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Mythic structures and hero psychology

Mythic structures and hero psychology

It has been some time now since my last book checkup and since then I have found other interesting books.

This post will primarily focus, as the title says, on so-called “mythic structures” as well as “hero analysis” and the psychology of characters.
Why this specific theme you ask? Well for starters I like reading/studying/talking about the human nature and specifically heroes/villains and other tragedy-based structures (what a previous post hinted at).
I also believe that to make something “new” you have to make it with some “old” (Faire du neuf avec du vieux as we say in French). What we call “original” is only a mixture so dense of things that we can’t pin-point where it’s coming from and/or what has inspired it.
For instance in storylines, Lost has put a “new” spin on time-travel (or at the very least made it hype) but stories about time-travel has been around for centuries.

Beyond the content is probably something greater: structure.

Structure has been analysed for centuries, even millenniums, way back when Homer wrote (or rather told) his Iliad.
In the last decades, this analysis has been transposed to scripts and screenplays. Scripts and movies were broken down and compared to other literary pieces to try to found out the common links, not the least of which being Robert McKee’s Story.
Besides script acts, and structures, “heroes arcs” and “heroes journeys” have been analysed and also broken down. These mythical archetypes lead obviously to mythic structures.
This is one of the specialties of mythologists, including Joseph Campbell.
Campbell wrote a fascinating book around his theories of the journey of archetypal heroes in various mythologies from around the globe. This book led to a memo written by Christopher Vogler (a development exec) to Disney studios about how to use Campbell’s book for screenwriting. This memo led to various critically-acclaimed movies Disney movies such as The Beauty and the Beast, Aladin and The Lion King. Vogler also worked on a small movie called Fight Club.
Soon after, Christopher Vogler expanded his memo and published a book around it where he explored not only Campbell’s work (and Jung’s) but expanded it to correlate directly to screenwriting.

Vices, virtues and dilemmas should also not be forgotten in the world of screenwriting. Identifying the “moral premise” behind a story is essential to understanding why this particular story touches us, affects us. It is also what will ultimately give dimension and consistency to a great story. Few books deal with this in direct correlation with screenwriting. The Moral Premise by Stanley D Williams appears to be right on target by clearly and easily linking past and present stories, both in theory and practice.

On the other side of mythical stories and structures we have what is inside the character’s head, the character’s psychology. A lot of books have been written on the subject but few aimed at screenwriters. William Indick’s Psychology for Screenwriters seems to be one of the only books I have come across dealing exclusively with this. Comprehending the psyche of your characters can only benefit your writing and your story, especially in the television medium where characters are the medium.

How to land that first job in television

How to land that first job in television

Devon DeLapp posted a while ago a technique he used to land a job on a TV Show even though he was a “complete stranger to the entertainment industry”. The website is long gone, but I managed to find his original post:

How did a complete stranger to the entertainment industry (me) land a job in TV? The short answer is I called the production office of every show shooting the Greater LA, and asked about their “staffing needs”. A few were hiring, some interviewed me, and one hired.

But, of course, there’s more to it than that. It was mostly a robotic task that took more effort than ingenuity. However, there are a few things to know. First, most of the jobs are seasonal:

Pilots hire in mid-January to late-February.
Dramas hire late-May to late-June.
Comedies hire late-June to mid-July.

Any other time of the year, the job hunt becomes more difficult,
though positions do pop up (usually people being replaced, or for
mid-season shows, or smaller network shows (like HBO, USA, etc.) who
follow different schedules). But, really, all you need to do is call the show and ask if they’re hiring. That cold call is what will introduce you to them, and is the first step towards landing a job.

How do you find the numbers of the production office of all those shows (I counted 96 in Los Angeles along this past season)? A few web sites list which projects are going into production, but my favorite is TheFutonCritic.com. They list the projects in development and production. Specifically, we’re looking for the ones that have been approved for a pilot (as opposed to just being scripts) or are in current production. Futon Critic should list for each show the production company (who makes the show) and the network (who’s paying for and possibly airing it). A newcomer may have the best luck with a pilot because:

1. A whole new crew is being brought in, presenting more opportunities, as opposed to an established show where many crew members are returning.

