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The three-act structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts , often called the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution. Syd Field described it in his 1979 book Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting .
The three-act structure is a common structure in classical film and other narrative forms in or associated with the West. [3] [4]First described in the fourth century A.D. by Aelius Donatus in his commentary on the works of Terence, the form was popularized by Syd Field in Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting.
But since the climax is part of the action, Lavandier maintains that the second act must include the climax, which makes for a much shorter third act than is found in most screenwriting theories. Besides the three-act structure, it is also common to use a four- or five-act structure in a screenplay, and some screenplays may include as many as ...
In Field's view, successful screenplays are made up of three distinct divisions. He calls these setup, confrontation, and resolution, and each of them appears in its own act within a screenplay. Act I contains the setup. It is approximately the first quarter of a screenplay, and reveals the main character, premise, and situation of the story.
Noted screenwriting teacher Syd Field discusses plot points in his paradigm, popularized in his book Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (1979). He proposes that a well-structured movie has two main plot points within a three-act structure.
Syd Field was born on December 19, 1935, in Hollywood, California. [3] His uncle, Sol Halprin, was the head of the camera department at 20th Century Fox, and his neighbor was a talent agent who got him minor screen time in Gone with the Wind which was cut from the final film. [3]
The Roman drama critic Horace advocated a 5-act structure in his Ars Poetica: "Neue minor neu sit quinto productior actu fabula" (lines 189–190) ("A play should not be shorter or longer than five acts"). He also argued for a Chorus, "The Chorus should play an actor’s part, energetically," and the center of the play should be morality as ...
The BS2 follows classic three-act structure but is more specific. Snyder refers to each act as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, respectively. Opening Image (p. 1) – The Opening Image is the first visual of any movie, and it should give an impression of the movie's tone, mood, type, and scope. Theme Stated (p. 5) – A secondary character ...