most screenplays are melodramas

more freedom of style and writing with stage plays

Various screenplay articles, plus a couple on stage plays:

Each generation of screenwriters searches in their

own way for the elusive clue to Hollywoods eternal
question: What makes a movie work for audiences?
Most great movies have similar elements: brilliant
characterizations that are well-acted, surprising
action that is well-executed, and an involving plot.
Lower (probably much lower) on the list of qualities
that hook audiences is movie structure how the
characters are revealed and how the story unfolds.
Yet, without a solid structure to support the
characters, action and plot, the impact of these
elements would be greatly diminished.

Building Story Structure

How do you build a unique and powerful structure for
a story?
Many writers dont bother building a unique structure
for their story; they merely grab their scripts genre
by the throat and cling to it as their lifeline. The
genre cliches become the spine of their story.
If theyre writing a love story, then they know the
genre demands the boy must meet the girl, then the
boy must somehow lose the girl, and then he must
win her back. These genre demands become their

structure. They balance their brilliant

characterizations and surprising actions on this
rickety, tired structure.
Genre and structure are NOT the same thing.

Don't Confuse Genre with

Structure
I'll repeat: Genre and structure are not the same
thing.
Genre refers to the story elements the audience
expects the movie to explore, like romance, danger,
humor, horror, war, alien worlds, crime, or
technology. The structure of a movie is the
arrangement of scenes that reveals character and
unfolds action - path of the storytelling.
Dont let your story genre limit your structural
choices. Writers are often led to believe that a
romantic comedy unfolds a certain way; and an
action picture must unfold another way. These are
generational prejudices. Great story structure
transcends any trendy genre elements that attempt
to stifle it.

Learn from the Pros

Lets explore some magnificent movie scripts. Were
looking at these movies in script form so we can
concentrate on the structure of the storytelling.
Sometimes film performances are so persuasive,
they overcome weak story structures. Or the action

in the set up of the story can be so riveting, we are

unaware of the intricate structure that supports the
roller coaster ride were taking.
Each movie script we will examine is by an award
winning screenwriter. Each script attracted a brilliant
cast and a very successful director. Yet, it is not the
movie stars or the directors tricks alone that create
the impact of these stories. Hidden within each of
them is a secret audience magnet: stellar story
structure.
The movies Ive chosen to explore span 60 years of
movie history. I've chosen movies from diverse
genres. The talent pool is completely different on
each one. They are worlds apart in subject matter.
The one constant they share is that they are
structured brilliantly, memorably, uniquely.
A close look at these scripts will reveal that the
writers sweated out each step of the story, scene-byscene, line-by-line. Thats why we experience the
same thrill reading them in print as we did when we
saw them on the big screen.

Six Gems of Screenplay

Structure:
THE DAWN PATROL (1938)
The original 1930 classic was directed by Howard
Hawks and starred Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; but I
suggest you read the script from the remake directed
by Edmund Golding and starring Errol Flynn, David
Niven, and Basil Rathbone. Its an action drama of

World War I pilots in France that depicts the grueling

pressures of battlefront command as Rathbone is
forced to send up green recruits.
John Monk Saunders wrote the original story that won
the Academy Award in 1930 (adaptation by Howard
Hawks and Seton I. Miller). Saunders story held up
even more beautifully in the 1938 version that was
adapted into a screenplay by Seton I. Miller and Dan
Totheroh. The relentless rhythm the writers create
between the frantic preparation for the night raids
and the underlying expectancy of disaster build to an
amazing climax inevitable, yet thrilling.
These dramatic effects are amazingly achieved with
very little onscreen action. The story is told through
the reactions of those left behind on the ground,
through their reactions to the sounds from the sky
and the sights on the runway as the squadron leaves
at dusk and returns at dawn. Very soon into the
movie, we realize that we are never going to cut
away from this little squadron of men, and we dont;
yet we are riveted to the tragic events they play out.
This script is a powerful manifestation of an
inevitable style story structure. We know these men
are going to be sacrificed one by one, and yet we
cant desert them. Read the script and figure out how
they achieved this.
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
This movie is a masterpiece of comic structure. The
script melds outrageous characterizations, racy
dialogue, and the slapstick charms of Jack Lemmon,
Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe. To spice things up,
there is jazzy music, lethal gangsters, and even a

little cross-dressing.
This movie script typifies the pile-on structure of
story telling. The central characters are drawn
unwittingly into an adventure and each effort they
make to extricate themselves from their situation
propels them into deeper trouble (and funnier
predicaments). Lemmon and Curtis play two
unemployed musicians who innocently witness the
St. Valentines Day massacre. To avoid being rubbed
out by the mob, they take refuge (disguised as
women) in an all-girl jazz band bound for a gig at a
Miami resort.
This award-winning screenplay was a collaboration
between writing giants - Billy Wilder and I. A. L.
Diamond, from a story by M. Logan and Robert
Thoeren. Comic complications develop when Tony
Curtis falls in love with Monroe, and a millionaire (Joe
E. Brown) falls in love with Jack Lemmon. These two
unlikely love stories captivate us brilliantly. But the
movies energy and appeal ratchets up several
notches when the gangsters from the opening
sequence show up at the Miami resort.
The mix of danger, slapstick, sex, and frustration is
tantalizing. The gangster plot and the show biz love
stories feed off each other, without distracting us or
one plot diminishing the other. We are so involved
with each ball that Wilder and Diamond juggle in the
air; were unaware of cut-aways. You must read this
script to appreciate the craft. Viewing the movie is
not enough; youll be distracted by the brilliance of
the performances. The story structure is the
unacknowledged star here. Read this script and see

how magic is made on the page.

