Class work - 3 Act Structure

Before I can write a script I need a story to base it on; I first looked at writing a dramatic story that could be easily written into a screenplay. To do this, I was taught about the 3 Act Structure, this is a model used in screenwriting that divides a narrative into 3 parts: setup, confrontation, resolution.

 

I wrote the Act 1 for my own 'what if' story - Mum's the word, which isn't my best story because only being allowed to write the set-up for a story and have to leave it at a climax that someone else can continue is quite hard. Also, i had to stick to the 'what of' scenario and rough word counts which limited my writing.

 

Then I wrote Act 2 for CH's 'what if' story which was not easy but I had quite a lot of fun continuing someone's work, the problem I found was that I didn't want to give away too much in the confrontation preferring to leave it to be resolved in the resolution BUT this caused problem for the person following on.

 

Finally, I wrote Act 3 for JR's story; this was interesting and easy and hard at the same time (if that makes sense?). Not much had happened in the story so not much needed to be resolved but at the same time because little had happened it left a lot open and took great thought for me to come up with an ending that could fit the previous events without having to add lots more.

 

Then, I received my now completed story; I was quite pleased with it overall only believing that the ending could have been different. More description and detail could have been used throughout, including in my own work, and I have decided to re-write Act 3 as I am confused as to what is actually happening but other than that I believe it is an okay story.

 

I will now look at the protagonist of my story, think about her dominant impression and attitude and her character arc. I feel as though my story does not offer all of the details but I will have to think of them especially if this was written into a screenplay and them made into a movie - this is because the costume director, casting director and the director would all need to know who this person is so that she could portrayed in the best way possible.