Syd Field, in his book, Screenplay
and The Screen Writer's Workbook, has outlined a paradigm that most screenplays
follow. A paradigm is a conceptual scheme and is the structure that holds
screenplays together. Screenplays follow a three-act structure, meaning the
standard screenplay can be divided into three parts: Setup, Confrontation, and Resolution, according to Field.
Act 1 (Setup) comprises the
first quarter of the screenplay. (Act I would last approximately 30 minutes for
a two hour movie). Here is where the story is set up; the main character is
told; what their goal is and introduces the main conflict that becomes their
obstacle. The tone and style of the movie will also be set here. Act I must
also present a strong hook: an exciting scene early in the script that grabs
the audience’s interest. Part of that hook is the inciting incident that takes
place somewhere in the beginning of Act I. This inciting incident often
provokes a change in the protagonist’s routine – something new they experience
that could either challenge or encourage them.
The story starts with the change in Joe’s family life, the
incident happened in the factory causes Joe and Jackson lost their loved one. In
the first two minutes, most of the characters are introduced (in sequence: Joe
Lamb, Mr. and Mrs. Kaznyk, Joe’s best friends; Preston, Cary, Charles, and
Martin; Jackson Lamb and Louis Dainard. In Joe’s house where the funeral is
held, the setting is sad and moody. The children are curious about how Joe’s
mother died, but they are naive, and they blur the discussion with zombie and
food. This shows that there will contrast between adult’s world and children’s
world in the movie; adults are serious and kids worry about other things which
creates sense of humour in the film. Other than that, the cause of the death of
Joe’s mother, Charles’s film, the relationship between Jackson and Louis are
the hook of the movie. The main conflict in the movie is the relationship
between Joe and his father. From the conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Kaznyk
(00:01:55 Mrs. Kaznyk: “But he has never had to be a father before…I don’t
think he understands Joe.”, the couple remains silence), we know that Jackson
is not having good relationship with his father and they do not have much
contact (Jackson is looking for the son in the house while the son is outside).
Joe rather be alone and memoirs his mother (holding the necklace in his hands)
than join his friends and family in the house.
According to Field, the three
acts are separated by two plot points. The "Plot Point" or “Turning Point”,
often called as reversal, is an event that thrusts the plot in a new direction,
leading into a new act of the screenplay. Later screenplay gurus have built on
Field's theory by stating that Plot Point 1, which leads into Act II, is the
moment when the hero takes on the problem.
The turning point 1 will be the adding of new character
Alice who will be the wife for the detector in Charles’s film. Together they go
to the train station and shoot the film. Joe finds out that a car goes onto the
train track and hit the train, there is a big explosion. Joe find cubes and
keep one of them in the pocket. The kids discovered Dr. Woodward and he warn
the kids to keep secret about it. This creates a big question in audience’s
head.
Act 2 (Confrontation) comprises
the next two quarters of the film. (Act II would last approximately 60 minutes for
a two hour movie). The writer faces the challenge of keeping the story moving
forward and not boring the audience. The elaboration of subplot is the device
to solve this. The subplot is a minor story layered under the main narrative.
It often adds a three-dimensionality aspect to the characters by allowing them
to engage in a behavior that is not related to the main plot, but still
relevant in the overall narrative and often connected to a central theme. Here,
the main character begins confronting the series of obstacles standing in
his/her way at this part. They also
reveal more about themselves (backstory & secrets) and what motivates
them. They suffer setbacks that test
their desire for their goal, often culminating in a “darkest hour” when all
seems lost right before Turning Point 2.
Act 2 is about the events caused by the train accident, the Air
Force has plans, but the residents of the town are not acknowledged about that.
Charles decides to go back to the scene to shoot but Alice refrains from
shooting. Then Joe goes to her house and tries to persuade her, but he is
chased away by her father, at the end, Alice accepts Joe’s request. When they
go back to the train to shoot, Joe finds out that the train is an Air Force
train. On the other hand, the Air force collects the cube and refuses to
explain which makes the accident more complicated. Then strange things start to
happen, Sheriff is attacked, unstable electricity, people vanishing, dogs run
out of the city, engines, generators and microwave are stolen. Entering of Air
Force into the town add mystery to the involvement of them in the accident.
