Contents

1. How to write screenplays using Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp approach
2. Introduction
3. Why Propp if there is the Campbell writing?
4. Functions
5. Creating New Stories: Propp Cards
6. Supporting elements: Connections
7. Supporting elements: Motivators
8. How it works
9. Conclusion

Introduction

Who is Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp, quoted by many foreign screenplay manuals? Why had his work become so popular among screenwriters, that in the professional community people even started talking about overusing of this approach?

Indeed, many other scholars were engaged in folk art, and they have also noticed that many elements in fairy tales repeat themselves constantly. Attempts to somehow describe and systematize these recurrences to create a lean fairy tale structure, have been made repeatedly. However, it was only Propp who has managed to create a methodology flexible and versatile enough, which allowed it to be applied to other formats as well. By the way, this has happened already against the author’s will, as he had deliberately limited his research solemnly by fairy tales, being afraid of losing some in scientific accuracy.

So, right from the start I would like to focus your attention on the fact that the Russian philologist, folklorist, Leningrad University professor has never written anything about movies. On the one hand, this is a very bad start for the “how to write a screenplay” book. But on the other hand, Joseph Campbell, the worldwide famous American mythology explorer, has not written anything about screenplays either. However, his works are in every serious Hollywood screenwriter’s library.

How did that happen?

A motion picture is a young art comparing to painting, literature and poetry, and it didn’t have a solid theoretical basis from the beginning. While a motion picture was just an attraction, this basis wasn’t really required. The first directors were just filming crowd on a street. And it was enough for a box-office success. Everything was done by one single person and a separate screenwriter profession did not exist at all.

Sure enough, a viewer got bored of watching the screen, as through the window to the street, pretty fast, and authors started making up new tricks. They were moving a camera and went to different places with it. Then circus actors came into movies — clowns, acrobats and bearded women. Then gradually camera started filming actors and acting out simple scenes as in a theatre.

And when a motion picture became more complicated, it got clear that viewers like good stories a lot more than they like tricks and simple special effects. They started to take a backseat and that’s how a screenwriting was born.

But a weak foundation cannot hold a big and complicated construction. Writers came to the movies aid. For some time, film adaptation of books worked pretty well, but all the more movies were filmed. They were becoming more and more complex and a viewer was getting choosier. It was not easy to surprise him, and the literary material was ending.

Gradually a motion picture has become an independent art, but for quite a long time the screenwriting theory was limited with just general words. Every author could hope only for his own hunch, experience and talent. This continued until George Lucas had filmed his famous Star Wars. Film release was like an explosion. It has created a new motion picture and its own mythology. As an indirect process of this phenomenon, there was a surge of interest in common mythology. Although Lucas wrote the first movie in the old way, by touch, after its tremendous success the director has found out with surprise that he had been walking the same way as authors of ancient myths had.

There was nothing surprising about it. Firstly, viewers story perception has its laws, common to all humanity. Secondly, George Lucas himself studied these laws at Modesto Junior College, where he was taught anthropology, sociology and literature.

After success of his movies, Lucas reread “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell, which he had studied in college, and in creating his next movies he deliberately used the mythology structure. George Lucas’s loud public announcements about kinship of fantastic plots and myths have led to popularity increase of Campbell scientific writings as well.

To facilitate a screenwriter work over a complicated book, Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood producer, writes a small manual “A Practical Guide to The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. And in 2007 he issues an expanded version of it — “The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for writers”.

What does it all have to do with Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp, the Russian scientist, who wrote his most famous “The Morphology of the Fairy-tale” writing in 1934? The thing is, his researches resonate closely with what Campbell describes. Not without reason Christopher Vogler mentions Propp frequently in his writing.

After it became clear to everyone, that stories told by movies were of the same nature as all other stories in the world, there was a surge of interest in their theory. This is where Propp’s work came in handy.

Propp’s book went down in the history of European philology in 1958, when it was translated into English. The American edition has immediately received a lot of enthusiastic responses in press. Many scholars believe that the philologist’s writing was far ahead of his time. Therefore, it is no coincidence that around the same time a new science of cybernetics gained recognition, the science with which Propp methods had much in common.

And in his motherland Propp’s writing was known by specialists only. Actually, it’s no wonder, considering constant authority attacks on this whole scientific direction because of its disagreement with Marks and Lenin teaching.

As the professor Elizabeth Warner, the Head of the Russian Language Department at Durham University, writes in her book “Vladimir Propp, 1895 1970: The Study of Russian Folklore and Theory”: “…it may be suggested that ‘Morphology’ could’ve been left relatively unknown in Russia, except to the specialists circle, if foreign critics would have failed to pay attention to it”.

Personally, I am sure that practical western writers, journalists and screenwriters have appreciated immediately the Russian scholar writing’s potential, as they understood how it could be used in their daily work, namely creation of new stories. But there was no simple and clear methodology on how to do it when creating screenplays, until now. And this is the gap I hope to fill.

Why Propp if there is the Campbell writing?

The most ancient and widespread stories are myths and fairy tales. Although they are close relatives, nevertheless these forms should not be confused.

Let’s begin with the fact that the fairy tale scheme by itself is a lot more developed and complicated, than the mythology one. A myth is an ancient conservative form, but it lies in the basis of a fairy tale, as Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp writes. A myth tells about creation of the world, in which gods and similar heroes act. This is largely a sacred text, narrating about creation of all things existing.

This is what Campbell tells us about the difference between a fairy tale and a myth in his “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” book: “As a rule, a fairy tale hero achieves a local victory within his microcosm, whereas a myth hero achieves worldwide historical macrocosm triumph. While a fairy tale hero is the youngest or despised child, who gets extraordinary abilities and defeats his own abusers, a myth hero at the end of his adventure obtains a means of revival of all his community in whole”.

That is, in fairy tales, even with a presence of variety of magical creatures, the main characters are simple humans. Which naturally makes stories like this a lot closer to nowadays viewers. Besides, working with a fairy tale is a lot more convenient.

In his writing Propp specifies several times, that he works with a very narrow topic, which is a folklore. He keeps his distance deliberately and tries not to touch any other form of creativity, although he mentions them from time to time. It’s clear that this is the absolutely correct scientific approach. However, as the time has shown, a certain fairy tale case helps to uncover many general laws of making story.

In fact, this is exactly why the Russian scholar’s writing has become world famous, having created the basis for the modern text theory. Experienced screenwriters know how to put plane scientific facts to good practical use.

I use their approach, just like Christopher Vogler did with Campbell theories, and I will try to create a comprehensive instruction for screenwriters.

I hope it will help authors, and Propp will come to having his own George Lukas.

Functions

To figure out how Propp’s discoveries can be used in screenwriting, it is necessary to understand what exactly he had discovered. How does his approach differ from methods of other researchers, who studied the same topic?

The basis in the Propp approach are functions. When the scholar started analyzing fairy tales, he found out that with all the diversity of magic stories, it is precisely the functions that are repeated. Meaning, that some actions and situations are found again and again, regardless of characters, conditions and an environment. For example, in terms of the fairytale structure, it does not matter who fights whom and when. The main thing is the battle itself. And it makes no difference if the prince is fighting a witch or if the peasant is fighting a dragon. Important things are the place and the result of this battle in the overall dramatic structure.

This structure works as a unified system, and its basis is separate elements and the logical connection among them. Every story has its own set and combination of these elements, which provides diversity and originality of plots. These elements are functions.

This discovery allowed Russian scholar to systematize fairy tales, identify patterns of their structure, as well as to outline a creative method of making new stories.

Propp writes: “A fairy tale attributes easily the same actions to people, items and animals… Fairy tales have one special feature: composite parts of one story can be transferred to the other one without any changes… Let’s take a theme ‘a Serpent kidnaps the king’s daughter.’ This theme decomposes into 4 elements, each of which can vary separately. The Serpent can be replaced by Koshei, a whirlwind, a demon, a falcon, a warlock. The kidnaping can be substituted with vampirism or with any actions that lead to disappearance in the fairy tale. The daughter can be replaced by a sister, a fiancée, a wife, a mother. The king can be replaced by a king’s son, a peasant, a priest”.

Here is this very degree of freedom, which Campbell mythological structures lack!

Further it will be more interesting.

And for now, for starters, let’s figure out what kind of functions can be there in fairy tales.

(Note: I will give the basic wording, names and designations of functions strictly according to Propp. I give examples of functions from the collection which the scientist worked with (Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev, “Folk Russian Tales”), as well as from world-renowned fairy tales and movies.)

— One of the family members leaves the house (definition — the absentation)

An absentation can be different. Propp identifies three types of it in fairy tales. A temporary absentation, like parents leaving, their death or children absentation. In a fairy tale parents might go to a fair or to work, and children go to the forest for mushrooms.

It is important to notice, that family may be conditional. The main thing is that the group member, who provides safety and stability, leaves. Let’s say, in the Russian tale “The cat, the rooster and the fox”, the old man and the cat leave, and the rooster stays to guard the house.

