Story Structure Explained - Avengers Infinity War vs Save the Cat's Beat Sheet (Is Thanos the Hero?)
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- Опубликовано: 26 июн 2024
- What is a Story Beat in a Screenplay? ►► bit.ly/save-cat
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Chapters:
00:00 Is Thanos is the Hero in Avengers Infinity War?
01:46 What is the Save the Cat Beat Sheet?
02:00 Beat 1 - The Opening Image
02:46 Beat 2 - Theme Stated
03:29 Beat 3 - Setup
04:15 Beat 4 - Catalyst
04:46 Beat 5 - Debate
05:37 Beat 6 - Break into [Act] 2
06:29 Beat 7 - B Story
07:14 Beat 8 - Fun & Games
07:43 Beat 9 - Midpoint
08:37 Beat 10 - Bad Guys Close In
09:48 Beat 11 - All is Lost
10:30 Beat 12 - Dark Night of the Soul
11:52 Beat 13 - Break into [Act] 3
12:39 Beat 14 - Finale
15:54 Beat 15 - Final Image
16:52 Save the Cat & StudioBinder
Thanos is the ultimate villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But in Avengers: Infinity War, the screenwriters tried something quite radical. They made Thanos the protagonist with a complete character arc. Is Thanos really the hero in the Avengers: Infinity War script? In this video essay, we’ll use Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat beat sheet to track how Thanos becomes not only the central protagonist but a sympathetic one as well.
Wondering how to write a screenplay that keeps viewers engaged? The Save the Cat Story structure is not an exact science and there is no such thing as the perfect plot structure. But Blake Snyder and his Save the Cat beat sheet give screenwriters a road map to story structure that is typically used for heroes, not villains. Thanos’ search for the Infinity Gauntlet is what drives the Avengers Infinity War script but how can a villain be the protagonist?
Taking cues from Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, not only did the screenwriters and filmmakers behind Avengers: Infinity War develop Thanos as a complete protagonist of his own story, but he's a driving force behind the entire narrative. Rather than following dozens of superheroes in various parallel storylines, they used Thanos as the centerpiece.
The Save the Cat beat sheet has 15 steps: from the Opening Image and Theme Stated all the way through the Finale and Closing Image. And when we break down the screenplay for Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is there for every major story beat. We don’t know if the Russo Brothers or the screenwriters used Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat beat sheet to write Avengers: Infinity War, but the script does line up in fascinating ways.
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A day when I become a filmmaker and make a film, I'll add special thanks credits to studiobinder 💖
Looking forward to it!
Same Brother !
Me too...one day ..
We will
@@mr.nobody7914 lesgooo
❤nice monologue 👌🏻
Great analysis on Thanos as a character, it seems like Thanos is the "protagonist" of Infinity War, as it showed his journey, compared to Endgame, where it focused more on the "heroes" or "good guys"
Yes, which also raises the question: who, if any, is the protagonist of Endgame?
@@StudioBinder is there gonna be a video on that ?
@@StudioBinder I would say it was probably Tony Stark as he was given a similar treatment to the one Thanos got. A villain should always be given the same amount of respect/work as the hero. One man's terrorist is another one's freedom fighter. (You guys are great. I used your websites examples (in addition to Save the Cat) to craft my treatment. The process assisted me in spotting and repairing plot-holes, and also forced me to rearrange my scenes so that they were more palatable to the audience. Thank you guys/gals for the knowledge)
@@StudioBinder Tony. He was in the opening shot, and went through the challenges.
@@StudioBinder to face the opponent, and Thanos is the ultimate opponent, they have to form a league, the Avengers... therefore the league itself becomes the protagonist. Every member of that league thrusts the league forward or puts it at risk, yet it is as a league that they win or lose against the opponent. The journey is the one of the league, through the events happening to its members.
I wouldn't say "hero", but I do say "protagonist". It is his story.
and its the reason I like Infinity War over Endgame. 1 clear story. Endgame has 4 more or less independent sections, where the heroes objective changes from one to the next. I like Endgame for what it is (a culmination of over 10 years of storytelling, a conclusion to many multi-film character arcs), but Infinity War is the better *film*.
