“There’s a lot of ideas that I think needed to be paired back, as maybe belong in the sequel,” Fergus says and also:”It had the vibe of an indie film. The collaborative spirit and the fun and the tension that you would expect on some giant movie wasn’t there. It felt like an intimate family kinda trying to figure out problems and work through stuff.”

Makes me want to watch the film again.

With thanks to Louise Lee Mei and Niels Abercrombie.

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Karel

Hauge claims the Inner and Outer Journey run in parallel. I think he’s right, with one small caveat.

A gorgeous Sunday morning in a Manly cafe with a view on the ocean. Perfect circumstances to switch off.

Not if you’re me. I was pondering story structure. And suddenly I had this thought.

Think of a character’s journey as a journey of change. Nothing new so far.

If you look at both the Inner and Outer Journey of a film story as defined in terms of  ‘change’, you’ll see they are structured identically.

I remembered this review of HANCOCK, where the critic pointed out that early in the movie we realise Hancock is a character who needs redemption. He needs to change. Like Bill Murray’s character in GROUNDHOG DAY, Robert Downey Junior’s character in IRON MAN, Bob in THE INCREDIBLES or THELMA AND LOUISE. Or pretty much any hero in any successful movie. They’re all transformational.

In every movie with a character arc, first there is a more or less visible ‘need for change’.

In this first sequence of many successful films, we see the hero’s flawed behaviour. We understand: this character needs to change in order to find happiness, an emotional or psychological balance, to realise a full life.

Then the Inciting Incident happens. Almost always AFTER we understand the character’s inner problem, that ‘need for change’.

Pondering over this, I started mapping it out over the 3-Act time line and I came to an interesting conclusion: the character journey, whether it is Inner or Outer, has three stages:

1. the need for change (a situation of conflict)
2. the journey of change (obstacles and increased conflict)
3. the result of change (conflict resolved, new situation)

Let’s look how these three stages play out over the inner and outer journey:

INNER JOURNEY (that which brings change to the character’s behaviour)

1. the need for change: opening until inciting incident (halfway Act One)
2. the journey of change: from inciting incident until crisis (end Act Two)
3. the result of change: conflict resolved, new situation (halfway to end of Act Three)

OUTER JOURNEY (that which brings change to the world)

1. the need for change: inciting incident until end of Act One
2. the journey of change: from beginning of Act Two until Resolution
3. the result of change: from Resolution to end of movie

Stages 1. and 3. are much clearer in terms of their visible clues about the change. The second stage (mostly Act Two) is murkier. It is a gradual change, which is a matter of ups and downs, victories and defeats.

The 2nd act Inner Journey is largely defined by the mid point.

Because the Inner Journey is weaker in this act, the mid point (the “S” in the middle on the pic.) keeps the story in balance.

Let’s have a look what this would look like on the 3-Act time line:

The vertical lines are the act breaks, the crosses are Inciting Incident and Climax/Resolution.

So we can conclude the following:

Inner & Outer Journey are identical, only shifted in time.

The meaning of this timeshift is simply the following:

In order to get what s/he wants, the Hero must first transform.

It may not be a new view at story structure, but I haven’t seen this approach anywhere else.
Try it, it may work for you.

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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ACT ONE

SEQUENCE A

– Tony Stark visits soldiers on duty in the Middle East.
– The convoy is attacked, the soldiers are quickly killed.
– Stark flees when a bomb explodes, severely wounding Tony’s chest.
– Tony is captured and recorded by a group of terrorists.

FLASHBACK

– Tony’s history as a child prodigy, taking over his father’s company at 21.
– Colonel Rhodes presents Tony with an award in his absence.
– Stane accepts the award in Tony’s honor.
– Rhody finds Tony partying in a casino.
– Reporter Christine approaches Stark with questions regarding ethics.Stane
– The two end up spending the night together.
– Christine is greeted by Tony’s assistant, “Pepper” as she leaves the house.
– Pepper helps Tony with some business before he heads out to the airport.
– In flight, Tony talks with Rhody, who is unhappy about Tony’s attitude.
– Tony gets Rhody to relax, they get drunk and have an in-flight party.
– At a military outpost, Tony demonstrates the Jericho, a missile system.
– Tony goes off with the convoy that is soon attacked by terrorists.

