3 Act Structure - Story Structure Tips - Screenwriting
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2014
- We cover 3 act structure, the main plot points in film structure, and the reasons why story structure is so important for screenwriting and filmmaking,
I breakdown short films here - Join the Archive
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5 years later and this is still one of the best videos on story structure.
Yassss
AGREE
true
True that. This guy will go far in the industry!!
Agreed and I dont know how in the world anyone would thumbs down this
You explained this better than my bloody screenwriting professor... Thank you.
Ikr
Ouch.
one of the reasons why I don't want to go to Film School
lol
like lol
Writing a story is easy, writing a great story is extremely hard
+guy james EXACTLY! I'm not trying to bunk the "hollywood formula" brit describes. But I want something great. If I can't make a story Im writting fit this structure does that mean it sucks? Example, I thnk "Before Sunrise" is a great romance. Can you make it fit in the above formula? What about "Pulp Fiction?" What about Leaving Las Vegas? --worst screenplay ever written, but pretty darn good movie. Is there something else? Seriously I don't know.
"Writing is easy. All you have to do is stare at a blank page and bleed."
guy james truuee
"Applaudes."
I wrote books, sp, short stories. My future stuff will be hard.
writing comments on youtube is easy, saying something meaningful is hard
"I'm gonna take care of this problem"
+ruben tiago qualquer coisa Assim é que se apanha... write much? :D
This is an outstanding explanation of the 3-act structure. I am a high school teacher and you bestowed insight and knowledge to my small class. Thanks for all the effort you put into this video. A+
I'm glad you found this useful enough to share it with your class. What an honor. You're more than welcome Andrea.
Why did it take filmschool 4 years to teach me this? fucking scammers
Lol. Hopefully you made some great friends in school that you can call up for help with film projects.
Man you are the fucking bomb (sorry for my language) I wish you all the luck and i am convinced that you will succeed in this game.
Also you have tips to keep that fire going ? I mean i dont get to see much progress in my film making path :/
Rebassed Honestly, keep doing it Rebassed. I promise you you'll get better if you keep at it. Also try and get on some film sets and help others out. You'll learn so much by helping others whom know more that you. You can take all that knowledge and apply it to your own films.
alexandre do
you can still build your network of collaborators by volunteering to help film students out on their sets at film schools. they're always looking for help and you'll be surprised at who you can meet! I made a video all about how to find crew for films.
Hmmm. That could be a challenge. If you're persistent in your efforts to help though, I think everyone'll respect that. I've been told no on a few things and turned them into yeses over time lol.
I've often ignored story structure, probably because I'm slightly lazy. But I think it's about time I tried to use it properly. Really good video btw. Straight to the point.
Im glad it helped Jambononi.
I'm 6 years late to this video, but as a high school English teacher, this is incredibly helpful. And my students love your videos. They think you're super entertaining but they also learn a lot about how to analyze stories. THANK YOU
cool picture is it from school
I've written short stories for a long time and was considering getting into screenplays so this was super helpful!
+Wilde Kylee Glad this helped ;)
This is a really solid sum up.
CriticalHit thank you Critical. It took me a while to put this video together.
D4Darious
Yeah man. really well done. This critHit channel here is something my friends and I started awhile back essentially to do something similar to your 'movie breakdown videos'. We felt like not enough people talked about story and structure. If your ever bored, I love to get some feed back on any of our content. Anywho, great stuff!
I'll check you guys out when I get some time =)
i've looked at your tips at each point in writing and filming i'm so glad you bring a lot of good points into perspective
Dude, I may not be a screen-writer, but I AM an aspiring writer. This SERIOUSLY helped me out, which is crazy because I've never liked to "plan out my stories" seeing as how I'm more of a panster. But you somehow make it feel organic! I never at once felt that it was too confusing for me! This is an OUTSTANDING explanation!
Thank you so much!
Another awesome video, and one I intend to use regularly as reference. But to my great delight, the structure you outline here I not only recognize in many of my favorite films, but a lot of my stories that I conceive and write a synopsis for, actually more-or-less follow the structure you describe to the letter. So I'm feeling quite pumped that I seem to have a good sense of a proper story structure, its an encouraging feeling.