Hero was a specific term we used to reference the Hero's Journey structure that Thanos' character arc follows. And that is a good point regarding Endgame, there's a lot going for it because of the cumulative effect, but it may not be as effective as a stand-alone film like Infinity War
@@StudioBinder in the 'infinity war' we follow along thanos as hero of his journey - that is to put into practice his intuition about the universe - and we get immersed into thanos intelligence... this is part of our journey as viewers to consider, feel and understand thanos pov as a glimpse into the 'other'. without this learning that the other will do his bidding, we may not be ready to what tolkien called the need to fight 'avenge' and block evil.
storytelling in this mythic scale is tantamount for our survival, enhances our culture with the advanced lesson to be prepared for change - of tatics...
@Snehil Shrey art films are not any better though
@Snehil Shrey those films felt like the creator's fetish or something
@@vijaz5559 what tha heck are talking about man
Blake Snyder save the cat book is one of the best screenwriting book for beginners! Thanks studio binder for doing this and honouring the late screenwriting legend Blake snyder
Just proves how effective his work is, perfectly applicable to a blockbuster like Infinity War
"The more successful the villain, the better the movie."
- Alfred Hitchcock
00:00 Is Thanos the Hero in Avengers Infinity War?
01:46 What is the "Save the Cat" Beat Sheet?
02:00 Beat 1 - The Opening Image
02:47 Beat 2 - Theme Stated
03:33 Beat 3 - Setup
04:15 Beat 4 - Catalyst
04:46 Beat 5 - Debate
05:39 Beat 6 - Break into [Act] 2
06:26 Beat 7 - B Story
07:14 Beat 8 - Fun & Games
07:45 Beat 9 - Midpoint
08:41 Beat 10 - Bad Guys Close In
09:48 Beat 11 - All is Lost
10:30 Beat 12 - Dark Night of the Soul
11:55 Beat 13 - Break into [Act] 3
12:48 Beat 14 - Finale
15:54 Beat 15 - Final Image
16:52 Save the Cat & StudioBinder
Suggest you pin this so it is at the top of all the comments. S'very important...
cheers.
Basic Instinct 1992
after watching this three times and watching it along with the film, I definitely believe that balance is the theme. his 'destiny' was to restore balance. its in his methods and its also in tonys situation with his partner. he also talks about balance a lot in the film as well. Balance is even tied into his b story with Gamora when he gives her the double sided weapon when she was a child during the flashback
Great is understatement for this video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Bro I’m with you on that one. Studio binder is doing too much 🔥🔥🔥📝📝 i even have to pause the video to let it sink in. 😭😭😭😭😭@studioninder
@@anganatiluthando8594 True and this applies to every video of theirs but this ...this is just a masterpiece by itself
@Lucca Zavier Forget the app, how does one get a girlfriend?
The voiceover was magnificent and very suitable to the topic, I mean it would have been funny if the British old gentleman talk about infinity war.
Also: I also thought of Thanos as a good anti hero, a noble cause bit through a morally low process.
Thank you for the feedback! And yes, I think many people agree with what Thanos wants, just not how he wants to go about it
I like it - Think about Your Villain. Give him the same treatment as you do for your Hero.
Great writing principles!
Definetely.. even in acting, etc.. your characters have to have motives.. you're not suppose to judge them.. you need to know why they are doing what they are doing.. and you have to believe it for you to portray that character properly. Otherwise.. its not truthful.
This is such an amazing breakdown of Infinity War and presents a new perspective on Thanos! He definitely was the protagonist in this movie
Endgame spoilers:
I suppose Endgame’s high tower surprise is when the van is destroyed, and then the dig deep down and new plan is Iron Man’s sacrifice?
Also incredible video by the way, these are phenomenal.
Oh wow! This is a very good beat sheet and gave me a whole new perception of Thanos.
