Spotlight
How to make documentaries engaging?
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$33 – 41 V $45MM
Mythosis universal quests used
5
Audience appeal
1.24–1.51%
Script Score
0.04
Directed by Tom McCarthy, the movie follows the investigative journalism team as they uncover a massive scandal covered-up by a revered institution – the Catholic Church. The story explores basic human quests of power and search for truth. Mythosis uses 5 mythological tales to extract the plot structure of the movie.
1. The invisible plot structure of Spotlight
1A. The script of Spotlight borrows 89% of its events from 5 mythological tales
Team Spotlight’s quest is driven by the desire to find an elusive person/object and mirrors the tale of Jason from Greek mythology. Similar to Jason’s quest, Team Spotlight receives assistance from various allies, but ultimately triumphs due to crucial insider support.
Catholic Church’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Circe from Greek mythology. Both Circe and Catholic Church take whatever they want without any concern for the consequences.
There are 3 underdeveloped quests
Robby’s quest is driven by the desire to protect and mirrors the tale of Oedipus from Greek mythology. Both Oedipus & Robby repent for an inadvertent mistake made in the past.
Marty’s quest is driven by the desire for justice and mirrors the tale of Krishn from Hindu mythology. Despite being warned both Krishn & Marty take on a powerful adversary.
Garabedian’s quest is driven by the desire to serve a clan/order and mirrors the tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology. Both Hanuman & Garabedian are unsure initially but become fiercely loyal.
NOTE: Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters and their mythological counterparts”
Mythosis plot structure
#607
Tales interweaved
Circe & Jason
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. The potential of Spotlight’s plot structure: $33 – 41MM
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales can generate a billion unique stories. By using these 32 tales, we can extract the plot structure of any story across various genres. Our study of blockbuster, hit, and flop plot structures led to the discovery of the Mythosis Code, a set of principles for creating compelling stories. The plot structure of a story is analyzed to see how well it adheres to these storytelling principles.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of Spotlight
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Spotlight uses 2 universal quests of Power & Expedition.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Catholic Church mirrors the universal quest of Power whereas Team Spotlight mirrors the quest of Expedition.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Team Spotlight borrows 34% events from the universal quest of Expedition. Catholic Church borrows 28% from the universal quest of Power
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Spotlight has a quest interweaving score of 0.30 and is below par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Team Spotlight & Catholic Church:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Spotlight
Though the plot structure of Spotlight borrows events from 5 mythological tales, it uses only 2 of them. As a result, the character quests are shallow.
The Script Score measures a plot structure’s adherence to the four principles of Mythosis Code. We use the Script Score to estimate a movie’s audience appeal & revenues. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Script Score
0.04
Audience appeal
1.24 – 1.51%
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
3. The ideal plot structure of Spotlight
We have identified 32 mythological tales, the superset of all tales across cultures. The quests of these tales have also recurred over time periods. They represent human behaviours that are deeply embedded in our shared memories. Each tale is the richest expression of the pursuit of a human desire. The tales have a unique pattern of events spread over 5 major arcs.
Mapping a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. Plugging these gaps with the missing events deepens the character quest. The missing events also provide an opportunity for interweaving the various quests. These events strengthen the story and unlock its hidden potential.
3A.Quest of characters and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Team Spotlight mirrors the universal quest for Expedition
Team Spotlight’s desire for Expedition stems from the need to find an elusive person/object. The tale of Jason from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Expedition.
Quest 2: Catholic Church mirrors the universal quest for Power
Catholic Church’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Power.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
The plot structure of Spotlight builds an interesting conflict between Team Spotlight and the Catholic Church. However, it suffers from lack of well developed quests for multiple characters.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Contact: anandshiv@usemythosis.com
Contact us for Spotlight’s plot structure #607
Tags: Jason, Circe, Power, Expedition, Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy, Participant Media, Open Road Films, 2015