eli5: What are “acts” in a movie/film and how are people able to figure out where they start/end? Are there always three acts? More? Less? Please explain.
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An act is a general phase of story. You can say that each act is in a way a standalone part of a the larger work because each have some introductory condition and then a resolution based on that.
The three act structure is one of the more common types, but not all stories requires three acts. In a three act structure, the first act is usually an introduction to the characters and the environment. You learn about the characters, and by the end of the act, you should learn what it is that they are trying to do. The 2nd Act is when we go past the exposition and start to work on resolving the conflicted identified in Act 1. This act might see the character suffer some failures or other inadequacies. By the end of this act, the characters should have made some type of progress towards their goal, or perhaps reversed some poor fortune. The 3rd Act is the resolution. The characters take all that they did and learned in the Act 2 and make a final attempt at the conflict resolution. This is the climax of the story and then the winding down of the
You can identify the acts by some type of plot point taking places. This could be a turning point in the story, or any other highlight as such.
Let’s examine the act structures of *Star Wars*. In Act 1, we learn about the conflict between the rebels and the Empire. We learn who the characters are, and what they want. Luke and Ben meet, and they find Lea’s message. The end of Act 1 is when Luke discovers his dead aunt and uncle, and he decides leave his home with Ben in order to find Lea.
Act 2 is all about finding Lea. Luke, Ben, and Han travel towards Alderan, but end up in the Death Star instead. They manage to rescue Leah there, and fight their way out. Ben starts to train Luke in the force, but Ben dies. The Act concludes when they escape the Death Star and defeat the intercepting Tie-Fighters.
Act 3 is the resolution, where the characters take everything learned previously and make a final push for victory. The Rebels launch an attack on the Death Star with help of the plans that Lea acquired. The Empire also makes good on their efforts to find the rebel bases (from Act 2) attempt to blow up the hideout. Using what he learned from Ben, Luke manages to blow up the Death Star. Han decides to help his new friends and joins the battle at the last minute. The movie ends with the heroes being rewarded for their actions.
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