Book Description: A film’s ending is crucial. It is the last thing an audience sees and often the last thing it remembers upon leaving the theater. Indeed, it’s no stretch to suggest that, more than any other part of the film, the ending determines whether the audience likes a film or not.
By extension, the ending of a script is probably the last thing the reader will remember when they put it down. An otherwise great script will likely be passed on if it does not end well. As director Stephen Frears once said: "Often I read something and it’s wonderful and then it stops halfway through and I say to myself: ‘I wonder if this will ever be finished.’ Somebody writes a good first act or a good first two acts and you think: ‘I wonder whether he can get the third act right.’"
The Third Act is the first screenwriting instructional book to focus entirely on that most important part of a script - the ending.
The book features detailed examinations of the endings of many memorable films, including Rocky, Rain Man, Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, Casablanca, Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Lost in Translation, and Gladiator. Through this analysis, Drew Yanno highlights the structural elements you’ll need to make your screenplay’s ending as compelling and satisfying as possible.
In each chapter, the author also provides the reader with suggestions that they might consider when writing their own ending, based upon the structural element being explored in that chapter. In addition, a comprehensive list of questions the reader should ask themselves about their script and its ending appears in the book’s appendix.
If you want to understand the fine art of writing a great ending to your screenplay, The Third Act is a truly useful resource and inspiration.
Different Way of Looking At the Three-Act Structure What this book is about doesn't really need a description, it's right in the title. It doesn't provide any earth-shattering revelations (at least for me); it just puts into words what most of us knew, if only subconsciously. But it does provide the reader with a new way of looking at the three-act structure. This is well worth getting.
A different approach than most screenwriting books. While this book is not a good first screenwriting book for the new screenwriter, it is an excellent third or fourth screenwriting book for someone who is already writing, but realizes that their scripts still miss 'that something'.
By focusing on the 3rd Act, and it's connection to the 1st Act, Drew Yanno called my attention to some factors that I wasn't considering about the connectedness of the 1st and 3rd acts. He particularly called my attention to how the 1st act can serve as a 'call', and if the third act doesn't provide a 'response' to each 'call' raised in the first act, the entire screenplay can seem incomplete.
Great Edition!! I am a screenwriter and also an avid student of the form. This book is different than any other than I have encountered in that it discusses in depth things to look at when crafting the third act of you're script. Now, it may be that you don't follow the 3 act structure, however, what I believe any writer wants is a powerful ending. This book suggests those things that usually occur in such films. There is no formula for what to do, but explanations as to what works and why. The information provided is almost common sense, and that's why its such a great tool. When you're involved in your story, sometimes you overlook the common sense. It also really helps a writer to clarify the point he/she wants to make before writing. Too often people think about the beginning premise, and forget that the ending is where we answer that question.
The 3rd Act of your storycrafting effort... In the 3rd act of your storycrafting effort, you would want to know the keys to creating a great ending to your story, whether it be for the printed page, the silver screen, or the stage. And Mr. Yanno hands over those keys to you via this amazing book, aptly called The 3rd Act.
It could be that most storytellers instinctively know how to end a story. I'd like to think that it's wired into us. However, when a storyteller wants to create something rich and interesting, with all the external and internal goodies thrown in, there's the strong possibility that the narrative can stray, leaving the 3rd act raw and unsatisfying. What is the story really about? What should be part of the 3rd act? Yanno's book goes through the ropes, making your ending within closer reach.
Of course, the book cannot and will not tell you how to create a jaw-dropping sense-shattering ending--that's your job as a storyteller. What the book does is help you stay on track, to create an ending that makes sense, to wrap everything up neatly. (Whether your audience will like your ending is another story. There are endings we don't like, but these endings still make sense overall.) It can also, if you dig deep enough, allow you to work your way to an ending that's even better than what you had originally intended.
Oh, and there's a list of questions at the end of the book that's worth the cover price. This book's a winner!
hollywood endings By the time we reach the third act we expect a lot to happen. The final battle, the denouement and wrap up. This book is one of the few that give this part of storytelling (for screenplays) the attention it deserves. Did you see 'road to perdition'? Did the ending leave you flat too? Drew Yanno explores several films and discusses why their endings worked (or not). It's not an expensive book but deserves a place in any script writer's bookshelf. I know i'll be referring to it again and again.
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