THE PROFESSIONALS (1966)
This rousing, spicy western tells the tale of a band of
American mercenaries sent to Mexico by a wealthy
rancher (Ralph Bellamy) to rescue his wife whos
been abducted by a vile bandit played by Jack
Palance. Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin lead these
soldiers of fortune on the rescue mission. Many
obstacles are thrown in their path as they attempt to
right this wrong and rescue Bellamys wife.
Sending soldiers of fortune on an errand of mercy
sets a tone of intriguing contradiction that keeps us
captivated till the end. The story structure that
writer/director Richard Brooks creates from Frank
ORourkes novel A Mule for Marquesa is solidly
balanced on top of a vicious secret which the
mercenaries discover as the story unfolds. This is a
fine example of a hidden agenda story structure.
We are carried right along with the heroes and only
learn each piece of the puzzle when they do.
Many critics claim this story is far-fetched, and
perhaps it is; but the hidden agenda style of
storytelling holds our attention nonetheless and
creates a taut excitement that leads us to an
outrageous, memorable climax.
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
This movie is one of the best films ever made about
the theatre. The screenplay won an Academy Award
for Joe Mankiewicz (he also directed). Bette Davis
plays a brilliantly bitchy Broadway star who takes in

an adoring fan, Eve (played by Ann Baxter). Eve

reveals herself to be a vilely ambitious actress who
menaces Bette, eventually taking over her career
and her husband, and usurping her fame.
In this story, the audience knows more than the
characters do because it is played out in flashback
with bookends in the present up front and at the
end. The writer begins the tale very close to the end
of the story, and then flashes back to the meat of the
conflict. The menacing Eve is fresh in our minds
because weve seen her in full bloom up front; while
the characters in the movie are oblivious to her
potential evil until it is too late. This structural device
creates a tantalizing suspense that permeates the
entire movie and keeps us riveted.
The script was based on a short story by Mary Orr
that was reprinted a few years ago in Zoetropes
short story magazine All Story. After youve read the
script, read the short story. The brilliant structure is
there in the story; youll miss the witty and chilling
Mankiewicz dialogue but the heart of the thrill
remains.
THE FRONT (1976)
This is a bold motion picture, mixing comedy and
drama in an entertainingly emotional way. It is set in
the McCarthy Era. Woody Allen plays a politically
naive dupe who fronts for blacklisted TV writers by
submitting their scripts with his name. This dark
period of our national history is handled with
intelligence, feeling, and humor. The screenwriter
Walter Bernstein and the director Martin Ritt were

both blacklisted themselves, as was costar Zero

Mostel.
This script plays out its temptation-redemption
story structure beautifully. We laugh as we watch
witless Woody being drawn into the fame-and-fortune
game, a game he learns to play surprisingly well.
Woody reaps the rewards; and then he must pay the
price. Read the script to discover how cleverly
Bernstein entices us to enjoy Woodys worldly
seduction and lets us believe we have nothing in
common with this self-interested chump. Our moral
superiority is bulldozed flat at the end, when we
discover were more like him than we want to admit.
This is a masterful rendering of a seductive story
structure.
THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
M. Night Shyamalan wrote (and directed) this
stunning example of a flash forward story structure.
The movie opens with a dramatic shooting incident,
and then flashes forward eighteen months and the
rest of the movie dramatizes the aftermath of this
disaster.
This is a phenomenal script, one worth studying on
the page, scene by scene. The author keeps his
chilling secret from us till nearly the end of the
movie. Yet if you read it carefully, youll discover
each scene adds little clues for us which fall like
crumbs that we think are leading us home; but
instead they lead us on a spooky but thrilling journey
to that candy house in the deep recesses of the
forest where the wicked witch waits.

Recognize Your Genre

Prejudices
Dont allow your story genre to interfere with your
ability to build a powerful structure for your script.
One useful exercise to turn your genre prejudices on
their heads is to examine how writers in other genres
structure their stories.
If you write action-adventure stories, read SOME LIKE
IT HOT or THE FRONT, learn from the genius within
those pages.
If you write romantic comedy, breakdown the script
of THE PROFESSIONALS or THE DAWN PATROL to see
how obstacles and expectations are setup and paid
off.
If you write techno thrillers, read ALL ABOUT EVE or
SOME LIKE IT HOT to understand how comic
diversions and human foibles can add pace and
dimension to a story.

Genre supports structure -- but

doesn't replace it!
Hopefully, this exercise will sharpen your instinct for
structure, blast the heck out of your genre
prejudices, and open your mind to fresh storytelling
techniques. Genre will never be a successful
substitute for story structure. Perhaps people choose
to see a particular movie because of its genre; but it
is the story structure that holds them in their seats

till they find out what happens.

Take full advantage of those writers before you who
struggled and triumphed over the same story telling
challenges you face each day. Let William Goldmans
famous phrase screenplays are structure take on a
whole new dimension in your scripts.

Online Sources for Movie

Scripts:
Harvest Moon (www.harvestmoon.com) publishes
award winning shooting scripts in their
professional format with the authors permission.
This company is non-profit and has the
cooperation of the Writers Guild Foundation.
Simply Scripts (www.simplyscripts.com) offers free
downloads of movie scripts for educational
purposes. These scripts are not always properly
formatted and may not necessarily be the
shooting draft of the script.
Movie Script Database (www.iscriptdb.com) is a
search directory for scripts online. Some scripts
are free downloads, others require a fee. Most of
these scripts are properly formatted and the
draft is identified.
**********
This page will be dedicated to the standard three-act
structure of a screenplay. It'll cover everything from
Plot Points, Character Development, Subplots, Conflict

etc etc etc... Your IDEAS are greatly welcome.

Format
Here is a basic list of how your script
should be formatted.
Typeface Always use Courier12pointfont!
Margins Because of the 3-hole punched paper, the Left margin
should be 1.5 inches and the Right is .5 inches.Top and
Bottom should be 1 inch each. Dialogue -2.5 inches from
the left- will be about 3 to 3.5 inches wide and shouldn't
extend more than 6 inches from the left. Character's Name
at 3.7 inches and above the dialogue.
Page Numbers should be located in the upper right hand
corner and then double space and continue writing.
First Page A screenplay begins with FADE IN:
Last Page At the end of your script you should type The End
and center it, or double space, to the far right of the page,
and type FADE OUT.

More to come on format...

return to top

Plot Points
This is the basic outline of the average movie
made today. Give or take a few minutes.
Your COMMENTS are welcome!