Infinity War is such an incredible film. The MCU really outdid themselves with this one. I wish I could watch it again on cinema for the first time.
please do more of these! this is fantastic, especially for someone who's always struggled with the story structure
This was incredibly well done. Thank you for this. I've debated my friends about this all the time. This focus on Thanos is one of the reasons that Infinity War is arguably the best movie in the MCU.
Amazing video! No wonder why Infinity War had such an impact on me. Rarely do you see a villain you can actually go "yeah, he kind of has a point. He's way out of line, but he has a point." Simply incredible. Also way more props to Josh Brolin than I think he got. Without his performance Thanos would not have worked. Also of course the unbelievale CG effects team. It just all adds up...
Thank you studio binder team
Our pleasure :)
Love when you guys discuss multiple conquering character arcs 💓❤💓
Hands down, Infinity war is the movie of Thanos!
Great idea to make the story structured around the one new character
@@StudioBinderLike you said, IW has a great screen writing. It's perhaps the best, in the whole MCU!
This is amazing! The explanation is so much easier to understand with the presence of an example!
Would love to see a video like this about Endgame :)
Thanks for the feedback!
He isn’t the villain but certainly is the protagonist of Infinity War, I’ll never forget the dreadful silence inside the cinema you could only hear people chocking up with the tears.
Hats off to you and your crew. HANDS DOWN the best in story writing analysis I've seen. SO good. thank you.
Wow, enjoyed it a ton! Thank you for breaking it down!!
Plz keep making these videos, u r definitely helping lot of people, thanks for all the content.😇
Great video!
Thank you so much for making this!!
Our pleasure!
wow that was an epic binderStudio video tut ! save the thanos' cat is a wondrous marvellous screenplay writing masterpiece, and an extra-ordinary moviemaking... brilliant ! cheers from Rio binders !!
Woaaw StudioBinder , Thank you for doing this.
A dope breakdown and using one of my favorite movies. This was insightful ⚡ and entertaining all at the same time🔥
Amazing breakdown. I now need to re-watch for the 1 millionth time. And I can’t wait.
Thanks for the brilliant analysis! Helped a lot 🙌
All the people watching this instantaneously became a storytelling genius.
Thank you for this wonderful insight!
I am now reading The Seven Basic Plots of Christopher Booker, in which every story has been told about it very well.With this book, I can understand the story very well with what things the story is made of, But when it comes to understanding films well Then I come to the Studio Binder.
Great Work Studio Binder.
Thank You for helping me.
Sill yet to see a RUclips channel that explains the art of filmmaking like Studio Binder. Amazing content 👍🏾
Glad I have save the cat:write a novel book along with story grid to help with my wip. Very insightful, I always wondered what Thanos' true role was.
I've waited for a video like this! :)
Hope it was worth the wait!
StudioBinder yesss , great video :)
This is the best story analysis video ever on internet. I can vouch for that.
I never spared a single thought that it was the character arc of Thanos. Great job guys.
I m forever indebted to you all.
All hail StudioBinder!!!
Thank you for the feedback! The screenwriters did something special with this approach - this was the solution to connecting so many characters together!
Damn, so youve seen every single one? What comes in second place? Lol
Thank you studio binder ❤️
I had love on film making from my childhood..
But I didn't had an opportunity to learn in Film school . Because of you i am learning through this ..
Love from Hyderabad, INDIA
@MOHAMMED TAWFEEQ sure bro..
indians meeting thru the comments thats great . jab Pune aaoge tab batana
Dude same here ❤❤❤
@@abhishekdighekar924 am from Pune tho ✌😂
@@abhishekdighekar924 sure bro..Jai hindustan.
Outstanding explanation !! Add more videos to the list ❤️❤️❤️
Great example of villan arc.. super screenwriting..
Definitely a great film for screenwriters to study
This is why it's my favorite Marvel movie!
seriously, please make this a series !!
So informative ! thank you for the knowledge you provide us young writers.
Your welcome! Happy to hear our videos are helping
Makes me look at the movie in a completely new way. This was awesome!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating analysis. This inversion of protagonist/Antigone starts in regards to storytelling could prove a new trend in the decade to come given people’s morbid attachment to onscreen villainy. Especially ones with empathetic motives
Thank you very much for the Subtitles
Our pleasure!
