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Hollywood Formula Reference Guide

Recently on the ever-wonderful Writing Excuses podcast, Lou Anders guest-starred to talk about the Hollywood Formula (which he, in turn, learned from Dan Decker). However twisted and secretive its origins, this formula is out of the bag now, so let's dive into my notes and take a look.

Our Three Characters

He begins by explaining that the formula calls for three main characters:

• a protagonist who wants something concrete and achievable;
• an antagonist whose desires oppose those of the protagonist;
• a 'relationship character' with some sort of connection to the protagonist.

That last one interests me, so let's take a closer look. The relationship character accompanies the protagonist and is usually on their side, and might have even pursued this same goal before. They offer wisdom (usually ignored) and either hear or explain the film's theme at some point. Near the end of the film, they revisit the theme and reconcile the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist.

Story Structure

It being called the Hollywood Formula, a lot of movie terminology is used. Each page of a movie script is about a minute of screen-time. A two-hour film is therefore 120 pages. The Hollywood Formula uses a three-act structure that breaks down like this:

• act 1 = 30 pages
• act 2 = 60 pages
• act 3 = 30 page

As you can see, the middle act is sort of a 'middle half' that lasts twice as long as the beginning and end.

act 1

First we introduce the three characters and what they want. Establish that the antagonist's goals are opposed to the protagonists, from whence we get our conflict.

Here's where it gets interesting. At around the eleven to thirteen minute mark (so, eleven to thirteen pages in, a third of the way through act 1), the protagonist makes a 'fateful decision'. When given the choice of (as an example) boring safety or pursuing their dreams, the protagonist "chooses to have a film."

act 2

It wasn't made clear when Act 1 transfers into Act 2. I conjecture that it's when the protagonist begins pursuing their goal in earnest and the antagonist responds in kind. This might be a good spot for the relationship character to realize or speak about the theme of the film.

Up until the movie's halfway point (page 60), the movie is about asking questions and presenting mystery to the viewer. Then, at that crucial halfway point, start feeding answers to the viewer.

On page 90, right at the end of the second act, the protagonist reaches their lowest point, the farthest possible place from their goal. The question then becomes, "Through what will the protagonist have to suffer, and what will they have to sacrifice, to get to their goal?"

act 3

At long last comes the third act, the final battle between the protagonist and antagonist, with the relationship character looking on. It starts at the low point and boils upward until, as close together as possible, three things happen:

• The antagonist is defeated
• The protagonist achieves their goal
• The relationship character reconciles the conflict

The closer together these events occur, the more emotional impact you achieve.

Possible Examples of the Hollywood Formula

In my effort to understand this interesting formula, I'm going to attempt to deconstruct some favorite (or not-so-favorite) stories according to the formula.

Twilight

For the second time since the birth of this site, I'm going to use Twilight as an example, purely because of how blandly it ignores most writing mores. I imagine Bella is the protagonist; her concrete desire is a bit muddy, what with her being such a bland character. Gun to my head, I'd say her ultimate desire is to win Edward, although Jacob (had to Google to remember his name) confuses things later.

Each book throws a different antagonist at this 'goal'. Most interestingly, in the second book, Edward himself opposes it the most, with his vomitously melodramatic insistence that he's no good for her. More often, though, it's either werewolves or other vampires getting in the way.

The relationship character is equally hard to pin down. I imagine Bella's father, Awesome Beardo, comes closest, but since the books have no overarching theme beyond 'love is instant, inarguable, and pretty stupid', there's no character to articulate them.

I'm not going to go into the plot, because thinking about the plot this long as given me a headache. If someone else wants to take a crack at pigeonholing this mess into a formula, be my guest.

The Lord of the Rings

For a much easier example, let's look to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, specifically the One Ring's storyline. Frodo is the most obvious protagonist, with his goals evenly split between destroying the Ring and surviving to return to his safe and beautiful home. In a bit of high fantasy heavy-handedness, Sauron is the main antagonist, with armies of orcs and a treacherous Mordor to cross.

Sam is a good choice for relationship character, since he has several conversations with Frodo in which they pine for the Shire but resolve to finish their quest. Interestingly, Gollum is a decent choice for both antagonist and relationship character, as he both fights the hobbits on their journey and sometimes laments how things have turned out. But since it's Sam who lives to the end and has that last conversation with Frodo before the latter sails away, I'd pick him for the relationship character.

Despite The Two Towers being shorter than the first and third books (from what I remember), imagine that it is the middle act. Therefore, Fellowship establishes our heroes' goals at Elrond's meeting. If memory serves, this meeting takes place forty-five minutes into the movie. Then again, a lot of exciting things happened before that, so I'll give it a pass. Frodo, of course, makes the 'fateful decision' to join the titular Fellowship.

In terms of asking questions, Tolkien was verbose enough to explain most of the mysteries of Middle Earth before we even thought to ask. It's been several years since I saw the movies, let alone read the books, but I don't recall a real air of mystery about it. The only enduring questions were whether Aragorn would achieve the throne and Frodo would destroy the Ring.

Of course, Frodo endures several 'darkest points', including capture at the hands of orcs, near-evisceration at the claws of a giant spider, starvation, exhaustion, near-betrayal by Sam, outright betrayal by Gollum, and so on. But after each trial, Frodo picks himself up (usually with the help of Sam) and keeps on going. In a way, the entire second and third books are really his third act (in other words, his final battle).

Then, within about ten minutes of each other, the following things happen:

• Gollum falls into Mount Doom with the Ring, and both are destroyed
• Frodo is released from the Ring's power and has completed his quest
• While trying to escape the mountain, Sam and Frodo resolve to die together, cementing the themes of friendship and bravery in the face of terror

Because these events are so close (barring interruptions from the Aragorn side of things), the emotional impact is high. I'd call this a great fulfillment of the Hollywood Formula.

?

Can you think of a movie that matches the Hollywood Formula? I'd like to hear your deconstruction below.

About Fiona Canteberry

A novelist and office worker from northwest Arkansas, Fiona's range of topics include writing, tropes, and self-improvement. She goes by 'FekketCantenel' online.