By Armaan Uplekar

If Act One introduces us to your story and characters, and Act 2 is where you set and raise the tension and dramatic stakes, then Act 3 is where the narrative must seamlessly come together to end your story with closure for your characters and your audience.  Every subplot, every character, every painstakingly crafted relationship and theme that you’ve pieced together; it all culminates in your third act: the grand finale. In most occasions, the third act is the shortest part of your script, but it is also the most consequential. You’ve heard the stories: Movies which have had their ending rewritten, re-shot and debated by executives and fan boys alike. Different endings tested by studios on various audiences to identify the one with the most emotional resonance and the most satisfying narrative conclusion.

The reason why endings are so important is that its what you leave your audience with; its their final impression of your script, the summation of their experience with your storytelling. It influences how people will feel as they walk out of the brightening movie theater; how they’ll talk to their friends, family and peers when they describe your work. As you can tell, sticking the landing properly is paramount, but it can also be extremely tricky. To do so, you’ll need to create a third act that feels exciting, memorable and high-stakes all at once. Here are three important tips to ensure your final act ends your film with a lasting impression. 

By Armaan Uplekar

If act one introduces audiences to your story, act two is the chance to tighten your grip on them: Raise the stakes, show your protagonist what defeat looks like and throw in a monkey wrench or two. For many writers, the second act is the tipping point – it’s the longest stretch of your story, and in many cases, the most complicated. It can be easy to lose yourself, and your readers, in the wilderness of middle-act intrigue as the plot literally thickens.

Luckily enough, there are a few simple guidelines that can help you navigate the thornier aspects of Act Two. By ensuring that your script touches upon the items outlined in this checklist, you can find ways to keep your story moving, your characters fighting, and your audience enthralled.

Does My Second Act Raise the Stakes?

With a handful of variations, the three-act story structure is a tried and tested formula relied upon and employed by story-tellers since the times of Aristotle to tell a clear and focused story. It is the most widely used and recognized narrative device to arrange plot points and emotional beats in a way that best tells a story with the greatest emotional impact on its audience. At its core it’s as easy as Beginning – Middle – and End, others refer to it as Set-Up – Confrontation – Resolution.  However, as simple it sounds, there is more to crafting a well-executed three-act screenplay that will get you noticed in Hollywood.

Act one is all about perception. It’s your golden opportunity to lure the reader in and plant them in the world of your screenplay; to enmesh them in the characters, settings and story you’ve painstakingly woven. It’s also your opportunity to lose your audience if you don’t know what you’re doing: a rickety first act is all it takes for a producer to put your script in a discard pile and pass on it completely. As a result, the stakes are high and the message is clear: First impressions are essential.

Crafting a riveting first act takes skill and a firm grasp on the contours of your story. You need to be able to understand how to hook a readers’ attention and keep it, while continuing to introduce plot points, conflict and characters. These three questions are vital to ask yourself to ensure your first act is firing on all cylinders and hitting the required narrative beats experienced industry readers and are trained to look for in the first 30 pages.

Nick Watson, winner of the 2014-2015 Fresh Voices half-hour TV pilot competition, has signed with the leading literary agency,  Abrams Artists Agency, and now writes for comedy and animation shows such as 'Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own' for Hasbro Studios, and most recently the Conan O'Brien-produced animated series 'Final Space' for TBS.

Nick’s success is no surprise to us here at Fresh Voices having first identified his potential in 2014. His hilarious ½ Hr pilot, Mr. Doom, about a supper villain struggling to balance his obligations to his family and the Super Villain’s Union, stole the show in 2014 screenplay competition, sweeping all 4 rounds of the judging in the ½ Hour Pilot category.

By Armaan Uplekar

Dialogue, in many ways, provides the thrust to a good screenplay. It gives characters a voice and it gives a good story its rhythm; in many ways, it’s the way audiences receive vital information such as backstory and plot details. Good dialogue can clarify and develop relationships between characters.  The right line of dialogue can stick in an audience’s mind – memorable, iconic even. It can even transcend the screenplay itself, becoming ubiquitous: There’s a reason “You talkin’ to me?”, “I’ll be back” and “I’m walking here!” have permanent places in the pantheon of pop culture.

