Source: @Talentville & @paulchitlik
#screenwriting #film #scene
“BLUEPRINT FOR A MOVIE
When a developer decides to build a skyscraper, one of the first things he does, after researching and selecting the site, is to hire an architect to design the structure. He knows that a builder, no matter how experienced or educated, can’t construct a high rise without blueprints. The blueprints will detail the entire project from the depth of the foundation to the size and color of the tiles in the men’s room. The plans enable the hundreds of people working to realize the project to have the same vision, to be in agreement on process and result. Not that there isn’t opportunity for change (if you’ve ever remodeled your house you know about change orders) or creative collaboration. But everyone works from a common plan.In film and television, that common plan is the script. Everyone from the props person to the lead actor relies on that document for guidance, so it is a technical document as well as a literary one. And, just as with blueprints, there are certain conventions that everyone relies on. One of the most consistent is the three act structure.
Most, but not all, modern American films employ this structure. In short, there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sounds easy. And that part is. Keep it in mind when we look at scenes. But, of course, there is more to it. The beginningconsists of a segment of ordinary life to set up the characters, milieu, and genre.This is followed by an incident that incites the action of the story–the first plot point. As the character confronts the issue created by the inciting incident,he/she develops a plan to reach a goal, a course of action, which he/she decideson by the end of act one.
Act two is the process of going after the goal and overcoming the obstacles thatthe antagonist and the forces of life throw against him/her. The middle of acttwo generally has a turning point in which the action spins off in…..”
