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I do and don't like the 3 act structure because, as Jeff said, it does make things pedestrian. It allows me to know, in a 90 min movie, exactly where the big events are going to happen... I know Mike said something to the degree of it being industry standard -- that may be true and probably still is to some degree -- but if you choose to only write in that style you will no doubt fall into the "I can't help but be predictable" pit.
20, 40, 30 was the 3 act structure for a 90 min movie (at one time - I believe)
30, 60, 30 was the 3 act structure of a 120 min movie (at one time - I believe)
I think after writing in that style for so long you will always look at things: your story, your break downs, your pinches, your progressions, even your characters in this tight box where things must happen in accordance to these mathematics.
I honestly do believe Mike is right -- That it is industry standard to write this way... if for no other reason than it's the only possible excuse as to why we have so many damn movies that are the exact same.
But I don't totally hate the 3 act rule... I find it very useful for discipline and guidance... The 3 act rule allows you to know exactly, as I said above, when and where to get your story moving and into gear.
For that it's beneficial... What I'd do is write a 1st draft using the 3 act structure and then deviate from it on your 2nd and 3rd. See where else your story and characters can go when you un-cuff them.
Hello, everyone. It's very interesting to see that everybody has different opinions on this.
Marnie Sleek, 8 acts! I think I'll use that as well as the others to construct my plot.
Jeff Wow! I know what you mean. There isn't any originality if 95% of screenwriters follow the same structure. Guess I need to strength my forehead, perhaps having a headbanging routine each day would do the trick
Balt Thanks for the thorough response. I like that everybody has a different opinion on this. I think I will use the three acts in my first draft and then with my second one, try and put more originality into it.
Just tell the story as your heart wants to. Three Act Structure is definitely the industry standard here, but not a "Thumb rule" -- I have seen the "Most meticulously structured Scripts" just being thrown into the trash can --- mostly for no goddamn reason. The selling aspect of any Screenplay in this town is "Fresh Idea, never made before and one that definitely at one look moves like a POP CORN movie" Other story genres take a while to get picked, if that makes any sense.
I've always liked Michael Hauge's structure sheet which is very similar to Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet, only it's got examples which is always cool. Like Shelton said, the three-act structure is the industry standard and Hollywood seldom deviates from it.
I would recommend Kal Bashir's youtube videos. You can see how all of the above fits into one.
Dagenham Women was screened at our local arts centre last year and the screenwriter was there to answer questions at the end. He said he didn't consciously write in three acts, but did acknowledge that the film definitely had a three act structure.
Seems to me that proper stories, ie interesting ones, all have three acts. A universal truth of story telling.
I had given up the idea of a feature until the 7WC came along so this kick started me to think about structure. Lets be honest, there is no shortage of advice out there, however, they mostly do ascribe to a three act structure, even if they break it down differently.
As a noob i'm not about to break protocol so I'm happy to go along with that, besides what i had in my mind fitted this quite well.
Since i am writing in the least preferred genre on this site, the Rom Com, i decided to invest in a book on the subject, written by Billy Mernit, aptly titled, "Writing the romantic comedy".
I started writing the script with one eye on three acts but otherwise trying to make the story natural, i.e. flows in a sensible cause and effect manner. I was therefore pleased that it seems to ascribe to his format which is a seven point structure (has to be a different number to everyone else of course!).
Each genre seems to have it own ways, laws, rules - most of which i don't know - and learning the Rom Com style has been interesting.
However, i do have one issue with the advice given as sometimes it seems very prescriptive. For example, i have been told (not in this book) that the inciting incident MUST be on page 12 (not 11 or 13). Surely thats too formulaic? So, just to show I'm a rebel at heart, mine's on page 13
The Elevator Most Belonging To Alice - Semi Final Bluecat, Runner Up Nashville Inner Journey - Page Awards Finalist - Bluecat semi final Grieving Spell - winner - London Film Awards. Third - Honolulu Ultimate Weapon - Fresh Voices - second place IMDb link... http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7062725/?ref_=tt_ov_wr
My inciting incident in on page 2! (but then again, it's only 5 pages long!) I'm currently filming (badly) the script now - just a couple of scenes done so far - you can see it (and the 5 page script) at http://www.paralleluniverse.co.in It does have a 3 act structure - I think...
The .co.in is in fact an Indian domain (as only $3.22 per year) but you *could* interpret the .in as .indy so quite a good domain to register for your production blogs.
I sent my 7WC script out for comments today. I don't know if it follows a 3 act structure or not. Nor do I know if it has any of the other points at the right pages. We'll see what the feedback will be. All I can say is I know the first kill ended up much later than I wanted it, but I couldn't really figure out a way to change that without making everything happen too fast. I have STC btw, but I usually don't use it because a lot of what he's talking about I don't understand.