FADE IN:
Between pages 1-5: The HOOK, something that grabs our
attention and pulls us in.
Page 10: At this point in your script you should have the "MINI
CRISIS". The "MINI CRISIS" should lead us into...
Page 17: ...The DILEMMA. Creation of the team and what the
movie is about.
Page 30: The REACTION to the dilemma or situation.
Page 45: First "REVERSAL" of the 17 minute point. This point
furthers the characters and pushes them deeper into the
situation or the dilemma.
Page 60: The "TENT POLE" of the movie. Where the passive
characters become active or vice versa.
Page 75: Second "REVERSAL" to the 17 minute point. To
reaffirm what the story is about.
Page 90: The LOW POINT of action. The place from which our
main character has to rise up from.
FADE OUT.
return to top

Character
Here is a list of requirements for a
cinematic character.

They must be EMPATHETIC, have an internal and external

struggle. They must have an arc.
VULNERABLE, they must tell us what their vulnerability is.
Your character should be an UNDERDOG...
But also be LARGER THAN LIFE.
Give your characters STRENGTHS-Something that they are
really good at, but...
They need FLAWS that could be fatal. Characters with doubts
and faults are more interesting and believable.
Return to top

Questions???
These questions might be helpful to ask
yourself about character before you start your
screenplay.

1. Who is your story about?

2. What kind of trouble is that person in?
3. What does your character want and what will your character do
to get it?
4. What is your character most afraid of (his/her ghost)?

Questions to ask yourself about your script.

1. GENRE Does your script fulfill the expectations of its particular
genre?
2. CHARACTERS Are your characters memorable? Are they larger
than life?
3. STRUCTURE Does it create suspense? What's the big question
the audience will be wondering about throughout the
movie?
4. THEME What is your movie really about?
5. RESOLUTION Is the Movie satisfying to the very last scene?
6. MOMENTS Are there at least four or five memorable
moments? Think of this as a "Trailer Moment".
7. STORY It is the point when your Character is forced to solve
his/her inner conflict in order to solve the outer conflict.
8. FRESH Is your script fresh? A new perspective on the human
condition.
9. SECONDARYCHARACTERS They must reflect the conflicts of
the main Characters.
Return to top

Script Checklist

Opening hook
Primary conflict up front
Set the Genre and Tone
Post a general question
Introduce the protagonist in a unique way
Why does the story start today
ANTAGONIST: Who? Why? What?
What power does the antagonist hold over the hero?
10 minute point
Event and declaration
17 minute point
Reaction/30 minute point
Main goal or plan
What's at stake?
How is the hero trapped?
Time Lock
Are there teams? Hero's and Antagonist's
Mid Point
How does hero seize control of destiny?
How does the hero voice this new awareness and need
An Action that conveys the seizing of control
How does the hero face the antagonist on their own turf
How are the stakes raised raised for the 2nd half of the movie
What Unforeseen Obstacle is now in the way
When does the hero realize his/her worst fear
Tighten the screws
Epiphany; it should put your hero at a crossroads
Creates a New Goal
Climax
What truth emerges?

What does the Entire Screenplay stand for?

What do you want the audience to come away with?
What's it about - In One Word
Is the structure complex enough to sustain the movie?

*******

SCREENPLAY STRUCTURE
The Five Key Turning Points of All Successful
Scripts
Hollywood movies are simple.
Though writing a successful Hollywood movie is
certainly not easy, the stories for mainstream
Hollywood films are all built on only three basic
components: character, desire and conflict.
Film stories portray heroes who face seemingly
insurmountable obstacles as they pursue compelling
objectives. Whether it's Clarice Starling trying to stop
Hannibal, Captain Miller Saving Private Ryan, or
Billy Elliott trying to gain admission to a ballet
school, all these protagonists confront overwhelming
conflict in their pursuit of some visible goal.
Plot structure simply determines the sequence of
events that lead the hero toward this objective. And
here's the good news: whether you're writing
romantic comedies, suspense thrillers, historical
dramas or big budget science fiction, all successful
Hollywood movies follow the same basic structure.

In a properly structured movie, the story consists of

six basic stages, which are defined by five key
turning points in the plot. Not only are these turning
points always the same; they always occupy the
same positions in the story. So what happens at the
25% point of a 90-minute comedy will be identical to
what happens at the same percentage of a threehour epic. (These percentages apply both to the
running time of the film and the pages of your
screenplay.)

In the explanation that follows, I want to take two

recent blockbusters through this entire structural
process: Susannah Grant's screenplay for Erin
Brockovich; and Gladiator, written by David H.
Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson. As
different as these two films are in style, genre, length
and subject matter, both have made more than a
hundred million dollars at the box office, both were
among the most critically acclaimed films of 2000,
and both employ the same basic plot structure.
Click here to purchase the screenplay for Erin Brockovich.

Click here to purchase the screenplay for Gladiator.

STAGE I: The Setup

Erin Brokovich: Erin is a broke, unemployed single

mother who can't find a job, gets hit by a car, and
loses her lawsuit.
Gladiator: Maximus, Rome's most powerful, and
most popular, general, leads his troops to victory in
their final battle.
The opening 10% of your screenplay must draw the
reader, and the audience, into the initial setting of
the story, must reveal the everyday life your hero
has been living, and must establish identification
with your hero by making her sympathetic,
threatened, likable, funny and/or powerful.
Cast Away transports us into the world of a FedEx
executive, shows him as likable and good at his job,
and creates sympathy and worry when he must leave
the woman he loves at Christmas to fly off in
dangerous weather. Or think of Lowell Bergman's
mysterious, threatening pursuit of a story at the
beginning of The Insider. These setups pull us out
of our own existence and into the captivating world
the screenwriter has created.

