Screenwriting – The 3-act Structure

(taken from http://www.freelancewriting.com/articles/three-act-movie-screenwriter.php)

Three act movie screenplays are the most popular structure of screenplays written today. So, the good news is that you need not write something as complex as the structure of a five-act, Shakespearean play. But, by all means, feel free. Here are some of the details to the 3 act movie screenplay structure:

Act One of Three Acts - Movie Screen play Structure

This introductory act, approximately 25-30 pages long part, is integral and sets up the screenplay. In the first act, the screenwriter introduces the story and characters to the readers and viewers. The story question is identified and defined by the initial change the protagonist faces.

Act Two of Three Acts - Movie Screen play Structure

One can divide the second act into two parts. The first part of act 2, about 30 pages, will have the protagonist conflicting with and struggling against the antagonist or antagonists. The second part of the 2nd act begins when the protagonist determines a solution to his problems. This second section of Act Two of the three-act screenplay is approximately 15 pages and leads to the climax of the movie screenplay.

Act Three of Three Acts - Movie Screen play Structure

This is the final act where the life of the hero reaches a point when he has to make things work for him and implement his plan, if he had the chance to make a plan. In any case, this is the point where the protagonist takes drastic action to make things right and achieve his goal. There is a new twist to the movie screenplay.

Your movie screenplay must be compelling to make viewers stick to their chairs waiting for more to come. If at any point the story drags, the movie screenwriter should rewrite the story. At most, the climax should be 17 minutes.

In the final part of the third act, after the climax has been reached, all that is left is to resolve any loose ends and conclude the movie screenplay. Viewers' attention will be lower at this point since all the main action has concluded and they may be leaning toward the door.

Keep this part short. In case you want to make a sequel of your movie screenplay, keep a few points hanging or add a new story question.

No matter what structure of movie screenplay writing you choose, ensure that your writing undergoes multiple revisions and rewrites. Share it with another trusted movie screenwriter or use screenwriting services.

Exercise 32 Choose the correct letter.

1. The first paragraph suggests that

A) all screenwriters should be able to write a 5-act play.

B) should read some Shakespeare’s plays before writing a script

C) there is a widely used story structure

D) scripts should not be complex

2. The first act

A) is shorter than the second one

B) should not be longer than 30 pages

C) is supposed to capture the reader’s interest

D) presents characters of the story as well as the possible conflict

3. The second act

A) may not contain the solution to the problems

B) has logical parts

C) is the most important part of the story

D) should always show antagonists

4. In the third act

A) the protagonist takes some serious measures to do what he needs

B) we should always suggest an idea that the story is over

C) the audience should understand that there will be a sequel

D) the viewers’ attention will be higher

5. The purpose of this text is to

A) make the reader interested in pursuing a career in screenwriting

B) show the variety of script types

C) inform the reader about some particular screenplay structure

D) teach how to write best-selling screenplays

Exercise 33 Read the article

Logline

(taken from http://support.finaldraft.com/article.aspx?cid=1001&aid=13969)

A logline is a one-sentence description of your story concept.

The purpose of a logline is to present the essence of your screenplay in a clear, entertaining way that hooks the reader and makes him/her want to read more. When constructing a logline, it is helpful to keep the following points in mind:

1. The logline really should be only one sentence long. Many writers – some who find it hard to boil their ideas down into a single line and others who perhaps think that the one sentence notion is just a loose guideline – stretch them to two, three, and sometimes even more lines. The problem is that a multi-sentence logline is not a logline; it is a synopsis. While the point of a synopsis is to convey the structure and key elements of a story, a logline is simply meant to communicate the overall premise of your piece, so don’t weigh it down with lots of plot and/or character details.

Here is an example of a poorly crafted logline for The Godfather:

Don Vito Corleone is a powerful Mafia head with three sons. The youngest son, Michael, a decorated World War II veteran, wants nothing to do with the family business, but when Vito is wounded in an assassination attempt, Michael comes to his rescue and guns down the men responsible for the attack on his father. After spending some time in Sicily, where he learns the history of the Mafia and suffers a terrible personal loss when his wife is killed, Michael returns home, takes his father’s place, and settles all scores by wiping out all of the family’s enemies on a single day.

Here is a much better example:

The idealistic son of a Mafia Don is drawn into the mob and ultimately assumes his father’s role as the head of the family’s nefarious business.

2. The wording of your logline should be simple, direct, and to the point – whenever possible, avoid elaborate sentence structure and flowery verbiage.

Here is an example of an excessively worded logline for Jaws:

When a giant great white shark begins attacking and killing swimmers in the waters off a small New England summer resort community just before the all-important Fourth of July weekend, the town’s police chief joins forces with a scientist and a grizzled old fisherman with a hatred of sharks and the trio set sail in a rickety old boat to hunt and kill the monster.

Here is a simpler, more effective alternative:

A cop, a scientist, and a fisherman attempt to kill the giant great white shark that has been attacking bathers in the waters off a small summer resort town.

3. Your logline needs to clearly express your specific concept, so don’t be too generic (“A giant shark kills people in Massachusetts”) or too opaque (“When the town fathers of Amity put commerce ahead of safety, toothy retribution soon arrives in the form of a pair of prehistoric jaws”).

4. A logline should describe your premise, not the formula behind the premise, so for Air Force One you should write something like: “The President of the United States fights back against the terrorists who hijack his plane and threaten his family” rather than “My script is a cross between The West Wing and Die Hard.”

5. A logline should describe the story, not the theme, so for Gone with the Wind you should write something like “Scarlet O’Hara fights to save her family’s land and legacy in the midst of the Civil War” rather than “As long as we stay connected to our roots, the human spirit can never be defeated.”