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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. It has been described in different ways by Aelius Donatus in the fourth century A.D. and by Syd Field 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] It originated with Syd Field in Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting who popularized the form. Based on his recommendation that a play have a "beginning, middle, and end," the structure has been falsely ...
The five-act structure was made by Gustav Freytag, in which he used Shakespeare as an example. There are no writings from Shakespeare on how he intended his plays to be. There is some thought that people imposed the act structure after his death. During his lifetime, the four-act structure was also popular and used in plays such as Fortunae ...
Field's most notable contribution is his paradigm "three-act structure". In this structure, a writer sets a film's plot within the first twenty to thirty minutes. Then the protagonist experiences a plot point, providing the protagonist with a goal. About half of a movie's running time focuses on the protagonist's struggle to achieve this goal.
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. Act II contains the confrontation. It lasts for the next two quarters of the screenplay, and clearly defines the main goal of the protagonist. Act III contains the resolution.
The sequence approach mimics that early style. The story is broken up into eight 10-15 minute sequences. The sequences serve as "mini-movies", each with their own compressed three-act structure. The first two sequences combine to form the film's first act. The next four create the film's second act.
He proposes that a well-structured movie has two main plot points within a three-act structure. [2] [3] The first major plot point occurs 20–30 minutes into the film (assuming a standard 120-minute running time), and the second major one occurs 80–90 minutes into the film. The first plot point ends Act I and propels the story into Act II ...
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 ...