I think you'll find that Sooooo many movies follow the same structure lol. It's a great thing though in my opinion because structure is sort of an empty container that you fill up with an amazing story. Thanks again for commenting Jones!
Jezus why are half of the comments like this one? "Nice video...btw I knew all this stuff before anyone told me. Im an amazing director/writer/whatever." its like you saw a good video and went like "good...Now how can I make this about myself."
What is absolutely *vital*, as far as I am concerned, regardless of whatever story structure you use, is that the major turning points in your plot are also the major turning points for your characters. Watch Terminator 2 and pay attention to the major changes in character, and how perfectly they coincide with the major changes in the direction of the plot. And being that this is an action film, they are all action scenes. It's perfect. That's what the phrase "story is character/character is story" means.
Good points falcon. Thanks for commenting :)
Best video and description I've ever come across. Congratulations man. You truly rock.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Really helpful!
Thanks for this video! I'm not into making movies, but I've been trying to write a basic "script" for an adventure game for some time now. No puzzles yet, just the basic story. But I never could get all the ideas into any kind of order. After watching this video and the movie breakdowns, the "script" kind of wrote itself. Everything fell into place, the main character gained depth, there are setups an payoffs, there are callbacks in the first dialogue drafts ... I'm having a lot of fun here.
Plus, I found a new hobby: Watching movies and breaking them down. Talk about educational procrastination. :)
Anyway, great video, great channel! Thanks a lot! Greetings from Germany!
Thank you so, so much for this video. Seriously, I've been struggling with this for a long time and this is the thing that finally made me get it. Thanks a bunch.
You're welcome Eskimo. Glad to help bruh :)
You’re the man, and this is one of my favorite videos to re visit. I swear a good hundred of these views are me. Thank you Mr Britt
I've seen this video so many times and professors use it in my productions classes. Definitely the best 3 Act Structure video there is on youtube. You're the best D4Darious
This video is going to be my bible for writing screenplays. Thanking you for summarising everything so simply! really appreciate it
You're more than welcome Toby. I'm glad you could easily follow along =)
this is a fantastic video
Thank you so much for making this video! I created a worksheet based on it that I use to get my initial outlines done before I really dive in and get creative. It's been a huge help in actually finishing outlines before I start writing. You're awesome D and I love your channel. Cheers.
We are getting your video as compulsary reading at uni at the moment - but glad I got here this way! Interesting and clear explanation of what a 3 act structure is. Thanks!
After watching this video, I watched a but load of videos about this and I'm pretty sure yours is the best.
I tried to cover as much as I could and it resulted in a video that was way longer than I wanted but I didn't want to leave anything out lol. Thanks for commenting Josiah.
Currently writing a book. I use tips for screenwriting and apply it to my witting.
i hope you write better than you witt :P
Great job! Thanks for breaking it all down and making it easy to understand.
This is great. Thank you for the simple yet detailed delivery.
Great points. The issue I have with my main screenplay is that the main character is an anti hero, a vigilante to the extreme, so I am having a hard time working through the three acts without it just being a one act killing spree.
What you want to do is to first have a good idea of your character's story arch. How you want it to start end and a midpoint for that specific character. Then find a way to represent that. You could (for example) open with the hero killing someone. But then focus on how the news demonises them out of preporsion, and to end it they could save a life. Just an idea.
What could help you is to watch movies with anti-heroes and see how they handled the characters (might give you some ideas) Mad Max and is a good example of an anti-hero. Watchmen is full of anti-heros lol. Even anti heros can evolve and change during the course of a story so I agree with Mr Jobodhobo in figuring an arc for your character.
Thanks for the advice, but does a movie always have to start with a bang? I can see the action starting in act one, no one likes a dragged out plot, but my plan was to give a little justification to his killer ways or should that be a flash back later on?
Generally, if I have a story with an anti-hero, I try to either have them start as already descended into their ways, and then are tossed in a situation forcing them to test their skills or even re-evaluate their ways (which results in basically a redemption arc), or they start as someone different, but an event happens, that changes them, and then the story tells how they transform into this cold, brutal anti-hero (which results in basically a tragic fall from grace story). Maybe one or the other would help you, but its up to you what you want from the story.
