one hand we have dan harmon's story
circle and the other hand we have squid
game so let's see if squid game
actually fits dan harmon's story circle
and not just one of its episodes we're
also going to try and fit the entire
nine episode season into the very same
story structure
we start episode two in the comfort zone
all the players are back in their dorm
after playing one of the first
deadly games
what makes this a comfort zone well they
currently believe that they are out of
danger so they are in a state of comfort
although
probably still quite dismayed seeing 200
odd people die in front of them but
they are in a comfortable place compared
to where they were in the previous
episode
i believe in this episode actually very
interestingly comes up with two separate
arguments about need and desire about
half the players
vote
to leave because they want to not go
through another death game whereas
the other half of players want to
continue to play because they want the
money
so right there we have a need to survive
and also a need
to survive just two different arguments
of how they're going to achieve that now
the last vote that's cast actually
allows all the players to go home and
this is where we get the next section of
this episode
[Music]
now all the characters return back to
their normal lives the reason it's
unfamiliar is because they are now
changed because of the very first game
because of the possibility of winning so
much money and answering all of their
problems they now perceive their old
life in a new way however when we do
follow the characters who've returned to
their old lives
they're now in an unfamiliar situation
because their life is now put into
perspective two or three key lines here
explain this perfectly especially when
one of the characters does state
additionally each of the characters own
stories have moved on since they've been
in the game the lead protagonist story
shows that his mother has gotten ill in
addition to his prior problems so not
only does he owe money to various people
his daughter is about to leave the
country he needs to have money for that
his mother now also needs money for
medical attention as well
each character now tries to solve their
original problems
with their original means only to find
that they literally have no other
options which is also part and parcel of
the story of this entire series each of
the characters now understands what
they're really putting at stake and they
choose to confront the fear of
losing their life or
winning the money
quite simply they get what they want
they end up going
back
to the games
each character during phases three
unfamiliar situation and four adaptation
must now pay the price to get what they
want and this means that all of them
have to put their lives at risk but they
also have to leave their lives behind
the protagonist must leave his ailing
mother and daughter other characters
have to leave other family members and
their old lives behind to continue on
their path to try and solve their
monetary problems by going through these
deadly games number seven return to
comfort this doesn't mean that they have
to return to the very same place that
they were comfortable before instead
they return to a place where they are
comfortable where they understand the
risk and are willing to move forward at
that point number eight having changed
now number seven and number eight tend
to go hand in hand because we understand
the final elements of number eight is
that it shows how the character has
changed across the events of your story
how has the conflict changed them well
in this case the character has gotten
back onto the bus as he did in episode
one however this time he knows exactly
what he's going towards he knows exactly
what he's putting at stake
to get his desire if you're a filmmaker
don't forget to check out the link above
and down below to my cinematic language
101 course to help you master your
cinematic language so dan harmon's story
circle works beautifully with every
episode in squid game but it goes deeper
than that dan harmon's story circle
actually works perfectly with the entire
series as a whole as well
number one comfort zone we find the
protagonist living his life carefree
gambling living off his mother and he
has no real reason to change number two
need and desire we find out that he has
a huge amount of debt
and now that his daughter is leaving he
has to find a way of earning a lot of
money very quickly
to solve his immediate problems number
three the unfamiliar situation our
protagonist is invited to earn more
money in the squid games he leaves only
to be shocked by the violence and deadly
nature of these games before he decides
to leave the situation is so unfamiliar
so incredibly uncomfortable
that he has to leave the situation even
though it is counter to his initial
desire he puts his life before money
this is probably a good thing
number four
adaptation
adaptation tends to be probably the
middle section of your story and it's
going to probably be the longest amount
of time
in save the cat this would also be known
as the fun and games section of the
structure after section three and our
characters left only to find out that he
can't solve any of his problems and
really
the life outside the squid games is
almost as lethal as the games themselves
so he chooses to go back to the games to
try and solve his monetary woes however
this time he chooses to adapt he learns
and even learns how to cheat to win
number five
they get what they want
the character
wins the games and he wins the money he
gets his initial desire
it's as simple as that but basically
yeah he wins number six
they pay the price and in this case
he loses everyone he makes connections
with
during the games including
in the final game itself losing his
childhood friend
in a death match to win the money number
[Music]
seven
yeah they return to comfort
in this case that means he returns to
his old life
and this leads us straight into
number eight
getting that right with the fingers
quite proud of myself right now having
changed
having changed really leads us to
realize well i mean he's been through
the games he is incredibly traumatized
and also
he has all of this money his life is
completely changed however the personal
change that has gone on within him
means that he hasn't touched any of the
money that he's won the
billions of one which equates to roughly
27
million pounds section 8 having changed
also allows you to develop a character
who has more than one goal and by the
end of squid game we understand that he
has a
new goal he chooses to confront the
creators of the squid games and that we
now understand could potentially be the
new drive for the next series squid game
doesn't just fit into dan harmon's story
circle it actually fits with all of the
most popular story structure methods out
there so as i said before
each story structure
has a lot of value that it can give you
in your storytelling journey so don't
forget to learn as many of them as you
possibly can because each one will give
you something that you can go forward
use and improve your storytelling