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The Cinematic Curriculum Method Toolkit · Design core

The Three-Act Weighting Calculator

Weigh your course's three acts against the book's 30 / 50 / 20 and see where the time really goes.

The Cinematic Curriculum Method Toolkit · 39 tools

£19.99

Also in 2 other products, from £14.99.

Most courses spend too long getting started and too little time on the ending.

Weeks go on orientation, the real work gets squeezed, and the final act shrinks to a rushed week of wrap-up. Skip integration and, in the calculator's own words, learners finish but don't transfer.

What it does

The Three-Act Weighting Calculator takes the share of course time each act gets now and sets it against the book's typical weighting of 30% / 50% / 20%. It reads your reason for each act, quotes the clearest one back to you and names the act furthest from its weight.

The Three-Act Structure. Act I: Setup (the learner enters the Ordinary World: the vision, the stakes, the theme, foundational concepts, the call to adventure). Act II: Confrontation (challenge and growth: complexity, practice, feedback, small wins, occasional struggle). Act III: Resolution (the learner applies everything they’ve gained: capstones, synthesis, identity shifts). Weighting: 30% / 50% / 20%. These proportions are the shape I start from; the length of the course, its subject and its assessment will all push them around.

The Cinematic Curriculum Method, Appendix §5, Story Structures for Curriculum

What you’ll do

  1. Slide each act to the share of time it takes now, until the total reads 100%.
  2. Say what happens in each act and why it needs that share.
  3. Press «Weigh my acts».

What you get. A score out of 100 that weighs your balance and how well you justify it, your split drawn as one bar, the act furthest from its weight, and three priority moves. The report downloads as a one-page PDF.

Before and after

The Three-Act Weighting Calculator — empty, as it opensThe Three-Act Weighting Calculator as it opens: every field empty, each with the app’s own prompt.☾ACADEMIC METHOD TOOLKIT · DESIGN COREThe Three-Act Weighting CalculatorMost courses front-load setup and rush the payoff. Allocate your course's timeacross the three acts and see where the weight really sits.Allocate Your Course TimeDistribute 100% across the three acts as your course actually runs — not as you wish it ran.1Act I — OrientationWho am I, what is this, why does it matter. Setup and investment. Recommended ~30%.0%What happens in Act I, and why does it need this share of the time?e.g. onboarding, diagnostic, building investment in the transformation...2Act II — DevelopmentThe work, the struggle, the discovery. The heart of the transformation. Recommended ~50%.0%What is the actual work of Act II, and why this share?e.g. the core practice cycles, the productive struggle, the discovery...3Act III — IntegrationSynthesis, performance, transfer. Where learning becomes identity. Recommended ~20%.0%What happens in Act III, and why this share?e.g. synthesis, the final performance, transfer planning, the farewell...Total allocated: 0%Aim for 100%. The classic cinematic weighting is 30 / 50 / 20 — orientation, the work, the payoff.Weigh my acts →Load Worked ExampleReset
BeforeAs it opens: three acts at 0%, total allocated 0%.
The Three-Act Weighting Calculator — the result for the worked exampleThe Three-Act Weighting Calculator: the result the app returns for its worked example, copied from an offline run on 20 Oct 2026 of production’s document after APPFIX4 (book v3’s 30 / 50 / 20).68BALANCESlightly offOne act is crowding the others. Nudge the weights below toward30/50/20 unless you have a deliberate reason not to.What the analysis noticedRead from your own words — patterns, tells, and blind spots in what you wrote.›Your largest block is Act I at 45%.›Act I is furthest from its recommended weight (45% vs 30%).›Your clearest reasoning is on Act I — “It feels thorough but it's mostly throat-clearing”. Bring theother blocks up to this level of specificity.45%45%10%100%Act I — 45%Act II — 45%Act III — 10%Your three priority movesRanked by leverage — the weakest areas first.1Act I — Orientation (45% vs 30%)Orientation is eating time the transformation needs. Front-load emotion, not housekeeping — getlearners into the work sooner.2Act III — Integration (10% vs 20%)Integration is the most-skipped act. Without it, learners finish but don't transfer. Protect the timefor synthesis, performance, and the farewell.3Act II — Development (45% vs 50%)Development is where change happens. If it's under ~50%, the course is all setup and payoff with toolittle actual work in between.Summary. 68/100 (balance 85 · justification 43). Allocated 100% across 3 blocks.⤓ Download PDF✉ Email me this report↗ ShareSave ProgressExample: the app’s own worked example, as it loads
AfterThe app's own worked example, weighed: 45 / 45 / 10, Act I furthest from its weight.

Watch it work

1 / 6Open the calculator. Three acts, all at 0%.

How to use it

  1. Open the Three-Act Weighting Calculator from My tools.
  2. Slide Act I, Act II and Act III to the share of course time each takes now. Watch «Total allocated» reach 100%.
  3. Under each act, say what happens in it and why it needs that share. «Load Worked Example» shows a finished set.
  4. Press «Weigh my acts».
  5. Read the score, the bar and the three priority moves. Adjust and weigh again.
  6. Press «Download PDF» to keep the report.

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