Structures
TV - 1-HOUR
The 1-hour TV show (45-minute runtime in broadcast) is typically used for episodic or serialized dramas.
Each act should end with a question/cliffhanger.
4-Act (+2) structure
- Teaser/Cold Open
- Act 1
- Act 2
- Act 3
- Act 4
- Tag
TV - HALF-HOUR
The half-hour TV show (22-minute runtime in broadcast) is typically used for comedies but there are a growing number of half-hour dramas and dramatic comedies.
Each act should end with a question/cliffhanger.
3-Act (+2) structure
- Teaser/Cold Open
- Act 1
- Act 2
- Act 3
- Tag
FEATURE FILM
3-act
ACT 1: SET-UP (Beginning)
ACT 2: CONFRONTATION (Middle -- Development)
ACT 3: RESOLUTION (End)
The Sequence Approach (Frank Daniel)
ACT I
SEQUENCE 1 – Status Quo & Inciting Incident
SEQUENCE 2 – Predicament & Lock In
ACT 2
SEQUENCE 3 – First Obstacle & Raising the Stakes
SEQUENCE 4 – First Culmination/Midpoint
SEQUENCE 5 – Subplot & Rising Action
SEQUENCE 6 – Main Culmination/End of Act Two
ACT 3
SEQUENCE 7 – New Tension & Twist
SEQUENCE 8 – Resolution
Freytag's Pyramid
Die Technik des Dramas
Gustav Freytag
In Freytag's pyramid, the plot of a story consists of five parts:
1. Exposition
2. Rising action
3. Climax
4. Falling action
5. Revelation/catastrophe
The Hero's Journey
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. The Ordeal
9. Reward
10. The Road Back
11. The Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir
Revised: October 15, 2024
© 2007-2025 Ken Briscoe