Understanding Act 1

Defining Act 1

Have you ever been watching a movie and turned it off after ten minutes because it didn't grab your attention? That is probably because act 1 didn't set up the story fast enough, or well enough. Act 1 is the opening few minutes of the story. It is the part that tells the audience what to expect in the film and the characters involved. If the first act is not written right, then the film probably will not succeed.

Act 1 is typically divided up into 4 beats. A beat in film is referred to as the segments that divide up every film. These beats are what moves the film forward at the right rate. The 4 beats in act 1 is opening image, catalyst, debate, and break into two.

Opening Act

Opening image is the first thing the audience sees in the film. It is usually about five minutes and shows the audience the world in which the protagonist is a part of before the events of the story. Think about a superhero movie such as Spiderman. The opening image is the beginning up until Peter Parker gets bitten by the spider. In this part of the story, you meet the Peter in his life before the spider. A good opening act defines the world and the characters well. This makes an impact later on in the story, and keeps the audience engaged. The video to the beginning of Spiderman is in the video below for a better look.

The Catalyst Beat

The opening image might be easier to comprehend, but what is the catalyst beat. This is where we see the story start to take shape. We see the beginning of the change for the protagonist's life. In the Barbie movie this is when she starts "malfunctioning" in Barbie land. It shows the audience that there is conflict ahead and starts showing what is going to be the problem, in the film. In Barbie the catalyst shows us that the problem is going to be about Barbie trying to figure out who she is. This beat is important because is openly shows the problem of the film, and what the conflict is going to challenge the protagonist.

The Debate Beat

This beat shows the protagonist trying to figure out if they want to join the adventure or not. The catalyst scene stirs something up in the character, and now they are thinking long and hard about the choice they know they are going to have to make. In The Hunger Games this is where Katniss is thinking about taking her sister's place in the games. This beat is supposed to give more context to the audience about the stakes of their choice, and possibly foreshadow to later points in the film. It is not always a long moment, but it needs to be present. This beat is to get audiences understanding more of the world for the characters, and how this impacts them.

Break Into Two

This is the last beat in act one. This is where we see the result of the debate and where the story is going to go from here. This is where the character makes that decision from the debate scene. In High School Musical the break into two moment is when Gabriella says that she wants to audition. This is the result of the debate, is scene and begins to set up where the film is going from there. This is meant to smooth the transition into act two and show where the film is headed.

The Importance of Act 1

Act 1 is important to the story because it prepares the audience for the story. Without act one the audience will not understand the characters or what is going on in the story. This act shows how the story will unfold and should show areas that the character might grow and change, or what might happen later. Without act one there is no story, and it is necessary to show these parts in a script or producers won't even read the full script.