From the course: Creating a Short Film: 02 Writing

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Borrowing from archetypes

Borrowing from archetypes

- How many times have you gone to the movies, and been let down because it feels like you've seen the exact same movie a dozen times before? Ideas have been recycled so much, that us writers tend to swear off anything that's ever been done before, in the name of creating something that's completely new and original. But this tutorial is a plea that you might rethink that plan a little bit. There are so many archetypes of story, archetypes of character, archetypes of relationships, they've been around for decades, sometimes centuries. These archetypes have been around for so long, because they're very accurate and honest. And if they seem generic, it's only because they aren't done well. Let's look at story archetypes, for example. The Wizard of Oz is essentially a story about a young person that doesn't like it at home, but once they get sent far away, will do anything to get back home. This is also the plot of Back to the Future. But I seriously doubt that many people sat there, in…

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