As you understand there are many more options like this in movies.

One of the brightest examples of the temporary “absentation” is Home Alone, 1990. The whole family departs, leaving the character by himself. Also, the absentation in the form of “death” is pretty interesting. In Russian “Sivko-Burko” tale the father of three brothers, in dying, asks them to sleep on his grave alternatively.

In a movie it can serve as a starting point for the beginning of a story in a variety of genres, including thrillers and horrors. This method is used, for example, in Lemony Snicket’s a Series of Unfortunate Events, 2004 and Grave of the Fireflies, 1988.

Although, not only parents leave in movies. The point of the function is to trouble the balance and to give a push to the story, preparing the ground for some misfortune. That is, it is the person, who was keeping the balance, is to leave. Let’s say, in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001, it is Bilbo Baggins, who was keeping the ring for a long time, but was forced to leave, having passed the valuable item on to Frodo.

That is, normally “absentation” in a movie is the most common and simple way for the character to start the journey and get into some adventures. After all, the only thing required for it is for one character to leave the house.

— The character is addressed with an interdiction (definition — the interdiction)

There are simple interdictions, such as “not to open the door”, “not to go to the forest”, “not to take something”. The interdiction can be strengthened with some physical obstacle, as for example, locking up, or, on the contrary, it can exist in a softer form of a request not to do something or an advice not to go somewhere. There is also an addressing form of interdiction, in the form of the order, which the character must follow strictly.

For example, Vasilisa the Wise from the “The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise” fairy tale forbids her husband to kiss his sister, since in this case he will forget his wife. And in “Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess” the hero’s horse advises its master not to show the magic feather to the king, suspecting that the king will desire to get the whole Firebird.

Propp notices that in fairy tales the “interdiction” function is the major turning point, after which the situation changes in the most serious way. That’s why a fairy tale gives a space for description of the situation before and after violation of the interdiction. It is done for the contrast to be more striking and the dramatic circumstances of characters to look more dangerous.

Authors do the same in movies. It is one of all gangster movies favorite functions. In those the mob boss gives his henchmen the order for some mission, which they fail to complete. Most frequently, it is a handover or a transportation of dirty money. These functions are in movies Le Transporteur, 2002, Pulp Fiction, 1994, Lola rennt, 1998.

But, of course, the interdiction exists not only in such a strict form. In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001, Frodo isn’t allowed to put the ring on, but he does it repeatedly. That is, in this case violation of the interdiction is not a turning point, but the situation development, namely, worsening of character condition.

— The interdiction is being violated (definition — violation of the interdiction)

It’s clear, that if there is an interdiction, it will definitely be violated, otherwise there will be no story. Violation forms correspond to interdiction forms. If someone forbids the character to do something, that is exactly what the character will do. In Russian fairy tale “A Potter”, the demon promises to work for the character with one condition, that he will not control the process. But the potter cannot overcome his curiosity and spies, which certainly leads to troubles.

So, usually “interdiction” — “violation” are the pair functions. But sometimes the violation can exist separately.

One of the most common cases is being late (for a flight, a party, a meeting, etc.).

Propp notices, that usually at this stage the antagonist appears, the enemy (“a pest” according to Propp). He is the one who convinces the character to violate the interdiction, as the Serpent does to Eve. His role is to disrupt the balance, to cause a misfortune, to harm. As soon as Frodo puts the ring on, enemies find it out immediately and begin to hunt the character. Besides, right in this moment the item itself shows its hostile properties, trying to subdue the owner.

— The Antagonist is trying to conduct reconnaissance (definition — the reconnaissance).

This is a very interesting and up-to-date function, since it temporary passes the plot initiative on to “bad guys”, which is specifically appreciated in screenplays, as it allows to reveal negative characters.

Here “the pest” has the widest field for actions. He can impersonate someone else, to use other characters for his own purposes, to make up some clever trick.

Propp highlights following types of a fairytale “reconnaissance”:

1.“The pest” finds out the location of children and values.

2.The addressing form, when the victim itself asks the pest.

For example, “Where is your death?”

3. Reconnaissance through the third party.

In the “Vasilisa The Priest’s Daughter” fairy tale, the king found out that the heroine is a girl disguised as a man. Further, the king makes up a clever plan how to expose her. In the “Ghoul” tale an evil creature in the form of a handsome young man comes to the celebration and romances the heroine. And for example, in the movie Die Hard 2, 1990, terrorists install their equipment in advance, which was noticed by the hero. In the mystical thriller Constantine, 2005, demons also prepare carefully before they take an action. In the Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991, T-1000 impersonates the policeman to find the character.

The reconnaissance function is one of the main ones in the fantastic action movie Total Recall, 1990. To spy on the hero, the whole false life is constructed there with several characters, including his wife.

— The Antagonist gets information about his victim (definition — the delivery)

At the first stage, the bad guys plan has to work. If they fail right away, what’s the point in the further story?

The delivery, surely, also corresponds to the reconnaissance form. The character gets a straight answer to the asked question. For example, the magic mirror answers directly to the Evil Queen, that Snow White is alive, and Red Riding Hood tells the wolf about her Grandma herself. Accordingly, it’s a pair function. There is also a pair for other cases.

However, the “reconnaissance” function can also exist independently, if it is just a careless act, which the enemy took advantage of. For example, it is the case with the wolf, who eavesdrops on how the mother-goat instructs her seven goatlings. And in the Russian fairy tale “What am I!”, the greedy priest spies on how his guest counts his money.

The character of the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001, by putting the ring on, involuntarily gives the enemy information about his location. Exactly the same trick is used in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, 2003, where pirates found out about a medallion as soon as it hit the water. And in the war drama Black Hawk Down, 2001, enemies learn about the beginning of operation through their scouts, located near the heroes’ base. In the thriller Life of the Others (Das Leben der Anderen, 2006), the secret agent gets necessary information about a hero thorough a wiretapping.

— The Antagonist is trying to fool his victim to harm it (definition — the trickery).

It can be a deception or manipulation as in “Cinderella” story, when the heroine is buried with meaningless work just not to let her go to the ball.

An enemy can also use some magic tool or to set some traps. He often takes on someone else’s appearance during these times. One of the most famous examples is Snow White poisoning by the Evil Queen, who pretended to be a harmless old lady. And in the Russian fairy tale “Bandits”, bandits pretend to be reach wooers to take a revenge on the heroine for foiling their previous plan. In “Ghoul” tale an evil creature in the form of a handsome young man convinces the heroine to take a walk with him after the feast.

It is important to remember, that before implementation of the trickery, an enemy had already got all necessary information, and he begins to act. In the drama Black Hawk Down, 2001, enemies know about the operation and ambush special forces. In the fantastic horror movie, The Thing, 1982, an alien monster at first studies creatures he met, and then he turns into a dog to trick and kill polar explorers.

— The victim succumbs to deception and with this involuntarily aids the enemy (definition — the complicity).

In fairy tales the character always succumbs to persuasions and trusts antagonist. The evil magic and traps also work flawlessly every time. Meaning, Snow White eats the poisoned apple, Cinderella gets to work. In the Russian tale “Trial of Cows”, a silly man trusts a priest and gives his only cow to the liar, believing that the whole herd will return to him.

In movie examples from above, special forces get ambushed and polar explorers bring the dog to their station.

Propp notices, that there always is a situation, when the hero kind of facilitates his enemy’s work: for example, he falls asleep in an inappropriate time or leaves his things unattended. In the Russian fairy tale “The Widow and the Demon”, an inconsolable widow summons a demon, who pretends to be her revived husband. And in the movie Lola rennt, 1998, the hero himself leaves the bag of money in the subway. In the black comedy Pulp Fiction, 1994, the main character’s girlfriend leaves hero’s watch in the apartment, making him to go back and get ambushed.

The special form of deception is a contract with a catch. Like, fairytale Aladdin agrees to come down in the dungeon, not suspecting that the evil sorcerer wants to abandon him there. And in the movie The Big Lebowski, 1998, the character is asked to hand over the ransom for the hostage, although there was no any kidnapping. Also, in the fantastic action movie Predator, 1987, the hero’s squad goes for a mission without knowing its real purpose. There is also the classic example of this kind of function in the thriller Devil’s Advocate, 1997. In this movie the main character gets a job without suspecting that his employer is the Devil himself.

The character is often forced to agree to that kind of deal, having found himself in the stalemate. Propp attributes this function to the separate category, similar to the “preliminary misfortune” function.

In spite of its anciency, this function works just fine in today’s movies. For example, in the comedy Police Academy, 1984, the main character is offered to go to the police academy as the alternative to going to jail. He agrees willingly, thinking that he will be kicked out soon for his tricks. He doesn’t know it is impossible.

— The Antagonist causes one of the family members harm or damage (definition — the villainy).

It is the major function, that is, the turning point and the key event in the screenplay first act. It precisely creates the plot movement of both fairy tale and a movie.

