The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Adaptation

written by Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman

(based on a single theater viewing)


Adaptation is a witty sophisticated comedy about the difficulty of making a movie based on a book about orchids.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook
    • A screenwriter is filled with self-loathing.
  2. Complication
    • Pitching an adaptation of a book about orchids, he wants to avoid all Hollywood cliches and make a movie about real life.
  3. Call to Action
    • He gets the gig and starts on the adaptation.
  4. Act One Plot Point
    • He's having great difficulty, stuck in a world of false starts.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point
    • His twin brother, who just sold a Hollywood blockbuster, is invited in to help the protagonist finish his script. He is behind on deadlines.
  6. Act Two Plot Point
    • The twin believes the author of the book is having an affair with her main subject. He convinces the protagonist they must follow her. But the protagonist is caught. "Let's kill him," the author says.
  7. Climax and Resolution
    • The screenwriter's life turns into a Hollywood movie, full of action and chases, and in the end his twin is killed. He realizes how much he loved him, and this gives him the courage to tell a woman he loves her (she loves him back). He is looking on the bright side of life for the first time.

Notes

Layers of fun and inside jokes about screenwriting make this story great fun for writers. But it also has a serious side, a story about trying to make a movie true to life turning into a life that mirrors movies, a kind of philosophical joke. Needs more than one viewing, I think.


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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