the longing
The warrior stood, staring off into the distance. He stood in the middle of an empty valley, one lined with trees, snow, and the echoes of meaning now lost into the annals of history. The sky seemed bleak, the sun filtering through a haze of darkening clouds, a looming backdrop that made the goal all the more insurmountable. And yet still, the conflict was as inevitable as was the rise of a new day’s horizon.
His weapons were worn, chipped, and weathered from use, the evidence of past struggles and battles etching their fables across the tools of his victory. Yet still, he cradled them in each hand, the weight familiar, the grip understood, and the use understood. His clothes were worn, evidence of past travels leaving tears and marks in various places. And yet, he wore the same garments as when he first began his journey, wearing the stains upon himself with pride, as evidence of trials overcome.
Tales of the warrior were many, but sparse. Some said that they knew him. They knew his habits, they knew his tendencies. And yet, pressed for details, they found themselves at a loss to explain his most basic nature. Others simply knew of him. His name was familiar to many, either whispered on the lips of those who wished to exaggerate his adventures, or shouted with scorn after he had left to continue his journey. But always, there was a memory associated with any who recognized his name.
His name… His name was of the sort unforgettable. His name carried legend, carried myth, carried sorrow, carried strength. His name was dependable to those who knew him well, and yet perhaps this was his greatest struggle. For his was the nature of the guardian, always hoping to serve others, but not realizing that the relationship was often not mutual. Offering help, and receiving doubt and scorn in return.
The valley around him reflected to him the solitude of his nature. With the silence of the world surrounding him, birds did not sing, winds did not blow, and creatures made no movement. The echoes of meaning were no longer there, and in their place there was a deafening silence that served only to confirm his own realizations. He stood, facing this final challenge alone.
Those who would claim him as friends had long ago given up their contact. Those who would still claim him as friends felt just in openly mocking him. And why should they not? The warrior, his quiet nature intimidating to most, seemed to exude dispassion, encouraging those close to him to abandon him to his personal ambitions. Those around him were kept at an arm’s length, and they shared their enthusiasm in kind, simply walking in the other direction.
They saw not the pain in his eyes, or the sorrow in his heart. They felt not the ache in his mind, nor made any attempt to inquire of his inner helplessness. Instead, they saw only what they would allow their eyes to see, and felt that by seeing his appearance, they knew his heart. Wrong they were.
Billowing clouds continued to darken, casting their shadow across his stature, as he gazed into the darkness. His goal lay there, hidden in the trees, but real nonetheless, but still it was cast in shadow. As the rain looked about to fall, he continued his march, hoping that there, in the abyss that awaited him, answers may lay in wait. The struggle would be epic, and the battle nearly insurmountable, and yet he knew that there was no other way.
And so these weapons would be utilized for one last thrust, and though the outcome was uncertain, this much was sure.
He would march to the summit alone.
8-Part Story Structure: Fifth Sequence
Sequence 5: The Calm Before the Storm
After pushing the protagonist to his or her limits at the end of the fourth sequence, there needs to be a moment of calm where our hero can rebuild his strength. Often times, this is the part in the story where the hero is at his lowest. He’s lost something tantamount. He feels like he can’t go on, but knows that he must. Very often, there is someone at his side who is there to remind him not only of his duty, but also of what he must do.
This scene is essential, because it allows us to empathize with the characters in a way that helps us to feel like we truly know them. We’ve seen them through several highs and lows, but now we’re seeing them handling their greatest failure. Do they force through it reluctantly? Or are they unflinching? If you want to deepen the audience understanding of the character, you must show what happens when they are at their lowest.
This sequence is often short, but unbelievably powerful, and memorable if done right. And to illustrate this, let’s take a look at the Christopher Nolan film, The Dark Knight.
In the film, Bruce Wayne was resigned to give himself to the police in an effort to stem The Joker’s tide of murders across Gotham. But at the last moment, Harvey Dent took his place, claiming that he himself was The Batman, and offering himself up to be arrested.
This leads to a difficult chase as Bruce, as Batman, must rescue Harvey from The Joker’s attempt to destroy the police convoy, and at the same time capture the Joker once and for all.