Many other functions can be neglected, but not this one. This one is obligatory for every fairy tale.

An absentation, a violation of an interdiction, a delivery and a trickery prepare this function, make it possible or just facilitate it. That is why the first seven functions can be considered as the preparatory part of a fairy tale.

Enemies can harm in a variety of ways.

— Kidnapping a bride, children, a wife.

— Kidnapping some magic substance.

— Stealing or spoiling crops or supplies.

— Stealing a light, the Moon or a warmth.

— Any other type of stealing.

Propp remarks, that all forms of stealing are very much alike and could’ve been united, however he describes separately the most common cases for the convenience.

— Bodily injury.

The interesting thing here is that in fairy tales (from the mythology point of view) it is a form of a stealing. Fairytale enemies can easily kidnap hero’s heart and hide it in some secret place. The victim has to find what was stolen and to return it to its place.

— A sudden disappearance.

In this case, unlike in kidnapping, an enemy doesn’t take anything for himself. Let’s say, there’s no antagonist in the comedy The Hangover, 2009. Characters make a “lacking” by themselves, forgetting where they have left the groom.

— An enemy demands and takes the victim away.

As a rule, it is a consequence of a deceptive contract.

— An Antagonist himself banishes someone from the house.

In the tale “The Three Little Pigs”, the wolf just destroys heroes’ houses. One more common theme is when a stepmother gets rid of her husband’s children, like for example, in the tale “Hensel and Gretel”.

— The villain can order the third party to banish someone from the house.

For example, to throw into the sea or leave in some deserted place.

11.The enemy bewitches the victim.

Propp specifically notices, that the antagonist often harms in several ways at the same time. For example, as in the tale of the sleeping princess. The princess, having pricked her finger, gets bewitched and falls asleep, which is one of the disappearance forms. The bewitchment form is rarely found by itself. The magic is usually used for some concrete purposes, not for the process itself. The same goes for some other forms, which Propp calls accompanying.

— The Antagonist makes a substitution.

This is precisely one of accompanying forms. A substitution is also typically a part of some evil plan. Very common fairy tale themes are substitution of a bride or a child.

— An order to kill a victim.

In fact, it is a reinforced banishment function. The well-known example is the tale “Snow white”.

— The Antagonist commits a murder himself.

It is also an accompanying form of a villainy. The wolf eats the grandmother to get to Red Riding Hood.

— The Antagonist holds the hero himself captive.

This is a very popular kind of villainy. In the tale “Rumpelstiltskin”, that is exactly what the King does to the miller’s daughter. He orders her to spin straw into gold. In the same way the witch locks Rapunzel up in the tower.

— A threat of a forced marriage.

Propp separates the case when it is being done by relatives, but not by the Dragon, for example.

— Cannibalism.

It is when the Dragon wants to eat, not to get married. This is an extremely popular theme for zombie, vampire and other monsters movies. The fairytale wolf also wants to eat Red Riding Hood, nothing personal!

— It happens in the ancient tales that relatives also want to eat the character.

— Nightmares.

A villain tortures a hero at night. This is a very up-to-date kind of villainy, which is often used in mystical and horror movies. Let’s recall Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984.

— A War

An enemy attacks openly.

The meaning of this function is to introduce a damage, which is clear for everyone and has to be fixed, in the plot. In the series of Russian fairy tales “Tales of the Dead”, risen dead men often do not threaten the hero directly, but their very existence is dangerous and requires the main character intervention. In the tale “The Widow and the Demon”, the wife is happy about her husband revival at first, but when she starts losing weight, her mother starts to suspect, that something’s wrong.

It’s clear, that a villain has a field of action a lot more extensive in movies.

However, in essence, even today’s human catastrophes quite fit in the Propp fairytale classification.

For example, in what kind of troubles can the hero be in the first act of a modern drama?

Getting fired? This is a banishment!

Loosing custody over children? A kidnapping!

Sexual harassment? A forced marriage threat!

We have to look at the essence, not the form, just as Vladimir Yakovlevich does.

We have to define the function of what’s happening, and it will become clear that, let’s say, “bodily injury” is the same thing as a psychological trauma, which we can often see in action and detective movies.

Moreover, a fairy tale itself is pretty flexible with its functions. It combines them and substitutes one with another. This is what Propp writes about a villainy: “Let’s consider following cases: the princess steals Ivan’s talisman. As a result, Ivan lacks this talisman. And here we can see, that the fairy tale, having dropped a villainy, begins very often with a lacking: Ivan wants to have a magic saber or a magic horse or something else.

A kidnapping, as well as a lacking defines the following moment of a story setup: Ivan sets off on a search. The same can be said about the kidnaped bride or just a missing bride and so on.

In the first case some act is given, result of which creates a lacking and calls a search, in the second case the ready lacking is given, which calls a search as well. In the first case a lacking is created from the outside, in the second case it’s realized from the inside”.

Note, that the quoted excerpt sounds like a fragment from a modern screenwriting manual, where it is explained how to give a character a motive and a spirit. In many successful movies a character searches for some material treasure (a lacking from the outside) or he realizes himself what is missing for him (realization from the inside).

A villainy can also be complex. For example, the main character in The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, is in jail. He is imprisoned, and as he is accused falsely, it is also a banishment and a substitution. The character in fact has nothing and his whole previous life is destroyed. In the action movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, the character’s car, freedom and blood are taken away from him.

There is a classic example of a simple “villainy” in The Godfather, 1972, where criminals wound seriously the main character’s father, forcing him to act.

VIII-a. One of family members (including a hero) lacks something or he wants to have something (definition — the lacking).

It is a softer form of a villainy in its essence. That is, it goes without the antagonist active participance and exists kind of by itself.

Propp sorts these cases by objects of a lacking.

— A missing bride or a friend. This is a very popular beginning of many good stories.

— A magic tool, like an apple, water, a horse, a sabre, is extremely lacked.

— The lack of some curiosity (without any magic power).

— A special form, such as a magical egg with Koshei death (with princess love) is missing.

— Rational forms, like the lack of money, livelihood, etc.

— A variety of other forms.

Propp pays particular attention to the fact, that the story setup of a “villainy” and “lacking” types are obligatory for every fairy tale of the studied class (Russian magic fairy tales).

Important! There are no any other forms of a story setup in a fairy tale!

Of course, not always fairy tale begins with such functions, or they are not expressed so clearly. For example, in the Russian fairy tale “Fearless”, merchant’s son lacked a sense of fear, and the blacksmith in the “One-eyed Likho” wanted to get in trouble himself to “know the sorrow”.

In a movie a character might not point out right away what it is exactly what he lacks. Frequently, the real lacking is found out only after a while. For example, the hero might be looking for some treasure throughout the whole movie, but in the end, he realizes that all his life he lacked love and self-respect.

In movie scenarios the “lacking” function is often grouped with the “villainy” or creates the second plot layer. The character in the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, suffers from the loss of his car and freedom together with the fact that he had lost all his friends before that. He liquidates this lacking only at the very end of the movie. In the drama The Green Mile, 1999, the character waits for electrocution. Formally, he is deprived of his liberty and he is to be killed, but the real lacking (the lack of strengths to fight evil) is not figured out right away. At the end the hero wants to die and refuses to escape.

— A misfortune or a lacking appears. The hero is addressed with a request or with an order, he is sent away or released (definition — the mediation, the connecting moment).

Exactly this function introduces the hero to the story, and he starts taking action. For example, before this moment a victim or an enemy with his evil plans might be in the center of a story. And when the cunning antagonist kidnaps an innocent girl, the prince charming rushes to look for her. Now it’s his story, he is the main character.

Propp divides characters into “seekers” and “sufferers”. Let’s say, if a girl has been kidnaped and a prince seeks for her, then the hero of the fairy tale is the prince, not the girl. The prince is a seeker. If the prince has been kidnapped or banished, and nobody cares about who has left, then the prince is “the sufferer”.

Although, a fairytale can be composite (this is discussed below), it usually doesn’t follow a seeker and a sufferer at the same time. It happens a lot in movies and TV series, and in this case each storyline should be considered as a separate fairy tale.

What is the meaning of the mediation? With its help the hero is sent on a journey. A fairy tale, as well as a myth, demands of a hero to leave his house. If a plot can’t make it happen using some other functions (for example, a villainy), here comes a connecting moment, when someone or something gives a push to a hero.

There are following types of mediation in fairy tales.

— There is a cry for help, the hero responds to it and sets off on an adventure. It is a standard situation, when a ruler makes such an announcement, accompanying it with promises of a reward. For example, in a movie, a sheriff can make an announcement about a bounty for a bandit’s head.

— A hero is sent away directly. This can be done in the form of an order with threats or a request with promises. It can be combined all together in a plot. It is a very familiar situation for any war, spy or detective film. For example, in police detectives, “the mediation” is usually a task, given by the boss.

— Someone allows a hero to go out from his home. This is a more complicated situation, since the initiative to leave comes from the hero himself. For example, he asks his parents’ permission to “take a walk”. At this, the hero might not inform his parents about his real purposes.

