Avoid THIS at All Costs! Script Structure Lessons from Snow White and the Huntsman

Today’s plot point selection is SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. If you’re writing an action-adventure fantasy, then you should definitely study these plot points to see what kind of hijinks your characters can get up to.

Even if you’re not writing an action-adventure fantasy, you should still study the movie’s structure. As described in screenwriting tip #5 from SNOW WHITE, it alternates victories (+) with failures (-), a pattern commonly found in professionally written screenplays.

There is one aspect of SNOW WHITE’s structure which you don’t want to imitate. Snow White is on the run for ALL of Act Two. This is something that you must avoid. Of course, you should include chase sequences in your screenplay if those are necessary to your story. They have led to some of the most riveting and action-packed scenes in cinema.

But the entirety of your second act shouldn’t be a long chase sequence in which your hero is the prey. If your hero is being hunted, at some point, before Act Three, he should become the hunter (as that’s infinitely more interesting).

I think it goes without saying that your hero should definitely be doing the hunting during your climax. Otherwise your ending will be as anticlimactic as Y2K. You do remember that non-event, don’t you?

As a random side note, here’s an interesting grammatical discussion on the correct plural form of “dwarf.”

You may also be interested in checking out my comprehensive guide to the plot point known as the inciting incident–SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN is one of ten included case studies!

