Formal Elements of Film Pacing

Three-Act Structure

Basic three-act screenplay structure boils down to beginning, middle and end. The first act is roughly 30 pages long. In the first 10 pages, the characters are introduced, and so is the story-defining problem they'll face. By page 30, the characters take up responsibility for solving the problem. When the characters make that decision, the screenplay moves to Act 2. The second act is roughly 60 pages long. Over its course, the characters try various ways to solve the problem, though they lose more than they win. The stakes and jeopardy they're in are raised along the way. By the end of the second act, they've risen nearly to boiling point. The act ends when the characters realize they're about to face the story's defining moment. The third act is roughly 30 pages long. During it, the characters face the climax of the plot, during which they either solve the problem or fail to do so. The rest of the storylines are wrapped up, and the act ends with a brief epilogue for the characters.

Five-act screenplay structure is paced similarly to three-act structure, but it's more specific in terms of what happens in each act and less specific as to act length. The first act is the introduction of the characters, what's at stake for them and the central problem they'll face. As in three-act structure, the act ends when the characters decide it's their responsibility to solve the central problem. The second act is when the characters take a simplistic view of the problem, and try to solve it the easy way; it ends when they fail. During the third act, the antagonists seem to be winning and the protagonists face their toughest trials. The act ends when the protagonists realize their view of the problem has been simplistic, and they reach a new understanding of what the real problem is. During the fourth act, the characters create a plan to solve the problem. The act ends when they're ready to put their plan into play. During the fifth act, the characters go through with their plan and win or lose. The film's subplots are wrapped up and the story ends with a brief epilogue.

The A-plot of the story is the action-heavy storyline, with the heaviest public stakes for the characters. It often serves as the outsized metaphor for the conflict of the B-plot, which is the emotion-heavy storyline. The B-plot has the heaviest personal stakes for the characters. The A-plot is the outsized, explicit take on the film's theme, and the B-plot is the more intimate exploration of the same theme. Usually, the A-plot is introduced first, then the scenes switch back and forth between the A- and B-plots over the course of the film, and the B-plot is resolved last.

The stakes establish why it matters if the protagonists solve the plotlines' central problems or fail to do so. Jeopardy is the danger the characters are placed in because of their devotion to solving the plotline's central problems. The stakes and jeopardy are established within the first act of the story, but they continue to increase over the course of the script. As the stakes and jeopardy get higher and higher, the momentum builds. The scenes become shorter and the plot seems to move faster. Eventually, it feels as though the stakes and jeopardy can't possibly build any higher and the pace feels frantic. At that point, the characters enter into their final showdown to solve the central problems --- the film reaches its climax. The after-climax resolution slows the pace of the film again and lengthens the scenes, to give the audience a cool-down before it ends.