Act+Structure

Usually a film consists of THREE acts:


 * ** Act One ** provides information about the main character or characters and the time and place in which they live. It tells us what the story will be about and sets up a problem that must be solved. This act contains the catalyst, which is the event that sets the story in motion.


 * ** Act Two ** contains the journey that the character or characters make while trying to solve the problem that was presented in the first act. In trying to solve this problem, they encounter obstacles that they must first overcome.


 * ** Act Three ** concludes the story. The action reaches a climax – the ultimate obstacle the character or characters face before the problem is resolved. Once they overcome this ultimate obstacle, order is restored and they continue, having changed for their experience.

Acts often begin and end with turning points – events that change the direction that the story will follow.



Consider films as visual novels. Where a book tells a story with letters, which make words, which make sentences, which build up to paragraphs, a film tells a story with frames, which make shots, which make scenes, which build into sequences.


 * ** Film Term ** || ** Definition ** || ** Book Equivalent ** ||
 * ** Frame ** || A single still image || ** Letter ** ||
 * ** Shot ** || A single //continuous// view within a film || ** Word ** ||
 * ** Scene ** || A series of related shots || ** Sentence ** ||
 * ** Sequence ** || A series of scenes that together tell a part of the story || ** Paragraph ** ||