Anyway, onto the plot points from the theatrical edition of SNOW WHITE…

Plot Points from Snow White and the Huntsman

1. Snow White’s mother wishes for a child “as white as snow, with lips as red as blood, hair as black as a raven’s wings, and all with the strength of that rose.”
2. Snow White is born. She’s adored not just for her beauty but also for her defiant spirit.
3. Snow White’s mother praises the beauty in Snow’s heart, cautioning her to never lose it. William, Snow’s friend, plucks an apple from a special tree, pretends to give it to her, then takes a bite for himself.
4. Snow’s mother dies. A Dark Army lures the widowed king into battle. The king is victorious.
5. He becomes enchanted by the army’s beautiful captive, Ravenna. She’s a witch who intended for this to happen all along.
6. Ravenna confesses to young Snow that she feels they “are bound together.” Ravenna marries the king, jealously observing that the entire court adores Snow White.
7. While castigating the intentions of men, who “ruin women and then toss them to the dogs like scraps,” Ravenna murders the king in his bed.
8. Ravenna welcomes her brother, Finn, into the castle. He brings with him a large army loyal to her. After Snow White discovers her dad’s dead body, she tries to flee. William escapes with his dad, but Snow is caught by Finn.
9. Ravenna asks a solid gold mirror, “who’s the fairest one of all?” A man, Midas-like emerges, and replies, “it is you, my queen.”
10. Under Ravenna’s reign, the kingdom withers. Meanwhile, imprisoned in the North Tower, Snow White has grown into a young woman.
11. A young girl, Greta, is imprisoned in a cell next to Snow White’s. Snow learns that William’s dad, Duke Hammond, is still alive, but Greta doesn’t know if William is.
12. After Ravenna takes a bath in milk, she kills a young rebel in front of his father and reveals her invincibility.
13. Despite her powers, Ravenna’s aging. Finn produces Greta, and Ravenna sucks all of the youth out of the poor girl.
14. Ravenna questions her mirror, who has an unpleasant response. Ravenna’s aging because Snow White has come of age. The mirror tells Ravenna that Snow White can kill her, but that if Ravenna steals Snow’s heart, she’ll gain youthful immortality.
15. Snow White fends off Finn and escapes from her prison cell. Hunted by Ravenna’s soldiers, Snow White exits the castle via the sewers.
16. On a white horse, she gallops away from Ravenna’s men. The horse abandons her at the edge of a terrifying enchanted forest.
17. Ravenna yells at Finn and demands he find someone to hunt Snow White.
18. Enter the Huntsman. He’s a drunkard, but a fighter.
19. Ravenna promises the Huntsman that if he can capture the prisoner who’s escaped into the forest, she’ll bring his wife back to life.
20. In the forest, the Huntsman tracks Snow White. Finn and his men follow. When the Huntsman captures Snow, Finn reveals that even Ravenna can’t bring the Huntsman’s wife back from the dead.
21. The Huntsman battles with Finn and Finn’s men, finally promising Snow White to take her to Duke Hammond in exchange for gold.
22. William, who’s grown into a brave and skilled bowman, learns Snow White is still alive and vows to find her.
23. In the forest, Snow and the Huntsman argue. Meanwhile, William joins a group of bounty hunters, helmed by Finn.
24. The Huntsman teaches Snow how to fight.
25. They’re just about to leave the forest, when they’re attacked by a troll. Snow White manages to quell the beastie with a loving glance.
26. They take refuge in a village by the river where the women deliberately scar their cheeks so Ravenna won’t capture them and steal their beauty. The village leader reveals Snow White’s true identity as the rightful princess to the Huntsman.
27. In the middle of the night, he deserts Snow White. But when he realizes that Finn and his men are attacking the village, he returns and rescues Snow. (William is on-site too, but he’s unable to help Snow White.)
28. In a flashback, we see Ravenna drink a potion made by her mother which will make Ravenna eternally beautiful. But, her mother warns her, the spell can be undone “by the fairest blood.”
29. Eight dwarves hang Snow White and the Huntsman from a tree. Snow reveals that she’s the princess. A blind dwarf named Muir confirms it. The dwarves cut their captives down and escape to Sanctuary, home to the fairies.
30. At nightfall, they reminiscence, sing, and dance around a campfire.
31. Led by benevolent fairies, Snow White ventures deep into Sanctuary where the White Hart blesses her.
32. But Finn’s men have discovered their hideout. One shoots the hart with an arrow. William tries to rescue Snow White and reveals his identity to her.
33. The Huntsman kills Finn, who reveals that he killed the Huntsman’s wife.
34. Old and withered, Ravenna writhes on the floor as she experiences Finn’s death.
35. A bounty hunter’s arrow pierces one of the dwarves. At his funeral, they vow to follow Snow White to “claim their pride again.”
36. They burn the dead dwarf’s body and begin the journey towards Duke Hammond’s castle.
37. Ravenna practices some kind of dark magic. Meanwhile, William confesses how he feels about Snow White to the Huntsman.
38. The next morning, William reveals his feelings to Snow White. They kiss. He tosses her an apple. When she bites it, she falls down onto the snow-covered ground because–
39. –it’s not William, but Ravenna in disguise. The queen is about to stab Snow White, but she is thwarted by the Huntsman (and the real William). Both are devastated by the loss of Snow White.
40. Ravenna returns to her castle, even more aged than before.
41. Bearing Snow White’s body, a somber party arrives at Duke Hammond’s castle. Filled with grief, the Huntsman kisses Snow White in farewell. Unbeknownst to him, she wakes up.
42. In the courtyard, she asks the people to follow her into battle against Ravenna. In solidarity, the kneel before her.
43. She leads the charge from Hammond’s castle towards Ravenna’s. The dwarves sneak inside the castle via the sewers.
44. As Snow White and her army canter down the beach, the dwarves work to raise Ravenna’s portcullis.
45. The queen’s soldiers hurl balls of fire at Snow White’s galloping army, following that blitz with scores of arrows.
46. Snow White makes it to the portcullis, but the dwarves have been ambushed. Finally, they regain control of the portcullis, and Snow White and her army breach Ravenna’s castle.
47. Hand-to-hand combat ensues. Snow White breaks off from the group to search for Ravenna.
48. In front of Snow, Ravenna unleashes magical iron soldiers against the Huntsman, William, and more of Hammond’s men.
49. Ravenna disarms Snow and vows to rule forever.
50. Just as Ravenna is about to stab Snow White, Snow stabs her instead. Youth evaporating, Ravenna dies.
51. Snow White is crowned queen. Everyone–William, the dwarves, Duke Hammond, the courtiers, and the Huntsman–hails to their new leader.

So…what did you learn from SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN’s structure? Do you have any strong opinions about Kristen Stewart as the lead? Share them in the comments!

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