MY FILM TUTORIALS

 

 

Story Structure Analysis

 

Speed-The Twelve Act


This is a Masterclass analyse to find all possible Story Structures.

When watching a feature film at high speed, you will find the following structures. In my thesis, I conclude all structures are present, at the same time: Not just one. Each structure containing its layer of sublayer story telling. You will see so, yourself, when scanning through this film at high-speed. You will find out, that each ACT version, tells the story in its own way. The 2 Act, structure is the simplest. In ACT 1, Keanu Reeves discovers he has a serious bomber to deal with. In ACT 2, he has to decide to defeat him. While in the 12 ACT structure, the story is told in 12, more detailed plot arcs. Meaning, that since all are present, none are excluded. The question if the filmmakers, designed this on purpose or, it just cut this way by luck, is a thing still to be answered.

Yet, if you see my other ACT STRUCTURE analysis, surprisingly all of them, fall under the same lucky streak. They ALL, cut into multiple ACT versions, and do not interfere with each other. Now, that's what I call amazingly high-level filmmaking.


I found in this film:

  • THE 2 ACTS.
  • THE 3 ACTS. (Book structure)
  • THE 4 ACTS. (Post-modern film structure - SYD FIELD)
  • THE 5 ACTS (DISNEY structure for simple stories)
  • THE 6 ACTS (Michael Hague - made for the commercial breaks)
  • THE 8 CHAPTERS Plot Points (made to fit the 35 mm can reel limits)
  • The 12 ACTS.

Titanic-All Act Structure


This study shows in high speed how story structure in movies is broken down. It shows all the Acts at once. It answers a big (filmmakers) question of which act structure to use when writing or editing for movies:  the 3 ACT or the 4 ACT story structure?


We see (after a study of a dozen of Hollywood film titles) that both 3 act and 4 act structures are present at the same time, and none is chosen over the other. In fact, there are 3 additional structures added to these movies, a 6 act Michal Hague's structure, the 8 plot point study and my own 12 act story structure (which contains a 3 act structure x 4 sub act = total 12 acts) -


Ignore the time code.


Watch and see, how the brilliant minds behind Hollywood made the Titanic story work.

 

Ice Age

 

Back To The Future

 

 

Rotoscoping Tutorials

 

How to trace live action footage

 

How to do Shadows and Shades for depth

 

Making a Montage-short sequence made of quick shots that are edited together to show something big — like time passing, a character growing, or a situation changing — without showing every single moment

 

Rotoscope in Action (no voice)

 

 

Inciting Incident

 

How to Hook Your Audience in the First 5 Minutes of Your Film



The first 5 minutes start with these story beat points:


  • Opening Image
  • Intro Main Character
  • Save the Cat
  • MC's first problem (internal)
  • The Inciting incident
  • A second problem (external)
  • The Theme Stated


You have to try to create sympathy for your Main Character (MC),  by making him a good person first off, with real human struggles, and on top of that, having him/her take on even more problems. Only then, you can create the theme for the movie. The theme is a premise, a premise, of what the end of the film will be like. What will change? What will have been re-gained (if it was lost).


In this movie, Francis Hayes, is a married writer, who's helps many other writers with their upcoming books. Of course, she is a normal human and thus struggling with her newest book. Moreover, she hears that her husband is cheating on her. Her lawyer tells her there is a silver lining, and that She will eventually get over it. She will find happiness, once again.

This is what the movie is about. And we see the same beats in all first-5min-openings of Hollywood films.


Now go ahead and write a better version of your story ;)