Act structure

Sklan, E.H., Podoly, E., Soreq, H. (2006). RACKl has the nerve to act structure meets function in the nervous system. Prog. Neurobiol. 78 117-34. 

First of all, it will be shown that the recent direct NMR observation of the growing species has allowed a discrimination between these two concepts indeed, propagation involves linear macromol ul. Then, we shall proceed with the discussion of the more act structure of the growing species in these linear macromolecules. 

The usual long-form, or feature-length film, has a definite set of qualities beyond its physical length. There are particular expectations of character, complexity of plot, presence of a subplot or secondary story line, and a particular structure (generally called a three-act structure). There are numerous... 

Docudramas are organized dramatically in a manner closer to the documentary than to the melodrama. The melodrama is organized on a three-act structure. It deploys character in a particular way. It may or may not have plot. It may or may not have resolution. 

Before we move into some specifics of act structure, here are a few other useful terms. 

There are many books that describe three-act structure, but the best way to learn it is to take films apart and analyze them. Which story (or spine, or train) is driving the act structure Where do the act breaks come, and how are they connected to the train How do sequences fit into the acts, and how does each play a role in driving the overall story forward You may not be able to really "see" the act structure until you re all the way through the film, but what you ll tend to find is that it roughly divides as follows. 

Three-act structure does not mean taking a film and dividing it into three parts and calling each part an act. An act can only be considered as such if it advances the one overall story (or essay) that you set out to tell. For example, a film that looks at early settlements in the United States can t be structured, "Act One, Plymouth, Massachusetts Act Two, Jamestown, Virginia Act Three, New York, New York." There is no common story there there may be common themes and this may work as an organizational construct for a film, but these aren t acts. On the other hand, you could tell three individual dramatic stories within that structure, one within each location that you then combine into a film. 

Whether your film is described as having five acts or one, it can still follow dramatic (three-act) structure. There are many practical reasons to divide a story, including breaks for commercials (television) or audience intermission (theater). But "one-act" plays and "five-act" television specials can often still be divided into three acts. For example, even though David Auburn wrote Proof as a fictional, two-act stage play, the action can easily be broken into three-act dramatic structure. Auburn s "first act" contains all of his Act One and the first half of Act Two his "second act" contains the balance of Act Two and all of Act Three. AVhere you break a story for reasons like commercials or intermissions is part of the structural discussion, but does not necessarily interfere with your use of dramatic storytelling. 

Froemke says that act structure is part of how this work is organized. "We often call it Act One, Act Two, Act Three. We ll say, when we re screening, This is Act One information —it s setting up the situation. We don t yet know where it s going to appear in Act One, but we put it in that section. And then Act Two and Act Three. Act Two is always the hardest in verite, it s the hardest part of the film not to sag. You ve got to get a few of your feisty scenes into Act Two." Another issue she notes is that special attention must be paid to those... 

What s interesting is how many successful documentaries, even those that seem vastly different in style and approach (including essay films), can be analyzed in terms of acts. But act structure or not, the important thing to keep in mind is that if your film is working—even if the charts and stopwatches say it shouldn t be—leave it alone. Storytelling is an art, not a science. Go with your gut. If the film s great, who cares what "mles" you broke ... 

When you re done, take the time to make your notes legible, and then really look at what you ve discovered and go back to the basics. What is the film s train How many scenes are there, and how are they structured How many people are part of the core cast What is the arc of the story If there is an act structure, what is it, and how do the individual act breaks and midpoint relate to that basic train that you identified ... 

Most filmmakers go well beyond the pitch when planning their films. The next step is an outline which, like the pitch, will continue to be revised and honed over the course of production and editing. The outline is where you begin to flesh out your train, by anticipating and sketching out the sequences and the order in which they ll appear. If you re using an act structure, that also will be made apparent. 

Did you intentionally use dramatic three-act structure for the film The first act ends, as mentioned, with the kidnapping. The second act drives to election day. The third act continues through to the outcome—she doesn t win, but she does get enough votes to save the party she s founded. And then we see the videos released by the kidnappers, to prove that Betancourt is still alive. 

KARIN Vicky s really good with storytelling. She wrote her book, she was a journalist. And for me, I knew about the three-act structure, and I knew that it had to have an arc, our story. And that s what I was... 

You ve described Imaginary Witness as coming together very organically, and at the same time, it s built on a three-act structure. To me it sort of illustrates a basic point about structure, which is that it s a tool for understanding and shaping the film that exists, as opposed to a formula imposed from without. 

What we re involved in, always, is trying to tell a story. Before I became a producer in documentaries [in 1988, on Eyes on the Prize], I had edited a lot of docs, but I wasn t always thinking about how to tell a story and have it escalate dramatically and emotionally. That s something I learned from the irascible Henry Hampton [executive producer of Eyes, a series that used a three-act structure to tell historical stories). And then right after, Spike called me about cutting Mo Better Blues, and I ve worked with him since on a series of narrative fiction features. What I ve learned from both is to always make the story dramatic. Get the characters up a tree, how re we going to get em down I apply three-act structure to everything. I don t always adhere to it as closely as we did on Eyes, but it s always in the back of my mind. 

The administration and enforcement of the ADEA is currently housed with the EEOC on the federal level. This has not always been the case. The ADEA was originally administered and enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Fair Labor Standards Act structure and mechanisms were utilized. With the Reorganization Plan No. 1 in 1978, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was provided authority over the ADEA and established its own guidelines. However, the ADEA must still be enforced through the procedures established under the Fair Labor Standards Act rather than those of Title VII, with other similar federal antidiscrimination laws. ... 

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