If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

Act 2

Act 2 is where characters face challenges and grow. It has obstacles, a point of no return, and a low point. Characters learn what they need, not just what they want. This helps them transform in preparation for Act 3!

Want to join the conversation?

  • orange juice squid orange style avatar for user Sophia❤️
    When making pixar movies how long is the animation process.
    (14 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user redwall2004
    i wonder what would happen if a character, no matter what they tried, could not get what they needed, and they knew they needed something. what if it was not them, but another that figured out what they really needed, and there fore was able to apply it.
    there could also be a character that tries to find what he wants, but then helps someone else get what they need, and therefore some fulfillment in helping the other person, cause that's all anyone really wants, a fulfillment that makes them happy, comfortable, or loved.
    (10 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • winston default style avatar for user Max hill
    Something that might ruin your day: What if Russel in Up is actually Carls miscarried son. Carl has died and that's when Russel shows up to guide him to heaven because Carl has developed a daily routine for his life and is stuck in the loop. That's why after Russel shows up Carl is able to break free of this routine, and Go to Paradise falls where he must face the challenge of getting past the 'devils' lies, to exist happily with his son in heaven.

    (Idk how to spell the Kids name so tell me if I'm wrong)
    (6 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • leaf grey style avatar for user Ali
    Hello Khanacademy and thank you for helpful videos.
    1-Can i conclude that the 'point of no return/turning point' usually happens after 'low point' in act2?

    2-Can i say that the 'point of no return/turning point' is actually inciting incident of act2?
    (4 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • piceratops ultimate style avatar for user E
    Step 1: Ordinary World
    What is the hero’s world like at the beginning of the story?
     
     
    Step 2: Call to Adventure
    What happens to prompt the hero to take a step into the adventure?
     
     
    Step 3: Refusal of the Call
    Does the hero refuse to go? If so, why?
     
     
    Step 4: Meeting with the Mentor
    Who helps the hero gain skills or wisdom on their journey?
     
     
    Step 5: Crossing the Threshold
    When does the hero take the first step into the unknown?
     
     
    Step 6: Tests, Allies, & Enemies
    What tests does the hero encounter? How do other characters affect the hero?
     
     
    Step 7: The Approach
    What new place does the hero come to when they’re on the cusp of reaching the goal of their quest?
     
     
    Step 8: Supreme Ordeal/Climax
    What happens when the story reaches a life or death point?
     
     
    Step 9: Reward
    What does the hero accomplish or receive as a reward?
     
     
    Step 10: The Road Back
    What consequences does the hero face on the way back to their normal life?
     
     
    Step 11: Resurrection of the Hero
    What is the final test?
     
     
    Step 12: Return with the Elixir
    What knowledge or wisdom does the hero bring back to ordinary life? How does it change how they live?
    (6 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user JRalston0815
    wall-e is my favorite and Moana and frozen is to
    (3 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • blobby green style avatar for user cameron mendenhall
    can you make a new toy stoy
    (3 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • scuttlebug blue style avatar for user WhaleSharksAre2Cool
    So how do you switch your perspective in a book from character to character? And the characters don't know each other yet.
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • blobby green style avatar for user PrettyPrincess
    When there is too many downfalls for the character the movie/ book gets boring for me, idk about eveyone else?
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • stelly blue style avatar for user Willie Taylor = Reba Prewitt
    How do people in movies remember there senses for that long of a movie. I can't remember my senses but if they practice for a long, long, time they might know and I might know.
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user

Video transcript

- In act one, you've established all the information your audience needs to know and given your characters a set of challenges to overcome. Now begins the journey to achieve their goals. Let's take a closer look at our story spine for act two. In act two, our protagonist often encounters a series of progressive complications. These obstacles force them to make difficult decisions as one thing leads to another in a chain of events we call the journey. The choices and actions your main character makes as they attempt to overcome these escalating obstacles is the substance of the second act. But how do we make sure the journey of act two is more than just a series of events strung together? Let's ask our storytellers, my friends, how they think about the elements of act two. - Act two is a place where you beat your character up a lot. You have to keep making things hard for your character, or the story has no conflict, and a story with no conflict has no shape, no pacing, no momentum, so you just keep throwing harder and harder things their way and they have to learn. It's a growth opportunity in figuring out how to overcome these obstacles, so act two is where you see the most growth. - Yeah, it's really where the character, the metamorphosis happens of the character. - Oftentimes as editors, we encounter act twos that have become too long. We don't want act two to go on and on with a chase that just goes on and on and on and on and on and on. - But basically, you need to create a series of challenges for your character towards that ultimate fork in the road where they have to make a really difficult decision from which there's no return. - And my favorite example is in Inside Out, where Joy has been calling all the shots, as she did in the control room. She's always been the controlling one, and she thinks of Sadness as nothing but trouble, a burden that she literally has to drag along, but when they meet Bing Bong and they need Bing Bong's help, and Bing Bong gets so sad that he can't be helpful because he's sitting down crying candy, Joy tries to rally him to get going. That's her way of solving problems, right? Just rally. Whereas Sadness goes over and sits down next to him and says, "That must have been hard," and she consoles him, and the tears stop, and then they're able to move on. That's a huge turning point for Joy. It's the first time she recognizes that Sadness has value. - Act two may also contain the low point, when it seems that all hope is lost. Everything's gone wrong and your character may have failed in all attempts to get what they want, or they may have achieved everything they want, but still be frustrated or miserable because there's something else they actually need. - The low point is a point when it seems like everything is lost for your main characters. - At the end of act two, something really, really bad is meant to happen to your character to force them to confront the things that they didn't wanna confront at the end of act one. It's why act two exists, and it allows them to then demonstrate it in act three and sort of show that, for the audience and for themselves that this change is permanent. - I think Pete Docter's Up is my favorite movie, and it's because of the way this low point at the end of act two is handled. So all through the movie, Carl has had this goal. It's a big irrational goal. "I have to put my house on Angel Falls in Venezuela because a long time ago I told my wife we would go live there." But when he finally achieves that goal and he's sitting alone in the house exactly where he told Ellie it would be, he realizes it's a hollow victory. Yes, he got what he wanted, but in the course of act two, he learned that what he needs is a relationship with Russell. - So let's summarize. Act two often begins shortly after the inciting incident and is followed by as series of obstacles our characters must overcome in pursuit of their goals. By the mid point of act two, around the middle of the story, there's often a choice from which they can never turn back. We sometimes call this the point of no return. Act two may also contain the low point. This is generally where act two ends. In the next exercise, you'll have a chance to identify the second act and its elements in your favorite films, as well as start developing a second act for the story you want to create.