The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Shane
written by A.B. Guthrie, Jr.
Shane, based on a novel by Jack Schaefer, is a
classic western about a gunfighter who tries to go straight but must come
out of retirement one final time to defend good against evil.
Structural Analysis
- Hook (3 min.)
- Shane arrives at Joe's farm and is very edgy, drawing his gun when
the boy Joey cocks a rifle.
- Complication (4 min.)
- Joe and his family, along with other homesteaders, are in conflict
over use of the land with nearby ranchers.
- Call to Action (10 min.)
- Shane goes to work for Joe.
- Act One Plot Point (26 min.)
- After a meeting, the homesteaders decide to stay and defend
themselves. Shane is regarded as a coward, having backed down from a
fight in town.
- Midpoint Plot Point (48, 63 min.)
- A gunfighter arrives to work for the ranchers. From his description,
Shane recognizes him as Jack Wilson.
- Act Two Plot Point (80 min.)
- Wilson eggs one of the homesteaders into a fight and kills him.
The other homesteaders are ready to pack up and leave, ready to quit.
- Climax and Resolution (88, 100-116 min.)
- During the funeral, a homesteader's cabin is burned down. Joe
convinces the others to stay and resist (88 min.). But when Joe is called
into town to meet with the ranchers, Shane learns it's an ambush and won't
let him go. They fight (100 min.), an even tough battle, but Shane prevails
and goes to town alone for the showdown with Wilson and the ranchers. He
wins.
Notes
A strong subplot here is the boy Joey's admiration of Shane, ending with the
classic "Shane! Come back!" as the gunfighter, wounded from the showdown,
rides into the sunset alone.
There are three major fight sequences in this story: Shane against the
ranchers early on, Shane and Joe, and the showdown. Such scenes are
obligatory in an action western.
But what makes this western a classic is the depth of its characterizations
and the different levels of meaning in what is essentially a generic tale.
The boy's presence and admiration of Shane give this a point of view that
set the story apart from westerns of the 1950s.
MODULE 4:
SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting
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