After you've come up with what you feel is a workable premise for a story, the very next action you will want to take is often the basic outline. This is a skeletal structure for the working body of the film, and is simpler than a step outline, which contains every scene in the film.

How should you begin?

The barest outline should really contain every major step in the story, which means that you will leave out most of the subplot elements. I subscribe to the idea of a four-part three act structure, as I find it a useful tool with which to build a story. One you've laid out the script with this basic structure in order to solidify its strong dramatic direction, then you can "personalize" it and make it a less of a traditional Hollywood style if you wish.

The four parts of a three act structure each have three subacts. Thus, if you were to lay out the structural skeleton, the minimum number of bones would look like the layout below, in which I have also labeled them with their corresponding structural elements as explained in the chapters on three-act structure.

• ACT I
  Subact 1 - includes Initiating Event
  Subact 2 - ends with Call to Action (the "Page 17" event)
  Subact 3 - often begins with a refusal of the call, and ends with Commitment to Act
• ACT II
  Subact 1
  Subact 2
  Subact 3
• Act II Midpoint - point of no return
  Subact 1
  Subact 2
  Subact 3 - The Moment of Truth
• ACT III
  Subact 1 - A New Tactic
  Subact 2 - The Demon is Confronted
  Subact 3 - ends with climax
• Coda

For your elucidation, I will show you how this structural skeleton works for the film "Thelma & Louise."

• ACT I
  Subact 1 - includes Initiating Event
  Thelma and Louise decide to take a trip together, although Thelma has not yet informed her bossy husband, Darryl.
  Subact 2 - ends with Call to Action (the "Page 17" event)
  In the parking lot of a country and western bar, Louise shoots Harlan, Thelma's would-be rapist.
  Subact 3 - often begins with a refusal of the call, and ends with Commitment to Act
  Thelma suggests they go to the Police. Louise refuses, and says that no one will believe their version of the story. The two decide to flee.
• ACT II
  Subact 1
  A cop, Slocum, begins to investigate the murder. Louise decides that she is going to Mexico, but Thelma hasn't yet agreed to join her. Louise asks her boyfriend, Jimmy, to wire her the money. Thelma argues with Darryl over the phone, but doesn't tell him what happened.
  Subact 2
  Thelma meets J.D., but Louise won't give him a ride. Thelma decides to go to Mexico with Thelma. They meet up with J.D. again, and Thelma begs Louise to take him along. The FBI is now involved in the hunt.
  Subact 3
  Jimmy shows up at the Western Union money drop with the $6700 Louise requested. J.D. seduces Thelma, during which he tells her about his criminal past robbing gas stations; they make love. They discover that J.D. has stolen the money.
• Act II Midpoint - point of no return
  Subact 1
  The FBI sets up at Darryl's house. A lascivious truck driver makes obscene gestures at T & L. Thelma, inspired by J.D.'s methods, robs a store.
  Subact 2
  Slocum talks to Jimmy and interrogates J.D. Louise talks to Slocum on the phone, and he tries to assure her that he's on their side. The lascivious truck driver returns. Thelma realizes that Louise was raped in Texas.
  Subact 3 - The Moment of Truth
  A state trooper pulls the two over, and they lock him in his trunk at gunpoint. Louise talks to Slocum, and he begs her to turn herself in, says they're now charged with murder, and that he knows what happened to Louise in Texas. The FBI successfully traces the call.
• ACT III
  Subact 1 - A New Tactic
  Thelma tells Louise that everything's changed and she can't ever go back. The pair lure the lascivious truck driver onto a side road, and blow his rig up with gunfire.
  Subact 2 - The Demon is Confronted
  The cops begin pursuit. T & L temporally lose them. They arrive at the Grand Canyon, and accidentally almost drive off of the edge. Slocum arrives by helicopter, and dozens of police cars appear.
  Subact 3 - ends with climax
  Thelma and Louise refuse to surrender, and drive off of the edge of the Grand Canyon.

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