You have been provided with the pilot episode of the hit tv Grey’s Anatomy under Pages on Canvas. For this first writing assignment, you will be analyzing the Teaser, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, and Act 5. Use this script structure guide to help you anal

Teaser

First, you’ll have a TEASER heading centered and then start to write. This TEASER will usually be a short opening, maybe one location. Sometimes more. The page number can be upwards of 5 pages, although it’s best as a newcomer to stay around 2-3 pages.If you’re writing a pilot script, the teaser is an introduction to the characters and to the world. It will also tease the conflict in the story. For shows like Lost, Breaking Bad, Grey’s Anatomy, The Walking Dead, or any other hour-long episode, you’ll often see the character either in peril by the end of it, or the conflict of the story will be teased.Act OneAfter the TEASER, you’ll then start a new page with the ACT ONE heading.This is where you introduce the current story at hand. You’ve teased the peril, struggle, conflict, or situation that the episode will tackle, but now you’re getting things really started by setting the stage as far as where the characters are and what is leading up to the point of the next act where they will be confronted by the situation at hand.The end of the first act also offers a chance to leave a solid first cliffhanger or hook as well, which is what you really want to do at the end of each act.Keep in mind that whenever you start a new act, you ALWAYS open on a new page. So if your TEASER or ACT ONE ends halfway through a page, you tab ahead to the next page, leaving that white space, and then insert the heading at the top. It’s often helpful and customary — but not always necessary — to include END OF ACT ONE (or whatever applies) before you tab ahead for the next act. This helps the reader further distinguish where the break is.Act TwoThis is where the characters are dealing with the conflict full swing. They’re struggling with it. They’re figuring out how to get through it. Much like the beginning of the second act of a feature film script, the characters often still have some hope or chance. By the end of this act, the audience feels like the characters may figure things out — until, that is, another hook is introduced that flips that hope or chance on its head, forcing the characters to face the fact that they may not succeed.Act ThreeThis is where the characters are at their lowest point and the bad guys or conflict is winning. Where the second act gave the audience hope that they’d figure it out, all too often the third act is where that hope was proven to be false. By the end hook of this act, audiences will want to tune in to see how the characters will prevail despite such odds against them.Act FourThis is where the characters, against all odds, begin to prevail again. They start to triumph and win. They’ve likely learned from their missteps in the first and second act and now they’re applying that to the conflict at hand.Act FiveThis is the closure. Some shows actually end with the fourth act while others end the fourth act with a significant cliffhanger or hook and then use the fifth act to close things up with a finale of sorts.Page Breakdowns for Each ActWhile there’s no exact formula to follow, there are some basic guidelines that will help you steer each act. Generally speaking, hour long episode scripts can be anywhere from 45-63 pages, although a majority of the time you want to stick with 50-55 pages. The basic sense of it is that one page equals one minute, and with a sixty-minute show, you obviously need to account for commercial breaks. Thus if you go above 60 pages, you’re already over an hour. So use that as a gauge. It’s not an exact science by any means, but as a novice television writer, it’s a good place to start.With five act television scripts, you generally want to keep each act between 9-12 pages, give or take a page. The old benchmark was 15 pages per act for four act television scripts, but with additional commercial time these days — not to mention more story — it can now often break down differently.Here are the page breakdowns for some of the best pilot scripts of now iconic television series:The Grey’s Anatomy pilot:

• Teaser – 3 pages
• Act One – 11 pages
• Act Two – 11.5 pages
• Act Three – 8 pages
• Act Four – 9 pages
• Act Five – 8 pages