How would I structure a dual story screenplay?

Posted by: marshallamps12 (Guest), July 17th, 2005, 12:08am

I'm kinda' curious about this. If I wanted to write a screenplay that has 2 storylines (ala The Godfather Part II), how would I structure it? Would it still follow the 3-act structure? Or is there a special rule for something like that?

Posted by: Mr.Z, July 18th, 2005, 8:11am; Reply: 1

I read an article related to this topic some time ago. Hope it helps.

http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/csdaily/craft/04_08_05.html
http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/csdaily/craft/04_15_05.html

Posted by: marshallamps12 (Guest), July 18th, 2005, 12:53pm; Reply: 2

thanks.

Posted by: George Willson, July 18th, 2005, 3:12pm; Reply: 3

I believe each character would have their own three act structure and depending on how closely the two stories converge (i.e. most of the Star Wars movies) would determine which of the two stories would be the "main" story and which would have to take a backseat. If they both work pretty independantly, the act divisions for each story could occur pretty close to each other, but if they directly interact (like The Empire Strikes Back where Luke is one plot and Han et al is another), you'll have to choose which person gets their act one ended first.

I sure hope that made sense.

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