TheVirtuallyAddicted And as for the question of opening with his origin or having it be flashback, there's merit to both approaches. The origin straight-up can immediately tell your audience what the character is like, why they're like that, and so they're instantly aware of what's going on with the dude. But a flashback is also neat sometimes, as then you can build mystery around the guy and why he's like this, and treat him as this enigma, but later you get a flashback to why he's like this, and that can sometimes be an emotionally powerful revelation for viewers, especially if they had made up their mind about the character and so are shocked to find new layers to him.
structure is a must for me when filmmaking, without structure you have chaos,
with chaos you have tension, with tension its very hard to direct a film smoothly and its just makes
you look un professional... having said this I' am guilty for lack of structure and keeping a set moving lol
Garrett Coleman Thank you for commenting Garrett. All of what you said is very true lol.
I recently stumbled across your channel. Even gone to film school I'm learning a lot in your videos. Thanks!!!
Excellent breakdown! Thanks for this
You are pretty awesome man!
Thank you, i tried to understand it before and failed. The way you explained it was easy and to the point.
You're welcome LCR. I tried to make it as clear and unconfusing as I could.
This was sooooo helpful!! I had no idea what 3 story structure was until I saw your video and it makes so much sense. Thanks man!
Dude. This video is amazing! Putting it on my favorite's list because even though I've been watching many other videos, this one reveals the entire structure with visual ques making it easier to understand (not to mention the fact that's it's really funny).
Very cool stuff!!!
Thank you!
Your videos rock!
***** Thank you Thomas!
What do you know, I am here again while trying to write. Seriously, this video is super helpful, never stop.
The1BluePhantom Glad to help BluePhantom =). Good luck!
Super helpful, so detailed! Thank you for your efforts in this video!
When possible, I would LOVE if you break down “Interstellar”!
I haven't seen it yet. Thanks for the suggestion.
This video is just so good.
I still come back to this video. Blessings and keep going brotha.
Great vid dude! I watched it long ago and just revisited again, and I probably will in the future too as I embark on some writing projects. Great work!
holy shit dude, thank you
My professor used this video to help explain story structure in my screenplay class. I don't know how to feel about that...?
***** Thank you for commenting Cargo. Story structure can be tough to wrap your head around when you're starting out. It can be tough to explain as well. I've heard of a few teachers using this video as a teaching tool haha.
XD
Thank you for posting this. It was one of the clearest explanations that I have seen. The accompanying examples really hammered home the points.
Awesome vid thank you for explaining this quickly and concisely!
This is one of the best filmmaking channels on youtube. Right up there with filmriot and indymogul.
Thank you Alien Rock. I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I love filmriot and indymogul.
btw, I stumbled upon you in the Facebook filmmaking group.
Alien Rock Thanks for letting me know how you found me =)
World War Z and Independence Day are very similar in Plot. But now I realize that a Lot of Movies Are like that.
Most Hollywood movies follow the same template. There isn't anything wrong with that its just a way to keep films evolving and progressing. To the average movie goer watches a ton of movies and never notices how similar in structure the movies are lol.
@@D4Darious hii
My professor uses your videos as a part of our film course and your content makes things so much easier to understand than our textbook- thanks!
I cannot BELIEVE the value of this video! It's all the theory of screenplay writing at a glance! Very, very well done!
Great video! I learned a lot. Just one question. I am planning on writing a screenplay that will most likely follow all those plot points and go along with the three act structure, but I have an ending for the story that I really like and think will work. Is it possible to have an extra little scene after the resolution that leaves the audience with questions and leave them going like "Oh my god, what's that character gonna do?!!!"?
When you through a scene at the end that leaves your audience wondering what will happen next it's called a cliff hanger. You could definitely do that, in fact there are many movies that do that exact thing. Off the top of my head I remember the second matrix movie ends with a cliff hanger.
Hey Darious, I'd like to,see you make a video to explain how in every scene in the movie it should end completely opposite from how it began and have some kind of conflict. Like how the 2nd act break is a fake win or defeat from the mid point. Do you know what I mean by each scene ending opposite than how it began?
Thanks for the suggestion Raymond. I know what you mean. I'll see what I can do with that later on :)
ok i hope to see it soon! thanks Darious!