TURNING POINT #1: The Opportunity (10%)

Erin Brokovich: Erin forces Ed Masry to give her a

job.
Gladiator: Maximus is offered a reward by Emperor
Marcus Aurelius, and he says he wants to go home.
Ten percent of the way into your screenplay, your
hero must be presented with an opportunity, which
will create a new, visible desire, and will start the
character on her journey. This is the point where Neo
is taken to meet Morpheus and wants to learn about
The Matrix, or where Ike gets fired and wants to go
meet the Runaway Bride.
Notice that the desire created by the opportunity is
not the specific goal that defines your story concept,
but rather a desire to move into

STAGE 2: The New Situation

Erin Brokovich: Erin begins working for Ed Masry's

law firm, meets her neighbor George, and starts
investigating a case in Hinkley, California, but then
gets fired
. Gladiator: Maximus is asked by the dying
Emperor to take control of Rome and give it back to
the people, in spite of the ambition of his son
Commodus.
For the next 15% of the story, your hero will react to
the new situation that resulted from the opportunity.
He gets acclimated to the new surroundings, tries to
figure out what's going on, or formulates a specific
plan for accomplishing his overall goal: Fletcher has
to figure out that he's been cursed to tell the truth in
Liar, Liar; and Mrs. Doubtfire devises a plan for
seeing his children.
Very often story structure follows geography, as
the opportunity takes your hero to a new location:
boarding the cruise ships in Titanic and The
Talented Mr. Ripley; going to Cincinnati to bury his
father in Rain Man; the President taking off on Air
Force One.
In most movies, the hero enters this new situation
willingly, often with a feeling of excitement and
anticipation, or at least believing that the new
problem he faces can be easily solved. But as the

conflict starts to build, he begins to realize he's up

against far greater obstacles than he realized, until
finally he comes to

TURNING POINT #2: The Change of Plans (25%)

Erin Brokovich: Erin gets rehired to help win a suit

against PG&E.
Gladiator: Maximus, after learning that
Commodus has murdered his father, vows to stop the
new emperor and carry out Marcus Aurelius' wishes.
Something must happen to your hero one-fourth of
the way through your screenplay that will transform
the original desire into a specific, visible goal with a
clearly defined end point. This is the scene where
your story concept is defined, and your hero's outer
motivation is revealed.
Outer motivation is my term for the visible finish
line the audience is rooting for your hero to achieve
by the end of the film. It is here that Tess discovers
that Katherine has stolen her idea in Working Girl,
and now wants to close the deal herself by posing as
a broker. This is what we're rooting for Tess to do,

and we know that when she's accomplished this goal

(or failed to), the movie will be over.
Please don't confuse outer motivation with the inner
journey your hero takes. Because much of what we
respond to emotionally grows out of the hero's
longings, wounds, fears, courage and growth, we
often focus on these elements as we develop our
stories. But these invisible character components can
emerge effectively only if they grow out of a simple,
visible desire.

STAGE III: Progress

Erin Brokovich: Erin gets some Hinkley residents

to hire Ed to represent them, and gets romantically
involved with George.
Gladiator: Maximus is taken to be killed, escapes
to find his family murdered, and is captured and sold
to Proximo, who makes him a powerful gladiator.
For the next 25% of your story, your hero's plan
seems to be working as he takes action to achieve
his goal: Ethan Hunt begins closing in on the villain in
Mission: Impossible 2; Pat gets involved with the

woman of his dreams in There's Something About

Mary.
This is not to say that this stage is without conflict.
But whatever obstacles your hero faces, he is able to
avoid or overcome them as he approaches

TURNING POINT #3: The Point of No Return

(50%)

Erin Brokovich: Erin and Ed file the lawsuit, risking

dismissal by the judge, which would destroy any
hope of a settlement.
Gladiator: Maximus arrives in Rome, determined to
win the crowd as a Gladiator so he can destroy
Commodus.
At the exact midpoint of your screenplay, your hero
must fully commit to her goal. Up to this point, she
had the option of turning back, giving up on her plan,
and returning to the life she was living at the
beginning of the film. But now your hero must burn
her bridges behind her and put both feet in. (And
never let it be said that I can't work two hackneyed
metaphors into the same sentence).

It is at precisely this moment that Truman crosses the

bridge in The Truman Show, and that Rose makes
love with Jack in Titanic. They are taking a much
bigger risk than at any previous time in these films.
And as a result of passing this point of no return,
they must now face

STAGE IV: Complications and Higher Stakes

Erin Brokovich: Erin sees less of George and her

kids, while Ed brings in a big firm that alienates the
Hinkley plaintiffs.
Gladiator: Maximus becomes a hero to the Roman
people and reveals his true identity to Commodus.
For the next 25% of your story, achieving the
visible goal becomes far more difficult, and your hero
has much more to lose if he fails. After Mitch
McDeere begins collecting evidence against The
Firm at that movie's midpoint, he now must hide
what he's doing from both the mob and the FBI
(complications), and failure will result in either prison
or death (higher stakes).
This conflict continues to build until, just as it seems

that success is within your hero's grasp, he suffers

TURNING POINT #4: The Major Setback (75%)

Erin Brokovich: Most of the plaintiffs withdraw due

to the bungled efforts of the new lawyers, and
George leaves Erin.
Gladiator: Maximus refuses to help the leader of
the Senate, and Commodus plots to destroy both
Maximus and the Senate.
Around page 90 of your screenplay, something
must happen to your hero that makes it seem to the
audience that all is lost: Carol dumps Melvin in As
Good As It Gets; Morpheus is captured in The
Matrix. If you're writing a romantic comedy like
Working Girl or What Women Want, this is the
point where your hero's deception is revealed and
the lovers break up.
These disastrous events leave your hero with only
one option: he must make one, last, all-or-nothing,
do-or-die effort as he enters

STAGE V: The Final Push

Erin Brokovich: Erin must rally the Hinkley families

to agree to binding arbitration, and find evidence
incriminating the PG&E corporate office.
Gladiator: Maximus conspires to escape from
Proximo and lead his former troops against
Commodus.
Beaten and battered, your hero must now risk
everything she has, and give every ounce of strength
and courage she possesses, to achieve her ultimate
goal: Thelma and Louise must outrun the FBI to
reach the border; and the Kennedy's must attempt
one final negotiation with the Soviets in 13 Days.
During this stage of your script, the conflict is
overwhelming, the pace has accelerated, and
everything works against your hero, until she
reaches

TURNING POINT #5: The Climax (90-99%)

 Erin Brokovich: Erin and Ed win a $330 million

dollar settlement, and George returns. Gladiator:
Maximus has his final battle with Commodus in the
arena.
Several things must occur at the climax of the film:
the hero must face the biggest obstacle of the entire
story; she must determine her own fate; and the
outer motivation must be resolved once and for all.
This is the big moment where our heroes go into the
Twister and the Jewish factory workers make their
escape in Schindler's List.
Notice that the climax can occur anywhere from the
90% point to the last couple minutes of the movie.
The exact placement will be determined by the
amount of time you need for

STAGE VI: The Aftermath

Erin Brokovich: Erin gets a $2 million bonus, and

continues working with Ed.

