In television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that digs into the action and spins it around in another direction. It can also be an object of significant importance, around which the plot revolves. It can be anything from an event to an item to the discovery of a character or motive. The plot point is usually introduced at the exposition of the movie. Noted screenwriting teacher Syd Field teaches that the 'ideal' movie plot has the first plot point occurring around the 30th minute of the film. Others say that two plot points define the three acts of a movie, and that, if this is a 120 min one, those plot points must be located around the 30th minute and the 90th minute.
Famous quotes containing the words plot and/or point:
“The westward march has stopped, upon the final plains of the Pacific; and now the plot thickens ... with the change, the pause, the settlement, our people draw into closer groups, stand face to face, to know each other and be known.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“In philosophical inquiry, the human spirit, imitating the movement of the stars, must follow a curve which brings it back to its point of departure. To conclude is to close a circle.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)