From two hundred and fifty million dollar movies to your daughter’s dance recital and everything in between, we see a story unfold before our eyes. As the audience, we interpret emotions and events that burrow through the core of our senses. This is all done by story. To some, they see story as common device used to make them laugh, cry, feel fear, hate, and even love. But to the trained eye, key elements take place as a distinct structure is revealed to us every few minutes. Aristotle, a philosopher of the ancient world, has had an unprecedented impact on how one participates with the modern day narrative.

To understand Aristotle, you must be acquainted with how he came to these poetic, philosophical conclusions. Socrates was first, with his ground-breaking thought process on how psyche and virtue played a key role in self-enlightenment . He had strong belief that through these two items came the path to inherent and overall defining of wisdom . Next was Plato, Socrates’ best student and Aristotle’s former teacher. Like Socrates, Plato felt that the psyche was more important than the ever changing body . However, he came up with a more advanced philosophy in which the body lived solely in a material world; utterly taken over by our senses . From birth, we’re ensnared into bodies and the psyche could get but a mere peep of a higher reality but only because of remembrance . Aristotle took much of his philosophy from Plato but focused more on the human senses. He disagreed with his teacher and felt that ideas could only be derived from the physical world. He was a tentative philosopher unlike Plato but he did believe is Socrates theory of how the mind is more important than the body.

Aristotle was the first to examine story structure and his innovative theories from long, long ago and can still be witnessed today. He analyzed the theatrical components of how powerful story structure produces catharsis in an audience through dialogue, visuals, character and plot. “Poetics” written by Aristotle in 350 BC has laid the ground work for modern writers since. In “Poetics” he goes into detail about how the use of proper key components gives the audience an intoxicating sensation. He explains that the most efficient tragedies use complications, reversals, and resolutions all along spotlighting fascinating characters.

Aristotle explains that stories need to have three main concepts when relating to plot and character these include: imitation, error, and catharsis. In imitation, the story and character must be believable. Through imitation, the audience must feel they can to relate either to the story or to the character. Dialogue is certainly a common imitation for interesting people as most writers use an eavesdropping journal to record dialogue in public places such as Starbucks, parks, and restaurants. You name it and most likely a writer is listening in on your conversation.

In error, our protagonist must have a flaw, because like imitation nobody is perfect. This flaw gives the audience something to relate to as they embark on the adventure with our hero. Error is often used in tragedies when the character makes a mistake such as in the play “Oedipus Rex” when Oedipus wrongly kills his father thinking he is but a mere stranger. From error usually spawns catharsis in which the audience purges pity or emotion for the hero. From imitation, and error comes catharsis. This powerful emotion is what entertains us and ultimately brings us back to watching films. Without these concepts and an audience will lose interest and will be unable to relate to the story or character.

For any good drama to take place there needs to be six elements to follow in the order of importance, they are: plot, character, theme, dialogue, song, and spectacle. Plot is most important because this is what keeps our attention. Aristotle says there are two types of plot’s simple and complex . He tells that every story has 3 parts, a beginning, middle, and end. Each act serves the story with the intent to bring our hero closer or farther to their goal. Plots also use imitation of real life to portray the character’s ordinary world. Characters keep the story interesting with their dialogue and help the audience forget their watching a movie. The idiosyncrasies of characters also help audience relate through imitation. Theme is important because it lets the audience know what their watching. Clever dialogue is what makes the story be believable. Some dialogue is on the nose which means it has no subtext. Movies are not generally presented this way. If woman said “I love you” in real life then in a film she would say “How did you sucker me in?” Song, drives the emotion of the story playing at key moments when there is a transition or some type of important action taking place. And last but not least is spectacle. This is the set design, props, and cinematography. Spectacle aids imitation by casting the mood and feel of the film.

