ACT ONE. Setting and set-up: place and time, main characters, central problem or conflict, and what happens to get the plot started

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1 LESSON FOUR: THE THREE-PART STRUCTURE Screenwriting is storytelling. We ve made that plain by now, but we ve also talked around the different ways to tell stories and of course, show them. For this lesson we ll take a step back and look at the big picture, which is how the whole story is put together. Whether by accident or design (I believe the latter), humans have learned to tell stories in three parts. In drama, these are called Acts. Shakespeare plays generally had five acts, and modern plays often have two (so there can be an intermission in the middle), but don t let that fool you. The natural form of a story is ACT ONE. Setting and set-up: place and time, main characters, central problem or conflict, and what happens to get the plot started ACT TWO. Development: relationships deepen between characters, motives and dangers emerge, characters make choices that raise the stakes for them. Act Two usually ends with a turning point something happens that moves the main characters toward the climax. ACT THREE. Resolution and conclusion: all that development moves inexorably toward the climax of the story, which is the point at which all the characters choices have been made and the consequences play out. If that sounds too complicated, let s see how it looks on an actual movie. I ll assume you ve seen Star Wars: a New Hope (that s the first Star Wars movie, released way back in 1977). If you haven t seen it (really??) try to follow along. ACT ONE. As the story opens, PRINCESS LEIA, who is secretly leading a rebellion against the oppressive Galactic Empire, has stolen plans for the Death Star, an Empire space station. An Empire destroyer overtakes her vessel and LEIA is captured by DARTH VADER, a villain in a mask and black cape. Before she s taken, LEIA slips the plans to R2-D2, an atromech droid (robot), and instructs R2 to deliver them to OBI-WAN KENOBI on the planet Tatooine. R2 escapes in a pod with C-3PO, a protocol droid. The two droids land on Tatooine, where they are sold as slaves to OWEN LARS, a moisture farmer. Owen s nephew LUKE discovers LEIA s message while cleaning up R2. LUKE knows of OBI-WAN KENOBI, a hermit who lives in the desert caves. When they meet, OBI-WAN reveals himself as one of the last of the Jedi knights, who used the Force to right wrongs across the galaxy--also a friend of LUKE s father, the renowned Jedi ANNAKIN SKYWALKER. When LUKE s aunt and uncle are killed by Empire agents searching for R2, he decides to join OBI-WAN and deliver the Death Star plans to Alderaan, LEIA s home planet. The two go to the space port of Mos Eisley to hire a ship and pilot. HAN SOLO and his partner CHEWBACCA agree to take them to Alderaan in HAN s ship, the Millennium Falcon.

2 ACT TWO. PRINCESS LEIA is imprisoned on the Death Star, a moon-sized space station that is actually the Empire s ultimate weapon. VADER and his agents have tortured her to make her reveal the location of the rebel base, but she doesn t tell them. When they threaten to destroy her home planet of Alderaan, she gives a false location, but they blow up Alderaan anyway, displaying the power of the Death Star. Fragments of the planet reach the Millennium Falcon, which is now approaching. Caught in the Death Star s tractor beam, the Falcon is drawn into the space station s hangar bay. While their presence is undetected, LUKE, HAN, and CHEWBACCA rescue the princess and OBI-WAN disables the tractor beam. After many adventures, all escape except OBI-WAN, who is killed in a lightsaber duel with VADER (turning point). ACT THREE. LUKE is devastated by OBI-WAN s death, and decides to join the fight against the Empire. HAN isn t interested; once he delivers the princess to the rebel post, he s ready to collect his pay and go. Thanks to LEIA s efforts in stealing the plans, the rebel alliance knows the Death Star s most vulnerable point is an exhaust port that leads to the main reactor. LUKE joins the team of X-Wing fighter pilots who will attempt to get past the station s defenses and strike the port. During the battle most of the other pilots are either killed or disabled and LUKE finds himself doggedly pursued by VADER in one of the Empire s TIE fighters. VADER has LUKE in his sights and is just about to blast him to

3 smithereens when the Millennium Falcon appears and sends VADER s ship spiraling. Searching for the Death Star s exhaust port, LUKE hears OBI-WAN telling him to put the flight computer away and Use the Force. LUKE closes his eyes, focuses on the Force, and blasts the target at exactly the right moment. The Death Star explodes and all rejoice. I left out some important characters, but this is the basic outline of the story. Notice that it takes a little more description to set up, but in actual running time, Act I of the movie is only about one-fourth of its length. The middle section is the shortest to describe (I cover a lot with after many adventures ) but takes up almost half the movie. For Act III, I included a bit more detail in the description because the action is more significant, but in terms of length Act III is really the shortest. Even little stories, like the sixty-second Super Bowl ads we looked at, fall into a three-part structure. For instance, The Force : ACT ONE: Introduces little Darth, stalking down the hall to theme music. ACT TWO: He attempts and fails to use the Force on several inanimate objects. Disappointment increases. Dad arrives. (turning point) ACT THREE. Final try, on the VW. It works! Here s another movie: The Hunger Games. I won t take as long to explain this one; the basic three-act structure looks something like this: ACT ONE. Life in District 12. Katniss Everdeen, her mother, and her sister Primrose; as well as the baker s son Peeta and the miner s son Gale. Primrose is selected by lottery to represent District 12 in the annual Hunger Games, but Katniss volunteers to take her place. Katniss and her fellow rep, Peeta, travel to the Capitol for training and publicity, during which Peeta announces publicly that he s in love with Katniss.

4 ACT TWO. The Hunger Games begin. Almost half of the 24 tributes are eliminated on the first day. Katniss gets her bearings, searches for alliances, forms a kinship with Rue. The full terror of the Games grows on the viewer through one violent episode after another, until Rue is killed. The directors of the games announce a new rule: if both tributes of a district survive to the end, they will both be allowed to live. (Turning Point) ACT THREE. Katniss finds Peeta, who is injured, and gives him medicine so they can both survive. All competitors from the other districts are killed, leaving Katniss and Peeta as the victors. At the moment of triumph, the directors announce that their new rule is cancelled; one of the survivors has to die. Katniss and Peeta threaten a double suicide, and the directors relent. But they ll be keeping a sharp eye on these two, because now Katniss is marked as a troublemaker. TRY IT: With one or two partners, outline the three-act structure of a popular movie be sure it s one that all of you have seen! On Worksheet #3, list the main characters. Then list the major scenes that fall into each act. Decide which scenes are most important to moving the plot, and try to end act two with a major turning point. Here are some movies you might pick: The Princess Bride Raiders of the Lost Ark The Empire Strikes Back Toy Story Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring Back to the Future Up

5 WORKSHEET #3 Three-Act Movie Analysis Movie: Setting (both time and place): Main Characters: (Try to list only those who are vital to the plot they re the ones who will show up in your act description) ACT ONE Main Events: ACT TWO Main Events:

6 Turning Point: ACT THREE Main Events: