Using the Three-Act Structure Effectively

Writing a Great Story or Screenplay Using Dramatic Story Structure

Jun 1, 2009

Writing is about merging art with craft. Learning about the 3-act structure that most movies are based on is the first step to mastering the craft of screenwriting.

While it is undeniable that there is 'art' in film, a good deal of filmmaking is also about the 'craft.' Think about it, would people keep flocking to theaters to see whatever the latest horror film is if they didn't already know going in that the good guys were going to escape and the monster was going to get killed? The fun is in finding out how the good guys escape, and how the villain get's his comeuppance. Or would an audience tolerate spending good money to see a romantic comedy where the guy didn't get the girl in the end? No way. If the romantic lead doesn't come to his senses and chase after the girl, sweeping her in his arms and giving her a big smooch at the end, the audience is going to hate the movie!

OK, sure, it's true that for every formula you can find an exception, but the more important question when thinking about the exceptions is whether breaking from the formula made a better movie. If you're in filmmaking to produce highly experimental films or art house movies, you might not find the Three-Act-Structure to your liking, but you also might be surprised once you start looking at just how many 'art house' movies make liberal use of structure in order to tell an effective story. If your goal is to reach the widest audience possible with your movie, then the three-act structure is the place to begin in order to make sure you're telling a coherent story, giving the audience characters and situations to care about, and wrapping it up in a satisfying way.

Your basic 'marketable' script in Hollywood will be somewhere between 110 and 120 pages in length. So with that in mind, the first act will take up approximately the first 25 to 30 pages of your script. In those 25 to 30 pages you will need to set the scene for the audience. This includes introducing the characters, their relationships to one another, and the world in which they live. Early in the first act is also where you need to introduce the situation that our characters will be spending the rest of the movie dealing with. People don't go to movies to watch characters sitting around doing nothing, so whether it's a heist, a new girl in the office that everyone wants to date, or a nuclear bomb that will go off if it isn't disarmed, you need a situation for your characters to resolve!

Writing the Second Act - The Obstacle

Enough with the setup, let's start to unravel this plot! The second act will take up the majority of the rest of your movie, roughly 50 to 60 pages. Described briefly, this is the section of the film where the main character attempts (unsuccessfully) to resolve the situation that you've set up in your first act. In short, this is where the main character learns what he (or she) needs to know in order to resolve the predicament that you've put them in.

Writing the Third Act - The Resolution

This is the final 25 to 30 pages of your script and it is where everything comes together for your main character(s). The heist is successfully pulled off (or thwarted), the guy gets the girl, or the bomb is disarmed... Just in the nick of time, of course! Essentially this is where you tie up all the plot points that you've set up in order to give your audience a satisfying conclusion.

Wait, so That's it?

Well, yes... sort of. Entire sections of your local bookstore are devoted to the topic of story structure, so there are plenty of books on writing available which dig in greater detail into each of these acts, but within the shelves of your bookstore are just a few 'classic' books that you'll want to consider for further study and elaboration on the craft of screenwriting:

The copyright of the article Using the Three-Act Structure Effectively in Filmmaking 101 is owned by Jeff Lanctot. Permission to republish Using the Three-Act Structure Effectively in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.