Please make more of these
I can't believe this is my HW for School, WATCHING THIS!!!
You are my real teacher ❤️❤️
Amazing Amazing content ! Thank you !
Effing 'A' job guys, loved it
It's a snap! Love this video.
I think one thing I really like is that with Thanos, instead of having a save the cat moment where he does something nice to make the audience like him. No instead he kills Loki and Heimdall which does the opposite. And where this moment happens is within the set-up. Showing how much of a villain he really is. Thought it was a Coll little story eleven
This is the only film where we cried for every "bad guy" that died.
This is the best channel.
New subscriber🔥🔥🔥really helpful content
the music is freakin on point
Studiibinder you're the best, keep it up..
this is such a great video
Thank you!
Awesome video! This makes me want to watch Infinity War. Such a great movie...better than Endgame imo. I'm a little hesitant to use Save the Cat's structure because it's so common and readers can usually sniff it out right away. But I guess if it works, it works. As long as your script is good.
Sorry to notify you, but I always want to get rid this kind of misconception to all writers out there. One thing for sure, don't think about how cliché is your story. If they can sniff it out, then it is the same as Studiobinder did to this movie. We don't know if this film really using this Save the Cat structure or not. Whether you use like 10 different story structures in your story, it will fall all the same into one of story structures. Story structure is just a foundation. Just think how you will write the story and the most important than that is, you are having fun writing it.
Things that always died down the passion of writing is, "cliché cliché cliché cliché". Fudge with the cliché, as long as the story is interesting, write it!
I think 'Infinity War' juggled a few other themes, but it is its theme of destiny and/or chances is what I took deeply.
Some things are just...inevitable
@Snehil Shrey I'm not arguing that it isn't "corporate". It's part of the largest movie franchise ever and certainly not an passion-project indie film.
But to say that it's entirely thoughtless seems too far-fetched. Especially given the franchise's prominence in the pop culture.
I'll grant you this: the MCU is heading towards what you descibed as "cynical corporate mess", as evidenced by the likes of 'Captain Marvel' or 'Far From Home', which would only be as relevant as long as the franchise is.
Thank you.
My friend just gave me this book, cool to know it’s apparently quite useful.
Very interesting.
I like the way u shown the Stories Midpoint at the Midpoint of the Video💘🤙💥
😉 we do what we can
@@StudioBinder nd thts wht makes us Best
Very interesting
Love to studio binder from India
Cheers from California!
Great work thanks inspiring and epic editing…Thanos is such badass all the way thanks !
He fits with Joseph Campbell Hero's journey
Exactly! We essentially broke down the Hero's Journey with the Save the Cat! structure
I never noticed while watching this film originally or the second time, but watching the scenes through this video after finding this channel from looking up videos about anamorphic lenses and lens flares and finding the "Anamorphic vs Spherical Lens Explained" video... It is now very, very obvious that this film uses anamorphic lenses, lol. Or rather, simulates it I guess, since so many of the scenes with all those lense flares are fully CGI environments. The effect is so intense and obvious now that I know what to look for! I guess, in terms of my own CGI art, perhaps these kinds of effects don't always need to be as subtle as I usually think they need to be?
awesome...
I LOVE VIDEO LIKE THIS 😍 EYE-OPENING
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just fabulous analysis. I just realized that the third act solution is foreshadowed when Thanos tells Strange “You’re full of tricks, wizard. But you never once used your greatest weapon” aka the time stone.
Thanos using the wizard’s greatest trick in Act 3 also shows how blinded he is to his plan since he doesn’t realize that Strange did use it for the long game when he viewed the 1 billion possible solutions and saw only 1 where they win.
What stops movies from having the villain go through the same arch is not exploring the villain. They are just there trying to eliminate the hero as an obstacle. The villains come into the story having all the materials to meet their goals.
