Three-act structure

The three-act structure is a model used in screenwriting that divides a fictional narrative into three parts, often called the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution.

Structure

The first act is usually used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships and the world they live in. Later in the first act, a dynamic, on-screen incident occurs that confronts the main character (the protagonist), whose attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first turning point, which (a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and (c) raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist's call to action, (Will X recover the diamond? Will Y get the girl? Will Z capture the killer?). This is known as the inciting incident, or catalyst. As an example, the inciting incident in the 1972 film The Godfather is when Vito Corleone is attacked, which occurs approximately 40 minutes into the film.

Act structure

Act structure explains how a plot of a film story is composed. Just like plays (staged drama) have 'acts', critics and screenwriters tend to divide films into acts; though films don't require to be physically broken down as such in reality.

Whereas plays are actual performances that need 'breaks' in the middle for change of set, costume, or for the artists' rest; films are recorded performances shown mechanically and therefore don't need actual breaks. Still they are divided into acts for reasons that are in aesthetic and structural conformation with the original idea of Act in theatre. Act breaks in a film are usually very obscure for lay audience, and only a trained person can detect the ending of one act and the beginning of another in the progression of a movie, although learned people can typically mark it by a 'plot point' in writing process or film appreciation. The idea of act structure is of more value in screenwriting (i.e. while writing a screenplay) than watching a film, though the act breaks are never actually written in the final copies of screenplays, unlike in play scripts, where they are clearly mentioned as such; e.g. Act 1 Scene 3, etc. However, in television scripts called Teleplays, clear denotations about act breaks are almost always included, usually to coincide with commercial breaks.