There are three acts in screenplay structure. Beginning, middle and end. Aristotle stressed this. Every good movie that is written, some better than others, use this same format. Any story adapted for the screen uses this format as well. It should be considered a law to put Aristotle’s name in the credits or at least thank him for his contribution to the most basic knowledge of story structure. The scripts that have implied this basic concept are the ones that usually withstand the test of time as they fall into the timeless classic category and not into the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart. These three acts serve as different stories that all smoothly flow together. From beginning to end our attention is tossed and turned as we travel on the same journey as our character. It’s important to understand the three act structure is the most basic of concepts, nonetheless extremely important. It’s what lies inside of the three acts that compel us to take a ride on that rollercoaster of story and character.

In the beginning god said “let there be light” Aristotle said let there be exposition or back-story of the character. This allows the audience to get a taste of the story and acknowledge the genre. If the audience doesn’t know that they’re watching a comedy in the first few minutes then they will be afraid to laugh. This is why it’s important to establish the genre. Some characters aren’t given back-story right away and we find out their past as we travel along with them on their adventure. If you look at “Star Wars” the first thing that we see is a scrolling paragraph of exposition that tells us that the evil Lord Vader is taking over the galaxy and a small rebel fleet helplessly fights back. This is important no matter how geeky it is because we learn key parts of the story. “All human beings desire knowledge” this is taken from the first sentence of “Metaphysics” which was written by Aristotle . More importantly though, we get involved and participate using our senses (His same philosophy).

After the exposition, comes the inciting event. In “Star Wars” Luke comes back to his home and finds that his family has been murdered by the empire. This component stirs up the main character’s ordinary world, thusly propelling the story into motion. In most feature length movies, this happens around page 17. Also in movies, 1 page equals one minute of screen time.

From there, we jump to the 1st act break or point of no return. Here the Character is plunged into a new world. Luke our hero, boards the Millennium Falcon and leaves the only home he knows, all the while be chased be the empire. This first act break can also be a reversal and Aristotle puts a lot of emphasis on that. “The astonishment produced by reversal involves an overturn of expectation” . Aristotle notes that this device can create more conflict in the story and catches the viewer off guard. The 1st act break usually happens around page 30.

Christopher Vogler, screenwriting guru, wrote a book called “The Writer’s Journey”. The book explains Aristotelian story structure in a different format. He follows the three act structure but the components used inside are brought to us in a mythological type of set-up. His idea of the 1st act break is “Crossing the First Threshold” . He explains that this is where our hero takes on this new adventure unconditionally However, this isn’t always the case. In most stories the character was forced into a situation and can’t back out. Saying that a character wants to participate is incorrect but rather they have no other choice.

Now we’re into the heart of the story, the second act. By far the longest act then the others but a character must use this extended period of time for change. They need to be transformed in one way or the other and this can only happen when the character separates their need from their want. The second act uses certain points to bring characters from their greatest success to an almost all is lost failure. We end the first act break when our character starts out in his or her new world. This is where the adventure begins. After the 1st act break comes the symbolic scene of growth in which our character is takes one step closer to the person they need to become. Luke begins to use the force while being trained in the Jedi arts by his powerful mentor Obi Wan. This scene demonstrates the characters growth, and yes it’s small but most films unwind in baby steps. The symbolic scene of growth usually occurs around page 45 or 45 minutes into a movie.

15 pages later, we come to the mid-point of the story, also known as the Pt. Hosh. This generally happens on page 60. Here our character goes from reactive to proactive and they usually state their objective. Aristotle believed that it’s better to show than tell letting the characters’ actions speak louder than their words. However, the mid-point quote in “Gone with the Wind” might say it best. “As god is my witness, as God is my witness they’re not going to lick me. I’m going to live through this and when it’s all over, I’ll never be hungry again.”. In “Star Wars” Luke decides to help rescue Princess Leia. Either way is effective, it really depends on the genre. Some writers toss a reversal into the mid-point which creates added conflict to their character’s journey.

