Infocus Magazine.com - The Three Act Structure

The Three Act Structure

By Chris Keane

Stories have beginnings, middles and ends. Act I is the beginning; Act 2 is the middle and Act 3 is the end.

Screenplays run from 100 to 120 pages. The reason for this is economic. The number of pages represents the number of minutes long the movie is. One hundred pages represents about 100 minutes of screen time, 110 pages equal 110 minutes, 120 pages take 120 minutes. Some pages have a lot of action, which may take 5 minutes of screen time; other pages may be all dialogue which may take 20 seconds of screen time. It all averages out.

A 100 page screenplay can show maybe five to six times in a theater a day, whereas a 150 page screenplay may run only two or three times. When someone sends me a screenplay to critique, the first thing I do is to turn to the last page to see how long it is. It’s a habit I share with just about everybody who reads screenplays. There is an unwritten rule that states: If the screenplay has fewer than 100 pages, the writer does not have enough material to tell the story. If it runs over 120 pages, the material is too unwieldy and the writer has let it get out of hand.

You don’t want the reader to think like this before he reads your material. Bring it in between 100 and 120 pages. Break the screenplay into three acts. Act I is roughly one-quarter of the screenplay; Act 2 is half and Act 3 is one quarter. Let’s take a 120 page screenplay. Act 1 is 30 pages, Act 2 is60 pages and Act 3 is 30 pages. Act 1 runs between pages 1 and 30, Act 2 runs between pages 31 and 90, Act 3 runs between pages 91 and 120.

The inciting incident takes place around pages 10-15; Plot Point 1 takes place around pages 20-25; the Midpoint takes place on page 60; Plot Point 11 takes place around pages 75 -80; and the Climax takes place around pages110-115.

Chris Keane has written The Hunter (Steve McQueen) (Paramount) Dangerous Crossing (WB) The Huntress (USA Network series) plus screenwriting books. How to Write A Selling Screenplay & Hot Property, and Romancing the A-List(February,2008)

He is also a script consultant.. Contact Chris at Keanewords.com or email him at Keanewords@aol.com.]