Film Courage: What is the classic Hollywood story or story structure that every filmmaker/writer should know?
Pete Chatmon, Director/Podcaster/Author: I think plenty of people have said it better than me. The Hero’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. I think understanding the archetypes of first that classic three-act structure which is the setup, the confrontation, the resolution, and watching a cat and being introduced to a character in their world as they are experiencing it, having them deal with whatever inciting incident challenges them and makes them rise to action and then obviously the resolution where we see how the journey of act two has impacted them and will affect their life and the lives of those closest to them as they move past the world of our film. I think that’s something you have to understand because it’s where most storytelling exists, then in turn how most people are used to absorbing and digesting a story. Learning what works before you break the rules is important. Then you get into more particular understandings of character and structure that Hero’s Journey book by Vogler is great because he breaks down the character archetypes from (I might misquote some of these people) but you’ve got allies, you’ve got the shapeshifters, the people who are introduced as allies perhaps but then they have ulterior motives whether driven by plot or driven by character. All of these things are helpful to make you kind of look at the world of your story and begin to pick up the right tool to craft it into something that best realizes whatever your themes and your points are that you’re trying to accomplish. I feel that’s the key. Robert McKee’s book obviously has a great story triangle that was one element of the book. I’m a visual person and so I think in his triangle he has at the top of the triangle is the Classic Hollywood Narrative that we’re talking about now. At the bottom is the anti-hero, a Travis Bickle and Taxi Driver and then at the bottom on the other side is the multiple character story a Magnolia or anything by Robert Altman. The joke that he makes is as you move down the triangle, your audience gets smaller…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
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BIO:
With a deft ability to balance both half-hour single camera comedies and one-hour dramas, Pete Chatmon has directed over 50 episodes of television including HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, Insecure, Silicon Valley, and Love Life, Netflix’s You, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Black-ish, Starz’ Blindspotting, FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and the Apple TV+ series Mythic Quest. He is in development on The Education of Matt Barnes with Showtime, for which he will direct the pilot and serve as executive producer and is currently co-executive producer and producing director on Reasonable Doubt, the first project to be produced via Hulu’s Onyx Collective. His debut feature as writer/director, Premium, starred Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana, and Hill Harper, and premiered on Showtime after a limited theatrical run. Chatmon also wrote, produced, and directed 761st, a documentary on the first Black tank battalion in WWII, narrated by Andre Braugher. Through TheDirector, his Digital Studio, he has directed, shot, and edited content for advertising agencies and Fortune 500 brands. Chatmon’s career began in 2001 with the Sundance selection of his NYU thesis film, 3D, starring Kerry Washington. His most recent short film, BlackCard, premiered on HBO, and his narrative podcast, Wednesday Morning, engaged voters around the 2020 election. His podcast, Let’s Shoot! with Pete Chatmon is available on YouTube, iTunes, and all podcast platforms. In January 2022 his book, Transitions: A Director’s Journey + Motivational Handbook was released by Michael Wiese Productions.
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