Learning about Stories

I have still not come up with a set story for my movie. However, I do have certain ideas or pictures in my head on what I would like to do. Because I was so troubled with how stories work and their order, I decided to research how a story works and find some sort of formula so I can fit the pieces together. By watching the video "Writing 101: Story Structure" I was able to learn something I didn't know before and now it is hard not to see in every movie I watch or every story I hear. The video explains how Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero's Journey" makes a formula for story telling. The entirety of it has 3 acts. The first act contains the introduction of the hero and it's normal life, something that throws off the balance of the hero's world, a call to adventure, and then a refusal to the adventure. Next, act 2 consists of good trailer footage, "fun and games", secondary characters being introduced, midpoint or false victory, everything falling apart, and then a breakthrough to keep the hero going.

Finally, act 3 has the final battle which then leads the character to live its "new normal life." Watching this crash course and taking notes is really going to help me take pieces of all my ideas and fit into place. Because I am doing this project alone, I am somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of work that is all carried by me, and I am my own boss. Now I am going to brainstorm my ideas on the film. As I was trying to understand how stories work, a lightbulb went off in my head that made me remember that my dad is an actor knows all about how movies work. I know who I'm getting advice from.