DRAMATIC STRUCTURE, STORY ARC, AND FREYTAG'S PYRAMID

Have you ever wondered why people adore a good story? Whether presented in a video production, hardback book or a stage play, a first class story grasps the interest of the audience while entertaining and informing.

It turns out there is a formula that describes the structure of many dramas. Here we explore how to write compelling stories using time-tested dramatic structure techniques. Whether on the big or small screen, this classic structure promises big payoffs in the success of your next scriptwriting undertaking.

History of StorytellingLet’s begin with a quick chronicle of the structure of storytelling. The earliest stories in human history were told aloud. In small communal gatherings, early humans recited stories from memory with the goal of transferring knowledge and experience. These stories used the oral tradition to pass essential information from generation to generation — like where to find food, or how to avoid deadly predatory animals. Now that’s an important story!

Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) surmised that good

storytelling consists of three distinct parts: the beginning, middle and end. This view predominated until Roman poet Horace (65 BC-8 BC) promoted a 5-act structure for drama and poetry in his poem Ars Poetica.

Long before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450s, storytelling found a way to reach a larger audience on the stage of a theater. In this setting, a large group of people assembled at the same time and place to enjoy the play. With the invention of the printing press, storytelling became more accessible. Unlike the stage play, book reading doesn’t require gathering in one physical place. Mass media was born and drama found a new, larger audience. 

Freytag's PyramidGustav Freytag (1816-1895) analyzed Shakespearean and ancient Greek drama; he developed a model based on his examination of the structure of those plays. The model, first published in his book Die Technik des Dramas in 1863, is known as Freytag's Pyramid. The German playwright and novelist’s concept of dramatic structure also goes by the names of Freytag’s Triangle or Dramatic Arc.

Freytag’s analysis revealed a structural pattern in Greek and Shakespearean dramas. He found that the parts of plays fell into five consecutive components: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and dénouement. In a stage play, these parts often become the five acts that comprise the production.

Even though Freytag’s analysis applied primarily to ancient drama, the model can be found fully, or partially, implemented in the contemporary

dramatic productions of television and film — though they rarely involve the clearly defined acts that Freytag’s model describes. In fact, you’ll find some parts of the model in everything from an episode of the sitcom Modern Family, to your favorite acronymic crime drama. You’ll find opportunity for the purest form of Freytag’s Pyramid in a full-length feature screenplay. 

The Five ActsLet's take a closer look at each element of Freytag's model as it relates to filmmaking. The “exposition” stage gets viewers up to speed by introducing the protagonist and other major characters, geographic setting, time in history and overall premise of the story. Accidentally omitted details might leave an audience scratching their heads while trying to make sense of a story. Not good.

One unique exposition example is Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Rear Window (1954), which has the camera move about the protagonist’s apartment giving viewers much needed details to understand the soon unfolding story. These details include the character’s name and occupation, the reason why he has a cast on his leg, the temperature of the blistering air and an introduction to several of the neighbors by looking through the aforementioned rear windows of the protagonist’s apartment. All of this occurs before delivering a single word of dialogue.

Another exposition choice could involve a voice-over narrator who provides viewers the back-story at the beginning of the production. The movie Forrest Gump (1994) is a masterful example of the effectiveness of using narration as part of the film’s exposition stage.

The second part of Freytag’s storytelling model is “rising action.” This is the point at which a series of related events build tension leading up to the next stage, which is the “climax” — at the apex of the pyramid. In the film Stand by Me (1986), four boys spend time in the rising action portion of the film following the railroad tracks leading to the dead body they seek to discover at the story’s climax.

As its name implies, the climax is a turning point and the point of highest action — the moment of truth. Titanic (1997) has a clear point of climax, but flashbacks make it harder to identify all parts of Freytag’s model. In Rear Window, Hitchcock chose to present the climax near the end of the film leaving very little time for the next two parts of Freytag’s model. The only imperative in the model is the sequencing of the five parts, the timing and duration is the purview of the scriptwriter.

Following the climax comes “falling action” in which the struggle between the protagonist and antagonist ends with the protagonist’s success, or defeat. It’s common for this stage to include a moment or two when the audience doubts the final outcome. Let’s make up an example from a science fiction plotline: Will our protagonist really be able to thwart the alien invader before the destruction of New York City? The EndFinally, the “dénouement” — an original French word meaning “to untie” — gives the story closure at the end. In the Oscar-winning film Nebraska (2013), Woody, the aging alcohol-addled protagonist, attempts to claim the million dollars a sham marketing letter promises him. Woody’s sole desire is to buy his first new truck and leave money for his two sons (as a warning, the rest of this paragraph contains spoilers). At the end of the film, Woody’s son trades his own car in for a truck, and allows Woody to proudly drive the new truck down Main Street of Woody’s hometown. Now that’s a happy ending!

Unlike the stage play, video offers technology that adds new tools for storytelling. For instance, an instantaneous flashback to childhood is easy thanks to video editing, but harder to pull off on live stage. Green screen technology can instantly change locations from beach to mountains to jungle. Such technologies give modern filmmakers the tools to adapt Freytag’s rigid model into something less formulaic.

Whether it’s a blockbuster Hollywood movie or a YouTube viral sensation, the formula for telling an amazing dramatic story is similar. Try some of these techniques and see if they don’t take your work to the next level. 

Answer the 10 questions on the

worksheet below to receive your grade

for this article.

1. Who was the Greek philosopher that surmised good story telling consists of three distinct parts?

2. What are the three distinct parts of good story telling?

3. Gustav Freytag analyzed Shakespearean and ancient Greek drama. He developed a model based on his examination of the structure of those plays. This model is known as what?

4. Freytag’s analysis revealed a structural pattern in Greek and Shakespearean dramas. He found that the parts of plays fell into five consecutive components. What are those five components?

5. The first stage of Freytag’s model is known as the _______________ stage, and gets viewers up to speed by introducing what five things?

6. What two movies does the author give as good examples of the first stage of Freytag’s model?

7. The second stage of Freytag’s model is known as what, and what happens during this stage?

8. The third stage of Freytag’s model is known as what, and what happens during this stage?

9. The fourth stage of Freytag’s model is known as what, and what happens during this stage?

10. The fifth stage of Freytag’s model is known as what, and what happens during this stage?