Screenplay Movie: Citizen Kane (1941) Deconstructed

From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters....

The Hero's Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero's Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more...

Sample Movie Deconstructed: Citizen Kane (1941)

FADE IN: Context: a coming attraction; some people on the Journey and reference to the Hero.

Hero's Status and Reputation [referenced by others]: talking about Mr Kane.

Hero's Inner Challenge: Rosebud.

Hero's Ordinary World: Xanadu.

Hero's Backstory: the newsreel.

Call to Adventure: what is Rosebud?

Refusal: she won't talk, the 2 nd Mrs Kane.

Threshold Guardian: the librarian.

Meeting the Mentor: Walter Thatcher wants to take the kid away.

Resistance to the Journey: Kane's Father doesn't want him sent away; Kane [as a child] resists.

Forced to the Journey: it's Kane's mother that decides; "where you can't get at him