— A misfortune is announced. Most frequently some minor character informs a hero about a misfortune.

Four forms described above relate to a seeker-hero.

Further cases are for a sufferer-hero.

— A banished hero is taken away from his house.

For example, a father by the stepmother’s order takes his own daughter to the woods.

— Someone doomed to die is secretly released.

In a fairy tale, a hero must leave his house and go on a journey. This function allows him to do that.

— A sad song is being sung.

This form usually accompanies a murder. Then a survived character reports to the whole world about a crime. Thus, the misfortune becomes known and causes counteraction. Today, the role of the one who tells the whole world about a misfortune is played by the media. And in the Russian fairy tale “The Princess Solving Riddles”, the king announces that his daughter will marry the one whose riddle she will not solve.

How does the “mediation” function work in a movie?

In the movie The Matrix, 1999, Trinity tells Neo, that something is wrong with his world. In the action movie Reservoir Dogs, 1991, one of the bandits tells the others that one of them works for the police. Gandalf plays the role of the mediator constantly in the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001. In the movie Taken, 2007, the daughter herself tells her father that she’s being kidnaped.

But the mediation can be carried out without the participance of a mediator character at all. For example, in the movie “Amelie” (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, 2001), the heroine herself accidentally finds a forgotten children’s cache, which urges her to go on search of its owner. And in the Russian tale “The Salt”, the youngest son finds out that his father has sent his brothers to trade without him as he doesn’t trust him.

— A hero agrees or decides to oppose (definition — the beginning counteraction).

This is a classic choice of a hero. This is the very “to be or not to be”. On the one hand, the choice is unequivocal — the hero must agree to a battle, otherwise there will be no fairy tale.

However, Propp points out that it is typical for active seeker-heroes only. A sufferer-hero can act passively. A banished, killed, bewitched or substituted hero doesn’t make a choice. He simply has no choice. It doesn’t mean he’s not fighting, it’s just that he doesn’t have another choice and, thus, this element might be missing. Let’s say, “Yemelya the Fool” from the eponymous fairy tale, not only he doesn’t want to go for water or firewood, but even to go to the king. They try to force him, and then to persuade him to exit the house. At the end, he magically goes to the ruler right on the stove.

Robinson Crusoe or Leonardo DiCaprio character in The Revenant, 2015, did not choose the beginning of the adventure by themselves, but it didn’t make it any less interesting. And in the movie Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope, 1977 the main character, Luke, can’t decide to leave his house against his uncle’s will. Only his relatives’ death pushes him to this decision.

— A character leaves his house (definition — the departure).

This one is the key function. Do not mistake it for the temporary absentation or a kidnapping. Departure is the main turning point. It defines precisely who is the main character. Further, viewers will be looking at him only. For example, if a girl is kidnaped, then a hero of a story goes to look for her. Formally, the two characters have left their houses, but the main one is the one who searches.

If a girl has to get out of troubles herself, then she is a victim and the main character at the same time. This happens, for example, in the Russian fairy tale “Bandits”. Bandits kidnap the heroine, but she successfully escapes from them by herself. But, let’s say, in the movie The Hangover, 2009, the groom is missing, but the main characters of the story are his friends who are looking for the missing one.

Important! You shouldn’t take “leaving home” literally. Both in a fairy tale and a movie often there is no any change in the location at all. Everything can be happening in the same place. Let’s say, in the movie Home Alone, 1990, everyone left the house, except the main character. But the boy’s habitual world has changed and the boy has started his magical adventure. And in the action movie Leon, 1994, the girl, on the contrary, comes to her killer-neighbor’s house, and the world will never be the same again for both characters. In the movie Alien, 1979, a dangerous alien sneaks into the space ship, turning the characters’ house (the ship) into the hostile territory.

In fact, “home” is synonymous with the concept of “comfort zone”. Leaving it is already a kind of a feat, often worthy of a good screenplay. Many psychological dramas are built on this.

Elements “villainy”, “mediation”, “counteraction” and “departure” are the setup of a story. Further, the plot is rapidly developing and new characters are introduced into it.

— A character is being tested.

This prepares him for receiving some magic tool or a helper (definition — the first function of a giver).

A hero meets a lot of different characters on his way. In spite of the name “giver”, they can be both good and evil. In the second case the hero will have to literally wrest something from their hands.

— A giver literally tests a hero. A witch makes to work, a king gives a difficult task and so on.

— A giver greets and questions a hero. This is a lighter form of testing. A fairy tale teaches not to be rude to strangers. Politeness can help to make a friend, and rudeness leads to trouble.

— A dying person or a dead one asks for a service. For example, a dying person may ask to spend three nights on his grave.

— A prisoner asks for release or a hero himself captures a giver.

This is a favorite situation in tales of gin or goldfish.

— The hero is begged for mercy. In fairy tales, this often happens on a hunt, where the hero takes aim at a fairytale animal.

— Debaters ask to split their trophy or a hero himself volunteers to do it. Animals cannot split the prey, and the peasants cannot split their harvest.

— Other cases. It can often be a request to feed, to carry something to someplace. Sometimes a giver is just helpless. For example, nestlings are getting wet under the rain, children torture a cat.

A fairy tale teaches us that good deeds are rewarded, but sometimes this good must “come with fists”. For example, like in following cases.

— A hostile creature is trying to destroy a hero. A witch wants to put the children in a cauldron, a devil knocks someone out of the way, etc.

— A hostile creature attacks a hero openly. A hero fights a sorcerer or engages in a duel with a knight.

— A hero is offered an exchange, where a character has to win using his intelligence. A merchant shows curiosities, a witch shows a sword. In the Russian fairy tale “Soldier-violinist and the demon”, the evil spirit likes the way the hero plays the violin, and therefore he makes the soldier a priest.

In movies, a character is tested in more difficult ways, but the point is the same, nothing comes to a character just like that. For example, Luke from Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope, gets a lightsaber only after he engages in a fight with desert bandits. We may ask, why couldn’t Obi-Wan (the giver) just come to Luke’s house and give him a saber? The right answer here is the fairy tale law. The giver was waiting for a hero and testing him.

In spite of the name, this function can also be without an actual character (a giver) participation both in a fairy tale and a movie. Obstacles (as well as a reward) can appear in front of a hero kind of by themselves. For example, this happens in the fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The girl is successfully looking for a food and a place to sleep in the bears’ house. The owners did not give her such tasks and anything.

Important! A gift itself doesn’t have to be necessarily material. It can often be a friendship with some character. Even though it’s not a magical tool, does this make it any less valuable?

— A Hero reacts to giver’s actions (definition — the hero’s reaction).

It is a pair function to the first function of a giver. It can be positive or negative.

Subsequently, it can be following.

— A Hero passes (doesn’t pass) a test.

— A Hero responds correctly (doesn’t respond) to a greeting.

— A Hero provides (doesn’t provide) a service for a dead man.

— A Hero lets a prisoner go.

— A Hero spares an asker.

— A Hero splits stuff. Sometimes a hero tricks debaters and steals things meant for splitting.

— A Hero provides a service. This function might exist separately. Meaning, a hero does something without a request, just out of the goodness of his heart.

— A Hero saves himself from an attack attempt.

— A Hero defeats (doesn’t defeat) a hostile creature.

— A Hero makes an exchange, having tricked a partner.

For example, in the Russian fairy tale “Sivko-Burko”, the father of three sons in dying asks them to sleep on his grave alternately. And only the youngest son does it and gets a magical helper.

As easy to notice, a hero can react to tests differently, and tests themselves might be composite. Let’s say, Goldilocks has managed to successfully find food, but with her actions she made the bears angry. And in the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, the character suffers a number of humiliating failures before he starts receiving something. He doesn’t pass the test, loses the fight and suffers because he can’t pay his debt to the dead man. In the comedy Groundhog Day, 1993, practically the whole story is built on different variants of hero’s reaction to the same events.

— A Hero is provided with a magic tool (definition — the provision, receiving a magic tool).

This is a key turning point in every screenplay.

Important! “A magic tool” is not the purpose of a hero’s journey, but the journey cannot go on without it.

Let’s recall a pill from The Matrix, 1999, a truck from Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, or a hammer from The Shawshank Redemption, 1994. In the comedy Some Like It Hot, 1959, the first test for heroes, dressed in a women’s clothes, is to get train tickets (a magic tool). They cope with this successfully, correctly answering superiors’ questions and responding adequately to a buttocks slap. And in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, 2003, there are even two such magic tools, a ship and a talisman.

There is a similar situation in the Russian fairy tale “The Tale of Ivan

Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”. The Grey Wolf helps the hero, not only he carries him on his back, but also advises him wisely. But frequently there are several tools like this, like, for example, in the fairy tale “The Horse, the Tablecloth and the Horn.”

In fairy tales following can serve as a magic tool:

— Animals.

— Items with helpers.

— Items with magic properties.

