A beat is a term used to describe the timing and movement of a film or play. In the context of a screenplay

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

, it usually represents a pause in dialogue. In the context of the timing of a film, a beat refers to an event, decision, or discovery that alters the way the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 pursues his or her goal.

Beats as pacing elements

Beats are specific, measured, and spaced to create a pace that moves the progress of the story forward. Audiences feel uneven or erratic beats. Uneven beats are the most forgettable or sometimes tedious parts of a film. Erratic beats jolt the audience unnecessarily. Every cinematic genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

 has a beat that is specific to its development. Action film

Action film

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

 has significantly more beats (usually events); drama

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 has fewer beats (usually protagonist decisions or discovery). Between each beat a sequence occurs. This sequence is often a series of scenes that relates to the last beat and leads up to the next beat.

In most American films the beat falls approximately every five minutes. Following is a beat example from The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman....

:

• At 25 minutes: Andy talks to Red and asks for rock hammer. - Decision

• At 30 minutes: Andy gets rock hammer. - Event

• At 35 minutes: Andy risks his life to offer financial advice to Mr. Hadley. - Decision

• At 40 minutes: Andy notes ease of carving his name in the wall. - Discovery

• At 45 minutes: Mr. Hadley beats Bogs severely. - Event

After each beat listed above, a significant series of results takes place in the form of the sequence, but what most people remember are the beats, the moment something takes place with the protagonist.

Beats in a screenplay

When the term beat is used in a screenplay, it usually refers to a pause in dialogue. The pause shows readers of the script that a moment passes without any character speaking. For example, this scene from the American film Fargo

Fargo (film)

Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy-crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides, William H...

:

VOICE
Things have changed. Circumstances,
Jerry. Beyond the, uh ... acts of
God, force majeure...
JERRY
What the - how's Jean?
A beat.
CARL
... Who's Jean?
JERRY
My wife! What the - how's -