ALEXANDER JOBLING
BTEC MEDIA
The three act structure
Act 1
In Act 1 we meet the protagonist of the production; we then see him or her go out and meet all of the other characters, then we find out what the problem is in the story and we meet the antagonist.
Act one, is the same (relatively) for all films, although they have their obvious differences – there plot, characters…etc.
The audience is asking, “Do they like the person?” “Do I care about the relationships?” “ What is the problem for this hero?” “Do we care that this is the problem? Or do we just want to leave?”
Act 2
There are two sections to Act 2:
The problem that arises in Act 1, then has to get much more dangerous and problematic for the hero/heroin.
The protagonist (hero) must then move to try and resolve the problem – whilst the villain is moving to defeat the protagonist. The villain should always be active, never inactive.
At the end of Act Two is the destruction of the hero's plan. The hero/heroine should be emotionally or physically destroyed. Theoretically the protagonist is on there back and is looking up at the sky.
Act 3
Act 3 is simply the resolution of the problem for the protagonist, normally this is the protagonist resolving the show with a positive ending- him getting the girl for example, or the protagonist dying or being defeated.
This could also result in a ‘lesson’ being learnt, for the audiance, or for the protaginist.