Interstellar - Dan Harmon's Story Circle

In this video, we talk about what the story circle is, who created it, and how to apply it to Christopher Nolan's Interstellar.

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[cinemainsidr]

Thanks for watching, tell us your favorite movie!

[diegofloor]

that scene where he checks his messages always gets to me. Way too intense.

[TeleMAc]

I'd like to mention the part of #2 which is the heartbeat of the story - sure Cooper wants to save his family but he also REALLY wants to explore. Murph is aware of this and to some degree feels like her father chose it over her. This is basically a self insert by Nolan - you can't make the films he does without being away from your family for extended periods of time - and it's his struggle with this that's the emotional core of the film, more than simply his love for his daughter.

[dinkmartini]

Instead of saying Harmon invented the story circle, it might be more appropriate to say he modified Campbell's Hero's Journey which is also cyclical and shares many of the same points and concepts. Harmon's simplification is brilliant, digestible and much appreciated but it was hardly his "invention."

[getreal]

Ironically, Dan Harmon doesn't like Interstellar, and even went as far to say that Christopher Nolan is a director in desperate need of a quality screenplay during an episode of Harmontown.

[TheRoyalGlove]

I believe a good story consist of having great conflict. Conflict in each acts, scenes, and even within dialogue. If you look at Tarantino’s movies and his concept on story structure which he doesn’t really abide by, each of his scenes, character interactions, and his rich dialogue all involves conflict which moves the story forward and it works. I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way of telling a story as long as there is consistent conflict that moves the story forward.

[ralphacosta]

I look forward for your production to develop and grow, I hope you continue.

[hkjerry]

Man this is good, would love to see another update from you!

[sofiap]

This video is amazing my A/V teacher had me watch this and its so easy to understand

[MixTV]

Well explained and thank you, but every movie has a general story circle and 4 story circles, Act 1 has one and act 2 has two and act 3 has one, you are talking about the general story circle Cooper's change is when he leaves his daughter again for a new love and a new hope in life which is Dr. Brand. because he loves his daughter he couldn't let her go until he is reunited with her again and let her go.

[BDCPTaoongDuong]

The time interstellar theme music is on, i start to click the subscribe button

[PatrickBatticeKN]

you simplified this so much for me... Thanks!

[Dennnny]

Great, I love that. More information I now learned that I never understood until now..

[basilwhite]

This isn't Harmon's invention, it's Joseph Campbell's Metamodel from 1949

[bunlysh]

I like that explanation.
Fave film - uh - Lammbock .. or something.

[patrickgamble]

the guys that don't follow a formula probably subconsciously write a story that closely fits in with the circle - we have all seen so many movies I guess it is intrinsic to us on what makes a good story but to be able to define the formula on what is a good story is infinitely harder than to simply recognise a good story - I kinda hate the idea of writing by numbers but Harmon makes it look easy. I also think its just as important that you make the main protagonist relatable.

[grantonthefly]

This is a great vid. You should keep going with the channel ✌

[tomlewis]

Chinatown.

I have no issue with this concept, but I think it works best for sequences inside longer stories than for entire stories. So it probably makes more sense for movies and TV show episodes than it does for novels and trilogies. In those, the story structure is exponentially more complicated, and fits the 3-act structure a lot better.

After all, Dan Harmon (smart, talented, successful) is not someone who writes long-form fiction. My best guess is that he's never sold a story longer than 22 minutes, meaning likely never wrote a script longer than 2200 words. In a long-form story, that's hardly even a chapter. And every TV episode is equivalent to a sequence or a short story. So he needed to come up with a plan that worked for that, the one thing he was doing as a storyteller. And, he did. Good for him. Nothing wrong with that.

'Having changed' does not sound 'circular' to me. A story arc does need change, but that does not mean a 'return to comfort', unless your half-hour timeslot is running out. The hero's journey also has a return, but it is much more about change. TV episodes characteristically have little change in them, likely bc the network wants to give the viewer something familiar to the previous episode. They want the characters to be what was expected last week.

Too much character growth, and CSI wouldn't have had 350 episodes, and you would not have been able to set your watch accurately at 10 minutes to straight up based on when the criminal broke down on the stand in Law & Order. That's sort of the antithesis of good storytelling, and what makes stories really good.

Also, there are tons of stories where the protagonist does not 'get what they want' (Chinatown). And tons more where the protagonist does not 'pay a heavy price'.

I think the first four points do mimic the 3-act structure and most other story structures, but the rest seems really constricted and funneled into a recipe, or a formula, which is the reason Hollywood has cratered in the last two decades. Every Pixar movie is the same exact story with names changed. Every other movie is some version of Transformers.

But if broadcast TV in the 90's and 2000's is what's expected of you, I guess recipe and formula makes sense.

[datlam]

For me mainly I think after I've watched many video explain dan harmon's story circle vs 3 ACT i see it's up to you meaning is you can use what the heck you want whatever tell a good story It's up to you. Anyway references and start to write something ! Thanks for video and all way keep it simple f*K up

[namelesswalaby]

What’s funny is that Dan Harmon allegedly hates this movie