Learning Film Making, Part Three: The Three-Act Structure

Every writer, director, producer, or even film editor, must have at least some knowledge about story structure and a few general principles.

While it is true that all stories do not have to follow the same rules to succeed, the vast majority of stories told on film follow a basic structure that has been established because it provides the most satisfying progression for audiences. Most movies exist in a three-act structure. Why three acts? Two act stories usually do not provide enough change of character values to truly connect to the audience, while films with more than three acts sometimes do not work well because it wears the audience out and lessens the impact of the final climax.

So what is an act and what signifies the end of an act? Every act is a segment of a story that has to culminate into a climax that drastically switches the plot/character/motivation of the story. Basic film structure is as follows: the first act introduces the characters and sets up the main conflict of the story; the second act develops the characters, their motivations, and gradually thickens the plot (the second act is always the longest); and the third act sends all the ingredients of the story into a blender, forcing them to clash against each other until a character either succeeds or fails in his ambitions.

THE FIRST ACT: Generally the first quarter of the story, the first act introduces us to the characters and establishes initially small conflicts for each character. It is important to introduce all major characters within this act or else the audience may feel cheated if a new major character appears halfway through the movie. If you wish to delay the presence of a character, perhaps another antagonist, you have to at least make mention of the character and leave hints that he/she will become a major player later on.

A problem with many poorly written first acts is that too much information is given too quickly. A writer has to trust that an audience will gather the details of the characters' back story as the events progress. It would be easy to write a scene where the two main characters are driving in a car and, suddenly, they have a deep discussion about their traumatic past and why they are like they are. It would be easy but it would also be boring and unrealistic. Instead, it is the writer's job to create suspense and make vague reference to a character's back story. In other words, do not place the entire back story in the first act or, for that matter, the third act. Putting all the exposition at the polar opposites of the film will either be boring or feel like an impossible twist that the audience had no way of perceiving. Sprinkle exposition throughout the story to give your viewers the chance to play detective and piece together the clues you give them.

While the main theme of the story should be budding throughout the beginning, the first act climax is when the minor problem becomes a major conflict for the characters. This first climax must act as a no-turning-back point, where the characters have little choice but to face the dilemma they were placed in.

THE SECOND ACT: The bulk of the movie should be spent developing the plot as well as the characters. This is the act where exposition should be used most to inform the audience about back story, past events, and character weaknesses. The second act can be viewing as a 'building act', where the tension is slowly increased. In a sports movie, the second act is spent watching a team develop skills, starting to build a winning streak, and training for the inevitable 'big game'. In a mystery story, the second act is where most of the clues are gathered.

The second act climax is when everything is turned completely upside-down. If the story was heading in an upward direction, it is the second act climax's job to tear down the optimism and implant the hardest challenge yet. In the sports movie, the second act climax could consist of the team getting angry and choosing to disband or the main athlete becoming injured in an accident. In a murder mystery, we find out that the suspect the detective captured actually had nothing to do with the murders - signaled by another murder of someone close to the protagonist. The stakes are suddenly raised and things are looking grim for the heroes. The audience is on the edge of their seats at this point.

THE THIRD ACT: A good third act is when the audience has no idea what the outcome will be, but once it happens they realize that it was the logical progression from the rest of the story. If a story has a shattering second act climax, the pieces must be put back together quickly because a crisis is fast approaching. Using our previous examples, the sports movie would be the championship game and the murder mystery would be the confrontation between the detective and the murderer.

Whatever your climax may be, make sure it is good. The audience is much more likely to let their impression of the movie be affected by the third act climax than any other sequence. The climax does not have to be an expensive, set-piece shoot out scene between the protagonist and antagonist. Rather, a good climax has more to do with what emotional ties the viewers have made to the characters and their situations. If our sports movie character feels like he has to win the game in honor of his dad who passed away in the second act climax, the audience is much more emotionally invested. An explosive climax is nothing without the meaning that the writer has been building since page one. That is why great stories are so hard to come by: every single piece of the puzzle has to be in exactly the right place. If a single piece is left out, the audience may be untouched.

The last sequence of your movie should be the resolution. All the loose ends are tied up and the audience is rewarded the answers to any questions they may have had. Resolutions act as a cool-down for the audience. After you have thrilled them with an exciting climax, they will need an extra few minutes after the dust clears so they can see that everyone is okay (or not okay). If a satisfying climax is followed by a satisfying resolution, you have a winner on your hands.

Once again, not all stories have to remain in a three-act structure. If you feel like your story can only be told in four acts, then that is the only way to tell it. You only have to remember that the end of every act should signal the stakes being raised or turning the plot completely around.

While genre films are the most easy to spot the three-act structure in use (try and watch a sports movie or a mystery movie without seeing it as clear as day from now on), drama also contains the same exact structure, though the climaxes can often be quieter in nature. They may be quieter but not necessarily less effective. Imagine this scenario: a husband with a happy family is suddenly tempted to cheat on his wife by a co-worker. The logical first act climax would be the husband giving into weakness and having an extra-marital affair. This makes sense because the conflict - the husband's infidelity - has now been established for the rest of the story. We have reached a point of no return and now the husband either tries very hard to fix things or continually fails and is unable to end the affair. The point of this example is that climaxes come in all shapes and sizes; the only prerequisite being that a turning point must occur for the character.

As you begin to outline your story or even if you plan on directing an already written script, examine closely how the acts are divided. Is the first act too long? How can the second act climax be improved so it guarantees to capture the audience? Most importantly, has everything in the story been building up to a meaningful final climax? You may be surprised to what extent the power of your story relies completely on the structure. If a writer remains aware of structure, he or she is already halfway to creating a satisfying experience.