I was taught that each scene is basically a mini movie where you have a beginning, middle and end. Blake Snyder suggests that each scene must have a conflict between two opposing forces in some way, shape or form, like for example, you have to go to the bathroom, but the doorbell rings. You answer the door and its the hot chick who just moved in next door. The conflict arises with you cramping verses your desire to talk to this hot lady.
All kinds of wild endings can happen in a scene like this...
ddland45 thank you so much for your reply. it was well received and would be a funny scene to see played out on film.
All of your videos are very informative and entertaining, it helps to make learning easy and your methods keeps me focused!
Darious, THANK YOU! This is great! I, too, wrote my first feature film and did not know the 3 act structure. Since then, I've taken several screenwriting webinars via Stage 32 and have learned what you reviewed!
I absolutely love your sharing style! You are direct, fast, factual, and everything one needs to know about screenwriting! I cannot wait until I am able to listen to the rest of your screenwriting videos!
Thank you for taking your time to share! Jessica
Bryan Hill sent me. And I'm glad he did. Nice work.
Thank you John :)
Ur awesome
Thanks Walter.
This is a great post about story structure Darious, just commending you on the depth of knowledge you presented that will definitely be of use to me. Thanks for the "simple breakdown" of what story structure is. Awesome! D4Darious
I'm in LOVE with this video - especially your breakdown of movies. I'm taking notes, and will take apart my own story and chart out its structure. I've watched some of your video production uploads before, but now I'm a subscriber.
I'm glad you found these vids useful Aaron :)
Wow, you did a really great job with this!
I shall spread this like the plague!
Hahaha thanks FlashForward. I'm glad this was useful to you bro.
I love the 3 act structure but I am not as faithful to it as I want to be. While most movies have that twist what I'd do is continuously build up with difficulties and things blocking the main character to accomplish what he wants to. In my opinion I think that adds more weight to the ending and that it gives more satisfaction to the viewer because we've been on a roller coaster of difficulties and finally they reach the top. Am I right for doing that or should I change ?
you've definitely got the right idea ;)
@@D4Darious hii
Hi! I have never commented on a CZcams video in my life. Besides the standard " first time caller, long time listener" bs, I felt compelled during these unprecedented times to share with you just how important you have been to my students and me.
I am an H.S. English teacher that took several film classes in college, read Robert McKees "Story",and has a passion for film in general. I truly believe films are the perfect conduit to teach kids sociological, psycological, cultural, and historical ideas. I have shown your video the 1st week of Film 1 class for the last 5 years. It is fantastic! You grab kids attention, sir. That is no easy feat.
You open the door for me to teach them to be active viewers and help me to help them " look behind the curtain" and see the structure and methodology of art. I can't believe that I've never thought to thank you until now.
My district has gone full online due to Covid. I have kept your video as part of my first week. In a completely online teaching environment, engagement is more important than ever.
I can honestly say that they love you just as much, if not more, in this brand new scenario, than ever. I can't thank you enough.
you are *an* h.s. english teacher? yiiikes
My English Enrichment Class love your enthusiasm. Your insights were thoughtful! Great job!
Dang, dude. That was dope.
bull> very doppy
what's the name of your first film?
It's called Unsound. There's a trailer on my channel.
how do i get access to it?
we haven't released it yet. l regularly post updates on our progress getting our film released. we r.looking to release it nest spring.
Thank you so much!! I just recently decided I wanted to start writing web comics and I had no idea where to start. Nothing I found was helpful, and then I remembered just last night that the 3 Acts is a classic tried and true story structure. I went ahead and looked it up and found your video, and it helped so much!!!
I've been off CZcams for a while, good thing I can binge watch your videos now!
How is Interstellar when it comes to story and structure?
I haven't actually seen interstellar yet. I've heard great things so far.
Holy shit i will read that tommorow thanks for the reply!
alexandre do
Nice Alexandre! Thanks for taking the time to share that!
alexandre do
Very true. Thinking critically about film is such a useful tool in terms of sharpening your own skills and understanding of things though. It's not a wast of time and the more you do it, the more those subjective patterns become a little more concrete to you (because you'll have seen them 1000 times lol)
Ah gotcha =) That sounds like a crap ton of research and analysis. Must have been a really long dissertation.