— Qualities given directly, such as a strength, a power to turn into animals and so on.

For example, in the fairy tale “The Magic Chicken”, children accidentally ate parts of the magic chicken, and as a result, one of them got the power to spit gold, and the second one was able to light an enchanted candle and became the king.

The handover itself might happen:

— Directly. Most frequently it is a reward for task accomplishment or passing a test. Some short fairy tales can end with this. In this case the gift is some valuable material item, not a magic tool.

If a hero did not pass the test, then a handover might not happen or even be substituted with punishment.

— A tool is indicated.

— A tool is made.

— A tool is bought.

— A tool is found accidentally.

— A tool appears suddenly by itself.

— A tool has been eaten or drunk.

— A tool is kidnaped.

— A magic character himself offers his services to a hero.

In the movie John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, 2019, the character, left without a weapon, is forced to fight using different items. This first item, which serves as a cache at the same time, is a collection of Russian fairy tales by Aleksander Afanasiyev, with which Propp was working in his time.

It’s not hard to notice, that ways to get a magic tool are often composed and united. For example, the hero of the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, first tries to steal the truck, and after his failure he trades.

— A hero is transferred, delivered or brought to the quest object location (definition — spatial movement between the two kingdoms, the guidance).

— He flies through the air.

— He drives or swims.

— He is led.

— He is shown the way.

— He uses additional objects (a stairs, an underground tunnel).

— He follows the footsteps.

For example, in the tale “The Sea king and Vasilisa the Wise”, the king feeds the eagle, that afterwards fetches the hero to visit his three sisters.

This function is usually missing in fairy tales as it is a continuation of the “departure” function. But in movies, this is an important part of the second act. Often this is the time to reveal personalities of the characters, to introduce story information or tricks. For example, in the films of the Taxi, 1998 series, this function is one of the main and the most spectacular ones.

— A hero and an antagonist directly get into a battle (definition — the battle).

This battle should be distinguished from a fight with a giver. They have different reasons and consequences. If in the end a hero gets a tool for further searches — this element is the first function of a giver, and if he gets the object itself after a victory, then this is “the battle”.

In fairy tales battles might be:

— In an open field. A fight with a dragon, a giant, an army.

— A competition. Here, as a rule, a hero has to defeat using his cunning.

— Gambling.

— Special forms. This may be, for example, the test “who is heavier.”

One of the most famous tests of this kind is fitting a Cinderella shoe.

Quite often a victory over a villain is a story final, but it doesn’t have to be.

As you might notice, we’ve considered only half of functions.

After a victory and getting an object of a search, the main plot development may be still ahead. For example, in the tale “Sweet porridge”, the girl gets a magic pot that can make an endless amount of porridge. It may seem, that the main and the only test is passed, and the aim of the story is achieved, but the most interesting part begins when the girl’s mother forgets magic words to stop a porridge producing.

There is a pretty popular theme in Russian fairy tales, when a fairytale beauty is not pleased with a hero who defeated an enemy and married her. She causes her savior troubles and often gets him killed. This happens in the tale “The magic shirt”, where the six-eyed Serpent is forced to resurrect his friend, killed by his own wife and her lover.

In the animated movie Shrek, 2001, the hero defeats the dragon, saves the princess and frees his house from uninvited guests.

But the main part of the story is still ahead.

— A hero is being marked (definition — branding, the mark).

— A physical mark. This can be a wound or a magic seal.

— A hero gets a distinctive item.

— Other branding forms.

For example, in the tale “The Fast Messenger”, the hero has learnt how to turn into a deer, a hare and a bird. In three different guises, he comes with an assignment from the king to his daughter. And she cuts a tuft of feathers and wool from these creatures, which later helps her to expose the false hero.

What is the point of this function? Do not confuse it with a lacking or receiving a magic tool. This is a sign that a character has passed the test. It is by the mark that the real hero is defined.

A hero in a fairy tale changes, taking some experience, skills or knowledge from his adventures. He will never be the same, and the mark is the symbol of it.

In movies, changes can be both internal and external. That’s why the “mark” function is even more important here than in fairy tales. Either a hero himself or viewers’ perception of him changes. It is called the story arc. A mark itself often doesn’t have any physical form. It is important to notice, that although a mark often appears as a result of some duel, its formal result doesn’t matter.

In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, the hero’s been raped, but the fact of raping itself tells that he hasn’t given up.

Luke from the Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, 1980, also formally loses the battle and loses his arm. However, the hero has not allowed the villain to persuade him and preferred death to betrayal. This wound is the evidence of the hero’s choice.

The other type of the mark is in the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, when the hero gets wounded in his arm with an arrow. This is a sign of the test successfully passed, but not just an injury, what is confirmed by hero’s visions.

— An antagonist is defeated (definition — the victory).

— The victory in an open fight.

— In the competition.

— In gambling.

— The victory in measuring.

Propp remarks, that the victory may be without any physical fight.

In the Russian fairy tale “The Bear and the Rooster”, the bear dies of a fear, and in the tale “Father Frost”, the evil old woman makes peace with her husband and her stepdaughter, even though her own daughters died in the forest.

— The victory by a trick. For example, a villain can be killed in his sleep.

— The victory by banishment. Let’s say, a demon can be banished with a magic amulet.

This is a pretty common situation in movies. In detective stories a criminal is sent to jail, in adventure movies a treasure is taken away right from under the villain’s nose.

For example, in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, the character escapes from the prison, revealing the truth about corruption. The antagonist, not wishing to surrender to the police, shot himself.

The victory can also be in the negative form, when several heroes go on battle, but only one of them wins. The most famous example of this kind is the final season of the series Game of Thrones (2011—2019). Formally, John Snow has won the battle with the Night King, although in fact, his sister has done all the work.

— An earlier misfortune or a lacking is liquidated (definition — liquidation of a misfortune or a lacking).

This function is a pair to “villainy” or “lacking” functions.

In this moment it is a culmination of a story.

— An object of search is kidnaped using a force or a trick.

It’s curious, that sometimes a hero uses the same way as a villain.

1a. It happens, that one hero makes the other one to get what’s needed.

— An object of search is procured by a group of characters, at this, their roles are distributed. This is a very common method not only in fairy tales, but also in movies or computer games.

— Getting an object using baits or a tricky exchange.

— A hero gets an object of a search as a result of his previous actions. For example, if a prince defeats a dragon, releases a princess and marries her, then there’s no actual “getting a princess” part. However, it follows logically from a number of previous events. Moreover, the hero does not have to fight. The prize can wait for him in some inaccessible place, then the hero will receive it as a result of “the guidance”.

— An immediate acquisition of the sought object by using a magic tool.

— A hero defeats poverty using a magic tool.

— An object of search gets caught.

— A spell on a bewitched person is broken.

— A dead one is revived.

Separately, you can highlight the revival with the preliminary finding the magic tool. For example, when you need to find an elixir for revival.

— A prisoner is released.

— Getting the main prize is carried out in the same way as an intermediate one, it is given, bought or found.

Let’s say, in the Russian tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, the evil stepmother sends the daughter to the witch to get the fire. The witch gives her a skull with burning eyes. It’s curious to notice, that illustration for this very tale by Ivan Bilibin, appears in the movie John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, 2019. The page with Vasilisa holding the burning scull in her hands, covers a cache, where the hero hides his treasures.

Let me remind you, that in fairy tales, and even more so in movies, you shouldn’t take an object of a search only as a kind of a material item. It can be, for example, love or recognition.

It happens in the fairy tale “The True and The False”, where characters argue what comes in handy more, truth or lies. For example, in the movie Some Like It Hot, 1959, the trouble at the beginning is a threat to heroes’ lives. That is, the lack of safety. Further along the course of the story, the second object of search appears, which is love.

It is also worth mentioning once again, that solving the initial problem doesn’t have to mean the end of a story. This, for example, happens in the animated movie Shrek, 2001, “Aladdin” fairy tale, as well as in the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015.

— A hero returns (definition — the return).

Typically, in fairy tales, the character returns in the same way he departed. Sometimes the return happens instantly, but if something goes wrong, a hero again has a whole new series of adventures. This is what happens in the Russian fairy tale “The Salt”, where the hero successfully fulfills his father’s task, trades well and finds a bride, but envious brothers rob him and throw him overboard the ship on the way back.

Sometimes the “return” function becomes one of the main ones. Here we can recall such classic stories as “Odyssey” by Homer or “Anabasis” by Xenophon. Both stories describe hero’s journey back home after the battle. In the fantastic movie The Martian, 2015, the drama Cast Away, 2000, the fantastic horror movie Alien, 1979 and the war drama Dunkirk, 2017, the “return” is the major function of a plot.

The “return” function in the classical form within the fairy structure is, for example, in such movies as Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, Predator, 1987, Resident Evil, 2002, Roman Holiday, 1953.

— A Hero is chased (definition — the chase, the hunt).

It is a classic element of any adventure movie. As a rule, this is precisely what strengthens the “return” function, makes it more interesting.

