With a script the writer has to establish very quickly the basis of what each act is and expand upon it until reaching a logical (hopefully) or believable (definitely) conclusion of the act before moving on to the next act. So, in the first act the plot point establishes the who, what, when, where and why of the film and gives the script reader or film audience motivation to continue on with the story.
For example in act 1 of 'Star Wars: a new Hope' the plot breaks down to, 'girl gets captured but sends message for help, boy finds message and goes to her rescue.' All the other things, like adding to the ensemble of characters, how they meet and their motivations for wanting to go on the rescue are 'subplot points'. Subplots are the interesting details that are woven in and around the main plot of the script which is; 'going to rescue the girl.'
So in Act 2 the writer establishes the 'conflict' of the story. Again this involves the 5 'W's' pertaining to character and or situational elements of the plot. From the same Star Wars film in act 2 the conflict is revealed after the successful rescue of the girl in that the people who captured her are planning on using a terrible weapon on some unsuspecting innocent people and they must find out how it will be done.
When Act 3 begins, all the other plot points from the previous two acts should be resolved in order for the audience to focus on the final resolution of the plot. In the final act, the plot is with the information of how to stop the use of the weapon, the boy, girl and their acquired companions go forth and stop the terrible event before it happens.
That's it in a nutshell. Three Acts with a beginning, middle and end. Where Mastery of 3 Acts will come into play is how well the writer weaves in subplot points within the main plot through the use of character mono/dialogue and situations without losing focus on the overall thread of the story.
You need to be a member of Blacksciencefictionsociety to add comments!
Replies