The symbolic scene of success directly follows the mid-point. Here, our character has just reached their goal, obtained the object of their desire, or feel complete in their romantic relationship. We see this happen usually on page 75. Our Character has made it this far, they’re on top of the world. Luke rescues princess Leia from the empire obtaining his goal and his training is complete. For the audience, it’s rewarding to watch the character that we have grown to love surpass the trial and tribulations that were laid before him. Sometimes in stories, the symbolic scene of success will be a revelation. Up to this point that character wanted something else but realized it wasn’t right for them and pursues a different objective. This happens a lot in romantic comedies. Aristotle suggests that recognition or revelations are the same. Going from ignorance to knowledge sets the character up on the path to success. The overall significance of this beat is to “dangle the carrot” if front of our character . Now we have them right where we want them letting the writer toy with the audience’s emotion.

From the over glorified symbolic scene of success brings us to our next beat. The 2nd act break, or “Big Gloom”. Our hero has come so far and now all is lost. It’s unfortunate but necessary to bring our audience into catharsis. This scene happens around page 90 in most scripts and usually has the protagonist locked up and out of time. Or suffered a great defeat, betrayed by the person they trusted the most, and or hating their love interest. Since no character is flawless, the defeat can also come from their imperfection. In “Star Wars”, Luke and his crew are almost crushed to death in an oversized garbage disposal and then on the final way out his mentor gets killed. Vogler explains his mythic idea of the second act break in which he calls it the “Ordeal” . He says “the hero must die so they can be reborn”. He’s not saying the character should die in the proverbial sense but rather be at their lowest point so they can rise up and change . This wall or trial our character is faced with needs to be something they can’t break through no matter how much they’ve already experienced.

We’ve made it to our page 105 climax. Here, the protagonist breaks free of their foe and comes into a new light, personal growth. The most important element for character is for them to come to some type of realization and overcome their flaw. Before this moment they could have never imagined overcoming this tribulation. The climax of “Star Wars” has Luke racing down the Death Star’s trench trying to unleash a final blow with his X-Wing. One by one his companions are destroyed leaving only him to complete the mission. While he is being chased by the antagonist Darth Vader, his former mentor speaks to him giving Luke the confidence he needs to finish the mission. He fires, blows up the Death Star, and sends Lord Vader tumbling off into space. The climax should always have the most intensity in the entire film. A car chase, fight scene, or a buzzer beater. Often times, the climax is where a character will make a wholehearted sacrifice giving something that they so selfishly clasped on to in the beginning. Vogler calls this the “The Resurrection” . The name fits the scene element because our hero needs to be resurrected before they can ever return to the world they left in act 1. Our Character’s Arc is complete and our protagonist has helped us as an audience purge emotion or partake in catharsis.

Our story is coming to an end and the biggest problem throughout the story has been resolved. This is where the resolution with all its loose ends, comes together. Our character is back in his or her ordinary world and through their trials and tribulations they have become a transformed person. A direct opposite from how they were viewed in the beginning. They learned something new, grew stronger, and overcame what they never thought possible. This is their return or denouncement. In “Star Wars” Luke is awarded with a medal and is honored as the hero who saved the galaxy. This scene can also be a reflection scene. For instance in “Liar Liar” Jim Carey and his divorced wife celebrate their son’s birthday in the beginning and in the resolution, they celebrate Max’s birthday and him and his ex-wife begin to fall for each other. In the western part of the world we have seen more endings that fulfill the void in audience giving them closure with a tied-up ending . However, in the eastern part of the world more films close with an open-ending.

This story structure, started by Aristotle’s Poetics has become the most popular format when writing a screenplay. Although he didn’t break down the three acts into some many key points he did give us basics, beginning, middle, and end. Along with plot, character, theme, dialogue, song, and spectacle. The elements used here are derived from his original philosophy as they filtered down over years into a more precise, detailed composition. We virtually see this Aristotelian structure in every film and we will for many more years to come. Aristotle has had the biggest influence on story telling since 350 B.C.E. and will continue to reign as the godfather to the modern day narrative.