Three-Act Structure and How to Use it

Three-Act Structure and How to Use it

Screenwriters often talk about three-act structure, but do you need to use it when writing a feature screenplay? Few topics have become so controversial in the writing world. But if you’re serious about becoming a screenwriter, you’ll need to learn about three-act structure before you make up your mind.

A breakdown of three-act structure

Conventional Hollywood films are often broken down into three acts with a ratio of 1:2:1. So for example, if your screenplay is 120 pages (which would translate to 120 minutes on screen), Act One would take place from pages 1-30, Act Two would take place from pages 31-90, and Act Three would take place from pages 91-120.
This ratio can be used with any page count; in a shorter, 100-page screenplay, you can use the model of Act One (1-25), Act Two (26-75), and Act Three (76-100).

What three-act structure means for your story

Below is a breakdown of the typical things that happen within Act One, Act Two, and Act Three of a feature screenplay:

Act One

Act One of a feature screenplay sets up the main character’s world and relationships. But you shouldn’t think of it as just “setup.” Make sure that the plot is moving forward as you establish the character. A character might get a new job very early in Act One but then not get an important job-related assignment until Act Two. It just depends.
Something should happen to the character in Act One that sends them on a new journey, gives them an exciting opportunity, or presents them with a pressing problem to solve.

Act Two

By Act Two, the character is actively trying to solve a problem or achieve their goal. They might change location or meet a new character by this point.
Often, at a screenplay’s midpoint, the main character stops trying to achieve one goal and starts trying to achieve another. In Legally Blonde, for example, Elle Woods stops trying to win back her ex-boyfriend and fit in at law school and starts trying to exonerate her new client. The midpoint of a film, which takes place in Act Two, might also represent a new problem, higher stakes, a revelation of information, or a new opportunity. It can also be a shift to a new location. Many screenwriters suggest that the midpoint of your feature screenplay is just as important as the end of Act One or the end of Act Two.
The end of Act Two often sees a defeat in which a character fails to achieve a goal set forth earlier in the script. In a romance, the main couple might break up at the end of Act Two. In Jurassic World, it’s when dinosaurs attack visitors at the park and they have to evacuate amid chaos.
In Moneyball, the end of Act Two is when the Athletics lose a playoff game and it seems that Billy’s mathematical approach to coaching is faulty. In a war movie, the main character might surrender after a bloody battle. In other cases, the end of Act Two is a bittersweet victory; the character might get what he or she wants but realize it doesn’t matter to him or her anymore.

Act Three

Act Three sees the character rally to continue going after their goal (often with new information, a new plan, or a new outlook). The character might also to achieve a different goal now that values have changed. In The Social Network, all the court cases are resolved in Act Three. In Brooklyn, Eilis tells her mother about her secret marriage and goes back to America to be with her love.
Goals can be both tangible and intangible: one character might want to catch a thief or win a child custody case, while another might attempt to move past their grief or accept their identity.
Different films approach three-act structure in different ways. In some road trip movies, the characters are on the road in the middle of Act One but make some meaningful decision by Act Two; in other road trip movies, the characters might not get in the car until Act Two. The “journey” of what the trip means is not always the same.
Study your favorite films and write down what happens at these points to learn how the end of Act One, Two, and Three can mean something different in a comedy versus a horror movie.

Can you ignore three-act structure?

Some writers feel that sticking to a rigid formula stymies creativity and results in too many cookie-cutter movies. “Why do I want to do what everyone else is doing?” asks screenwriter Jeff Nichols. “I’m not trying to build a system here. I’m not trying to build a conveyor belt that spits out these things that we’re used to.”
The book Save the Cat by Blake Snyder is probably the most controversial when it comes to the question of whether you need a rigid structure. It features a specific and simple guide that many writers swear by but others despise for its strict formulas. Some writers want more flexibility.
Another approach to screenplay structure is Dan Harmon’s story circle, which some writers find too complicated but others praise for the way it ties story elements together. Some writers even go back to the classics of Shakespeare, Aristotle, or Cervantes when they think about structure. You might find you need to divide your script into more than three or four parts. Read different books and perspectives on the topic so you can decide for yourself!
Writers often have different ways of looking at things. One might see a movie as adhering to a conventional three-act structure, while another might watch it and see five or six acts. Ultimately, you might just need to find the approach or method that works best for you.
Be wary of ignoring all structure completely. Many writers feel you should master some kind of basic structure in your own writing before you write a more experimental or unconventional script. Also, following three-act structure doesn’t mean that you have to copy common plot points. The challenge of screenwriting is adhering to structure while still being inventive and original.
Finally, if a professional writer says in an interview that he or she doesn’t write outlines or think about structure, it might mean that he or she has internalized structure after years of study and work. Learn the basics first! You’ll also want to be able to speak the language of producers and development executives who often discuss features in terms of three acts.