There are following types of chase in fairy tales:

— A pursuer himself follows a hero.

— A demand to punish a guilty one. Here a villain demands justice, accusing and chasing a hero through the third party. In real life this function can be carried out by collectors or bailiffs.

— A chase with transformations. A villain can transform into different fast and strong creatures to catch and destroy a hero.

— A pursuer puts obstacles on the hero’s way. These may be some traps designed to seduce and get a hero killed (food, drinks, etc.) or physical obstacles (mountains, rivers and so on).

— A villain wants to swallow a hero.

— Someone tries to kill a hero.

— A pursuer tries to destroy what helps a hero to escape. For example, a villain wants to cut down a tree which a hero climbed on or tries to drown his ship.

— In the fairy tale “Geese-swans”, a heroine with a younger brother is chased by a flock of evil geese. And there is a story in the series “Tales of the Witches” about the soldier, who had successfully killed the witch. However, she haunts him even after death and a hero is forced to spend the night near her coffin. The same plot is in the famous story “Vij” by Nikolai Gogol. There are several screen versions of this story, including the first Soviet horror movie.

In movies “the chase” can often come to the fore, becoming the main function. Good examples of this kind are in movies Catch Me If You Can, 2002, Short Circuit, 1986, The Warriors, 1979, Vanishing Point, 1971.

— A hero is saved from a chase (definition — the rescue).

— A hero flies away.

— A hero runs, putting obstacles on his enemy way.

— A hero transforms, so that an enemy wouldn’t recognize him.

— A hero hides.

— A hero is hidden by other characters.

— A hero transforms during a chase. In this form, the running itself can be missing. The transformation serves a hero as protection from enemies. There is a similar theme in the myth, where Apollon chases Daphna the nymph. To protect herself from a pursuit, she turns into a laurel tree.

— A hero avoids seduction or a deceit successfully.

— A character slips out of monster’s jaws.

— Rescue from an imminent death.

— A hero changes a way of a rescue.

In the Russian fairy tale “The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise”, wife saves herself and her husband during the chase repeatedly. She turns runners into a church and a priest, then into an old man and a well, and at the end, into a river and a duck. And in the tale “Maria Morevna”, the evil witch falls into a trap on the bridge across the fire river.

Many stories end with a miraculous salvation. However, it doesn’t always happen like this and the tale goes in the second round, starting a new story. The same forms of villainy can be used here, but enemies are new (or the old characters play new roles). This is exactly the moment when a story often makes a fast turn. It’s called a twist in a motion picture.

For example, Shrek (Shrek, 2001) brings the princess to the king, but the story is far from ending. In the movie Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope, 1977, heroes rescue the princess and get the Death Star plans, nevertheless, the main events of the movie are still ahead. Characters of the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, break away from the chase and achieve the goal, but decide to return.

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp calls this kind of methods “the moves” in fairy tales. Each series of functions is a separate move. With their help, several tales are combined in one story.

Every new damage or villainy, each new lacking creates a new move.

In today’s craft of screenwriting these “moves” are often called storylines. They can go not only sequentially, but also in parallel. Thus, in screenplays, several different stories are going simultaneously, launching their own series of functions (“moves”) for many characters.

Such options are sometimes found in complex fairy tales.

The Russian scholar describes following options:

— One move goes after another.

— A new move steps in, before the first one ended.

— Two new moves start simultaneously. That is, the two different misfortunes happen.

— Two moves have a joint end. Here two separate storylines are brought together in a final.

— Dual move. For example, when two hero-seekers set off on a journey at the same time.

Here are the old functions of a new move for Russian fairy tales, which Propp studied.

VIII bis — A hero’s trophy is stolen by other characters.

Х — ХI bis A hero goes on search again.

ХII bis. A hero is once again under actions, leading to capturing a magic tool.

ХIII bis. A hero reacts again to a future giver action.

ХIV bis. A new magic tool is at hero’s disposal.

ХV bis. A hero is brought or transferred to an object of search location.

Further, a narrative develops, and new functions appear in the story.

— A hero arrives back home or in some other country unrecognized (definition — the unrecognized arrival).

There are two options in fairy tales — a hero is not recognized at home because he has got a new appearance, or he is forced for hide among his enemies. For example, in the Arabian tales “A Thousand and One Nights”, Sultan Garun al-Rashid walks in the guise of a merchant in his own capital. And the Puss in Boots, on the contrary, dresses his poor master as a marquis. In the fairy tale about Aladdin, the Genie also dresses the hero as a prince. In the Russian fairy tale “Divo”, the husband catches his wife on adultery, but she turns him into a dog. The hero is forced to live in a shape of a dog, until he finds a way to return his previous appearance.

A classic example of the “unrecognized arrival” you may see in the movie RoboCop, 1987. Here even the hero doesn’t recognize himself. In movie stories, the “unrecognized arrival” function may come to the fore, becoming the main one. This happens in movies Some Like It Hot, 1959, Avatar, 2009 or Roman Holiday, 1953. One of the most complex options is in the movie The Departed, 2006. Two “werewolves” act there at the same time. One of them is a mafia agent in the ranks of the police, the other one is an agent undercover, rooted in mafia.

— A false hero makes unfounded claims (definition — the unfounded claims).

Both in fairy tales and movies, this function often goes in pair with the previous one. Its essence is that a hero must protect his right for a trophy or, what’s more important, to confirm his status. Cinderella’s sisters impersonate prince’s brides, Aladdin loses the lamp, and Shrek inferiors Fiona to the king. In the Russian fairy tale “Ivan-Tsarevich and Martha-Tsarevna”, a rich master lies to the king, that he was the one who saved the king’s daughter several times, but not the soldier. In the movie Jaws, 1975, the whole city celebrates a victory, and only the hero understands, that fishermen killed the wrong shark.

But more complex situations are found. In the movie Ghost, 1990, the main character’s girlfriend does not believe that her beloved has not completely died, but has turned into a ghost. Meanwhile the antagonist is trying to seduce her, wishing this way to steal not only hero’s life, but his love as well.

A classic fairytale scheme with unfounded claims can be found in the animated movie Shrek 2, 2004, where prince Charming impersonates Shrek and claims Fiona’s hand. In the movie King Kong, 1993, just like in fairy tales, that Propp studied,, the giant monkey is also claimed by the main heroine, as well as by the greedy rich man Denham.

— A hero is offered a difficult task (definition — the difficult task).

This test is different from the ones a hero had already passed. This time a character has to protect what’s his by right. He is not the same person he was in the beginning of a story, and he will act differently now. These changes are called the arc of a hero in screenwriting. In the Russian tale “The Salt”, the hero brags at his own wedding that he rode a giant even though he had forbidden him to do so. Now the hero must persuade the giant not to punish him. In the other fairy tale “The Princess Frog”, the hero passes the series of tests successfully and gets married, but he loses his wife, burning her magic frog skin ahead of time. Now he must find a way to save her.

In the action movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, the “difficult task” function is very much alike all the others at first sight, all the action in the movie takes place during one long car chase. However, now the hero deliberately protects women and with his blood he saves life of Furiosa, who he had almost killed in the beginning of the movie. In the movie Beverly Hills Cop, 1984, the main character finds a murderer, but the Beverly Hills police doesn’t believe him and banishes him from the city. The hero has to prove he’s right, but for this he needs help of those, who he didn’t get along well with at the beginning.

— A task is accomplished (definition — the solution).

In general case, each solution corresponds to the task.

Max saves Furiosa’s life successfully, Axel Foley exposes and punishes the villains. In the action movie Die Hard 2, 1990, the hero is forced to prove he’s right and, as a result, he has to fight special forces agent, who was along with terrorists. In the drama The Godfather, 1972, the new head of the family kills competitors, who question his authority.

But sometimes a task is solved first, and only afterwards formulated. In the Russian tale “The Bewitched Queen”, the merchant’s son must fight the serpent, who had attacked his country, after he marries the princess. It doesn’t cause any difficulties to the hero, since he uses magic tools gotten during his previous adventures.

Ariadne from the ancient Greek myths first gives Theseus a guiding thread, and only then he finds out that besides defeating the Minotaur, he must get out of the labyrinth.

In the movie Back to the Future, 1985, a hero also receives a flayer with information that the lightning will strike in the clock, and only later he realizes how this information can be used for the time travel.

— A hero is recognized (definition — the recognition).

In the tale “Sinbad the Sailor”, the merchants do not believe that the hero was saved from the death and do not give him goods. Only the story about his traveling has persuaded them, that it’s their comrade standing in front of them. The servant girl recognizes mythical Odyssey by an old scar on his leg. In the movie Ghost, 1990, the girl recognizes the ghost of her beloved by their mutual secrets and mystical signs.

In a fairy tale it often happens by a mark gotten during a battle. For example, in the Russian fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich and Martha Tsarevna”, the hero is sleeping with a magical sleep. To wake him up, the princess pricks him in a cheek with a knife. And later she recognizes the hero, hiding among soldiers, by this scar. In the other Russian tale “Sivko-Burko”, the princess recognizes her fiancé by the towel he took during his test.

