The 3 act structure.

3 Act Story Structure

This is one of the most common thing we have heard when we were learning how to write a story. Obviously we all have the idea of the three basic elements; Beginning, Middle, and the End. The 3 act structure is the heart of the film, as if this fails then the movie would also do. In a three act structure of a film, for example, if it’s a two hour movie the first act (Act I) will be about 30 minutes the second act (Act II) will be around 60 minutes, and the last act (Act III) will be approx around 30 minutes.  The first act basically just establishes the characters, the plot where your story revolves, and the time of the story (for example if it’s history or the current century). Usually after the Act one, in the 30 minute mark our protagonist faces a conflict which takes the story to Act two. In between of the act two there will be a dramatic turn in the story which is termed as the ‘turning point’. Well in my point of view, the turning point also attracts the audience attention even while watching a film. The key to success for this is to make the unexpected part to be expected. If your film is predictable, then your viewers will surely get bored, but if your film takes twists, and turns which will make the audience stay on their seats, it will be a success surely.  There is another turning point in between of Act two which considers on how our protagonist deals with the conflicts, which then shifts the story to Act three.  Act three is the resolution of the film. Before writing a story it’s very vital for you to decide how you want to leave your audience; if you want to make them smile or cry. So for making that succeed the level of intensity during Act three until the film is resolved is very important to be interesting as well. .

While I was learning the 3 act structure, at start understanding these points started to get things very complicated for me while writing a story. I had later on then noticed that after keeping the 3 act structure in my mind it made it much easier for me to write the stories, as everything was fixed, and planned.