Act One: The Set-Up

Usually the story really begins at the moment when the first character faces the difficulty that he or she has to solve, and it better be a clear difficulty, and he better realize that he must do something. Dramatic form means action, and action brings tension. So the awareness of the tension, and the clarification of what the nature of your tension is, helps to build the whole script.

ACT ONE: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

TONE: Very quickly you want to establish the tone of the script: is it a serious film, a comedy, a fantasy, a spoof? Let people know right away that it is okay to laugh, to cry, to dream, etc.

THEME: You will also want to establish the theme of the film – what message are you trying to convey: “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”, “The underdog triumphs”, “Good versus evil”.

WORLD OF THE STORY: As the story begins, you will introduce the world of the story – where does it take place? What is different and interesting to this world? What are the rules of this place?

CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS: At the same time, you will introduce the principle characters to the audience. Be specific and original. Let us know their age, how they dress, walk, talk. Give them a scene in which they stand out from the others. Let the audience know these people are special.

PROTAGONIST WEAKNESS: The main character’s weakness(s) must be clear so that the later obstacles can attack that weakness in the second act.

INCITING INCIDENT: The inciting incident (or point of attack) is the moment when the dramatic conflict announces itself. It’s the first perception of the predicament to come, and usually, a moment that is very visual.

MAIN TENSION: And this predicament sets up the main tension around which the story will be built: Will they fall in love? Will they rob the bank? Will they escape alive? Will they do all three?

THE STAKES: The stakes have to be clear in order to show the audience how and why this tension is important to them, or – more importantly – what will happen if the character does not solve his/her problem. It should be huge – a matter of life and death.

OBJECTIVE: A character’s objective or goal is what drives him. This should be very specific, very clear. How badly does he/she want something and what are the lengths he/she is willing to go to get it.

LOCK-IN: The first act concludes once the main character is locked into the predicament, propelling him/her forward on a new quest trying to accomplish a specific goal. Now the reader/audience knows the character, the predicament, and the objective, so everything else is about the future.

Act Two: Obstacles

This is the meat and potatoes portion… AND the most difficult part of writing a screenplay. Most mediocre and flawed screenplays are plagued by slow or meandering second acts. Keep in mind the main tension – and that your character should always be on the path to resolving that tension.

The second act begins right after the lock-in: the moment when the character is stuck in the predicament and main tension – it is too late to turn back, so he/she must go forward. Now the character aims towards the goal, the objective, and he/she has the first meeting of the obstacles and antagonists or circumstances, always with rising actions.

The first sequence usually presents the alternative solutions. What are the choices? What should be done? And the character selects one alternative, and if it should be the worst one, then he selects another one, and in the meantime, the rest of the alternatives are eliminated. Then the character uses one of the ways to solve the predicament, and it seems to work, and that’s usually the first culmination or midpoint.

But it’s not that simple, because there are consequences of things that happened before that he didn’t take into consideration. He offended somebody. He didn’t do things that he was supposed to do. He forgot about things. You bring those things back in the second part of the act, and at that time they can be entered almost without motivation, because anything that works against your character at that time is acceptable. Any accident, any coincidence is fine because it makes his predicament worse, and therefore we enjoy it. Also it helps to explore the validity of the desire of the dream.

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ACT TWO: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

OBSTACLES: The second act is all about obstacles. It elaborates in great detail and intensity on the difficulties and obstacles the hero faces as he or she struggles to achieve his or her goal. Just when we think the situation can’t get worse, it does. And when there is no way that our hero can get out of the jam, he does, only to end up in a worse jam. Basically, each sequence centers around a new obstacle or obstacles of increasing difficulty.