2. This is just my opinion, but I think because it is a smaller commitment of time (again, as opposed to a full season, established show), the people in charge are slightly less particular about who they hire.

Next step, once you know the projects out there, you can get the number for their production office by calling the production company, OR calling the studio lots they are being made on. For example, CLOSE TO HOME is a Warner Bros produced show, but it is shot on the Sony lot in Culver City. I found their number by calling the Sony lot operator (310-202-1234), and asking for the number to the CLOSE TO HOME production office. I also could have called the Warner mainline (818-954-6000), and possibly received the same info. Or, because it’s a Bruckheimer show, you would call his office, and they’d tell you the number. All those mainlines and lot phone numbers are in the yellow pages.

Once you have the production office number, you start calling.

And calling.

And calling.

I never counted the exact number of calls I placed before landing a position, but I spent four to five hours each day, for several weeks, just c dialing these shows. I would call each show once every week or two. Once I had someone on the line, I’d essentially run through this following script:

“Hi, this is Devon DeLapp. I’m a production assistant. I was wondering if your show was still staffing.”

YES IT IS: “Great, could I fax in my resume? Who’s attention should I send that to?”

NO, WE HAVING STARTED HIRING YET/ARE ALREADY STAFFED UP/SUCK: “Would it be alright if I still faxed in my resume? Who’s attention should I send that to?”

Be unflinchingly polite and always thank who you speak with for their time. FYI, it is generally the Production Coordinator who hires the PAs, although sometimes it can be the Assistant Production Office Coordinator (APOC), or if the show is still getting setup and a POC or APOC have not been hired yet, it may an Associate Producer or someone like that.

For your resume, just include any relevant experience. The keyword job titles that people look for are “Production” and “Assistant” — list anything with that in the title. Did a few student films? It’s okay to list them. People realize that as a PA, you’re probably new to the industry and they’re not expecting a huge amount of experience. Just present yourself as best you can. Always be sure to spell check everything. References can help a lot, particularly if they’re from someone in the industry.

And keep calling. Follow-up. Rinse, repeat, you get the idea. Write down everything. Ask for people by name whenever you can. It became such an enormous hassle to track all the numbers and names, I put together a tool called Job Hunter to help me track it.

Anyway, eventually, hopefully, if you’re friendly and professional sounding enough, someone in need will ask you to come in for an interview. Here’s what I learned about interviewing for PA jobs:

Appear willing to do anything.

That seems to be the top order. I mean, good hygiene and a winning smile are all important, but really what the boss wants is someone who will do the work well, without a hassle, and help them look good.

I think a reasonable ratio would be four to eight interviews before being offered a position. Any more than that, and I would suggest taking a close look at how you’re presenting yourself.

And that’s really the basics. There’s tons of little things, of course, but you’ll pick them up along the way.

Although certainly not a miracle solution, I’ve heard that it indeed worked for some people. So even though it takes a lot of patience and mindless typing to get through it, if it works…
He also posted a nice tool to help you cope with the numbers and names you get during the process.
I bet it can also be used for other stuff!

Anyway, there’s also a key thing to keep in mind when applying for a PA job: Appear willing to do anything.
A reasonable ratio before being offered a position is 4 to 8 interviews. So if you don’t get offered one after that, revise yourself!

Good luck in your hunt.

Floppy music and a cure for jet lag

Remember the good ol’ days of the floppy disk?
Well the floppy is now trying to break into the music business.

Also, an interesting research showed that if you fast for 16 hours prior to the time you (would want to) wake up, and then eat a big meal, your internal clock will sync with your “food clock” (yeah that’s right, there are 2 clocks inside you). It takes a wait of 16 hours before an eat to reset the internal clock and allow it to resync with the food clock. You will then, the next time, wake up at around the same time you would eat that big wake-up meal.
What’s the point of this you might ask. This is interesting news if you want to limit the effects of jet lag and/or need/want to wake-up early.
It might work, it might not. I’ll try this out when I go off to NYC.