1. Introduction

2. Somebody wants something badly and goes after it against great odds
WHAT MAKES A STORY?
Somebody wants something badly and goes after it against great odds
ACT 1
Somebody wants something badly…
ACT 2
…and goes after it against great odds
ACT 3
Do they get the “something” they wanted so badly?
A story is made up of three parts, a BEGINNING, a MIDDLE, and an END – ACT 1, 2, and 3. That’s all we mean by Three Act Structure.
Divide the statement into it’s three act parts and highlight the important elements in this statement.
ACT 1:
someBODY: Your story should be about a person – one single character
WANTS: This character has to want something. Without desire, stories are boring
someTHING: There needs to be a very specific THING your character wants, and if that thing can exist or be represented in the physical world, all the better.
BADLY: The more intensely a character wants something, the easier the writing will be.
ACT 2:
GOES AFTER IT: The character must go on some sort of journey, and they must be proactive.
AGAINST GREAT ODDS: The main character must face opposition along the way. Without opposition, stories are boring. In fact, without competition, there IS no story.
ACT 3:
Answers the question – do they get the “something” they wanted so badly?
The 3rd Act: Writing a Great Ending to Your Screenplay, author: Drew Yanno, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006

3. THREE ACT STRUCTURE THE 10 CRUCIAL STORY MOMENTS
Encourage students to take a blank sheet of paper and draw out this time line. We are going to look at the 10 CRUCIAL STORY BEATS that are essential for every narrative story. As we go throughout the lecture, we will plot these “beats” or moments on the above timeline. Tell students to allow space above and below the graph.
We’re using the term “moment” very liberally. In some cases, the word “moment” refers to a VERY specific instance in a story, at at other times, the word refers to an entire section of a film. For example one of the moments we will discuss is actually 25% of a film. Students shouldn’t get hung up on this term.
Explain to students that Act 1 is 25% of their film, Act 2 is 50% of their film, and Act 3 is 25% of their film This applies whether you’re writing a two-hour feature or an 8-minute short. Get the students thinking about efficiency of storytelling. If they’re going to do an 8-minute film, then their first act can only be 2 pages! And there’s a LOT of storytelling that needs to happen in those two pages!

4. THREE ACT STRUCTURE THE 10 CRUCIAL STORY MOMENTS
Quickly review all 10 CRUCIAL STORY MOMENTS. This helps give students an overview of what’s to come.
SETUP
INCITING INCIDENT
ACT 1 BREAK
RISING ACTION
ACT 2 REVERSAL
FALLING ACTION
FALSE DEFEAT
ACT 2 BREAK
FINALE
DENOUEMENT

5. Protagonist (INTERNAL WEAKNESS)
ACT 1
SETUP – INTRODUCE:
The Story World
Protagonist (INTERNAL WEAKNESS)
SETUP: is the first CRUCIAL STORY MOMENT.
The SETUP introduces a few things:
The Story World
The Protagonist
The Protagonist’s INTERNAL WEAKNESS – it’s important that your main character has a FLAW – something internally that’s broken inside him/her… something that needs to be fixed. You’ll see the importance of this later on.
(cont’d):

6. Protagonist (INTERNAL WEAKNESS), Antagonist, and every main character
SETUP – INTRODUCE:
The Story World
Protagonist (INTERNAL WEAKNESS), Antagonist, and every main character
THE INCITING INCIDENT
The moment that begins your story.
The “Call to Adventure”
Reveals to the protagonists their one EXTERNAL GOAL
SETUP cont’d:
The SETUP introduces a few things:
The Story World
The Protagonist
The Protagonist’s INTERNAL WEAKNESS – it’s important that your main character has a FLAW – something internally that’s broken inside him/her… something that needs to be fixed. You’ll see the importance of this later on.
The Angatonist
Every main character in the “A” Story.
THE SETUP shows audiences the “BEFORE” image of our film. The last CRUCIAL STORY MOMENT (THE DENOUEMENT) shows us the “AFTER” image. It’s good, especially in short films for films to begin and end on similar images. This way we can easily contrast the NEW world with the OLD world of our main character – How is life different now that our character has gone on this journey?
THE INCITING INCIDENT: This may be the single most important element in all of story telling. Without this element, we don’t have a story. This is the moment that the EXTENRAL GOAL is first presented to the main character by someone else. It’s an invitation to go on the journey.
EXTERNAL GOAL:
1) Stress the importance of the EXTERNAL GOAL. Without an external goal you don’t have a story. It’s the thing that drives the narrative. The external goal is the problem your character is trying to solve. This problem should have a very cinematic, action-oriented solution. This is why sports stories work so well; there is usually a bright, shiny trophy that each team is vying for. A trophy is something we can photograph. No words need to be spoken at the end of the story; the team holding the trophy is the winning team.
2) Another very important fact to remember about the external goal is this: The Antagonist shares the exact same external goal is the main character. If your opposition wants something different, both parties can win. In a good story, there can only be one winner.
After the INCITING INCIDENT, the main character usually takes some time to decide whether or not they are actually going to go on the journey. Some hero’s are expectant, others are reluctant. In short films, it’s not uncommon for the protagonist to immediately decide to go on the journey, which leads us to our third CRUCIAL STORY MOMENT.

