In light of James Gunn’s firing, I rewatched Guardians of the Galaxy. This film has such good story structure: every section is a well wrought story circle that fits perfectly into the larger overall story circle. Guardians can be broken into four to six parts and consumed as sequential art, and each piece would be a satisfying on its own.
In light of that realization, I made a big graphic that shows the wheels within wheels of Guardians of the Galaxy’s superb structure. If you don’t know a lot about story structure, go here to learn the system my model is based on. Also, this graphic assumes you’ve seen the movie and remember the major plot points.
I agree with Marc Bernardin’s take on Gunn’s firing. It will be a huge loss to fans of the series if we don’t at least get a James Gunn screenplay for Guardians Vol. 3.
COLDBRIDGE 
Hey, this is great. Do you have a higher-res version of the file? I’m having a hard time seeing the teeny letters.
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Thanks Maureen. You’re right, it’s hard to see. WordPress’s auto-formatting is keeping it a bit too small. Here’s a link to a hi-res version: https://coldbridge.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/guardians-story-circles-01.png
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I have heard of recursive story circles, ie. Nolan’s Batmans, but what you did here makes it look like there should be others, as if there is software, a template, or a program that assists or teaches in line with the thought of recursive story circles. Is this unique or is there some rabbit hole to explore?
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Kenjamin! Sorry I took so long to get back! I clearly need to properly set my notifications. I’m not aware of any software. I made this in Illustrator, based on Dan Harmon’s story circle write up from his Channel 101 days: https://channel101.fandom.com/wiki/Story_Structure_101:_Super_Basic_Shit
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Hey I have a question, Do you happen to know the act breaks in this story?
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Yes! The story circle is analogous to a 3-act structure. Steps 1-2 are Act 1, Steps 3-6 are Act 2, and Steps 7-8 are Act 3. Sorry it took me so dang long to notice this message.
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