Answering Your Documentary Film’s Central Question

The function of the third act is to ramp up suspense to a crisis that is so unbearable that the protagonist must call forth a supreme effort.  Screenwriters know that at the end of act two, things should be as bad as they can imaginably get.  Then in act three, they get even worse.  This crisis, the story climax, will answer with finality the film’s central question:  did the protagonist get what she desired?

Sometimes the central question is answered immediately, as in The Story of the Weeping Camel.  When the camel allows its baby to nurse, we know how the story ends.  Some resolutions, however, occur after the climax scene.  I call these “delayed resolutions”. In Tarnation, for example, the protagonist does not come to terms with his mother’s mental illness (his goal) until after he has time to process the climax scene, in which he confronts his grandfather about abusing his mother.

For more information on how to craft a satisfying climax for a character-driven documentary, check out my six-part online course at https://newdocediting.com/land/editingdocumentaryecourse/.