 Gladiator: Maximus is united with his family in

death, and his body carried away in honor by the
new leaders of the Roman republic.
No movie ends precisely with the resolution of the
hero's objective. You have to reveal the new life your
hero is living now that he's completed his journey.
In movies like Rocky, Thelma and Louise and The
Truman Show, there is little to show or explain, and
the writer's goal is to leave the audience stunned or
elated. So the climax occurs near the very end of the
film. But in most romantic comedies, mysteries and
dramas, the aftermath will include the final five or
ten pages of the script.

Understanding these stages and turning points

provides you with a powerful tool for developing and
writing your screenplay. Is your story concept defined
at the one-quarter mark? Is your hero's goal truly
visible, with a clearly implied outcome and not just
an inner desire for success, acceptance or self worth?
Have you fully introduced your hero before
presenting her with an opportunity around page 10?
Does she suffer a major setback 75% of the way into
your script?
But a word of caution: don't let all these
percentages block your creativity. Structure is an
effective template for rewriting and strengthening

the emotional impact of your story. But you don't

want to be imprisoned by it. Come up with characters
you love and a story that ignites your passion. Then
apply these structural principles, to ensure that your
screenplay will powerfully touch the widest possible
audience.

******
THE SCREENPLAY-STRUCTURE CHECKLIST
Let's make the screenplay -structure of your movie
indestructible. This article shows you how-to-write-a-screenplay
with excellent structure.
What follows is a tried and tested way of keeping an eye on
traditional 3-act Screenplay-structure. When you are deep in the
screenplay outline jungle, a compass helps to show the way. (As
always He is also She - No sexism intended)
How-to-write-a-screenplay my friends - like this. Understand
screenwriting lingo with this - my screenwriting tutorial on how
to structure your screenplay.

Page 1. Have you set up the setting/the location/the tone? Do we

know exactly what is going on? Have you introduced the Hero?

Page 3. Do we know the Heros goal? What is his overriding

desire?

Page 10. Has the inciting incident occurred by now? Most

important point of Screenplay-structure. Master screenwriting
now.

Page 12. Have we met the Opponent? Do we understand his

desire line? Do we know the problem the Hero has to solve?

Pages 25-30. Have you established the event or sequence of

events that will set up the second act. The Plot point, or turning
Point.

Page 30. Does the end of the first act find you Hero entering a
new and even more difficult arena of challenge? How does he feel
about this?

Page 45. Has the Hero overcome some challenges and beaten
back a few obstacles? Has he been tested a little, but not
destroyed,

Page 60. The Midpoint. Is your Hero feeling defeated or

confident?He must not give up now and continues onwards. This
is his point of no return. He must go on. Screenplay-structure
point, One most people miss.

Page 75-76. The Hero hits rock bottom. All looks hopeless and
irreversible. There seems to be no way out. He must now
discover a new strength, a new way of dealing with his
predicament and rebuild his hope in his ability to get the goal,
achieve his desire.

Pages 85-90. The build up towards the Second major plot point.
What starts to set it all up? Name the events. Why these?

Page 90. The start of Act Three Plot point Two. Show how the
Hero has changed. Show the growth he has made to begin the
next part of the journey. Show dont Tell. Moving Pictures! Ready
for the final challenge. Nervous, afraid, insecure... but he will feel
the fear and do it anyway.

Page 115. The climax. This is it. The showdown. The battle with
the Opponent. The big one. Pull no punches and make sure the
Hero is the one doing it. He defeats the Opponent and comes to
terms with his own true self. The absolutely most important
Screenplay-structure point.

Page 120. The resolution. Normal life will be resumed now. He

has survived the ordeal. They are now irreversibly changed.

*******

The Need for Structure, Part 1

There is a little coffeehouse/used-bookstore

near Venice Beach where a lot of young
screenwriters show up with laptop computers and

work on their scripts. Several times I have seen

some of these young writers actually bring a threefoot square corkboard, pushpins, and index cards
with all of their scenes listed on them then play
musical chairs with the structure of their screenplay.
This is completely ridiculous.
Each of the three
acts of a script must be distinct from the other two,
each act having a unique purpose. If a scene can be
moved from act 1 to act 2 or from act 2 to act 3, then
your structure is wrong, and you need to rethink your
story. Acts 1 and 2 must end definitively in a position
of no recourse for the lead character. If they don't
end that way, they're wrong.
Your lead character
is your point. If your lead character has no point,
then your story has no point. That which is pointless
is dull, and dullness is the enemy of good
storytelling. Anybody can be dull; it doesn't take the
slightest bit of skill. Good stories are never dull.
Also, your lead character must be going through a
change of some sort that is important to him or
her.
These specifications are necessary to a good
script; they are not optional -- you must address
them. Even if you follow these rules, your script
won't necessarily be good, but, if you don't follow
them, your script will absolutely be bad.
Are
there exceptions to these rules? Of course. But
don't bother yourself with the exceptions; they are
too rare to have any meaning to most of us.
Screenwriting is a craft and a very difficult one at
that. You must master a craft before hoping to go
beyond craft to art.
Art generally arises from that
which is extremely well crafted. To become a good
craftsman is a worthy goal in life. Ultimately, it is for
others to decide what is "art." Damn near all of the

great film directors -- Wyler, Hitchcock, Ford, Huston,

Hawks -- saw themselves as craftsman, not artists. It
is foolish to think of oneself as an artist in film.
Filmmaking is a difficult craft that has on rare
occasions risen to the level of art, frequently to the
complete surprise of the filmmakers. If your goal is
to be part of that charmed few, then you'd better
know more than everybody.
In 1940 pretty much
every writer in Hollywood knew this information.
Some put it to better use than others, but even Bmovies were usually well structured back then.
We're now seeing $50 to $200 million movies that
are not nearly as well written as the old 1930s
Republic westerns.
Every script that I have ever
read by friends, acquaintances, or peers -- and I've
read many, many scripts -- is structurally incorrect,
dull, and pointless. Each time I read yet another dull,
formless mess, it weighs heavily upon me. What's
going on? Is everybody brain-dead?
I'm not
entirely sure why these concepts of dramatic
structure have fallen into disuse, but I would offer
sheer laziness as a prime possibility. It's much easier
to piss and moan that you are a misunderstood artist
than to put in the time and effort it takes to do the
work properly.
This is not brain surgery, and you
don't have to be Albert Einstein to understand these
concepts and put them to use. The dramatic threeact structure is very much like a house, the three
acts being: the foundation, the walls, and the roof.
Writing a well-structured, three-act script with a point
is no harder than building a house that follows the
building codes and will pass inspection, but it's
probably no easier.
You cannot wake up one
morning and say, "Today I am an architect and will

