A film’s ending is crucial. It is the last thing an audience sees and often the last thing it remembers upon leaving the theater. Indeed, it’s no stretch to suggest that, more than any other part of the film, the ending determines whether the audience likes a film or not.
By extension, the ending of a script is probably the last thing the reader will remember when they put it down. An otherwise great script will likely be passed on if it does not end well. As director Stephen Frears once said: "Often I read something and it’s wonderful and then it stops halfway through and I say to myself: ‘I wonder if this will ever be finished.’ Somebody writes a good first act or a good first two acts and you think: ‘I wonder whether he can get the third act right.’"
The Third Act is the first screenwriting instructional book to focus entirely on that most important part of a script - the ending.
The book features detailed examinations of the endings of many memorable films, including Rocky, Rain Man, Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, Casablanca, Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Lost in Translation, and Gladiator. Through this analysis, Drew Yanno highlights the structural elements you’ll need to make your screenplay’s ending as compelling and satisfying as possible.
In each chapter, the author also provides the reader with suggestions that they might consider when writing their own ending, based upon the structural element being explored in that chapter. In addition, a comprehensive list of questions the reader should ask themselves about their script and its ending appears in the book’s appendix.
If you want to understand the fine art of writing a great ending to your screenplay, The Third Act is a truly useful resource and inspiration. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The 3rd Act: Writing a Great Ending to Your Screenplay (Drew Yanno)