SEQUENCE B

– Tony regains consciousness, his chest is hooked up to a strange device.
– His cellmate Yinsen explains the device keeps shrapnel out of Tony’s heart.
– The captors tell Tony to build a Jericho. Tony refuses and they torture him.
– The terrorists show off a huge weapons stockpile and Tony starts building.
– With Yinsen’s help, Tony constructs a super power generator.
– Tony designs a powered weapon suit to defeat the terrorists.
– Terrorist Raza, attempts to torture Yinsen and gives them one more day.
– Yinsen and Tony set off a bomb as distraction as Tony powers up his suit.
– Yinsen grabs a gun and runs off to distract the surviving guards.
– Tony muscles his way through the cave, his suit deflects weapon fire.
– A dying Yinsen encourages Tony to not waste his life as he escapes.
– Tony destroys their weapons, the armor is ruined, but he is alive.
– US helicopters fly overhead, a group of soldiers led by Rhody, find Tony.

ACT TWO

SEQUENCE C

– Back home Tony announces to shut down Stark Industries’ Weapons.
– Agent Coulson tells Pepper he wants to talk to Tony about his capture.
– Stane confronts Tony about his actions, furious.
– Tony wants Stark Industries to move forward with Ark Reactor technology.
– Stane tells Tony to lay low for a while so the company can sort things out.
– During the upgrade of the Ark Reactor, Tony verges on cardiac arrest.
– Pepper helps in the process, she’s told to get rid of the old model.
– Rhodes says Stark is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
– Tony starts upgrading his armored suit to “Mark 2,”.
– The terrorists gather all fragments of the original armor in the desert.
– Tony perfects the armor’s flight system.
– Pepper comes in and leaves a box on Tony’s desk.
– Stane and the board filed an injunction to gain control of Stark Ind.
– Tony completes the upgrade of his flight system.
– A test flight shows Tony the power supply shuts down at great heights.
– After a near-crash, Tony crashes through three floors of the house.

SEQUENCE D

– Tony finds Pepper’s box with “Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart.”
– Tony rebuilds the suit to solve the icing problem, to code name Mark 3.
– Tony leaves to attend his benefit dinner while the suit is being painted.

MID POINT:

– At the charity event Agent Coulson wants to learn about the incident.
– Tony and Pepper share a moment together in the moonlight.
– Christine challenges him on his weapons being used in the Middle East.
– Stane reveals he filed the injunction against Tony.
– Tony is furious, transforms into Iron Man for the first time.

SEQUENCE E

– In the Middle East, Iron Man defeats the terrorists, destroys their weapons.
– Two F-22 jets spot him.
– Col. Rhodes contacts Tony, who plays ignorant.
– The jets are too much and Tony reveals to Rhodes he is responsible.
– Iron Man is hit by one fighter jet but saves a pilot’s life.
– Tony convinces Rhody to pass it all off as a “training exercise.”
– Back at home, Pepper catches him removing the Iron Man armor.

SEQUENCE F

– The terrorists are visited by none other than Stane.
– He paid them to kill Stark, but they demanded a much higher price.
– Stane takes the remnants of the Mark 1 armor they have gathered.
– Pepper agrees to help Tony.
– In Stane’s office she finds evidence he was behind Tony’s capture.
– Stane realizes what she was up to.
– Agent Coulson agrees to help stop Stane with his fellow agents.
– Stane cannot figure out how to create a power source for the suit.
– Stane arrives at Tony’s house and paralyzes him with a sonic weapon.
– Stane yanks out the power source from Tony’s heart.
– Tony gets the Ark Reactor that Pepper gave him.
– Tony gets the power source installed just as Rhody arrives.

ACT THREE

SEQUENCE G

– Pepper and Coulson spot the Mark 1 Armor, Stane attacks them.
– Iron Man fights Iron Monger, with half power in the suit.
– Tony grabs Iron Monger and climbs higher, then loses him.
– Iron Man is now almost completely powerless.
– Tony instructs Pepper to overload the building’s Ark Reactor.
– Pepper is hesitant, believing that Tony could also be killed.
– Tony manages to keep fighting while she builds up power to the Reactor.
– The Ark explodes, killing Stane, injuring Tony but saving him from death.

SEQUENCE H

– At a press conference Tony adopts the name “Iron Man”.
– Coulson: cover stories about Stane and the “truth” about Iron Man.
– Tony goes before the reporters once more, and declares “I am Iron Man.”

EPILOGUE

Back home, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. talks about “The Avenger Initiative.”

Thank you to IMDb for the full synopsis.

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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