design a house," then draw a proper blueprint

containing all of the building codes that carpenters
can read and from which they can subsequently build
a house that can be lived in. All of the information is
readily available, and with enough research and
practice you too can draw a proper blueprint from
which a house can be built that will pass inspection.
There will be a plug on every wall and a bathroom on
every floor. But this information is not innate to
anyone; it must be learned. The same goes for
screenwriting. Nobody was born knowing how
drainage is achieved in a foundation anymore than
they were born knowing three-act dramatic
structure. Yet people are constantly approaching
screenwriting as if it were a God-given
gift.
Certainly, to be a great architect or a great
screenwriter (or a great anything), one probably
must have some God-given talent. Nevertheless,
most architects, just like most screenwriters, are
working with approximately the same glob of goo
between their ears as everyone else. If you are
exceptionally talented, that will make itself apparent;
if not, that will make itself known, too.
If you start
to pay close attention to dramatic three-act structure
(and this goes for comedies as well), it will become
obvious very quickly in anything you watch or read
whether it is there or not. And, when it is not there,
thirty to forty minutes into the film your butt will
start to hurt. Harry Cohn, former head of Columbia
Pictures, once said that he knew a good or a bad film
by whether or not his ass burned while he watched
it. When act 1 does not end properly, thirty to forty
minutes into the story, you know deep down in your
guts that acts 2 and 3 will not be right, either. Now

you face twice the length of what you've just sat

through with a mounting sense of dread, and your
ass starts to burn.
There are really only two kinds
of movies in the world: the kind where your ass burns
and the kind where your ass doesn't burn. That's it.
The three acts of a story are: setup, confrontation,
and resolution. They are each completely different
things and should be approached as such.
Continuing with the house metaphor, the foundation
is not constructed anything like the walls, which are
not constructed the same way as the roof; each has
its own appearance and its own purpose.
In act 1
you can set up anything you damn well want
(including the introduction of your characters), but
that's all you're doing is setting up; you're asking
questions. No questions are confronted or answered,
however, in act 1. The act should end on a point of
no recourse.
In act 2 you confront the problem
you've set up in act 1. This is generally the main
action of the story. Act 2 should also end on a point
of no recourse. In act 3 you resolve the problem. It's
simple and totally indispensable. If a joke is not told
in its proper order, it will not be funny; if a story is
not told in its proper order, it will not be compelling
or satisfying.Stories are just long jokes, in a way.
You'll have to excuse me for choosing a dumb blonde
joke as an example, but it comes to mind and makes
me chuckle.
ACT 1:
A guy walks into a bar holding an
alligator and proclaims, "I'll let this alligator bite my
dick for a full minute for one hundred dollars. Any
takers?" The amused patrons of the bar throw
money until there are a hundred dollars on the floor

then look at the guy and his alligator expectantly.

ACT 2:
The guy pries open the alligator's
mouth, sticks his dick in, snaps the razor-sharp teeth
closed, then grits his teeth while the whole bar
counts out the sixty seconds. At the count of sixty
the guy pounds on the alligator's head with his fist as
hard as he can. The alligator opens his mouth, the
guy pulls out his dick, then the jaws snap
closed.
The guy turns to the bar's patrons and
challenges, "All right, now I'll pay two hundred dollars
to anyone who will do the same thing! Come on, I'll
make it three hundred dollars!"
ACT 3:
A dumb blonde girl steps out and
says, "Okay, I'll do it. But you have to promise not to
hit me on the head so hard."
If you wrote this joke out paragraph by
paragraph on index cards, could you put the end at
the beginning or the beginning at the end? No. It
follows in a specific order. Certainly you could tell it
backward; it just wouldn't be funny.
I recently had the great pleasure of seeing the
first screening of a brand-new 70mm print of William
Wyler's 1959 film Ben Hur at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art. Wyler is my favorite director, and
even though I don't think Ben Hur is one of his best
films (even if it won eleven Oscars, more than any
other film), I still think it's one helluva good example
of filmmaking and storytelling. At the end of three
hours and thirty-two minutes the audience gave the
film a standing ovation.
Nothing that occurs in

act 1 of Ben Hur could possibly happen in acts 2 or

3. Act 1 ends with Messala (Stephen Boyd) having
Ben Hur's mother and sister (improbably played by
Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell) being taken away
to jail and Judah Ben Hur (Charlton Heston)
condemned to the galleys. Judah vows revenge,
saying he will kill Messala when he returns from the
galleys. Messala amusedly quips, "Return?" and
Judah Ben Hur is taken away. Certainly a definitive
ending of an act, at a point of no recourse for the
hero.
In act 2 Ben Hur rows in the galley of a
Roman warship, and during a giant sea battle he
saves the life of the Roman commander (Jack
Hawkins). Ben Hur is subsequently taken to Rome,
becomes a great charioteer, and is given his
freedom. He immediately sets off to find his
imprisoned mother and sister. Upon his return home,
Judah Ben Hur is informed that his mother and sister
are dead, whereas we the audience really know that
they are not dead but are in fact lepers. No matter,
Ben Hur believes that they are dead and now
resolves to kill Messala, which, as we are well aware,
he will accomplish in the chariot
arena.
Intermission. Will we be coming back to
see act 3? Without question.
Act 3 is the chariot
race and Messala's death; then Ben Hur saves his
mother and sister from the horrors of leprosy by
taking them to the Crucifixion of Christ, where they
are healed. Now that's entertainment.
No scene
from act 1 can go into act 2, and no scene from act 2
can go into act 3. You do not need index cards and a
corkboard. If you think you do, then you are
approaching the problem the wrong way.
The
lead character of most scripts and films these days is

