You know when you’ve got a runny nose, and you constantly feel like you’ve got a booger hanging under your nostril for the world to see? Yeah, I have no idea where I’m going with this…
So, the three-act structure (nice segway). It is a guide for creating drama within narrative using three seemingly simply steps – or ‘acts’:
Act 1 –
Establishes the set-up.
Act 2 –
Escalates the complications in relationships as the central character struggles with obstacles that prevent them from solving the main problem.
Act 3 –
Intensify the situation to a point of climax, where they then resolve the problem – often in a way that is emotionally satisfying.
Now a bit of back story about me. I started making videos when I was in primary school (can’t remember the specific age). Now I must admit, this videos were appalling. They were me and my friend ranting about the stupidest topics. I’m pretty sure we once talked about ‘poo particles’. Anyway, that aside, I started making videos for my YouTube channel for fun, which I started around year 12 (no wonder I got such a bad ATAR). It was just a good way to have some great time with my friends, and also just to help me gain some experience. These videos weren’t particularly good in anyway, but it was a major improvement over my primary school videos. Here’s one of the more better ones that I made:
Ahh, good times. Anyway, so ‘what does this all have to do with the three-act stucture’, I hear you ask – person behind their screen with a blank look on their face. Did you grin a little? Did you exhale more air out of your nose than you normally do? I bet you did, you weirdo.
Random tangent aside, what does this have to do with the three-act structure. Well, from my experience, the three-act structure seems to be an instinctive nature that a lot of us do when making stories. I had never heard of the three-act structure before in my life, up until this recent reading. But it seems that it’s something we just simply do, without ever thinking about it. Don’t believe me? Well, let’s use my video for example.
‘Act 1 – establish the set-up’. From the get-go, I establish early on two things; one, the names of the two characters, and two, the situation they are in. Pong is on a mission for revenge after Ping killed his family.
‘Act 2 – Escalates the complications in relationships as the central character struggles with obstacles that prevent them from solving the main problem’. Ping continues to mock Pong. This causes Pong to attack Ping in a fit of rage, but he seems to be at a disadvantage as he is quickly disarmed and put down on the ground. The battle continues on, as Pong is constantly refused his right for revenge.
‘Act 3 – Intensify the situation to a point of climax, where they then resolve the problem – often in a way that is emotionally satisfying’. Pong finally takes down Ping and avenges the family he once lost.
Without even thinking about it, I had used the three-act structure. It’s interesting to think about what causes this, and I love to do some more research into this. But that aside, now that I know of the three-act structure, I think that it would be best if I used this as guidance to refine my videos that I will make in the future.