But of course, nothing with The Joker is ever so simple. After a powerful scene in the interrogation room, Batman is only able to save Harvey, during which time the former DA is horribly disfigured, and his childhood friend Rachel is obliterated in a violent warehouse explosion.
It is at this time that we see Bruce in his home, clutching the Batman cowl, and peering with agony into the events that his becoming the Dark Knight has brought upon him and Gotham.
Bruce Wayne: Alfred…
Alfred: Yes, Master Wayne?
Bruce Wayne: Did I bring this on her? I was meant to inspire good. Not…madness. Not…death.
Alfred: You have inspired good. But you spat in the faces of Gotham’s criminals; didn’t you think there might be some casualties? Things were always gonna get worse before they got better.
Bruce Wayne: But Rachel, Alfred…
Alfred: Rachel believed in what you stood for. What we stand for. Gotham needs you.
Bruce Wayne: No, Gotham needs its true hero…and I let that murdering psychopath blow him half to hell.
Alfred: Which is why, for now, they’re gonna have to make do with you.
Alfred acts as Bruce’s conscience, telling him what he already knows, comforting him in his time of need, but not allowing him simply to give up. Bruce must take up the mantle of The Batman, and he can’t simply let The Joker win. Now the calm is over, and the storm of climax is just in front of us.
The fifth sequence is about the protagonist gathering his forces. It’s a point in the film that is often called the “False Ending”. It looks like the antagonist has won, and that all hope is lost. If the hero were to give up right now, the story would be complete, and the ending would be such that the villain had won. Now, of course, that would leave some questions unanswered, but the audience at this point should get a sense of calm, and the action should take a lull.
But, of course, it’s not going to stay that way for long.
Summary
- This is the lowest point of the story for the protagonist.
- This is truly a calm before the storm of the climax, where the protagonist must muster his forces for one last, final strike against the antagonist.
- Often, other characters will act as the protagonist’s conscience, showing them what they must do to overcome this seemingly insurmountable enemy.
a beautiful oblivion
Even as I sit here, typing on my keyboard, I realize that I should be getting to bed, not click-clacking away in front of the computer screen. But there’s just something compelling me right now. For some reason, I have this urge to write something out. It’s this need to be typing, to be creating. It’s as if the blank page here is an invitation that I just can’t ignore, and I must somehow fill it with something. I just can’t leave space white any longer.
This need is only compounded by the fact that I haven’t put anything up in a few weeks, even though I’ve checked the page several times, and often said out-loud to myself, “I should really put up a post.” It’s like my dust-gathering journal that I will often write in out of guilt, simply because I’d committed to myself to do it, wrote in it for a grand total of a couple days, and then placed it on the shelf with a number of other unfulfilled good intentions.
Another reason for this obtuse barrage of prose comes from the fact that I just finished a 12-hour day on a set that didn’t really need me. I mean, yeah, I did move a couple of things from here to there, but there was no challenge, there was no hustle, and there was no brainpower to my entire day. The most stimulation that I got out of today was the four cans of Dr. Pepper that I downed from craft services.
Honestly, standing around for 12-hours in the snow while having to move a shiny board a couple feet every half hour or so is anything but fulfilling, and I guess I just need some kind of outlet. While I’ve definitely worked some mind-numbing jobs in the past, I’ve never been on such a dull set before. It was just kind of absurd. And the problem is that I’m supposed to go to set again tomorrow, and I need to find some way to keep things interesting. Maybe I’ll bring a book or something, which is unbelievably taboo on most sets.
But geez, if they’re just having me do a free job for twelve hours that you could get any half-trained monkey to do, then I need something a little more interesting to dwell on.
And since I’m talking about life, why is it that my life seemed ready to pounce on me as soon as I got back from winter break? It was like everything was waiting for the moment that I returned to attack me all at once. I’ve got three shoots in the wings, my pilot jumping into production, my family needing help down south, on top of schoolwork that’s just starting up along with a broken heater that needs repairing and a mess of classes to go to that I would really rather just ignore.
Oh well. If I wasn’t able to juggle that kind of list on a daily basis, I just wouldn’t be me. My life is one that just demands constant organization, and I’ve just had to get used to that. So good to meet you, 2010. Welcome to my world. I’m going to kick your ass. Ha!
- K