generally the dullest character in the story. Why is

that? Simply put, your lead character embodies the
point of your story. If you don't know the point of
your story, neither will the lead character. If your
lead character is pointless, then you can bet that
your whole story is going to be pointless. That which
is pointless is generally dull. Dullness, if I may
reiterate, is disastrous to good storytelling.
Your
point doesn't even have to be a good one, but it's
better to have any point than none at all.
Judah
Ben Hur's point is that he will not betray his people
for his friendship with Messala. This makes Ben Hur
noble, but it's not a great point because it doesn't
relate to the rest of the story; he never has to put the
betrayal of his people or a friend on the line
again.
Now take William Wyler's film The Big
Country as an example of a lead character with a
good point. Gregory Peck is a sea captain in the
1880s who, previous to our story, met Caroll Baker
back east, fell in love, and has now come west to
claim his bride. Peck is met by his fianc then is
promptly taken advantage of by ruffians (led by a
very young Chuck Conners) against whom he makes
no attempt to fight back. His bride-to-be
immediately assumes that he is a coward. At the big
ranch where Baker lives, the handsome foreman
(Charlton Heston) tries to get Peck to ride a wild,
bucking stallion, and Peck humbly declines.
Everyone thinks he's a coward. Heston calls Peck a
fool in front of everyone, and still Peck won't fight
him. Now everyone is certain he's a coward. When
no one is around, however, Peck rides the wild
stallion. And in the middle of the night he comes and
fights Heston all alone in the moonlight.
Gregory

Peck the sea captain doesn't need to prove himself to

anyone but himself. He knows who he is, and he has
a point. Everything he does reflects that point. It
would be much easier to say, as in Joseph Lewis's
Gun Crazy, that the guy just loved guns. It wasn't
because his penis was small or his father abused
him; he simply liked guns, and given half a chance he
used them. It's not complex, but it's clear.
Or you
can go in the other direction, where not only does
your lead character make a point but every other
character in the story is making a variation on the
same point. This is called having a theme. Wyler's
favorite theme was the effects of war on a family,
which he dealt with beautifully in Mrs. Miniver ("Best
Picture" 1942), The Best Years of Our Lives ("Best
Picture" 1946), and Friendly Persuasion ("Best
Picture" nominee 1956).
Friendly Persuasion is
the story of a Quaker family, led by Gary Cooper and
Dorothy McGuire, during the American Civil War.
Quakers are totally nonviolent; war is violent -- what
do they do? Individually, everyone in the family -- a
daughter and two sons (the older son being a very
young Anthony Perkins) -- each must make his or her
own decisions. We think that Gary Cooper will revert
to violence, being that he's Gary Cooper, and a man,
except he doesn't. Whereas Dorothy McGuire, who is
not only the most vocally nonviolent but also a
minister in the church, when provoked, does revert to
violence. Gary Cooper hears of this from his younger
son, "Then Momma hit the soldier with a broom!"
Coop raises his eyebrows and proclaims, "By sugar,
that's news!"
One can go farther still along the
road of complex storytelling, into the nebulous
realms of irony, allegory, and parable. None of them

get in the way of the basic three-act structure.

These concepts work in tandem with the three
acts.
Part of my reason for writing this little essay
is so that I can attach it to scripts I'm asked to read
instead of having to say the same thing over and
over again. Also, if it helps reverse the downward
trend even slightly and spurs one writer somewhere
to write a better script, then it has been worth the
effort. I can only hope.

*******
SCREENPLAY STRUCTURE--A QUICK REFERENCE
byBarry Pearson
In my screenwriting seminar, Create Your Screenplay, I deal
extensivelywith the creative and structural nature of the
screenplay. That takes twoseven-hour days. Nevertheless, I'm
going to lay out the Quick Referenceversion here. (Watch for my
e-book which comes out later this year,and which will detail the
principles and techniques that I teach.)
Please note that I created some of the terms I will be using here,
sothey will be unfamiliar to you. Here's a short glossary:
BONDING CHARACTER - the second most important character in
your story,the character who carries on a relationship with your
Hero.
BONDING EVENT - the event, sequence of action, that brings the
Hero andthe Bonding Character into contact and into a
relationship with each other.

LOCKING EVENT - the event, sequence of action, that radically

alters thenature of the Hero/Bonding Character relationship, so
that it becomes verydifficult for them to disengage from each
other.
ESCALATING EVENT - the event, sequence of action, that
dramaticallyraises the stakes in the Hero/Bonding Character
relationship. In myseminar, I tell the writers not to be a "slave to
the page count."
That said, almost every successful screenplay accomplishes
typicaldevelopments in a specific order, which just happen to fall
approximatelyon or near certain pages (assuming you're using
standard screenplayformatting). For the purposes of this article,
I'm assuming a 100 pagescreenplay. Adjust the approximate
page counts if your script is longer.The page numbers are only
meant to be a rough guide, anyway.
The Guiding Principle - almost every screen story is MAINLY
ABOUT ONLYTWO CHARACTERS.
One of these is the HERO, the other is the second most dominant
character,whom I call The BONDING CHARACTER.
To oversimplify:
SETUP:In the first 10 pages one of these two characters will be
introduced anddetailed. Not all movies begin with the Hero. Many
begin with the BondingCharacter.
Sometimes this Bonding Character is the villain, or the monster,
or thepotential love-interest.
BONDING EVENT:Somewhere between pages 9 and 18 roughly,
an event will occur whichbrings the Hero into contact and
interaction with the Bonding Character.This event I call the
BONDING EVENT.
For example, in "Witness" the Bonding Event is a murder
witnessed bythe son of Rachel Lapp (Bonding Character, played
by Kelly McGillis).
This event brings Rachel into contact with John Book (the Hero,

played byHarrison Ford).

