One Man's Thoughts on Theme and Structure

via the Artful Writer blog comes a rumination on the relationship between the three act structure, theme, and character:

"To summarize (and please forgive the dogma of acts…it’s just a shorthand…)

Act One: The Hero is ignorant of the truth of the Theme, and demonstrates this ignorance clearly.

Act Two: The Hero faces tests that begin to slowly reveal the truth of the Theme (and the non-truth of the Hero’s current belief system). At the end of the act, the truth of the Theme is fully revealed, and the Hero is faced with the tragic fact that he’s been living an ignorant life.

Act Three: The Hero attempts to do that which believers-of-the-Theme would do, but only in the moment when he actually believes is he finally able to triumph."

By Craig Mazin, writer of the more recent movies in the Scary Movie franchise.