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. 

Being creative with following the rules.

Being Creative & Following the Rules

Before joining a film school, I used to just utilize my free time in writing stories to explore my creativity, and dreaming of seeing it on the big screen. At that time I thought that having the raw material, which is the paper where you have filled different characters, is just enough for choosing them in real life, and shooting them in front of the camera. As I had taken my first step into this world, I realized that there is much more than just a simple story. Even a lay man person would know that what would be the first step of making a film; having an ‘Idea’, and then penning it down creating different kinds of characters after choosing a particular plot. Before having the exact knowledge of film making, there was just one important thing considered the most which is your ‘creativity’. I am not saying that this is still not important, but as far as I have learnt about films, creativity is just a ‘part’ of film making. The thing which replaces the part of being free when you are writing is the ‘rules’ of making a film. The rules are applied in almost every stage of film making. For considering the writing part we could take the example of, while writing a script or a screenplay. It’s very important to know the way to structure it, and how to write the key words as well. As a beginner, at start it used to take a lot of effort to divide the part of being creative, while writing the screenplay or a script applying the rules to it as well. In an orientation programme, I was honored to ask ‘Ketan Mehta’ about the rules which comes in between the creative line and he had agreed to that saying, ‘sometimes there is a border line between the both of them which gives limitations to what you want to write.’ After struggling a lot, I slowly started to get used to this, and I still have a lot more to learn. It’s very interesting to also have the knowledge of how to put the proper story which we watch on screen into a theory. Which field doesn't have any rules? With the help of some rules it will make your output perfect with your creativity as well. 

Being Patient

Patience- The best medicine

Managing people is not a very easy task, especially the people who you aren’t in relation with you ‘personally’.For example, if you are a class monitor, can you give the guarantee to make the whole class do what you want the way you want it to be done? At a certain point of time, your temper rules over you when nothing is in control. This is the most challenging part for me. While making a film, there might be a crew of more than 500 people.  The figures sometimes scares me , as preparing the raw material of the film, and making it practically with so many people involved is actually a very big task. 

Being patient is the best cure to this, but how? Well I feel that understanding the point of view of the people who you are dealing with is the best way to make things go smoothly. If your actor is having difficulty acting a particular scene instead of being furious, having patience, and understanding the struggles of him/her will help the coordination even much better. Even sometimes giving your cast his/her time to understand the whole character sketch which he/she will being doing during the whole shoot will avoid making them feel stressful.

 Recently I had read on the internet that films like Iron man 3 and Captain America: The first avenger had a crew of more than 2500 people. Like wow! As a director, it might have been a roller-coaster during the shoots. I was scandalized, but looking at it in the other way it’s always an experience which is very essential to learn, especially for us film makers!!!

 If we aren’t patient with the people who are working with us, then your work will either get delayed, or destroyed. As I had said in my previous post that the skills of a leadership is very important, but having patience will help you even more.  At the end of the day, to get your work done, you have to overcome all these, and you would be the happiest person after you have accomplished that as well. So if in future if you get sick of handling things which is out of control, just remember that patience is the best cure to everything.

Just For Information

Hey guys! Just wanted to let all of you know that I'll be posting three days a week; Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
I'll share all my experience, and information about films, as you all know I am a 'Filmholic'
Stay tuned for next week's post; 13th of April!

Being Energetic- A Big Struggle?

Laziness

Being lazy is one of the most common things almost everyone in this world has. Do you agree? I mean come on, there might be a day where you had a thought of doing something productive, but you just prefer to delay it, doing it some other time, apparently when your ‘mood’ agrees to do it. Well, the profession which I am jumping into is not a 9am to 5pm job, right? The word, ‘rest’ or ‘sleep’ or any another synonym related to ‘inactive’ should be deleted from our minds. Sometimes we have to shoot the whole night getting just an hour sleep, and then back to work after that as well. Actually  the creative profession is considered the most. This field surely convinces us to become a ‘workaholic’. So is it a positive thing or a negative? To be honest, personally for me, it was a rough start, because it was a big job to even roll down from my bed, and get ready for my college. I also started to feel frustrated, as I was dying for a power nap. But with time I had slowly started to sleep only after I could do something productive related to what I am currently studying about; ‘Films’. For me personally, if I even watched a film, which may not exist for many other people anymore, or if it’s boring, I still feel that I have learnt something from it.  Having energy the whole day, in spite of hardly taking a nap is also another talent, don’t you agree? Basically, the struggles are the negative part, and when we adapt that habit it turns into a positive one. Funny, but at start I always hated the fact of being always energetic, but now I cannot resist not doing something useful related to which path I have taken to work now. At the end, the more you love your work, the more you forget to 'rest'.

Being A Leader

Leadership

There are two types of ways for ruling over people. The first one is forcing your orders upon them, and the second is the art of winning people. Well, I know that most of you will agree to the second point as we cannot have the right to rule over someone, especially forcefully. 

But what happens if we are in a situation where it is necessary to apply the first point after we have applied the second one? These circumstances usually appear in such kind of field such as, ‘film making.’

 In this field without a team it’s very obvious that it’ll be impossible to complete a particular project. So if you will know the art of winning people, it’s obvious that they’ll be keen to work with you. 

Sometimes, the same people later on will disagree to every single point of yours. Then appears the first point; forcing your orders upon them. Isn’t it ironic?

 Well the solution to this problem is to have the skills of a ‘Leader’. 

Personally I am in my learning stage, where I have directed two stage plays, and one short film project, and so far I have noticed that it’s very necessary for you to give people a reason to listen to you, and just being in the position of a leader isn’t important, but also showing the talents, and having command on your language is very important as well. 

So basically, ‘Leadership’ is the foremost important point, as being a leader will help you also to be a winner.

Everything has a 'NewStart'...

A New Start

Sitting in front of your laptop with a blank page, wondering how to start, and what to write just to impress you're reader? This is one of the biggest problems we face, and it gives us a second thought to even start something! 

Well, I love writing, and I am crazy about psychology as well, but my main motive is film making. I wanna go places with the camera on my right hand, and a pen and paper on my left, but for that starting something of your own is very important right?

 I ain't an alien who is very different from the others. I am sure there are many people out there chasing for the same path.  But what matters is the way you start it. Being under pressure,keeping the first priority about impressing others can never help you to reach somewhere. It's very vital to start something new, just for yourself 'first'. 

Film making is a thing I'm obsessed about! But before that writing stories was born into me first. Everything surely has a new start, and now this is mine...