
However there's more than one type of myth, and i'd wager more than one way to go about making a good one. What do you guys think makes a great story, one that inspires?