ScriptFrenzy: The Three Act Structure

Been meaning to mention this. But, you know, I'd have to actually be blogging to do that, so, you know. But, anyway, the Script Frenzy's been plugging away as the starting date approaches. Among the many gems you can find are the “Cameos”. Short little pieces by established script writers and playwrights offering tips and advice. The first was about establishing character from the very first scene. But the latest, by Nathan Marshall, about the is an even better read. Especially to a script writing novice like myself.

One of the things that's going to be most challenging about writing a script, I think, is how structured the exercise is. It's like writing a poem in alliterative verse when you're used to writing in sprung form or like Jeffers. It's like writing say, a novel, yet it's got its own set of codified rules to obey. Ones that, from my admittedly brief study, are a lot more strictly adhered to. I'm not exactly looking to get a movie deal out of Script Frenzy or anything and I normally rankle when someone says “oh, everyone does it this way” but I think, for the challenge, if nothing else, I want to try writing a script the right way before I try and play around with the format too much. Picasso was an excellent figure artist, after all.

So, while I've heard of the Three Act Structure before (I always like to think of it as Step 1: Establish, Step 2: Journey, and Step 3: Resolve. In the first bit you set up all your actions, put all those guns on the wall and what have you, that will eventually pay off down the line. The next part is about moving your characters away from the opening status quo and along the dramatic paths that make your story, well, a story, reinforcing the themes and motiffs you've established by riffing on them. And the last bit is where you pay you off all that set up work and tie together all the threads you've been weaving. You might not write every story completely that way, but it's a good roadmap to writing a plotline within that novel or a short story.) the parts about just how much running time, how many pages, gets devoted to each is the sort of information I'm looking for.

What I didn't know where things like the 17 minute mark. Or Page 17. Either way, since a page of a script is supposed to be roughly one minute worth of running time. Basically, by that point which should also be around the point where you're getting out of the first Act, you're supposed to reveal what your film is all about. Subtly or not, it's the point where you lay down your main theme which you've been building up to and the rest of your story is going to revolve around. I hit up my movie collection and skipped forward through several of them and, sure enough, it's true. Try it for yourself, but I'm probably never going to watch a movie the same way again. But, again, it's that kind of tip that I'm hunting for as I'm learning the format. Not so much the exact techniques but the grand, structural sweeps that experienced script writers use to get their ideas across. Because those are the notes that if I'm hitting, I'll know I'm at least humming in the right key. Actually writing a good, effective script and using all the tricks of the trade comes after that.