7. Antagonist
Protagonist
EXTERNAL GOAL

8. ACT 1 BREAK (CRUCIAL DECISION #1)
The protagonist decides to go on the adventure…
…to pursue their external goal
ACT 1 BREAK (CRUCIAL DECISION #1): The INCITING INCIDENT introduces the story to the main character and the audience, but ACT 1 BREAK is when the character says, “Yes, I will go on the journey.” The moment the protagonist makes that proclamation, Act 1 is over!
There are TWO CRUCIAL DECISIONS that your main character will make in their story. The first decision is to START the adventure, and the second decision is to END the adventure (but we’ll talk about that later).

9. The protagonist pursues their goal at their leisure.
ACT 2
RISING ACTION:
The protagonist pursues their goal at their leisure.
“Time” is NOT that important.
Feels confident about the journey ahead
RISING ACTION: This is one of the STORY MOMENTS that actually encompasses a huge portion of your film. The rising action section of your film is the ENTIRE FIRST HALF OF THE SECOND ACT.
Act 1 of the story is FILLED with tons of story information. Your audience is overwhelmed. This is the portion of the script in which we still move our character through a journey, but we back off just a bit. We give our audience a chance to breathe.
In the RISING ACTION section of a film, the character is pursuing their goal, but at their own leisure – the pressure hasn’t set in yet. It’s not uncommon in this section of the film for it to appear that our main character may actually achieve their goal with very little conflict; In other words, it seems like things are going well for our main character. If your main character is going to go through any sort of training or preparation for the journey (i.e., The Karate Kid, Batman Begins, Argo), they usually do so in this section of the movie.
However, this type of storytelling can’t continue for long. The audience will get bored, the main character will get bored… and so will the antagonist, which leads us to our FIFTH CRUCIAL STORY MOMENT.

10. ACT 2 REVERSAL (MID-POINT) Antagonist demonstrates their power.
A specific action that refocuses the protagonist.
“Time” suddenly becomes important!
The protagonist must get serious about their goal.
ACT 2 REVERSAL (MID-POINT): Is a specific moment that should occur LITERALLY in the middle of the story. This is when the Antagonist decides to up their strategies and implement their game plan. The Mid-Point is usually a very specific event that refocuses or severely distracts our main character from their goal.
This is also the point in the story where times begins to become increasingly important. Our hero can no longer move along at their own pace. As a writer, this is a good place to introduce a metaphoric “ticking time bomb.” The goal must be completed by a VERY SPECIFIC date and time (and the time allotted should never seem like enough).

11. The antagonist ATTACKS our protagonist’s “internal weakness.”
ACT 2
FALLING ACTION:
The pressure is on
The antagonist ATTACKS our protagonist’s “internal weakness.”
The protagonist is often abandoned by their friends
FALSE DEFEAT
It seems the protagonist has lost… but not for long
FALLING ACTION: The Rising Action section of the film was the FIRST half of the second act, the FALLING ACTION is the LAST half of the second act.
During the Falling Action section of the film, everything seems to fall apart for our main character. The pressure is on, our hero fails at passing many of the moral tests placed before him or her, and often this is when our hero is abandoned by their friends.
The Falling Action section of the story should be a downward spiral, things should just be getting worse and worse for our hero. This section of the film falls to a very specific and important moment… The FALSE DEFEAT.
THE FALSE DEFEAT: This is when the antagonist attacks our main character and it appears that the main character is defeated. Many writer’s play it safe with this moment in the film. In a good story, it should seem (even to the audience) that there is absolutely no hope for the main character. But, towards the end of the False Defeat, our main character finds renewed hope. This hope usually comes from a secondary character, a character who has gone on the journey with the main character. This secondary character usually steps up and reminds the hero of all the lessons he/she has learned along the way… gives them a little pep talk, and our main character is suddenly “back in business.”
This is the point in the story when the main character makes CRUCIAL DECISION #2:

12. ACT 2 BREAK (CRUCIAL DECISION #2)
The protagonist decides to END the adventure…
…to confront their internal weakness…
…and to face the antagonist once and for all
ACT 2 BREAK (CRUCIAL DECISION #2): The hero decides to END the adventure. This is the moment when our main character decides (no matter what – even if it means his or her life), they are going to see their journey through to the bitter end.
The confront their INTERNAL WEAKNESS and face the Antagonist once and for all.

