7 Act Structure
With: Jacob Krueger
Weekly
Tuesdays, 7pm-10pm, EST
March 4, 2025 - March 25, 2025
4 sessions
Price: $375.00
Learn A New Approach To Structure
Over the last many years, there’s been a seismic shift in the industry, away from the tired old formula of 3 Act Structure, and towards a new, more organic way of building structure. In this mind-opening class with studio founder Jacob Krueger, you’ll learn how to build a structure for your screenplay that connects to your instincts and your voice as a writer.
Understand The Structure of the Greatest Movies of All Time
Each week, you’ll break down the structure of one of the greatest movies of all time, learning how to apply the concepts of 7 Act Structure to a screenplay of any genre, and how these films were built from the blank page. Jake curates a unique set of films for every class, based on the needs and goals of the students taking it, from character driven dramas like There Will Be Blood & Moonlight, action movies like Mad Max Fury Road, Everything Everywhere All At Once, & Inception, thrillers like Get Out!, Michael Clayton & Chinatown, romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally & Bridesmaids, animated films like Soul & Inside Out and even expressionistic films like Beasts of the Southern Wild & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and many more!
Learn How (And When!) To Outline Your Screenplay
In addition to studying the masters, you’ll be learning how to apply these lessons to build a 7 Act Structure for your own screenplay. If you’ve ever struggled to build an outline, or found your writing going flat as you tried to adapt one into a screenplay, this is the class for you. Each week, we’ll learn another approach to finding structure in the different phases of writing, mastering how to balance writing and outlining, when to write and when to outline, how to know if your outline is finished, and what to do when things don’t go as you planned. We’ll look at the way these scripts evolved from early draft to final product, so you can learn how to evolve the structure of your own screenplay.
Build The 7 Act Structure Of Your Film With a 1:1 Consultation With A Working Professional Writer
In addition to showing you how to apply 7 Act Structure to understanding these great films, each class will also include helpful exercises to help you apply these ideas to our own writing. The class then culminates with a 1:1 Consultation with a professional writer who will review your structure with you and help you take it to the next level!
Why 7 Act Structure
If you’ve ever tried to write a script following the traditional formulas, you already know all the reasons 3 Act Structure doesn’t work: getting lost in the second act, losing touch with your characters struggling to find your voice within an outline, confusing plot and structure, to name a few. 7 Act Structure takes your focus off of rigid formulas and critical ideas, and puts it back where it belongs: on creating the most compelling journey for your main character. It breaks down the movement of your story into manageable chunks, so that you can wrap your head around the complexities of your character, and their journey, without feeling overwhelmed by all you’re trying to accomplish. And most importantly, Seven Act Structure honors the intuitive and mysterious nature of the writers craft, allowing you to develop your story organically, one step at a time, even when you don’t know exactly where it’s leading.