FIRST ATTEMPTS: Now that the character is locked-in, he makes his first attempts to solve the problem. This is usually the simplest, easiest manner to resolve the problem, and these attempts usually fail.

RAMIFICATIONS: It is important to show the ramification of the attempts, which must result in an increase in complications.

ACTION: Every move the character makes traps him even more. Each actions leads to more entrapment. Be merciless on the character.

SUB-PLOT: A solid sub-plot that carefully intertwines with the main tension in both plot and theme will be a great channel in which to relate the character’s emotions (in regards to the main tension).

FIRST CULMINATION: This is the midpoint of the film. If our hero is to win in the end, this then is the first time the character finds a solution that seems to work. It is a victory. If the script is a tragedy, however, this often a low point for the character.

MIDPOINT MIRROR: The first culmination and ending of the film usually mirror each other: both victories or both failures.

MIDPOINT CONTRAST: The first culmination (Midpoint) and the main culmination (End of Act II) are usually in contrast with each other.

NEW ATTEMPTS: By the first culmination, our hero has failed in his/her first attempts but in failure, realizes the weight of the issue and becomes aware of the correct method in which to resolve the main tension. He/she then can begin new attempts, still faced with new obstacles, that get him/her closer to resolving the issue.

CHARACTER CHANGE: Throughout the second act, the main character starts changing, learning, and developing, or at least intense pressure is put on the character to change, and that change will manifest in the third act.

MAIN CULMINATION: this is the end of the second act and the point where the character sees that what he/she thinks he/she has been doing is not what he/she has been doing. The tension is at the highest point, and this is the decisive turning point. You must convince the audience that their worst fears are going to come true. This moment will change the main character in some way.

FIRST RESOLUTION: This resolution of the second act tension often spins the character(s) into the third act. (Luke Skywalker and Han Solo rescue Princess Leia from the clutches of evil Vader… but they still have to destroy the Death Star.)

Act Three: Resolution

The audience has seen the journey through which our protagonist has traveled. Yet the audience still wants reassurance that all is well, that the characters have changed, and a glimpse of his/her future.

Once the second act is resolved, there is usually a twist and new confrontation, which pushes us into the third act conflict. Often this is the result of the plot and subplot main culmination: the conflicts of the plot and sub-plot colliding.

In the third act, the protagonist will demonstrate his/her character arc in the manner in which he/she chooses to resolve the third act conflict. (For instance: In the beginning, a low-down character may choose to lie or cheat to resolve an issue, but since his/her arc has taught him/her morals, he/she tries to honestly resolve the situation).

The character’s new vision and his/her attempt to end the third act conflict leads us to the obligatory scene – a big scene which the audience has been waiting for since the story began.

After that, you have the descending part of the story where we see what happened after the evil won, lost, or whatever. You see ho they live afterwards. And the function of the twist in the middle of the third act is the last test. You shouldn’t believe the solution, very often, if it came directly from the resolution. So you come with something that once more offers the character a possibility to try for the last time, in a different manner. 

The main story and subplots are all resolved in differing ways, but all with some sense of finality, the feeling that the conflict is over. 

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ACT THREE: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

CONDENSED: Fast. Organized. No new characters. No new locations. The story is unraveling. 

TWIST: The final twist is a surprising, explainable, and motivated change in direction of the action. 

FINAL CULMINATION: Up to this point, our hero has been tested, has tried everything he could, and there is only one way left, because all the alternatives were presented and eliminated, and therefore, comes the final culmination, often where the main plot and sub-pot collides, which propels our hero head on into a new confrontation with the inevitable. 

CHARACTER ARC: The main character is now in a new situation with a new tension, and he/she must have opportunities to go back to the old character and see if there is a change. There should be. 

OBLIGATORY SCENE: The obligatory scene the scene the at the end of the film in which the viewer has been waiting and looking forward to. If tension is an eager anticipation of the future, then the obligatory scene is one that the viewer almost consciously expects. In a way, it has been promised to the audience. 

RESOLUTION: This is the end. The third act conflict is complete, character arc complete, all issues resolved, and the audience sees the new status quo – or what the future holds for the characters.