Some familiar act patterns become apparent when looking at the color-coded, visually blended story timelines. Here is the color coding of the quad we'll use as the color key for the following examples:

TRADITIONAL "SYD FIELD" SCREENPLAY THREE-ACT STRUCTURE--VARIATION I

One of the films held up as classic proper three-act structure is Witness. When we look at its act break structure timeline the reason becomes obvious:

Three of the four throughlines are the bump-slide-bump type--act 1, long act 2, act three. Not only that, but the relative nature of the three act 1's and act 3's are identical, emphasizing the first and last act turns even further. The relationship in the SS throughline gives a nice accent (and nod) to the midpoint of the story by being a slide-bump-slider.

The Fugitive and Harold and Maude also fall into this mold, The Fugitive being slightly simpler and Harold and Maude slightly more varied:

 

THREE-ACT STRUCTURE-VARIATION II

A popular variation on the traditional three-act structure can be seen in Lawrence of Arabia and All About Eve.

In both these examples, the Overall Story throughlines appear to be more segmented, seemingly more episodic than the traditional three-act structure. Their other throughlines, however, show a remarkable compliance with the bump-slide-bump form. Though more examples will need to be gathered to make anything more definitive, it's possible that this Variation II form is nearly as popular a screenplay form as the Variation I.

OTHER NOTABLE ACT PATTERNS

There are two other "styles" that should be noted at this time. The first one might be tentatively called the "Complex Act Pattern." This pattern is complex because of the highly varied combinations of act transition patterns and strong content juxtapositions involved. The two examples from our limited sampling that seem to fit this classification best are Chinatown and The Godfather.

The second notable act pattern is tentatively called the "Dramatic Arc Pattern" or "Rise-and-Fall Act Pattern" because of its emphasis on the mid-point transition. To Kill A Mockingbird is a striking illustration of this act form:

This visualization of To Kill A Mockingbird is a particularly accurate view of the film/book. The overall story is segmented, somewhat episodic, while the other throughlines change direction rather rapidly at the story's mid-point. (The film even has a time transition to identify the story's mid-point.)