I think the three act structure is the staple of uncomplicated Hollywood films. When people come up with examples of it used in great films it is often concidence. If you look at North by North West, 2001: A space odyssey, the Grand Budapest Hotel, The Wizard of Oz, any studio Ghibli film, most Kurosawa films and anything based off Shakespeare you'll see they don't follow that structure. And as for Aristotle using it, it's simply not true he said all stories have a beginning, middle and end. The three act structure just tries to create rules for creativity and makes films like the Avengers boring and predictable.
Love your channel though.
+Waxalous Galaxy I follow the Three Act Structure. And I've been doing pretty good at it.
+Corey Pack i took i suspect an identical route with my completed story - how do you plan on it reaching movers and shakers?
Corey Pack
the agents and execs
Corey Pack
I've contacted agents. I'd like to see how it goes at your end. Have any in mind yet you can pass on? You have a contact?
And my SP, "criminal element" is on Amaz studio
This was so helpful. Structure is something I've been really trying to get a decent handle on. Act 2 is always hard for me so thanks for breaking it down into smaller easier-to-digest components.
WoW! Excellent presentation and exposition. Thank you.
this cookie cutter structure is why majority of movies made are bad your story should obviously have some form of structure but not to the extent where it matches this rubric
Joshua Rodriguez Take what works for you and leave the rest. You don't have to apply the structure right down to the page recommendation, but it is helpful for writers to at least understand, what it is, how it's used and why it's there. Thanks for commenting.
D4Darious hey no problem man i appreciate the reply i really like all of your videos and i hope everything works out for you career wise
I agree, most people seem to overlook that this is just an outline. I think of this as an introduction on planning. Story should have a taylor-sized structure of its own. Structure should be functional to the story, but not the otherway around I guess. Following this 3-act structure to the letter will only result in a predictable story, leading to the "why am I watching this" scenarios described in the beggining.
Great explanation for storytelling! Clear and concise.
I love it. I'm a musician who deciding to make the step from music video's to full length films, and wanted to do all the research I could on how hollywood pulls it all off, and get as much mathematics behind my wild idea's and this video was a perfect booster to add to all the conventional stuff I've found. Thanks!
Thanks so much for this mate! This is incredible! Such a clear and easy explanation!
This was soooooo incredibly helpful! Thank you so much.
This is amazing. I just jotted down notes of everything you said and it will be a massive help with my upcoming essays!
Great video! Thanks for the details!
I love your videos. as you ran through the parts, my mind just flashed to similar points in my script that I guess I wrote subconsciously. told me I was on the right track.
Great information with entertaining presentation! Thank you!
Great video I have read almost all the books you suggest but your video explains everything so much better
That was fantastic!!! Took lots of notes and learnt so much. Thanks!!!
You did a great job in explaining the story structure. Keep up the good work! It was very helpful that you gave so many examples and gave the different names for specific points such as the call to action/the call to adventure. I look forward to your next video. Take care and I wish you much success. Barbara
Thank you for this! It was a very clear introduction and sum up to the subject, thanks!
Thanks a lot! A very clear, precise summary of the major elements of the 3-act structure !
Knowledge DROPPED! Precise and to the point, great info!!! Liked and subscribed.
Thank you Joe!
D4Darius, you are super amazing. Your videos have been really helpful to me in my filmmaking journey.
Nice man, thanks for sharing! I am building my own story at the moment and your video helped me even more!
That was a great tutorial. Really captured the essence of it for me. Thanks!
Awesome summary. Best I've seen. Cheers
I have to say, ive listened and listened to others and i get something each time but you layed it down line by line just the way i needed to hear it
This is incredibly helpful! Thank you!
Great way to explain and navigate several books making the 3 Act Story structure easier to understand. Thanks.
Your 5 years old video just earned you a new subscriber! Thanks for the great lesson!
Great video buddy guy! Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Great video! This advice help me structure my stories i couldnt finish writing.
Awesome video you explained this so succinctly. Thanks, I was filling in the blanks of my story as you talked.
STILL the best explanation and breakdown of the 3 act structure ever made in my opinion. Read about it and had it explained to me countless times and it never clicked, but then in less than 12 minutes you made it super easy to understand
Hey! This was a great video. You are much appriciated for your time. I got a lot of great notes from this. Thank you.