By Armaan Uplekar

For many writers, there’s few things as crippling as a case of writer’s block. It can stunt your productivity, dampen your voice, and shake your confidence in your abilities. Every writer, at some point or another, is forced to grapple with a time where their own words may not come forth so easily. You’re ready to write, the computer is up and running, but your brain is not. Self-doubt begins to creep in and you decide, before you do anything, that you need another coffee.

Moments like this can feel like running headlong into a brick wall. There’s nothing more frustrating than staring at a blank screen, willing yourself to write, but feeling unable to do so. Thankfully, there are a few tried and true methods that can help you shake your writer’s block and get you back on track with your project.

Outlining. Many writers cringe or scratch their heads in confusion when presented with the task. But consider an architect who attempts to construct a building without a blueprint. He wouldn’t know where to start, he probably wouldn’t have a clear vision of the expected outcome, and the building would probably not be very well made. The blueprint ensures each step of construction is accounted for and the end is clear from the beginning. Similarly, in screenwriting, the outline will ensure a purposeful structure and a clear end goal for your story.

Despite its importance however, the idea of outlining varies greatly and is open to interpretation. Each writer has their own unique process that they undergo before they launch themselves into their next project. However you decide to go about it, the process of outlining before you begin is essential to writing a successful screenplay.

The pros to outlining are plentiful. What makes outlining important, is that it has the potential to give you a clear sense of direction and purpose before you write Act 1, Scene 1. You can clearly visualize act by act and even scene by scene. It also allows you to write in a cohesive manner that prevents many of the logic problems that plague those scripts that have not been as thoroughly thought through before the actual writing process begins. It allows you to know the end goal from the very beginning. Outlining will not only lead to you writing a stronger first draft, but also greatly improve your abilities as a writer, making you more efficient and precise. Outlining will bring a clear sense of structure to your screenplay, and will help bring structure to you as a writer. Outlining is an often-undervalued part of the writing process that can nevertheless reap great rewards for diligent writers. Here are a few tips primed to help you with your outlines before you FADE IN:

Ensure that you are not falling prey to the traps so many writers make in writing their final act.

The third act of a script can be a challenge for any writer to tackle. No matter what genre you work in, the third act is the culmination of a script’s preceding pages: it’s the writer’s responsibility to bring the story home and leave their audience with a satisfying conclusion.

These final pages are an opportunity to leave your reader with a sense of finality and can often make or break a script. To stick the landing, a writer must have a keen sense of their work’s overarching character and story, while giving readers a clear resolution. That being said, there are three common, identifiable mistakes that readers often make in the third act that, if corrected, can easily make a script stronger and more dynamic.

If you’re like me, a vigorous workout at the gym leaves you exhausted, physically spent, with nothing left to give. The last thing I want to do is to try and be creative. That said, we know it is scientifically proven that exercise is the key to keeping the body and brain, healthy and in top form.  

We asked six screenwriters what exercises they do to keep motivated and keep the creative juices flowing throughout the day. Here is what they had to say!

HOLLYWOOD, CA. April 9, 2018   Australian native, Jerome Velinsky, took the Grand Prize Award of the 8^th Annual Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition this week for his dramatic thriller, THOSE WHO HEAR. The screenplay also won the Spotlight Award for Best Role Written for a Female Lead.

Jerome is an award-winning writer/ director/ actor from Melbourne, Australia. As a professionally trained actor, he has appeared in productions in the US, Australia and Canada including the long-running hit series Neighbors and Fox’s Backstrom. He has also appeared in feature films alongside Guy Pearce, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill in the controversial true story In Her Skin and portrayed the notorious 'Marco Capobianco' in Season 4 of Australia's leading drama series Love Child. Most recently, Jerome co-created, produced, directed and starred in the comedy series Method, for which he has just been nominated for a 2018 Australian Directors Guild Award for best online series.