THE OPPOSING/ATTACKING FORCE.It is important to understand
that the Bonding Event is typically theculmination of a sequence
of backstory events set in motion andpropelled by the evil or
negative force in the story, which I call theOpposing/Attacking
Force.
This force can be a human villain, a monster or alien, a force of
nature, acartel of evil persons -- in other words the total
combination of outsideforces that the Hero has to contend with in
your story..
LOCKING EVENT:Following the Bonding Event there are a series
of scenes which detailthe developing relationship between the
Hero and the Bonding Character.These scenes lead up to a
second important event, the LOCKING EVENT.
This is the second major event in your screen story. It introduces
a turn of circumstances that alters the relationship between the
two major characters,so that they cannot easily disengage from
each other. Their desires andtheir situation change in a way that
forces them to stay in contact witheach other.
This applies equally to two central characters who have a
hero/villain relationship(Sleeping with the Enemy, Alien), as to
characters who havea hero/ally relationship (Witness,
Terminator), or a hero/love-interestrelationship (When Harry Met
Sally).
This Locking Event occurs somewhere between pages 20 to 35.
ESCALATING EVENT:Following the Locking Event there is a
development that raises thestakes for the Hero and Bonding
Character, the ESCALATING EVENT.Often this development is one
which raises matters to a life-and-deathissue. This Escalating
Event occurs somewhere between pages 40 to 55.
SENDING YOUR HERO TO HELL:Following the Escalating Event
there is a sequence of developmentswhich comprise the portion
of the script wherein the Hero tries toaccommodate, adjust to,
and escape from the situation of jeopardy inwhich he or she finds

himself or herself.
Until a moment arrives when the Hero is in such a hellish
situation thathe or she starts to go on the offensive and fight
back. In essence, theHero is driven to state of mind like Peter
Finch in Network who yells,"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to
take it any more!"
This sequence typically occupies the pages from 60 to 75 or
thereabouts.
THE PLAN THAT FAILS.Next there is a sequence of scenes in
which the Hero plans to defeatthe forces opposing him. The Hero
put a plan into motion and locks hornswith the opposing force or
forces in an effort to defeat them. This is the"plan-that-fails"
segment of the script.This sequence will fall somewherearound
pages 75 to 85. (Again, I caution you not to be a slave to the
pagecount. Use page numbers very approximately).
At this point, I should mention the issue of how much screen
time youshould be spending on each aspect of the storyline.
Obviously if you findyour Hero being "mad as hell" at page 45,
your script is out of whack.
As a sidebar, in the scripts that I see from writers, a common
weaknessis that the writer has skipped either the Locking Event
or the Escalating Event.That error will throw the whole shape of
the story out of balance.
THE HIDDEN WEAKNESS.When the Hero's plan has failed and he
or she looks to be utterly, finallydefeated, there is a sequence in
which he or she discovers what appears tobe a hidden weakness
in the opposing force or forces. This of course is aweakness that
you the writer built in when you created the Opposing/Attacking
force of your story.
THE PLAN THAT SUCCEEDS.This revelation (when the Hero has
discovered the hidden weakness ofthe opposing forces) initiates
the "plan-that-succeeds."
The ensuing sequence -- the one in which the Hero battles and
defeatsthe opposition - occupies pages 85 to 95 approximately.

THE WIN AND THE PRIZEFollowing the Hero's victory, there is a

final sequence in which the writerdramatizes the Hero's new
status and situation, and allows the audienceto vicariously savor
the Hero's victory, even if it is bittersweet, which itoften is.
That covers pages 95-100 approximately. A parting note: You
would dowell to analyze a number of your favorite movies to see
if you can recognizethis structure. Try to study the nature of the
features I have outlined sothat you can apply them to your own
work. There is a teeming variety in theway writers have used this
typical structure, and it does not always jumpout at you when
you watch a movie purely for enjoyment.

******

1. GENERAL HEADING: Exploring the Text

2. TITLE OF EXERCISE: "Graphing Dramatic
Structure: Characters and Stage Time"
3. GOALS: To render the structure of a play visually,
and examine its implications.
4. NUMBER OF STUDENTS: Individuals.
5. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES: Scripts; paper, ruler,
and colored pens or pencils; or software for making
graphs/charts.
6. CLASS TIME NEEDED: Preparation time: 1 hour
min. (homework). Discussion time: 15 - 30 minutes.

7. STEP-BY-STEP DESCRIPTION: Assignment: to graph

the entrances, exits and relative stage time of every
character in a play. The most sophisticated graphs
separate each scene, plotting the speech of each
character against the line numbers of the scene.
Ideally the entire play should be visible on the graph
or chart. It is helpful to distinguish characters with
different colors or patterns. Once students have
completed their graphs, they should share and
discuss them with classmates.
8. POINTS FOR OBSERVATION, DISCUSSION:
Key scenes and dominant roles;
Relationships of multiple plotlines and their
respective groups of characters;
Presence of non-speaking characters on stage;
Rhythm of the play as a whole;
Recurrence of individual figures over the course of
the play;
Practical directorial concerns of entrances and exits;
Practical concerns of doubling, tripling roles among
a limited acting company;
Act and scene divisions, and their editorial history.
9. SOURCE/REFERENCE: Prof. Audrey Stanley,
University of California at Santa Cruz, 1995-96 NEH
Institute "Shakespeare Examined through
Performance."
10. ADDITIONAL READING: N.A.
11. VARIATIONS:
Variation 1) Have students write about their
discoveries.

Variation 2) Divide the graph into French scenes (i.e.

the entrance or exit of any character begins a new
scene, regardless of editorial act or scene divisions).
Variation 3) Use the graph to figure out how a theatre
company from Shakespeare's day might have had
their limited number of actors double and triple to fill
all the roles of the play.

*****

The basic structure of a Greek tragedy is fairly

simple. After a prologue spoken by one or more
characters, the chorus enters, singing and dancing.
Scenes then alternate between spoken sections
(dialogue between characters, and between
characters and chorus) and sung sections (during
which the chorus danced). Here are the basic parts of
a Greek Tragedy:
a. Prologue: Spoken by one or two characters before
the chorus appears. The prologue usually gives the
mythological background necessary for
understanding the events of the play.
b. Parodos: This is the song sung by the chorus as it
first enters the orchestra and dances.
c. First Episode: This is the first of many "episodes",
when the characters and chorus talk.
d. First Stasimon: At the end of each episode, the

other characters usually leave the stage and the

chorus dances and sings a stasimon, or choral ode.
The ode usually reflects on the things said and done
in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of larger
mythological framework.
For the rest of the play, there is alternation between
episodes and stasima, until the final scene, called
the...
e. Exodos: At the end of play, the chorus exits
singing a processional song which usually offers
words of wisdom related to the actions and outcome
of the play.