By Sean Ryan

Act 2: The Confrontation

Act 2 can make or break your story. Keep it tight. Keep it interesting and keep it moving.  Remember Act 2 takes up 2 quarters of your film, don’t waste it. A lot of scripts and films fail in the 2^nd act by being slow and boring. Act 2 is often regarded as the hardest part of the screenplay, “the meat and potatoes” of the story, treat it as such.  Often writers have a cool concept, a great set-up and amazing climax in mind. But the middle of the movie is less thought out and less love is given to it. Believe me it shows in a lot of films. Why draw a beautiful picture and rush the painting?

Expect to spend the most amount of time on this act, not just because of the physical size, but you will find it will require the most amount of polish in rewrites and drafts. The 2^nd act is where your script/film can get locked into “just going through the motions” and wasting time until the next plot point/act  and climax.

Often you will see the second act broken into two parts of even length. i.e. 30 pages and 30 pages, divided by the midpoint. This essentially is the four act structure. I keep the 2^nd act as a whole and just treat the midpoint as the midpoint of the entire movie/script. This as ever, is a matter of choice.

Act 2 must contain:

Obstacles: The 2^nd act is filled with these.  As mentioned your hero is now “in a tree” so you throw rocks at him (or obstacles). Nothing should be too easy. They should have to work for everything and then hit another obstacle. In Jaws you may remember the mayor and town putting pressure on the beaches to stay open. So they are one of Brody’s many obstacles (and antagonists). Your hero should find themselves in confrontation after confrontation, whether than is physical or verbal. They come up against people and situations that are there to make life hard for them, to make them fail. Watch the average soap opera episode on television and witness the number of verbal/physical confrontations per show. Granted you have the occasional scene where the characters have a pint and a chat, sit down for dinner etc. But the money makers, the scenes that hold interest are the scenes that contain confrontation between the characters. This is usually because these people are such different character traits, there is no way they will ever get along. But have them at each other throats and people will watch it. So your obstacles can be events or people (or both). If you hero is chasing a ticking clock, your act 2 obstacles are the things preventing him from achieving his/her goal. If you are writing a slow paced human drama, it is much the same thing. It could be a character in your main character’s life who makes their life a misery. Someone that prevents them from living a happier life, or getting that job, getting that girl. Something they want/need but cannot get (easily).

First Culmination: The point in the story, just before the halfway mark where the hero appears to be at a stage of achieving their goal and then everything falls apart. Think of them now having the proof they need and then it falls into enemy hands. They were just there and now they have nothing (which means they will have to carry on and their path may change). In Jaws, this point is when Brody almost loses his own son (Mikey) to the shark and his knows now he has to act or else. Brody will have to make the choice to put the needs of others before his own, before his own fear (of the water as well as the shark)…

Midpoint: Often confused as an extra plot point, the midpoint is the halfway mark of the movie and it’s here that your hero is the furthest from their goal. This is the hero’s lowest point. All appears lost. The odds are too great and they can’t turn back. If you look at the midpoint in Jaws, this is when Sheriff Brody faces his fears and sets out (with Quint & Hooper) to hunt the shark. The movie has been leading up to this and now for Brody, there is no turning back. He is out of his safe zone (dry land). Up to this point in the story, your lead/hero may have been sucked into events that they had little or no control over and have been in turmoil to a point in the story that they have decided “enough is enough” and they turn the tables or discover something that justifies their crusade/journey.  Another fine example of a midpoint is the film version of The Fugitive,  at the midpoint Kimble is still being chased and will continue to be for the 2^nd act, so the overall plot remains the same, but now he has started his own investigation. The tide has turned (not completely), but although our hero is still running, he is running in a different direction. He is running towards resolution. So now we still have a chase, but a chase with another layer/level. Think of the midpoint as adding variety to your story. So not a plot/turning point that changes the direction of the action/story, but adds to it. Adds variety, helps to keep that long running 2^nd act interesting. Remember great scripts have great midpoints. (note: This variety need not only be another level to the story/action but could also be another level/change to your character).

Plot Point #2: This should appear at the end of the second act and mark the start of act 3. The plot point is (as before) an event that moves the plot in a (another) new direction. Thus keeping your story interesting and the keeping the/your audience watching. Plot point #2 in Jaws sees the shark attacking and the boat sinking. The hunters have become the hunted. Our hero’s are really up against it now and they will be very lucky to survive. In The Fugitive, Kimble learns it was his friend and we get that great learn “Where are you going?” “To see a friend”, during this plot/tuning point Gerard also starts to look for the same person. So by the time we reach the third act the story has turned and now both men are looking for the same person. The hunt has changed and we are moving towards the climax.

So by the end of Act Two your hero is in that tree and you’ve been throwing rocks at him. They started out in a bad place, turned the tides and everything looked hopeful, lost it all and now are turning the tables coming near the end of the act and building towards the climax of your story…