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third act

 
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missdaredevil



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 1670
Location: Ask me

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:16 pm    Post subject: third act Reply with quote

"Catch Me If You Can") overcome its saccharine *third act*, a plodding stretch that cries out for a three-dimensional character like "Cast Away's" Wilson the volleyball to save the day.
What does the *third act* mean?

Thanks
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Brian Boyd



Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 176
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can usually break a movie up into separate acts.

In Castaway you have...

Act 1 - We meet Tom Hanks and learn about his job, his family and his personality.

Act 2 - The plane crashes. He's alone on an island. He has a really tough time getting used to his new situation.

Act 3 - He becomes a master of survival. He knows how to make fire, catch fish, make useful tools etc

Act 4 - He gets off the island and eventually picked up by a ship.

Act 5 - He's back in civilization, but things aren't the same. He has just as much trouble trying to switch back to his new life as he did when he was first shipwrecked.

Act 6 - He accepts that life can never be quite the same as before, and he moves on.


Most (but not all)movies follow a similar framework - meet the main characters, learn about them, the characters have a problem of some kind, we see them try to deal with the problem ... and then you have the end of the movie which often (but not always) has the characters come out on top and solving the problem.

Brian
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