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The Act’s Midpoint
The second act is split in two parts mostly because of the importance of the story’s
midpoint.
It’s called that because it’ll happen pretty much...
General Tips for Screenwriting
The idea of making the script as easy to read as possible is at the heart of nearly every script writing rule. Because if...
The Television Structure
In television, we talk about acts and act breaks in a slightly different way.
The script's "acts" are defined by the number and location of...
LATEST ARTICLES
I write for television as a job. I am currently wrapping up work on the third of three television shows for which I have been commissioned to write. This does not imply that I am a better or even...
Like a movie, a single shot is taken on sets, locations, etc. in a single camera show. Like a play, a multi-camera (previously three camera) film is shot on a stage. Instead of capturing each angle one at a...
The majority of people are familiar with that word because they learned it in English class in high school. It is accurate. However, the protagonist of your story is not the actual person who is affected by the events....
Go watch the pilot for Cheers. Right now and then return. The pilot of Cheers is frequently referred to as one of the greatest pilots ever. for a valid reason.
In addition, I will keep referring to it in subsequent...
There will typically be one or two lead characters, even in ensemble productions. It's Michael Bluth in Arrested Development.
It is Michael Scott in The Office. It's a little bit murkier with Friends, but if you watch the pilot, Ross...
The second act is split in two parts mostly because of the importance of the story’s
midpoint.
It’s called that because it’ll happen pretty much exactly halfway through your
script.
It’s another complication, like the end of the first act. But it...
As previously stated, the first acting step is for you to set the stage.
Your characters, your world, and your central conflict are all necessary for your audience to comprehend what they are watching.
Even without the opening crawl, think of...
Structure with three acts: the thing you probably remember from English class in middle school.
This is the format that almost all narrative fiction follows.
Traditionally referred to as "setup," "confrontation," and "resolution," each act covers roughly a third of your...
Okay, your second act is split in two, so "three acts" is kind of a misnomer. At the end of this section, I'll explain why.
However, given that our Haunted Bakery pilot just set up a confrontation between the protagonist...
The escalating beats of your hero trying to accomplish something and whatever is in their way interfering with them in the second half of act two are very similar to those of the first half.
However, the midpoint complication has...
