The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Bullets Over Broadway

written by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath


Bullets Over Broadway is a delightful comedy with a winning premise and a full cast of comic character types. The 3-act structure is firmly in place.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (0 min.)
    • "I won't change a word of my play!", says David Shane in the first line of the movie. An artist who won't sell out, he journeys into surprising territory in this spoof on theater and 20s gangster movies.
  2. Complication (4-6 min.)
    • Shane's agent finds financial backing for his new play, but with a hitch: a gangster's girlfriend must be cast. Shane doesn't want to accept.
  3. Call to Action (17 min.)
    • Shane awakes in a nightmare, "I sold out!" He made a deal with the devil, letting the gangster back his play.
  4. Act One Plot Point (34 min.)
    • Olive, the gangster's untalented girlfriend, has a body guard, Cheech, who won't let Shane cut any of Olive's lines. In fact, she needs more. Shane is not getting free rein to direct his play.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (52-3 min.)
    • The play's in trouble in rehearsal, but Cheech has a raw talent. He starts making suggestions to Shane, who incorporates them under his own name.
  6. Act Two Plot Point (78, 83 min.)
    • Cheech becomes so possessive of the play, now largely his, that he murders Olive because she is so bad in it. Shane confesses to his longtime girlfriend Ellen that he has been having an affair with an actress. But Ellen confesses back that she has been having an affair with one of David's friends. Shane has lost both his play and his girl.
  7. Climax and Resolution (91-4 min.)
    • During opening night, gangsters learn Cheech killed Olive and bump him off backstage. Shane begs Ellen to come back, admitting that he is not an artist after all, just a man. She goes back to him, and they walk off into the future together.

    Notes

    The tight focus and solid structure hold this zany comedy together. All the wonderful moments and comic frills work because everything is held together by such a strong premise and delivery, every piece of this fast-moving story having its place. This is a superb movie to study for story structure, focus, and comic characterizations.
    MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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    2/99