Screenplay Tension Arc Simulator

Screenplay Length

Total pages (≈1 min/page) 110

Plot Beats (drag to set intensity)

Selected beat intensity 50

Pacing Analytics

Act I length

28 pg

Act II length

55 pg

Avg. tension

Pacing score

—

How it works

A screenplay's dramatic tension can be modeled as a function T(p) of page number p, built from a small set of named plot points (beats) at fixed page fractions, each carrying an intensity 0–100. Between beats the curve is a smoothstep (cosine-eased) interpolation, and act boundaries fall at fixed fractions of total length:

Act I  ≈ pages 1 .. 0.25·N   (Setup, Inciting Incident, Plot Point 1)
Act II ≈ 0.25·N .. 0.75·N    (Rising Action, Midpoint, Plot Point 2)
Act III≈ 0.75·N .. N         (Climax, Resolution)

T(p) = lerp(I_k, I_{k+1}, smoothstep((p - p_k)/(p_{k+1} - p_k)))
smoothstep(t) = 3t² − 2t³

The ribbon graph plots T(p) as a 3D strip running left→right across pages, height = tension, with each beat marked by a pin. Dragging a beat's intensity slider re-solves the whole curve live. "Pacing score" penalizes long flat stretches (|ΔT/Δp| below a threshold for more than ~15 pages) and rewards a monotonically rising Act II leading into a climax spike — the two failure modes real script consultants flag most often ("sagging middle" and "no clear climax").

Real-world relevance: professional story consultants and software like Save the Cat!, Dramatica, and StudioBinder's beat boards use exactly this kind of page-mapped intensity curve to diagnose pacing problems before a script is greenlit.

Page 1 / 110

Tension curve Act boundaries

⚠ Couldn't load the 3D engineThree.js failed to load from the CDN. Check your connection and reload.