13. FINALE (THE FINAL BATTLE)
ACT 3
FINALE (THE FINAL BATTLE)
The protagonist must overcame his “internal weakness” in order to 1) defeat the antagonist and 2) achieve their external goal.
The Finale is the ultimate moral test that the protagonist will have to face.
THE FINALE (THE FINAL BATTLE): This is the section of the film when all the lessons our hero has learned along the way are put to the test. Any “cheats” or “crutches” our main character has relied upon until now are taken from him or her. Our character must face the antagonist with what they’ve learned, not necessarily with “strength of arm” alone.
To give your story heart, your main character should have to overcome their INTERNAL WEAKNESS in order to defeat the antagonist… and achieve their EXTERNAL GOAL. It is the overcoming of the INTERNAL WEAKNESS, not the achieving of the EXTERNAL GOAL that gives your film it’s heart. Many great films end with the hero failing at achieving their external goal, but they overcame their internal weakness and become a better person (i.e., Rocky).

14. ACT 3
DENOUEMENT
This is the “after” image that shows us what life is like NOW for our hero.
How shall we then live?
THE DENOUEMENT: In the days of Shakespeare, the Denouement was an entire additional act of the story. In modern storytelling, we don’t obsess with going into detail about what life is like after the hero achieves their goal, however, audiences still want a little something.
The Denouement is the bookend of your film. It gives us just a glimpse of what the world is like now that the hero has finished their adventure. Stories that resonate are stories that are shared in community. Imagine It’s a Wonderful Life without the final scene with townspeople gathering together in George Bailey’s home. Imagine if George had experienced that final revelatory moment by himself – it wouldn’t have been nearly as resonate. Ancient storytelling was never ultimately about the hero, it was about the community.

15. IN SUMMARY A 3-ACT story is a tale about a CHARACTER who must go on a JOURNEY to achieve a very specific GOAL and…
ACT 1
Summarize the three acts. The BOLD words are the elements necessary in each act:
ACT 1:
CHARACTER
JOURNEY
GOAL

16. IN SUMMARY …face a great ANTAGONIST along the way
IN SUMMARY …face a great ANTAGONIST along the way. But to achieve this goal the hero must overcome their greatest internal WEAKNESS. The antagonist not only wants to achieve the same goal as our hero but also knows about the hero’s greatest weakness and uses it against him through a series of vicious ATTACKS.
ACT 2
Summarize the three acts. The BOLD words are the elements necessary in each act:
ACT 1:
CHARACTER
JOURNEY
GOAL
ACT 2:
ANTAGONIST
Internal WEAKNESS
Vicious ATTACKS

17. IN SUMMARY
Their conflict culminates in a FINAL BATTLE which reveals…
Whether or not the protagonist overcomes their internal weakness and defeats the antagonist and…
Whether or not the hero achieves their external goal.
ACT 3
Summarize the three acts. The BOLD words are the elements necessary in each act:
ACT 1:
CHARACTER
JOURNEY
GOAL
ACT 2:
ANTAGONIST
Internal WEAKNESS
Vicious ATTACKS
ACT 3:
FINAL BATTLE

18. THREE ACT STRUCTURE
THE 10 CRUCIAL STORY MOMENTS

19. CATALYST: This may be the single most important element in all of story telling. Without this element, we don’t have a story. This is the moment that the EXTENRAL GOAL is first presented to the main character by someone else. It’s an invitation to go on the journey
SHOW VIDEO CLIP: (NAME-L1B-CATALYST)
The video clip from Star Wars is the moment in the story when the adventure is first presented to Luke Skywalker.
If time permits, give the students a few minutes to individually reflect on a catalyst moment in their own lives. Have those who are comfortable sharing to do so. Not only is this a great way to get students to start thinking about this very important story beat, it’s also a way for students to talk about themselves and get to know each other more deeply.
DEBATE: In the movie Star Wars (just after the last clip), Luke turns to Obi-Wan and says, “I’m not going with you to Alderan.” In a feature film, the character usually goes through a period of doubt before he/she decides to go on the adventure. They have to come to realize that they MUST go on the adventure.
BREAK INTO TWO: Or, the “break into the second act” beat. The catalyst introduces the story to the main character and the audience, but the Break into Two beat is when the character says, “Yes, I will go on the journey.” The moment they make that proclamation, Act 1 is over! It’s important to note that the “Break into Two” beat and the “Break into Three” beat are two of the most PROACTIVE decisions your character makes in the story. We will discuss in more detail later.