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Screenplay beat sheet template

A screenplay beat sheet places seven landmarks on the page count of a feature: an opening image, the inciting incident, the end of act one, a midpoint, the end of act two, the climax, and a closing image. A script page runs about a minute of screen time, so the marks are also timings.

Seven storyboard frames connect a screenplay's opening, turning points, and closing image.

When to use it

  • You write features and think in page numbers, not word counts.
  • Readers say your first act is long. The act-one break should be near page 28.
  • You want the frame of a film before you outline its scenes.

The page marks rest on the long-standing rule that a script page runs about a minute on screen.

The 7 beats at 110 pages

The marks assume 110 pages, because a feature script runs 90 to 120 pages. Each beat keeps its percentage at any length, so scale the marks to your own.

  1. Opening Image 1% · page 1 The first thing on screen. It should be answered by the last.
  2. Inciting Incident 12% · page 13 The event that starts it, roughly ten to fifteen pages in.
  3. End of Act One 25% · page 28 They commit, and the story moves into its real setting.
  4. Midpoint 50% · page 55 The turn: a false win or a false loss, and the pressure rises after it.
  5. End of Act Two 75% · page 83 The lowest point, and the decision made from inside it.
  6. Climax 90% · page 99 The confrontation the film has been arranging.
  7. Closing Image 99% · page 109 The last thing on screen. Rhyme it with the first.

A worked example

A stunt double is hired to fake the star's death on set, and learns the star is really in danger.

  1. Opening Image. Rae, in the star's wig, falls off a roof for the fourth take.
  2. Inciting Incident. The producer asks her to stage an accident the star will not survive, on paper.
  3. End of Act One. She takes the job and moves into the star's trailer.
  4. Midpoint. The star's brakes fail for real, and Rae was driving.
  5. End of Act Two. The producer frames Rae for the attempt, and the star believes it.
  6. Climax. Rae doubles for the star one last time, on the roof, to draw the killer out.
  7. Closing Image. Rae falls off the same roof, and this time the credits carry her name.

Open this template in Tabularia

Start a new project, choose Basic Screenplay, and pick the Feature: Three-Act shape. Each beat becomes a marker spread across the script, to drag onto the scenes you write.

Open in Tabularia

Or take it away

The Word file has every beat with its note and mark, a line under each for your own plan, and the example above. It opens in Word, Google Docs, Pages, and LibreOffice.

Download for Word