What’s interesting, the “recognition” function can be turned into the main event of a movie. In the mystical horror movie The Others, 2001, the new tenants of the house find out how the heroine and her children really look like. Characters and viewers realize, that in realty the family is all ghosts.

— A false hero or an antagonist is exposed (definition — the exposure).

Everyone sees that the Cinderella shoe doesn’t fit her evil sisters, and in the Russian fairy tale “The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life”, the false hero cannot pull out from under the wall the heads of the dragon, whom he allegedly defeated.

What’s curious, in fairy tales, at first, a hero often loses to an obviously weaker character in some weird way. This false hero is eventually punished, but not as a result of a battle with a hero, but during the exposure, when he can’t pass a test.

By Propp’s idea (based in its turn on D.D. Frazer works), this very ancient story framework is connected to the mystical custom of giving the power from an old king to a new one. The same connection to this process has, for example, a famous “scapegoat”.

This topic goes out of this book limits, but I just want to notice, how the ancient archaic themes of a false hero exposure have successfully transferred into our modern motion picture.

The classic exposure is presented in the movie Hero, 1992, where the journalist recognizes her real savior in the petty cheater. In the western movie The Revenant, 2015, the hero exposes the villain, having returned alive. In the adventure action movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981, the whole Nazis group, which took the sacred relic from the main character, is exposed.

— A hero gains a new appearance (definition — the transfiguration).

In movies, this is one more important part of an arc of a character. Now changes in a hero are obvious to all other characters.

In a fairy tale, a hero can gain a new appearance in different ways.

— An appearance is given by a magic assistant.

— A hero builds a new house for himself.

— A hero wears new clothes.

— In a rational or humor way.

Cinderella gets a new dress, Three Little Pigs settle down in the durable stone house, and the hero of the Russian tale “The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess”, becomes handsome, having magically avoided death in the boiling cauldron.

Propp remarks, that sometimes a hero changes only in his looks and deceives people around him, showing them a false evidence of his wealth, beauty and intelligence. Like this, the hero of the tale “The Brave Tailor” tricks everyone into believing in his strength, and in the Russian tale “The Magic Ring” the beggar hero hides that all his wealth was received using magic.

In today’s movies there might be no changes in looks at all. The main thing is that a hero changes himself. It can happen either during his inner development, or as a result of a hero revealing. Such transformation is obvious to viewers or other characters and doesn’t require any material attributes. In the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, the hero doesn’t want to help fugitives at first, but changes his mind later, with which he earns Furiosa’s respect. The hero of the drama The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, is in fact, innocent and he planned his escape almost from the beginning of the movie. However, the audience and other characters don’t find it out right away. Changing into clothes, stolen from the corrupt prison warden, not only he escapes the chase, but also returns a free man status for himself. The hero sentenced to death in the movie The Green Mile, 1999, doesn’t change his looks at all. Nevertheless, all prison guards eventually find out who he really is. They start treating him accordingly and even offer to arrange his escape.

But the classic fairytale “transfiguration” function is in the movie Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, 1983, where Darth Wader takes his mask off after returning to the light side of the Force. In the movie Avatar, 2009, the hero also literally gains new appearance, when planet habitants fully transfer his conscience into the new body.

— An enemy is being punished, and sometimes generously forgiven (definition — the punishment).

Movie and tv series screenwriters use this function very often, as viewers love it a lot. In fairy tales, only a villain of the second move and a false hero are punished. The first villain gets punishment if there’s no battle and a chase.

In the Russian fairy tale “The Buried Treasure”, the greedy priest lures a treasure from an old man, putting on a goatskin and pretending to be a devil. As a punishment, he is left in a goatskin forever. There is another situation in the tale “The Pig With Gold Bristles, The Deer With Golden Horns, And The Golden-Maned Steed With Golden Tail”. In there, the youngest brother deprives the adults of some parts of the body during a cunning exchange. Later these parts serve as an evidence, that the hero was the one who accomplished tasks successfully, and not his brothers. After having proven himself right, the hero forgives and cures his competitors. Characters in the movie The Hangover, 2009, also do not punish the one guilty of their troubles in any way.

In the drama Hero, 1992, a character arrogates a feat to himself, and later, he is exposed. In spite of this, the real hero not only forgives him, but asks to continue the deceit. In the first trilogy final Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, 1983, Darth Wader not only gets forgiveness, but also goes through the transfiguration, becoming the main character of all six movies.

— A hero gets married and ascends to a throne (definition — the wedding).

— A hero gets a bride and a kingdom.

— A hero just gets married.

— A hero gets a crown.

— If a tale is interrupted by the second move before the wedding, then this function turns into a promise of marriage.

— If a hero is already married, this function renews a marriage.

— Sometimes a hero just gets some material reward.

It’s clear, that you shouldn’t take this function literally even for a fairy tale. It is a final point in a hero’s story arc. That is, it is the very aim he was trying to reach during the whole story. In fact, this is the reason why this story has been told.

For example, the screenplay of the Roman Holiday, 1953, won the Oscar. It is built according to classic fairytale scheme, but formally, there is no any wedding. Although, if you take a look a bit deeper, you can easily find this function in each of three characters storyline. The princess violates the official protocol and confesses her love to Rome, the journalist refuses money and doesn’t write the article, and the photographer gives away his pictures.

The Godfather, 1972, is also based on a fairytale scheme and has also won the Oscar for the best screenplay. The “wedding” function in it is even more clear, though there’s no any wedding literally. On the contrary, hero’s love life is obviously in crisis, considering he is forced to lie to his wife. But still, the hero gets all the power attributes that his father had, that is, he “ascends to a throne”. Moreover, all this happens against the background of the religious rite of baptism.

And with this a fairy tale ends, but the part, most interesting for us, is coming up. How to create new stories using these functions?

Creating New Stories: Propp Cards

As we can see, there are thirty-one of these functions, not so many. If you sort them out one by one, you can immediately see their logical and artistic connection. All of them belong to the same storyline. None of these functions excludes the other one. Many of them form pairs (the interdiction -the violation, the reconnaissance -the delivery, the battle -the victory, etc.).

Many writers and screenwriters use cards in their work, on which they write down scenes and key events of storylines. They are called mind maps, that is, mind visualization tools (mind mapping). You can use paper ones, but some professional editing programs allow to create these cards in electronic form.

It is very convenient, as cards are easy to swap, throw away, add new ones, creating new sets from them. Thus, various story development options are created.

You can also make cards with all Propp functions, similar to the playing cards. One function — one card. These cards are called “Propp cards”.

Let me remind you, that the point of the function is not an action itself, but its meaning for the plot. Confusing these two concepts is a very common mistake!

That’s what Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp writes regarding this matter: “So, if Ivan marries the princess, it is completely different from the marriage of a father to a widow with two daughters.

Another example: if in one case a hero receives a hundred rubles from his father and buys a prophetic cat for this money, and in the other case a hero is rewarded with money for a committed heroic act and a fairy tale ends with it, then we have, in spite of the similarity of actions (giving money), morphologically different elements.

Thus, the same deeds can have different meaning and vice versa. We understand the function as character’s deed, defined in terms of its meaning for a course of action.”

But besides functions, you also need a playing field.

It consists of three parts, meaning a main character’s journey. It is an ordinary world, a magic world, and a changed world. They approximately correspond to classic three acts of any story.

I would like to notice once again, that you shouldn’t interpret a hero’s journey as a physical movement from one point to another. Please, don’t forget, that a fairy tale itself (as well as many myths) is an allegorical metaphorical story. As many scholars assure, it is a story of a person growing up, which can be expressed in the rite of initiation, that is, a very real ritual, symbolizing that the child has become an adult. In this process, there are a number of conditions and tests that adolescents must endure to prove their maturity.

Other scholars see a change of power in this ritual, when the old king must pass his place on to a new one, just as one season replaces another. If from a mystical point of view everything is done right and a decent new king is chosen, then people will have a good harvest.

But anyway, a fairy tale went far away from a ritual. Only its echoes remained in it, and therefore it shouldn’t be taken literally, even if the fairy tale is clearly a cautionary tale.

When I started to work on someone else’s screenplays as an editor, I noticed the beginners most common mistake, which is following formulas formally. Time-tested reliable methods do not work, when the author sees only their form, and not the content.

That’s what famous Hollywood producer Christopher Vogler writes about it in his book “The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for writers”: “Having become a consultant for a Disney studio, I started to look at architypes differently: not as a firm role frame, but as a function, which a character performs at some point to achieve one or another effect in a story. I got this observation from the book “Morphology of a fairy tale” by the Russian scholar Vladimir Propp, which analyzes the motives of the characters of hundreds of Russian fairy tales.

Considering the archetype as a flexible functional model,

not a strict template, you get the freedom of improvisation”.

Let’s go back to Propp.

