The Three Act Structure

In Hollywood films the narrative tends to be organized in what is called the "three act structure". The writer Sid Field has identified what he calls the ideal paradigm three act structure.In this structure,a film must be set up within the first twenty to thirty minutes before the main character or protagonist experiences a 'plot point' that gives him or her a goal that must be achieved. Approximately half the movie's running time must be taken up with the character's struggle to achieve his or her goal:this is the confrontational period. Field also refers,sometimes,to the midpoint,a more subtle point that happens in Act 2-the confrontation which often has an apparently devastating reversal of the main character's fortune. The final quarter of the film(the third act) depicts a climactic struggle by the protagonist to finally achieve (or not achieve) his or her goal and the aftermath of this struggle.