Basic Screenplay Structure

A paradigm is a tool used by screenwriters. It is used as a guide, a road map used during the process of screenwriting. Plot points are like anchors in the paradigm. All stories are told in the general three acts format. Act I, the beginning, Act II, the confrontation and Act III, the resolution.

Screenplays are written in the same format but instead of acts what you have are plot points. Most movies are two hours long, 120 pages that equates to about a minute of screen time per one page of script.

The next time you get a chance go online and find your favorite movie in screenplay form then watch the movie and watch for two things the minutes versus the page number and when the plot points happen.

What is a plot point? Simply put a plot point is usually an incident that moves the story forward. The story does not really start until after you reach the first plot point, which occurs around the thirty-minute mark in a 2-hour film.

Everything before that is the setup of the story to come, and introduction of characters. When the film hits its first plot point is when the real story begins. It is usually when your protagonist begins his/her journey.

A perfect example of this is the Film the Matrix. The most common mistake about that film is that the first plot point occurred when Neo met Trinity; it is not.

That was just the inciting incident. The plot point happened when Neo first came face to face with Morpheus and was offered the Red and Blue pills.

If you were to read the script, you will see that Neo takes the red pill on page thirty of the script, which is thirty minutes into the film. A paradigm and plot points are an essential tool of any screenplay.