Blog Post #8

 

     

       In honor of Halloween, I decided to use the chilling 2004 film, Saw, as my example of a film with a 3 Act structure. Act I, the introduction, is used to lay out the scene and the characters in it. We find out that 2 men, Adam and Dr.Gordon, are trapped in a locked room, and chained to a pipe. They have no recollection as to how they got there. With them at the center of the room is a seemingly dead man. The men soon find a tape labeled "Play Me," from their captor, which tells them why they are in the room, and what rules to follow in the "Game", as he calls it, in order to get free. They are given a time limit, and are told it is up to them to find clues within the room as to how to get out. The two men begin talking, which leads to Plot Point #1 at 16'. This occurs when Dr.Gordon has an epiphany as to who kidnapped the two of them. This leads us into Act II.

     

      Act II in a film is the longest in the 3 Act Structure, and presents much of the complication within the film. Several challenges are presented to the characters, and tension continues to build. In Saw, Act II makes use of several flashbacks when the characters talk about who their captor could be, why they were put in the room, and how to get out. Several important incidents play out in this act, including when Dr.Gordon finds out that Adam has known him all along, and when it is revealed that Dr.Gordon's family is being held captive unless he completes his assigned task, to kill Adam. Plot Point #2 occurs at 90', when Dr.Gordon resorts to cutting off his own foot, in attempt to get to his family when he sees that their time has run out. The very end of Act II, its Plot Point, and the beginning of Act III are extremely intense, with a lot of complications (naturally, as is the title of the Act) happening!

     

        As Act III, the resolution, unfolds, Dr.Gordon attempts to kill Adam, and then crawl out of the room. Adam is left there alone, until the man whom he assumes is his captor comes in. Adam wastes no time and kills the man. It is then that he realizes that the man also has a tape on him, which Adam plays. The horror unfolds (along with that creepy signature music) when Adam realizes that the man he just killed was part of the game as well, and was just as innocent as him and Dr.Gordon. As the tape plays out, the man thought to be dead in the center of the room since the beginning of the movie rises, and is revealed to be the captor, giving a pretty satisfying Climax, at 97', to the Resolution in Act III. At the end of the movie, Adam is left in the dark room alone, and the door shuts on the audience... GAME OVER!