Welcome to the fifth installment of my latest series entitled “The Craft Of”, a crash course on traditional 3 Act Structure which the vast majority of Hollywood films released over the last several decades have utilized.

Today's episode will take a detour from the five major plot points and discuss what I will refer to as “The Episodic Approach”, an alternative method to maintaining both the pacing and rising action of your 2nd Act, thus preventing your story from falling into "The Second Act Trap".

NOTE: This series is not meant to rag on any particular screenwriting guide you fancy. If it works for you, stick with it. If you DO need a recommendation, go with Syd Field's "Screenplay", which I'd say is the gold standard.


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[00:00​] - Intro
[00:57] - The Episodic Approach
[12:37​] - Outro


SPOILERS FOR:

Apocalypse Now [also Redux version] (1979)
Chinatown (1974)
Doubt (2008)
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Finding Nemo (2004)
Into The Wild (2007)
Mean Girls (2004)
Oldboy (2003)
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Matrix (1999)
The Social Network (2010)


MUSIC:

"Danse Macabre" by Kevin McLeod:    • "Danse Macabre" Kevin Macleod  

"The End" by The Doors:    • The End  

"Hard Sun" by Eddie Vedder:    • Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun (Extended) - ...