During a recent conversation with my mom, I was introduced to the idea that all stories, movies, books, plays, musicals can boil down to seven basic plots. I have attached the main document below. For future reference, I will break down these Seven Plots.
1. Overcoming The Monster
This one is very common. When I think of this one, I usually think of Disney movies.
An evil exists in the town/village/world ------> It threatens peace ------> A hero, usually with a special weapon or ability, must confront and slay the monster ------> The hero narrowly wins ------> Peace is restored.
2. Rags to Riches
Common, too. I think of Cinderella and many superhero movies follow this plot.
The Hero was scarred or changed at a young age, the story begins with the hero in poor conditions ------> Hero for the most part is good and angelic, but lives in the shadow of the villain, who may be secretly jealous of the hero ------> The hero's inner beauty shows through and becomes outer beauty ------> A crisis arises, and the hero prevails, becoming independent and stronger(finds their inner voice).
3. The Quest
This reminds me of lessons about individualism and overcoming your own fears, I also think this sometimes has a comedic aspect or irony behind it.
Destruction/Fear/Dark Times arise and interrupt peace ------> Hero sets out with his companions(all who have their own motives) to return the peace ------> The group runs into many trials, testing each of them, and shows individual strength and growth ------> With the goal in sight, the group faces a terrible obstacle ------> Nearly misses the goal, but overcome, sometimes at a cost ------> Peace and normal life is restored, with the heroes achieving new status.
4. The Comedy
This one confused me because I do not know if this is just limited to comedy.
Dark/Evil Characters Imprison/Interrupt the Good Characters ------> Characters' true identities and goals are slowly revealed ------> Characters discover who they should truly "pair" with ------> Separation is removed, and peace is restored.
5. Tragedy
I highly recommend looking at the document for this one at it is explained very well. This is also my personal favorite story, it is very intriguing from a lighting stance.
Hero is unfulfilled until a certain quest arises ------> Hero pursues quest and it goes unexpectedly well ------> Darkness slowly peeks through, Hero may consider dark actions to pursue quest ------> Hero loses all control, darkness surrounds them ------> Final act comes and kills our hero, karma may be involved ------> Lesson Painfully Learned.
6. Rebirth
This one is especially up for interpretation, fairytales are common for this.
Young, usually pure hero falls under dark shadow ------> False sense of hope of hero winning is given, then taken away ------> Hero is imprisoned in a dark state ------> A "helper" is needed to achieve victory and redeem the hero.
7. Voyage and Return
This one seems to be very common, too. Many storylines can boil down to this one.
Hero may be bored, until they discover a new world/way of life ------> Hero is uneasy at first, but then falls in love with the new world, and forgets about the old one ------> Dark force interferes with happiness and keeps intruding ------> Dark force then dominates the new world ------> Situation may be resolved, but the hero returns to the first world and that life, questioning if the new world existed.
Do I agree with the seven plots?
Although I was skeptical at first, I believe that this can be applied to almost any story. Some stories may combine multiple aspects of the 7 plots, but it can all be boiled down to the 7. I put this to the test by just thinking of any movies or plays I have recently seen, and they all to some extent can be one of these.
Shrek - Where does it fall?
My most recent Musical I designed the light for would fall under Plot 1, with a mix of Plot 3 & 4 here and there. The heroes peace is interrupted and he has to confront the monster, mixed with individualism and discovering oneself.
Can this be applied for lighting?
You will have to listen to my upcoming podcast to figure that out ;)
Looking at these articles and documents definitely changed how I see theater and I believe will change how I light shows. More to come on my podcast.
Document Used: http://www.lclitlab.net/american-literature/fourth-quarter/1st-quarter-resources/seven-basic-plots-student.pdf
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