Blog #8: Three Act Structure

The three act structure is one of the most commonly used in Hollywood and is more commonly used with movies that are of adventure, and happy endings. For example:

In the movie The Notebook which is set the in 1940s  Seabrook, North Carolina ,Allie and Noah, begin a summer romance  that they assume will last forever. However, the first plot point is the family differences (income wise) between the two characters, Allie has money and Noah does not. Despite that they still love each other. Within this act we have a complication which is Allie's parents tell her she must no longer see Noah because he's not good enough for her or the lifestyle she leads. This ultimately causes them to break-up and move on with their lives in different cites.

In the second act, its seven years later and Noah and Allie's life have taken different routes. She is attending college and meets a handsome and fabulously rich man whom has proposed to her, however, we know she is still very much in love with Noah. On the hand, Noah bought his dream house and rebuilt it the way he had promised Allie when they were young and in love, but he then decided to sell it which brings me to the complication in this act: Allie sees his picture in the paper with the house and all her feelings rush back and she decides to visit him.

The third act, starts off with Noah and Allie seeing each other again for the first time in seven years. After spending a couple of days together the burning question inside of Allie begins to show and the famous rain scene/climax is seen here when Allie shouts to Noah why he hadn't written her in seven years which we then find out he had been, but her mother hid them from her and there love is once again rekindled. However, (complication) Allie must choose between the love of her life or the man her parents want her to be with. She departs from Noah leaving the audience wandering if she will choose him which of course she does (resolution).