Syd Field

For the British comedian, see Sid Field, for the

actor see Sidney Fields

lms plot is set up within the rst twenty to thirty minutes. Then the main character protagonist experiences a
'plot point' that provides a goal to achieve. About half the
movies running time focuses on the characters struggle
to achieve this goal. This second act is the 'Confrontation' period. Field also refers to the 'Midpoint', a more
subtle turning point in the plot that happens at approximately page 60 (of a 120 pages screenplay). This turning
point is often an apparently devastating reversal of the
main characters fortune. The nal third (the third act)
of the lm depicts a climactic struggle by the protagonist
to nally achieve (or not achieve) his or her goal and the
aftermath of this struggle.

Sydney Alvin Field (December 19, 1935 November 17, 2013) was an American screenwriting guru who
wrote several books on the subject of screenwriting. He
also conducted workshops and seminars on the subject of
producing salable screenplays. Hollywood lm producers
have increasingly used his ideas on structure as a guideline to a proposed screenplays potential.[1]

Biography

3 Books

Field was born on December 19, 1935 in Hollywood, California.[1][2]

Field taught screenwriting at the Master of Professional
Writing Program, University of Southern California.
Field also wrote and produced the television series Men
in Crisis, Hollywood and the Stars, National Geographics,
and Jacque Cousteau Specials from 19631965 for David
L. Wolper Productions.

Screenplay (1979)

Syd Field died of hemolytic anemia on November 17,

2013, aged 77, at his home in Beverly Hills, California,
surrounded by his wife, family, and friends.[1][3]

Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay (1994)

The Screenwriters Workbook (1984)

Selling a Screenplay: The Screenwriters Guide to
Hollywood (1989)

The Screenwriters Problem Solver: How To Recognize, Identify, and Dene Screenwriting Problems
(1998)

The paradigm

Going to the Movies: A Personal Journey Through

Four Decades of Modern Film (2001)
The Denitive Guide to Screenwriting (2003)

4 References
[1] William Yardley (November 18, 2013). Syd Field, Who
Wrote the Book on Writing Screenplays, Dies at 77.
New York Times. Retrieved 2014-10-27. ... This book,
published in 1979, was widely regarded over the next
three decades as the 'bible' of screenwriting. It happens
that 1979 was the year Syd Field published 'Screenplay:
The Foundations of Screenwriting,' a book that over the
next three decades became widely regarded as the 'bible'
of screenwriting, the paperback enabler of Hollywood
dreams. ... Sydney Alvin Field was born on Dec. 19,
1935, in Hollywood. His wife, Aviva, said he died at his
home in Beverly Hills. The cause was hemolytic anemia.
...

Syd Field in an instructional video.

Fields most notable contribution is his articulation of the

ideal Paradigm "three act structure". In this structure, a
1

[2] Syd Field at MyLife

[3] SydField.com

External links
Ocial website
Syd Field at the Internet Movie Database
Interview by Karel Segers

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

Syd Field Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd%20Field?oldid=643105778 Contributors: Alan Liefting, Andycjp, Quadell, The
Singing Badger, DMG413, Rray, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Woohookitty, Noit, Jweiss11, Tysto, Wikizen, RussBot, Kubrick,
Calsicol, Lijealso, Doncram, Private Butcher, Caerwine, SmackBot, Scott197827, Classiclms, Verne Equinox, Chris the speller, Bluebot,
William Allen Simpson, John Hyams, Minaker, Sttorgdivad, Ckatz, Andyroo316, Daviddaniel37, Focomoso, JayHenry, Thedemonhog,
KnightMove, Infophile, Khommel, Magioladitis, Connormah, Simondor, Leyo, Rotek, Shawn in Montreal, Kidlittle, Maegalcarwen, Amberghessa, Just Jim Dandy, Mr.Z-bot, Flyer22, Patrick Rogel, Fastily, Addbot, Mksaelens, Joachim57, Lightbot, Zorrobot, Blowhound,
Luckas-bot, JackieBot, CXCV, Omnipaedista, RjwilmsiBot, EmausBot, Evanh2008, Opensnippet, Jcaraballo, EdoBot, Arcanicus, Jonny
Nixon, Cerabot, Ranshviro, No1inparticularhere and Anonymous: 42

6.2

Images

File:Syd_Field.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Syd_Field.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors:

Screenwriting Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center hosted by Creative Screenwriting magazine Original artist: thedemonhog
File:Syd_Field2.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e1/Syd_Field2.jpg License: ? Contributors:
Syd Fields Screenwriting Workshop (VHS, 1999)
Original artist: ?

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0