5
Dramatic Elements and Act Structure
Dramatic Elements in a Story
A useful artistic resource for film writers is the inclusion of dramatic elements established by Greek playwrights to heighten the effectiveness of a script: inciting action, complication, crisis, climax, reversal, and denouement.
• Inciting Action: event at the beginning of the story that forces your lead characters to move into action. It's the point of attack.
• Complication: occurs when your character tries to deal with a conflict and faces unforeseen obstacles.
• Crisis: a dramatic conflict that builds story momentum as your character faces enormous odds against achieving his or her goal.
• Climax: peaks the story as your character confronts the most fateful consequences ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access