Looking at Screenplay Structure - Serenity

In order to investigate the structure of screenplays, I've looked at Serenity, largely because it's what my housemate was watching on his computer last night. While there is the whole backlog of Firefly content leading up to this movie, I'm only focusing on interactions explicitly shown in the movie, for simplicity's sake.


Act I

The crew of Serenity are preparing for a new job, taking along River Tan, the traumatized "reader" who was rescued by her brother from a government facility, along in order to ensure a smooth job. During the robbery of a vault, River senses Reavers nearby, and warns the crew. An exciting chase scene ensues. Recovering from the bank job at a bar, Simon (River's brother) decides that it's time for the duo to leave the crew for the sake of their own safety. Meanwhile, River arrives at the bar and watches a video broadcast on the bar tv which triggers her into a psychotic episode, shooting everyone in the bar. Simon manages to shout out a safe word that causes her to fall asleep. Returning to Serenity, the crew get in touch with Mr. Universe - a techno-geek who uncovers that River's outburst was triggered by a subliminal message in the advertisement that River was watching. He is able to determine that River whispered the word "miranda" just before her outbreak.

The tipping point is River's psychotic episode, and the utterance of the word "miranda". It is a clue to her mental state and the experiments that the government conducted on her, and the secrets that she picked up thanks to her now psychic abilities. The film then becomes a race to discover the secret behind "miranda" before the crew, and River, can be arrested by The Operative - a man sent by the government to track down River and contain her.
Act II

When River suffers another breakdown, the crew is able to determine that "miranda" is actually an outer rim planet, rumored to be uninhabitable. Travelling to the planet means crossing Reaver territory, a suicidal act, and the crew decide to head to a mining colony where they have friends. When they arrive, the discover that the colony has been razed, and Shepherd Book, a former passenger on Serenity, has been killed. The Operative leaves a message for the crew, saying that more of the same will happen until River is handed over. Realizing that they cannot avoid what is happening, the crew decides to discover what exactly the secret behind Miranda is. In order to travel through Reaver territory the ship is remodeled to look like a Reaver ship. Succesfully making it through the Reaver territory, the crew discovers that Miranda is a perfectly habitable environment. However, the cities are empty of life, instead they are filled with decomposing corpses. The crew discovers a log recorded by an Alliance government search and rescue team, and uncover that a chemical substance was being tested on the population. The chemical was designed to suppress aggression, but it worked too well. As a result, the population of Miranda stopped acting, and simply fell asleep wherever they were and let themselves die. However, not everyone reacted the same way. Approximately a tenth of the population had the opposite reaction to the drug, becoming extremely aggressive and mentally unstable - these became the Reavers. Mal decides that this message needs to be broadcasted to the world, so that the truth can be known.

The climax to this point is the uncovering of the terrible secret which has been burning River's brain from the inside out. The crew literally has to pass through the belly of the beast when going through Reaver territory.
Act III

In order to reach Mr Universe to broadcast their discovery, the crew need to make it through the Reaver territory again, and then through The Operative's ships which await them on the other side. As they leave Reaver territory, Serenity opens fire on a Reaver ship, tricking the Reaver's into following them, and then attacking The Operative's fleet. A massive battle follows, as Serenity tries to make it to the planet where Mr Universe is located. Serenity crash lands, and is apparantly out of danger. A harpoon from a Reaver ship impacts the ship and impales the pilot, Walsh. Fleeing Serenity, the crew ends up setting up a last stand in a corridor to hold off the Reavers to allow Mal enough time to make his way to Mr Universe to broadcast the message. Discovering that Mr Universe has been killed, Mal is told by a robotic wife that there is a backup system in another part of the complex. Unfortunately, this message replays for The Operative, who follows Mal. Meanwhile the rest of the crew is losing ground the Reavers and retreats, sustaining lots of injuries. When the crew is unable to close the door behind them properly, and realize that they have left behind the med kit, River dives through the crack in the door, tosses the medkit behind her, and closes the door. Mal reaches the second transmitter, followed by The Operative, who attempts to stop Mal. A fight ensues, but Mal is able to outwit The Operative and transmit the message. He returns to the crew, and is informed that River is trapped on the other side of the door. Seconds later the door opens to reveal River, surrounded by dead Reavers. The Operative, having watched the transmission regarding Miranda, orders the Alliance fleet to stand down.

The film ends with the burials of the friends that have died along the way, and a return to the ship, where River takes control as pilot.

This third act also is fairly climactic, but as the crew is literally returning to the old world (ie; Mr Universe's control room to broadcast the message) anew (with a terrible message), I decided to split it up this way. This same story point happens again when River becomes the new pilot on Serentiy, and they continue on their travels.