LESSON FOUR: THE THREE-PART STRUCTURE
Screenwriting is storytelling. We’ve made that plain by now, but we’ve also talked around the
different ways to tell stories—and of course, show them. For this lesson we’ll take a step back
and look at the big picture, which is how the whole story is put together. Whether by accident or
design (I believe the latter), humans have learned to tell stories in three parts. In drama, these are
called “Acts.” Shakespeare plays generally had five acts, and modern plays often have two (so
there can be an intermission in the middle), but don’t let that fool you. The natural form of a
story is
ACT ONE. Setting and set-up: place and time, main characters, central problem or
conflict, and what happens to get the plot started
ACT TWO. Development: relationships deepen between characters, motives and
dangers emerge, characters make choices that raise the stakes for them. Act
Two usually ends with a turning point—something happens that moves the
main characters toward the climax.
ACT THREE. Resolution and conclusion: all that development moves inexorably
toward the climax of the story, which is the point at which all the characters’
choices have been made and the consequences play out.
If that sounds too complicated, let’s see how it looks on an actual movie. I’ll assume you’ve
seen Star Wars: a New Hope (that’s the first Star Wars movie, released way back in 1977). If
you haven’t seen it (really??) try to follow along.
ACT ONE. As the story opens, PRINCESS LEIA, who is secretly leading a rebellion against the
oppressive Galactic Empire, has stolen plans for the Death Star, an Empire space station.
An Empire destroyer overtakes her vessel and LEIA is captured by DARTH VADER, a villain in
a mask and black cape. Before she’s taken, LEIA slips the plans to R2-D2, an atromech
droid (robot), and instructs R2 to deliver them to OBI-WAN KENOBI on the planet Tatooine.
R2 escapes in a pod with C-3PO, a protocol droid. The two droids land on Tatooine, where
they are sold as slaves to OWEN LARS, a moisture farmer. Owen’s nephew LUKE discovers
LEIA’s message while cleaning up R2. LUKE knows of OBI-WAN KENOBI, a hermit who lives
in the desert caves. When they meet, OBI-WAN reveals himself as one of the last of the
Jedi knights, who used the Force to right wrongs across the galaxy--also a friend of LUKE’s
father, the renowned Jedi ANNAKIN SKYWALKER. When LUKE’s aunt and uncle are killed
by Empire agents searching for R2, he decides to join OBI-WAN and deliver the Death Star
plans to Alderaan, LEIA’s home planet. The two go to the space port of Mos Eisley to hire a
ship and pilot. HAN SOLO and his partner CHEWBACCA agree to take them to Alderaan in
HAN’s ship, the Millennium Falcon.
ACT TWO. PRINCESS LEIA is imprisoned on the Death Star, a moon-sized space station that is
actually the Empire’s ultimate weapon. VADER and his agents have tortured her to make
her reveal the location of the rebel base, but she doesn’t tell them. When they threaten to
destroy her home planet of Alderaan, she gives a false location, but they blow up Alderaan
anyway, displaying the power of the Death Star. Fragments of the planet reach the
Millennium Falcon, which is now approaching. Caught in the Death Star’s tractor beam,
the Falcon is drawn into the space station’s hangar bay. While their presence is
undetected, LUKE, HAN, and CHEWBACCA rescue the princess and OBI-WAN disables the
tractor beam. After many adventures, all escape except OBI-WAN, who is killed in a lightsaber duel with VADER (turning point).
ACT THREE. LUKE is devastated by OBI-WAN’s death, and decides to join the fight against the
Empire. HAN isn’t interested; once he delivers the princess to the rebel post, he’s ready to
collect his pay and go. Thanks to LEIA’s efforts in stealing the plans, the rebel alliance
knows the Death Star’s most vulnerable point is an exhaust port that leads to the main
reactor. LUKE joins the team of X-Wing fighter pilots who will attempt to get past the
station’s defenses and strike the port. During the battle most of the other pilots are either
killed or disabled and LUKE finds himself doggedly pursued by VADER in one of the
Empire’s TIE fighters. VADER has LUKE in his sights and is just about to blast him to
smithereens when the Millennium Falcon appears and sends VADER’s ship spiraling.
Searching for the Death Star’s exhaust port, LUKE hears OBI-WAN telling him to put the
flight computer away and “Use the Force.” LUKE closes his eyes, focuses on the Force, and
blasts the target at exactly the right moment. The Death Star explodes and all rejoice.
I left out some important characters, but this is the basic outline of the story. Notice that it takes
a little more description to set up, but in actual running time, Act I of the movie is only about
one-fourth of its length. The middle section is the shortest to describe (I cover a lot with “after
many adventures”) but takes up almost half the movie. For Act III, I included a bit more detail
in the description because the action is more significant, but in terms of length Act III is really
the shortest.
Even little stories, like the sixty-second Super Bowl ads we looked at, fall into a three-part
structure. For instance, “The Force”:
ACT ONE: Introduces little Darth, stalking down the hall to theme music.
ACT TWO: He attempts and fails to use the Force on several inanimate objects.
Disappointment increases. Dad arrives. (turning point)
ACT THREE. Final try, on the VW. It works!
Here’s another movie: The Hunger Games. I won’t take as long to explain this one; the basic
three-act structure looks something like this:
ACT ONE. Life in District 12. Katniss Everdeen, her mother, and her sister Primrose; as well as
the baker’s son Peeta and the miner’s son Gale. Primrose is selected by lottery to
represent District 12 in the annual Hunger Games, but Katniss volunteers to take her place.
Katniss and her fellow rep, Peeta, travel to the Capitol for training and publicity, during
which Peeta announces publicly that he’s in love with Katniss.
ACT TWO. The Hunger Games begin. Almost half of the 24 tributes are eliminated on the first
day. Katniss gets her bearings, searches for alliances, forms a kinship with Rue. The full
terror of the “Games” grows on the viewer through one violent episode after another, until
Rue is killed. The directors of the games announce a new rule: if both tributes of a district
survive to the end, they will both be allowed to live. (Turning Point)
ACT THREE. Katniss finds Peeta, who is injured, and gives him medicine so they can both
survive. All competitors from the other districts are killed, leaving Katniss and Peeta as the
victors. At the moment of triumph, the directors announce that their new rule is cancelled;
one of the survivors has to die. Katniss and Peeta threaten a double suicide, and the
directors relent. But they’ll be keeping a sharp eye on these two, because now Katniss is
marked as a troublemaker.
TRY IT: With one or two partners, outline the three-act structure of a popular movie—be sure
it’s one that all of you have seen! On Worksheet #3, list the main characters. Then list the major
scenes that fall into each act. Decide which scenes are most important to moving the plot, and
try to end act two with a major turning point. Here are some movies you might pick:
The Princess Bride
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Empire Strikes Back
Toy Story
Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring
Back to the Future
Up
WORKSHEET #3 – Three-Act Movie Analysis
Movie: _______________________________________________________
Setting (both time and place): _____________________________________
Main Characters: (Try to list only those who are vital to the plot—they’re the ones who
will show up in your act description)
______________________________________________________________________
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ACT ONE Main Events:
______________________________________________________________________
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ACT TWO Main Events:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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Turning Point: __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
ACT THREE Main Events:
______________________________________________________________________
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