After that, the story will comes
to the Mid-Point, which is the scene or event halfway through the second act,
and therefore halfway through the script, which gives a change in direction to
the story. The mid-point functions as a setback, reversal or turning point
which sends the character in a new direction, pushes the plot into a higher
gear or raises the character’s commitment to another level. It can also be a
“lynchpin” that helps to connect Turning Point 1 to Turning Point 2.
Joe knows that the Air Force is looking for Alice’s father’s
car and Dr. Woodward’s research. There is an old man which helps the deputy to listen
to military chatter through the radio. The Air Force is planning an operation named
“Walking Distance”. Louis told Jackson that Jack’s son is approaching Alice in
the police station. Jackson is so angry and sends his son back home when he is
with his friends.
An important element of this
escalation inherent to Act 2 is Plot Point 2, which shoot off the story into
the third and final act. Much like Plot Point 1, Plot Point 2 also affects the
main character by turning the narrative drive of the story into a new
direction. The difference is that the stakes are much higher. This is often a
moment of crisis, in which all hope seems lost. Sometimes it is the “light at
the end of the tunnel” which is something that gives them new information or
inspiration to move beyond the “darkest hour” and push toward the climax.
After Joe argued with his father, he goes to the graveyard
and memoirs his mother. He hears noises from a house in the cemetery and
something is digging the ground. When Joe is feeling emotional, Alice visits
him and has conversation. Alice sees the home video of Joe’s family and tells
Joe that her father is one of the causes of the death Joe’s mother and she hopes
that the victim is her father. The Air Force killed Dr. Woodward who can tell
the truth. After that, Alice too, has argument with her father and his father
crashes his car when he is chasing his daughter. Alice, unprotected, caught by
the alien. On the other hand, Jackson goes into the trap set by the Colonel and
locked in a room. After that, the Air Force starts a fire and urges the
residents of the town to evacuate. Joe is united with friends and found out
that Alice is in danger.
Act 3 (Resolution) comprises
the final quarter of the film. (Act III would be the final 30 minutes for a two
hour movie). At this stage, things pick up speed now as the protagonist moves
faster and closer to achieving their goal, putting the final pieces of the
plot’s “puzzle” together and racing toward the climax and dénouement. Climax is
when the character faces the biggest obstacle of all in a climactic showdown
and, in doing so, finally achieves the opportunity to realize his/her outer
goal. Denouement is the “wrap-up” after the climax. It quickly ties up the script’s loose ends,
i.e., “They lived happily ever after.” The third act also offers a resolution
to the subplots. The resolution can also give extra information for a more
elaborate character arc.
Joe and his friends go into the town and break into the
school by the help of Donnie and Charles’s sister. They discover the big secret
from the documentary left by Dr. Wood. Jackson escapes from the Air Force and with
Louis, they try to look for their children. In the car, their misunderstanding
is resolved. The alien finds the bus and kills all the Air Force people
including the Colonel, while the kids, lucky enough, able to escape and saved
by Donnie.
The climax will be the kids run into the town and separate,
left with Joe and Cary, who are able to make it to the cemetery. They find a big
hole which leads to underground where the alien lives; they also find the
vanished people, including Alice there. Cary distracts the alien with firecrackers
and Joe goes to save Alice, Sheriff and accidentally a lady. They meet Cary
when they try to escape but things turn out when the alien discovers them, at
the end, the kids are trapped at a dead end. Joe is brave enough to face the
alien and talk to it. Then, the alien is distracted by sound of machine which
the spaceship is ready to operate.
For the denouement, the fathers and their children reunite
on the road. After that, there is a force pulling metals, guns, cars and cubes
to the water tank. Joe lets go his mother’s necklace which makes the final
piece of the spaceship. When the spaceship is completed, the alien goes back
home and the characters are happy about that.
Reference:
http://www.elementsofcinema.com/screenwriting/3-act-structure.html
