Learning Journey - Character Archetypes

 Carl Jung has described archetypes as:

 "... a relationship between our personal unconscious and (...) a collective unconscious, a set of memories and ideas that are shared amongst all humanity." (C. Jung, The Integration of the Personality, 1939).

(Carl Jung, The Father of Analytical Psychology 1875-1961)

This notion means that an Archetype is something that is established in our minds as a society. This applies to every form of art from books to films, in which we can distinguish certain character traits that our unconscious automatically associates with an established archetype. An example of this is "The Mentor" archetype. “The Mentor” is a character whose main purpose is to guide the main protagonist and help him achieve his mission. This is normally an older character that is wiser and more experienced than the lead character. An example of this archetype is Gandalf, a character from "The Lord of The Rings" (P.Jackson, 2001-2003) franchise, who acts as a counselor and adviser to Frodo, the hero of the story.

("The Mentor" Gandalf, played by Ian McKellen)

 A film audience is able to recognize the different character traits that amount to a certain archetype. As a director, it is important to know these traits in order to understand how to approach our characters and further subvert the archetypal expectations. 

"Stories resonate when they are universal, but they engage people by avoiding vagueness like a virus." (P. Craft, 2018, 12 Character Archetypes Every Writer Should Already Know, Website - Reedsy Blog)

This meaning that even though archetypes are a powerful tool in my belt as a director, it can also be my enemy as a storyteller, if I over-rely on these tools to build my characters. This can make them flat and vague, therefore it is important to explore these archetypes in order to give them enough depth to become fresh and original to a degree.