Why Syd Field's Paradigm Made Iron Man a Masterpiece

How Jon Favreau Used Syd Field’s Paradigm on Iron Man
Why do people love MCU movies? What are the writers and storytellers doing so well? Today, I dig deeper into Iron Man's (2008) story structure by applying Syd Field's Paradigm to the story structure and narrative arc of Iron Man!
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VIDEO TIME STAMPS
00:00 - MCU Iron Man's Story Structure - Intro
00:59 - Traditional Story Structure - The Narrative Arc
01:46 - The 3-Act Story Structure
02:38 - Syd Field's Story Structure for Movies - The Paradigm
03:22 - Syd Field's Paradigm Explained
05:00 - Applying Syd Field's Paradigm to Iron Man - Act I
05:37 - Iron Man - The Inciting Incident - Syd Field's Paradigm
08:00 - Iron Man - Plot Point 1 - Syd Field's Paradigm
08:30 - Applying Syd Field's Paradigm to Iron Man - Act II
10:24 - Iron Man - The Midpoint - Syd Field's Paradigm
13:05 - Iron Man - Plot Point 2 - Syd Field's Paradigm
14:00 - Applying Syd Field's Paradigm to Iron Man - Act III
JAY'S ORIGINAL STORIES (CO-WRITTEN BY NATHAN SCHECK):
- Death of a Bounty Hunter (novel and audiobook): deathofabountyhunter.com
- Timeslingers (YA serial adventure story): www.amazon.com/Timeslingers/d...
- Star Wars: Rivals (short film): • Star Wars: Rivals
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TRANSCRIPT:
IRON MAN'S PERFECT STORY STRUCTURE - APPLYING SYD FIELD’S PARADIGM TO IRON MAN
Why do so many people love the original Iron Man movie from 2008? How did the writers and storytellers craft a story that resonates with so many people?
On today’s show, I’m breaking down the story structure the writers and director used for Iron Man.
In order to do that, I’ll be applying Syd Field’s Paradigm to Iron Man’s overall outline. We’ll do that for BOTH the finished film AND the script.
I’m Jay Sherer, this is How Stories Work, and let’s dig deeper into why the MCU resonates with so many people. Today’s question? How does Iron Man’s structure work?
If you love Iron Man or storytelling, hit that like button for me and let’s dig deeper into the narrative structure of Iron Man.
EXPLAIN NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
EXPLAIN 3-ACT STRUCTURE
EXPLAIN SYD FIELD’S PARADIGM
As you can see, Iron Man closely follows Syd Field’s Paradigm, all the way from the Inciting Incident to the Resolution.
Now, story structure is only ONE of the many ways writers and storytellers can engage audiences, so be sure and check out my videos on Iron Man’s character arc and Iron Man’s premise, themes, and concept.
And does Iron Man have the best structure of all the MCU movies? Be sure to subscribe because I’ll be analyzing more MCU movies in the future to figure that out. Check out my MCU Playlist for more MCU movies.
What are the major differences between Iron Man’s script and the finished movie? Check out my follow-up video to see what I discovered.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you on the next show!
#MCU #IronMan #IronMan2008 #StoryStructure #IronManStorytelling #HowStoriesWork #MCUStorytelling #StorytellingTechniques #StorytellingTips #Writing #IronManWriting #SydField #ScreenplayStructure #Story #MCUWriting

[@Tysto]

The midpoint is always a crisis that makes the heroes realize that resolving the conflict will be harder than they thought. In Iron Man, that's Obie telling Tony the board filed an injunction to lock him out. And he tries to use it to get the arc reactor. That ends exactly half way thru the film.

[@HowStoriesWork]

Some people define it that way, but Syd Field (creator of the Paradigm, and thus the Midpoint), is not so restrictive to “always.” Here’s his definition: “An important scene in the middle of the script, often a reversal of fortune or revelation that changes the direction of the story.” But I think your selected Midpoint works as well. Although, to be sure I’d have to do a more detailed analysis. Thanks for watching!

[@boingomendoza8303]

This was crazy comprehensive!

[@HowStoriesWork]

Thank you! And thanks for watching and commenting!

[@TheOnesimple]

Excellently Explained

[@HowStoriesWork]

Thank you!

[@bramjurres1400]

very good explaint!

[@chriswest8389]

Yes. Non lineal story telling. Were now all disiples of Q.T

[@TheBluenyt09]

Awzum! I learned plenty 😎👍

[@HowStoriesWork]

Awesome! Glad to hear it! - Jay

[@chriswest8389]

Mordern films typically do this dont they? Theres two variations to this I belive . A scene is shown out of secquence, a preview in a way. Were intrigued. How did our protagonist get to this point were thinking. We now get a glimpse - the context , as the story unfolds. I prefer the latter opening concept. The films starts of with a dramatic incident but then in the scene that follows you get a nice slow build up in the bk( everyday) but with some nice forshadowing. Third person audience omniscent. Tension off the bat. Were fearing our pro is going to get blind sided.The second is when we establish the protagonists character in the opening scene,Frequency' comes to mind. The former, I really dislike. It treats the audiance like children. Theres usually a 5 to ten minute grace period the audenice gives the film makers anyway, isn't there?Whats the rush?. But, I supose, give the people what they want.Its just different strokes really. Personaly I dont like being on my bk foot from the opening scene.