Editing Screenwriting (section)

=== Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell’s Four Act Structure ===
Husband and wife film theorists [[David Bordwell]] (1947-2024) and [[Kristin Thompson|Kristen Thompson]] (1950) would argue that most movies released today consist of these four acts:

* ·        The Set-up (which establishes a primary story situation that will lead to a formation of goals or one or more story goals)
* ·        Complicating Action (a “counter Set-up” that takes the action in a new direction); the
* ·        Development (story premises and goals have been firmly introduced and the protagonist struggles toward their goals, often with incidents and set-backs that create delays, action, suspense);
* ·        Climax (the final progression toward a resolution). {{sfn|Thompson|1999|p=28-29}}

Both writers have provided examples of this theory in action. Thompson wrote a book in 1999 called ''Storytelling in the New Hollywood'', where she provided 10 in-depth examples films that are told in 4 acts. She even provides an index listing movies from the 1910s to the 1990s and their use of four acts, with only a handful of movies that still use 3 (1996’s ''The Frighteners'' only has a Set-up, Development, and Climax {{sfn|Thompson|1999|p=362}}).

On his webpage davidbordwell.net, Bordwell wrote an article called Anatomy of an Action Picture, where he discusses the four actions of 2007’s ''Mission Impossible III'' [https://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/anatomy.php] :
{| class="wikitable"
|'''ACT'''
|'''LENGTH'''
|'''''MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE  III''  example'''
|-
|SET-UP
|31 minutes 2  seconds
|Ethan Hunt’s  personal life is established and he and his team are given a story goal to  save agent Lindsey Farris, whom Ethan may have approved for duty prematurely.  The heroes fail at their goal and Lindsey dies.
|-
|COMPLICATING ACTION
|30 minutes 31  seconds
|To capture the  terrorist Owen Davian, who was responsible for Lindsey’s death. Ethan and his  team are planning to capture him during a deal with arms buyers at the  Vatican City. They are successful in capturing him.
|-
|DEVELOPMENT
|31 minutes 51  seconds
|Owen is rescued  from Ethan’s custody. He kidnaps Ethan’s nurse wife Julia and gives Ethan a  deadline to retrieve the film’s plot McGuffin, an “end-of-the-world” device  called The Rabbit’s Foot, or Davian will kill his wife. Ethan succeeds.
|-
|CLIMAX
|22 minutes 23  seconds
|Ethan is  captured, escape, and rushes to save his wife and puts an end to the antagonist’s  goals.
|}