Screenplay Structure Analysis

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Written by Aaron Sorkin · Legal Drama · 161 pages · 191 scenes · 3-act natural structure · linear organization · Analysis confidence: Low

The story of the 1969 trial of seven defendants charged by the federal government with conspiracy and inciting to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Tone
Dramatic with satirical elements, politically charged

Tension curve

Dramatic intensity across The Trial of the Chicago 7 from first page to last, sampled at 40 points on a 0–10 scale. Values: 6.4, 6.1, 5.7, 5.7, 6, 6.4, 6.8, 6.9, 6.9, 6.7, 6.6, 6.6, 6.9, 7.3, 7.5, 7.7, 7.4, 7.1, 6.8, 7, 6.9, 7.1, 7.1, 6.3, 6, 6.5, 7.5, 7.6, 6.9, 6.8, 6.6, 6.3, 6, 6.4, 7.1, 7.3, 7.2, 7.2, 7.6, 7.9.

Structure at a glance

Inciting incident
Page 25, 16% of the script: The packed courtroom is introduced with defendants, lawyers, and security in place as Rennie Davis shows Tom Hayden his daily list of Americans killed since their arrest while Bobby Seale arrives in shackles.
Act 1 break
Page 44, 27% of the script: The trial begins in earnest as all defendants are introduced in the courtroom and the legal battle commences.
Midpoint
Page 97, 60% of the script: Kunstler systematically gets Daphne to admit that none of the defendants except Jerry and Rennie were present during the park incident, and that Jerry and Rennie were actually trying to turn people around and send them back down the hill.
Act 2 break
Page 143, 89% of the script: Bobby Seale is bound and gagged in court, representing the trial's descent into chaos and the system's authoritarian response.
Climax
Page 153, 95% of the script: Abbie testifies about carrying ideas across state lines and quotes Lincoln about revolutionary rights, while Judge Hoffman repeatedly interrupts.
Peak tension
7.9 out of 10, reached about 100% of the way through; the script averages 6.8.
Average scene length
1.4 pages

Structural personality

Sorkin employs a sophisticated dual-timeline structure that weaves between the 1969 courtroom proceedings and flashbacks to the 1968 Chicago protests. The script builds tension through rapid-fire cross-cutting between testimony and the events being described, creating a cinematic trial format where past and present inform each other. The structure serves both as legal procedural and historical recreation, with the courtroom serving as the primary arena where political ideologies clash. The pacing accelerates as the trial becomes increasingly contentious, culminating in the shocking treatment of Bobby Seale.

Pacing

The opening prologue (scenes 1-36) establishes historical context through montage before settling into the trial format. The middle section uses rapid cross-cutting between courtroom testimony and Chicago flashbacks (scenes 44-122) to maintain momentum. The final act slows to focus on character conflicts and moral reckonings as the defendants face the consequences of their principles.

Themes

Similar shapes

Screenplays whose tension curve most closely matches The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Scene summaries and structural markers are generated by AI analysis of the screenplay text and may contain minor inaccuracies. ScriptGraph analyzes structure and does not reproduce screenplay text.

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