This chart is called the „moviemeter” because it measures the structure and position of moments and plot twists in a 120 minute movie. See it as your basic roadmap or blueprint of successful movies.

Who should get this chart?

Anyone who wants to write a good movie scrip and has been left confused by the different models out there on how to craft a great story. Anyone who felt that the models didn’t go far enough in showing the plot points of a story in relation to the actual minute, page or percentage count. This chart wants to help you in the general structuring of your script. And it's great to analyse movies, too.

What's on this chart?

The story structure models of Campbell/ Vogler and Truby on a timeline axis where they can be easily compared with each other. Above is an Act 1-3 and an Act 1-4 axis. There is a tendency in the industry towards shorter scripts of 100 page length, but 110 and 120 pages are still widely used, so the chart just shows all three. Following the general rule that a beat happens every two pages, there are beat numbers above the script page numbers. A percentage bar helps you to estimate the position of plot points for longer or shorter movies. There is also a time bar, of course. And if you ever wondered where the 20/60/20 or 25/50/25 act models unfold in relation to the story models, the time or page count, that’s in there, too.

Should I know the story models?

Yes. You can read a lot out of this chart right from the start, but not everything can be understood without background knowledge about the models. You need to be familiar with them before this chart really makes sense. Campbell and Vogler have written books available on Amazon and other major book stores. Once you’ve isolated the model that fits to your style, it would probably be a good idea to get the book or take a class. Also check out the storymeter for a more general overview of the different story structure models out there.

How accurate is this?

As accurate as the models are which you can see on the chart. Movies are still works of art, so there can never be a precise formula as to how to construct the perfect story, but it is fascinating how similar the successful ones are. They match the Truby and Campbell/Vogler models precisely. Compare for yourself! Basically all values on this chart should be seen as estimations when you use it in your script writing, because depending on how much dialogue you have on your page, you might end up with more or less than the roughly 1 minute per page we used as a basic parameter. But even if your page numbers don’t exactly „hit a bar”, this chart will show if you’ve written „past a bar” without letting a plot element happen. And it shows you where you are in the progression of the story, and how long the parts are in relation to one another.

What are these color bars?

If you’re familiar with the models on this chart, you’ve probably wondered why some experts place story element on specific pages. For example: Blake Snyder suggest the „Catalyst” for page 12 of a script while others call this element the „Inciting Incident” and place it on page 15, and even others say it’s an event somewhere past 10%. Even though there is a lot of variation when it comes to pinning down the location of a story element, there is little variation about the element itself and its general place in the structure of a good story. So basically this chart simply assigns a color bar to those story elements that occur in all models and places them in the most logical spot in the structure.

Is this your opinion?

No. There is some generalization in the closing of logical gaps and the pinning down of the position of elements. But it is free of a personal opinion on storytelling and just based on a logical assembly of typical, widely used story elements. An insane amount of hours was spent creating this overview and trying to make it as general as possible and now it should be fairly accurate as a general reference on script story structure.

Who created this?

Petra from cartafina. Petra is an Information Architect and Interaction Designer who helps large companies create valuable customer experiences on the web. With this chart her goal is to make complex information accessible and understandable for creative people so they can make fast, informed decisions. This chart wants to take some of the planning difficulty out of people's writing project so they can focus more on the creation and less on the organisation of information.

Can I print this chart?

Yes. It fits on „Letter” (US) or „A4” (Europe) size paper where it is readable with regular eyesight. It is created in vector format, so you can scale it up (or down) to any other paper size without loss of quality. That is if you find it hard to read or want to hang it on the wall, for example. You could print it two times for example: once in larger format (Ledger or A3 for example) for best viewing and the second time in comfortable Letter or A4 to hold while watching a movie (you’ve stopped watching movies just for pleasure, right?) For the greatest aha effect use this chart together with the storymeter or novelmeter by simply taping it to the top end. The lines will continue and you will have one gigantic chart showing you the plot points of all relevant models and in what section they should happen in the script or book.

Can I view this chart on digital devises?

Yes. The chart comes in PDF format so you can carry it around on and open it with any digital device that can display PDFs. It handles just like any regular PDF and can be zoomed in an out without loss of detail or quality so all type is always readable.

Can I edit this chart?

Yes. You can open the file and edit it, write on top of it or copy the text and graphics and use them in your own artwork. The only requirement would be that whatever you do with it adheres to our terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer. If you're looking for a quick and easy digital whiteboard for outlining your story, have a look at the timeliner mini and timeliner maxi. And the artboarder mini offers the same functionality, but adapted for visual story creators.

Can I duplicate and / or distribute this chart?

Duplicate yes, distribute no. Make as many digital copies or printouts for your own personal use as you like, but distributing or selling it is not the cartafina way of doing things. The price of each chart is roughly that of a restaurant visit (sometimes even less) but a cartafina charts should have plenty more satisfaction value for years to come. So please encourage your friends to get their own copies. That way they will also become official members of the cartafina clan entitling them to free updates and other member benefits. (Read our disclaimer for more information.)

Will this chart be updated from time to time?

Yes. The chart started with version 1.0. We are currently at 1.1. which adds two more movie time scales. Buyers of this chart will automatically get the latest version. If small corrections or updates are made, cartafina will send an updated charts to all previous buyers of this chart free of charge. (please allow 1-2 weeks for this to happen. There is that day job.) And just as with updates of software, big changes or additions will require a new purchase or an upgrade fee. If you bought this chart at some point in the past, come back to this page from time to time to see the latest version.

What do I get when I buy this?

You get a PDF document that is about 800 KB large which you can download immediately after your payment. It can be viewed and printed using any computer or digital device that has the free Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, or that can display PDFs with another type of software. (On the Mac, simply use the pre-installed Preview to view it) It fits on Letter or A4 paper and can be scaled up or down for printout on larger or smaller paper.

Got an unanswered question? Mail it or proceed to yet another add-to-cart opportunity:

If you tape the
moviemeter or
novelmeter (any one or even both) to the bottom end of the storymeter you get one gigantic chart showing you the plot points of all relevant models and in what section they should happen in a novel or a movie script.

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You can use cartafina charts as a reference in any of your creative projects. Print them, frame them, blog them. As often as you want, anywhere you want. For commercial use in courses or learning materials, please contact cartafina. Read the disclaimer for more information.

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Who creates all these charts?

Cartafina is Petra's Information Architecture Store. Petra is an Information Architect and Interaction Designer who helps large companies create valuable customer experiences for high-traffic eCommerce portals, high-impact brand sites and high-volume database intranets. Petra is passionate about finding and telling the magical story around a product or service and offering simple solutions to complex navigational problems. Contact herfor employment or project inquiries.

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