The Auto-Myth
A couple of years ago I helped a friend (@JulianFriedmann who is a UK film/book agent) launch a site for screenwriters, TwelvePoint. I’ve talked to him many times over the years about storytelling. In fact I contributedpart of a chapter to his book “How to Make Money Screenwriting“. That chapter talked about the physiological/psychological effects of watching a movie, and what screenwriters might do with that information. For instance, did you know that if you sympathise with a character on the screen who is running, your leg muscles will twitch in sync to their running?
Of course one of the basic truths about screenwriting (particularly US screenwriting) is the common structure of movie screenplay. There’s a focus point in the narrative around page 15, a turning point around page 30, another focus point around midway, and a final turning point about 15 pages or so from the end (each page translates roughly to a minute). Analysis shows that the vast majority of US movies are based on this formula – next time you watch a movie, check it out, it works.
This, and countless books and research, all point towards stories having a basic, common structure. So it made perfect sense to me when I read about people looking at the concept of an ”Automyth“. People (mainly in and around computer gaming) are looking at this, so there’s a lot of reference to fairy tales and ghosts and wizards and everything Terry Pratchett-esque. For instance someone has created an online “Fairy Tale Generator” at http://www.brown.edu/Courses/FR0133/Fairytale_Generator/gen.html which does an okay job of fixing up a tale based on a bunch of selected inputs like “victory”, “rescue” or “difficult task”.
True, mainstream Automovies or Autobestseller novels are a little way away, it seems, but can it be that long before the first computer-generated bestseller hits a screen near you. The technology to create the visual image, spoken word and automated music are there already. All we’re missing is a piece of software that can generate a decent story.
UPDATE: Julian just sent me the following tweet: @alexkelleher I am the friend Alex helped; great blog in light of claims the 3 acts doesn’t work. Read Bettleheim Uses of Enchantment.
