Plot point

For the role-playing games concept see Plot point (role-playing games)

In television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that spins the action around in another direction.

Noted screenwriting teacher Syd Field discusses plot points in his paradigm, popularized in his book Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. There he proposes that a well-structured movie has two plot points within a three-act structure. The first plot point occurs 20 to 30 minutes into the film (assuming a standard 120-minute running time), and the second one occurs 80 to 90 minutes into the film. The first plot point ends Act I and propels the story into Act II; likewise, the second plot point ends Act II and propels the story into Act III.

See also

• Screenwriting theories, overview of list of plot points

External links

• Plot Points and the Inciting Incident