The first workshop in the Introduction to Screenwriting series is now available as a downloadable pack under Resources

Example act breakdowns

Ben Slythe

Examples of well known stories broken down into the screenplay three-act structure.

Star Wars in acts

How the screenplay of Star Wars divides the story into the three-act structure.



Hamlet in acts

Showing Shakepeare's Hamlet broken into acts to see the underlying structure.



Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in acts

The first of the Harry Potter films broken into acts to show the structure.



Terminator in acts

The classic science-fiction thriller The Terminator broken into acts to show the structure.




"A lot of people who are in the movie business don't really know much about movies, and they certainly don't know movie history. You have to even find a code when you're talking to these people - you can't use the references that you would use when talking to somebody who knows movie history. When you go in to pitch something, it depends what you invoke. You can't invoke anything really before 1980 with these people because they don't know what you're talking about. It's limiting. They get annoyed. They get offended that you are somehow trying to expose the fact that they don't know things, and make them feel inadequate. Which is of course not the point, or why you do it. "

Joe Dante