What is his ordinary world? Is it necessary to make up some transfer to a magic land? Of course, it’s not. If to consider an ordinary world as a metaphor for a starting point of an adventure, then almost limitless opportunities for creativity open up for the author immediately.

(Although, let’s say, the literal following the fairytale formula works just fine for the road movie genre. Take a look at the movie Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015, for example.)

An ordinary world is the first act of any drama. Simply put, if we write a screenplay, then it is an introduction and an exposition. This is how they call a part of a piece whose main task is to describe characters and a world that they live in.

We can call it a comfort zone or a balance position in which all the characters live.

If an author needs to send a character on a journey and to begin a story, then something must trouble the balance. This task is accomplished in different ways according to the form of a story.

For example, an anecdote almost doesn’t have any exposition. An action, troubling the balance, starts right away: “a husband returns from a work trip…”, “a cowboy enters a bar…”, “a policeman stops a car…”.

Exposition, describing an ordinary world, in fairy tales almost always is in this kind of form (Father Frost): “Once there lived an old man with another wife. The old man had a daughter, and the woman had a daughter.

Everyone knows how to live behind a stepmother: if you turn over — you’ll be beaten, and if do not turn over — you’ll be beaten. And her own daughter, no matter what she does, is always patted on the head for everything: smart girl.

The stepdaughter fed and watered the cattle, carried firewood and water to the hut, fired the stove, swept the hut before the light… You cannot please the old woman — everything is wrong, everything is bad.

The wind will make a noise, but it will calm down at least, and the old woman start to brawl — she won’t calm down any time soon. Here the stepmother decided to get the stepdaughter killed”.

As you can see, the characters are quickly described, so as their living conditions and relationships among them.

By the way, an ordinary world can also be a magic one. It is ordinary for a hero, not for a viewer. Author’s imagination is not limited here with anything. Screenwriting rule just recommend to set all the unusual physical properties of a world right from the start. If something very unusual for the heroes happens in a screenplay world, then it’s better to be done in the first act. It’s rather good if it is an event, troubling the balance.

For example, in the tale “The Wolf and The Seven Little Goats”, there is a singing goat, but there is nothing unusual about it for the little goats. But the appearance of a singing wolf is an event they couldn’t predict.

“Once upon a time there lived a mother goat with her seven little ones. The goat occasionally went to the woods to eat the silky grass, to drink cold water. As soon as she leaves, the little goats lock up the hut and never leave it.

The mother goat comes back, knocks on the door and starts singing:

— Dear goatlings, dear children,

Open the door,

Your mom is back and brought you milk,

And milk flows on the breast,

From the breast to the hoof,

From the hoof — into the ground!

The goatlings unlock the door and let their mother in. She feeds them, waters them and goes back to the forest, and the little goats lock the door up firmly-firmly.

The wolf eavesdropped the mother goat singing…”

Typically, in detective stories, an event troubling the balance is a crime. In melodramas, it is the appearance of an object of love. In adventures it is finding a treasure map. After this, the usual way of life is broken and the hero is forced to act. In other words, the classic first act is over.

In fact, Propp ordinary world and an event, urging a hero to act, is formulated in every classic Hollywood logline. A logline is a maximum short presentation of a screenplay which is meant to arouse the interest of the reader. For example, for the movie Matrix, 1999, the logline may be following: “A hacker finds out that the whole world isn’t real, but just a computer simulation. Now he is the only one who can help people to break free from a virtual trap”. And for The Godfather, 1972: “The youngest son of the Italian Mob Boss doesn’t want to have anything to do with the criminal world. However, when enemies declare war to his family, he is forced to defend it.”

Let’s go back to functions (Propp cards). Which of them could be placed on the first field (the first act or an ordinary world)? Actually, whichever you like. A fairy tale mixes functions up itself, swaps or transforms them.

This is what the author himself writes about it (Propp “Morphology of the Folktale”): “The fairy tale of Emelia the Fool starts with a fool catching a pike, and not with a villainy or a lacking. Comparing more fairy tales, we notice that, however, some elements typical for the middle of a tale are placed in the beginning, and here we have such case. Catching and sparing an animal is a typical middle element, which we’ll see below.”

Actually, as you might have already noticed from examples I have given, functions can exist even outside the very fairytale structure. That is, they work just fine even where there is no any travel from one world to another.

And there are many options of these functions’ combinations in nowadays movies and series.

However, based on plain logic, it’s clear that in the first act in general there might be the departure, the interdiction, the violation of the interdiction, the reconnaissance, the delivery, the trickery, the complicity, the lacking, the mediation, the counteraction, the departure.

The second field (the second act or a magic world) may contain following: the first function of the giver, the hero’s reaction, the provision, the spatial movement, the battle, the mark, the victory, the liquidation of the misfortune, the return.

On the third field (the return) there may be the chase, the rescue, the unrecognized arrival, the unfounded claims, the difficult task, the solution, the recognition, the exposure, the transfiguration, the punishment, the wedding.

Creativity is a free and flexible process. But what does Vladimir Propp consider to be obligatory for a fairytale scheme?

“Morphologically any development from the villainy (A) or a lacking (a) through the intermediate functions to the wedding (C) or to other functions, used as an outcome, can be called a fairy tale”.

That is, a fairy tale actually relies on only three functions.

They are very similar to the classical foundations of dramaturgy. Compare, for example, with the definition of drama given by Frank Daniel in the book “How to Work on a Script in Southern California”: “Someone desperately wants something and faces difficulties in achieving goals.” The hero must have a clear internal goal and a motive (the lacking), the hero must be opposed by a specific antagonist (the pest), and the story has a clear ending (the wedding or the ascending to a throne).

It’s not that strict, is it?

The author of the screenplay for the movie can do even without a happy ending, breaking the story, for example, on transfiguration.

Everything else is not a limitation, but an aid to the author in his creative work. Functions allow you to make up a story, not as a whole, but as if in pieces, which is easier and more convenient.

And as I’ve mentioned before, Propp functions (cards) may be used out of the fairytale structure, meaning, even when there is no clear travel or return. We’ll talk about it below. For now, let’s analyze the methods by which functions interact with each other, forming a basis of a plot.

Supporting elements: Connections

Important! All function can exist by themselves.

They must be connected with each other by logic or an artistic meaning. For this connection there are a number of supporting elements in fairy tales.

The most important one is “the informing”. That is, a character must receive all necessary information before he starts acting. Propp remarks, that the “misfortune is announced” function is a separate form of such a connection, highlighted separately due to its importance for the plot.

But sure enough, a hero can see or hear something by himself. The way is not important, the main thing is that a hero gets required information. For example, fairytale characters come to the Shrek’s swamp. This is a function, since uninvited guests are a big trouble for the hero.

And when Cinderella learns that there’s going to be a ball in the palace, this is “the informing”.

The “bringing” or “leading” method is also applied. For example, in the beginning of a fairy tale, a king can be brought brides or shown wonders from faraway lands. A hero can also come himself to a feast or a market, and thereby to launch the next function.

Vladimir Yakovlevich distinguishes connecting elements in a separate category when tripling functions. Such tripling can occur both for attributes (three dragon heads) and for functions (three puzzles, three obstacles). A similar connection can be used when the hero chooses an object, such as a sword. A character breaks the weapon three times before finding the right one. Thus, the connection is a strength test, explaining tripling.

A character can also get lost on his way, arriving to the wrong address. Like, for example, thieves seek Ali Baba’s house for a long time and unsuccessfully, and the connection here is the woman’s actions, who spoils their mark. That is, for repetitions there necessarily must be the logical reason. In the first case it is an unsuitability of the item, and in the second one, it is the counteraction of a character.

Very often tripling occurs during chases. Propp underlines, that all kinds of tricks might happen during a chase, including, for example, a triple return. But of course, it won’t be a separate function. It’s the connection, which explains why a villain is forced to rush into a chase three times.

Supporting elements: Motivators

Both in a fairy tale and a movie, character’s reasons and goals, causing certain actions are called motivators.

Interesting to notice, that the same deeds can be caused by completely different reasons. For example, in Russian fairy tales, a banishment can be motivated by the stepmother’s hatred, debates over inheritance, envy, fear of competition, unequal marriage, suspicion of adultery, bad prophecy. The villain is greedy, evil, envious and suspicious.

It happens a lot, that the banished one himself has a bad temper and gives a reason for punishment. A hero can cause troubles or offend someone verbally.

The scholar also describes the interesting case of an imaginary lacking, when a villain (a pest) makes up his need in some curiosity or a cure for the disease, just to send a hero on a long and dangerous journey. For example, a king sends a hero on feats, when in fact he just wants to seduce a hero’s wife.

What’s curious, in any case the “sending away” function works identically. It doesn’t matter for a plot if the reason is real or false.

Propp suggests, that in ancient times villains did without motivators, which were added to fairy tales later. Nowadays, in fairy tales, and even more so in movies, no plot can do without motivators, and missing supporting elements is a very common mistake in screenplays.