You could flip the hero's arch to the villain in The Incredibles. The story arch of Mr. Freeze in the animated series of Batman. The shark in Jaws. Megatron in Transformers (especially in Transformers: Beast Machines). Dog Day Afternoon.
Anytime there's two sides on competing quests, you'll be able to fit both into a hero's arch. Most movies just don't explore the motivations of the villain. And the best movies that do explore it, explore it in a sympathetic way that makes the audience question whether they wouldn't do the same as the villain if they got placed in the same situation.
Can y’all do gone girl or mission impossible series
awesome
Happy to see someone appreciate a marvel movie!! Great work
There's a lot to learn from them!
I'm just realizing now that Thanks would have failed if Dr Strange hadn't given him the time stone when he did. He wouldn't have been able to reverse the destruction of the final Stone. The end.
But there's also no guarantee that Dr. Strange would have been able to keep it from him forever, and in the meantime Iron Man would've died
Bepartofmynovel.....Noooo...there was no other way,Dr.Strange had seen everything.Giving away the time stone made them lose the battle but win in the war.....
Thanos Quest is the comic the collection of the stones was based on.
Great video and breakdown but Thanos is not the protagonist. You could follow almost any major character in the movie and still fill in the beats. That’s how great the avengers movies are written. However, it’s Tony who is the protagonist. His dark night of the soul moment and whiff of death is when Thanos impales him. The reason this movie is not a complete downer and that it can allow the heroes to lose, is that everyone knew a second movie to finish the story was coming. Like Empire Strikes back, the heroes don’t have to win but they have to learn something that’ll help them win next time.
Great video
Thanks for watching!
Hey Studio binders your videos are really awesome but 🎉 am excited to know who is the narrator for your videos...
There voice is 🔥
Wow. Definitely a brilliant video. Thanos as a hero. Gave infinity war a new perspective. Great work as usual guys 👍
Happy to help! Thanks for watching :)
Give him the same treatment as your hero-Poweful Advice👍🏻
please more!!!!
Great video, but PLEASE, what is the song playing at 04:20 in? Absolute banger...
It's even clever because they gave the audience their heroes' story arcs in the buildup to Infinity War while only giving glimpses of the terrifying villain.
Keep going guys:)
Yes sir!
Maybe you can break down thanos' story with the story circle?
That is definitely possible!
@@StudioBinder but are you planning on doing it anytime soon, though?
AGREE!
Thank you for this video, this is my introduction to StudioBinder (Liked and Subscribed). The format in which you've put this together really clicks in and turns the gears in my head, and conceptualizing things on the first go is not exactly my forte. I'm brimming with inspiration and a knowingness that my story is not only hitting beats pretty well, but that I also have the roadmap to go and make it even more succinct. Easily digestible video, rubbing my belly right now from satisfaction. Thank you again.
I requested studio binder make over videos on easy explanation on want or need in story writing
Question for the B Story part: is it possible to have more than one person as important figure(s) and make it work?
Who would've thought, the "hero's journey" explanation could change my view of Thanos, now I'm rooting for him and feel bad when I'm think of the end of endgame, makes me think about other villain that could've fit in this scenario, great video essay!
Yup, he was in many ways the center of the universe in this film
I would be interested in seeing you doing movies from other countries.
Alternatively, one could look at Infinity War and Endgame as a whole with the Avengers as the Heroes having the Journey which culminates over 2 movies. In nearly any story the setting and characters are established, then there's conflict with culminates in the protagonist failing then having to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and have another go which may or may not lead to a victory but definitely a resolution.
Infinity War could be considered the establishment, conflict, and failing point, with the dusting themselves off and having another go that leads to victory being Endgame. Of course each movie has the classic 3 act structure on their own, but taken as a whole they can be seen to have a different 3 act structure contained within.
Your infinity war clips looks better than official desaturated image
Endgame has some great moments and stuck the landing, but Infinity War has the best character arcs and is by far the best written MCU movie.
Even the first scene had thur in it giving him a push through the whole film
What did u do to find the script??? I want to analyze some scripts on my own time but don’t know how to find them