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mgouker's review against another edition
2.0
Blake Snyder taught a formulaic approach to writing spec scripts. He sold two of them and so his voice is one of experience. Really, though, it was shockingly inflexible. Also, his anecdotes and classifications were antiquated in this book. Snyder presented another form of genre classification:
Monster in. the House — Of which Jaws, Tremors, Alien(, The Exorcist, Fatal Attraction, and Panic Room are examples. (Alien, Fatal Attraction, Scream, The Ring, Saw)
Golden Fleece — This is the category of movie best exemplified by Star Wars; The Wizard of Oz; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Back To The Future; and most "heist movies." (Bad News Bears,
Out of the Bottle — This incorporates films like Liar, Liar; Bruce Almighty; Love Potion ; Freaky Friday; Flubber; and even my own little kid hit from Disney, Blank Check.
Dude with a Problem — This is a genre that ranges in style, tone, and emotional substance from Breakdown and Die Hard to Titanic and Schindler's List.
Rites Of Passage — Every change-of-life story from "10" to Ordinary People to Days of Wine and Roses makes this category.
Buddy Love — This genre is about more than the buddy movie dynamic as seen in cop buddy pictures, Dumb & Dumber, and Rain Man — but also every love story ever made!
Whydunit — Who cares who, it's why that counts. Includes Chinatown, China Syndrome, JFK, and The Insider.
The Fool Triumphant — One of the oldest story types, this category includes Being There, Forrest Gump, Dave, The Jerk, Amadeus, and the work of silent clowns like Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd.
Institutionalized. —Just like it sounds, this is about groups: Animal House, M*A*S*H, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and "family" sagas such as American Beauty and The Godfather.
Superhero — This isn't just about the obvious tales you'd think of, like Superman and Batman, but also includes Dracula, Frankenstein, even Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind.
On the other hand, Blake Snyder's Save the Cat Goes to the Movies is a great survey of (mostly) popular films, which attempts to fit each film to his guidelines. It works a lot better, and this approach is a lot less offensive than his page 25, page 55, etc rules: (note that he does allow that in longer or shorter films that the values are proportional)
————
Opening Image (1)
Theme Stated (5)
Set-Up (1-10)
Catalyst (12)
Debate (12-25)
Break Into Two (25)
B-Story (2-hander, 4-hander) (30)
Fun & Games (30-55)
Midpoint (55)
Bad Guys Close In (55-75)
All Is Lost (whiff of death) (75)
Dark Night of the Soul (75-85)
Break Into Three (85)
Finale (A&B stores cross, synthesis) (85-110)
Final Image (110)
If you are interested in screenwriting, both books are essential, but this is not the truth. The truth is in your head. ;-)
Monster in. the House — Of which Jaws, Tremors, Alien(, The Exorcist, Fatal Attraction, and Panic Room are examples. (Alien, Fatal Attraction, Scream, The Ring, Saw)
Golden Fleece — This is the category of movie best exemplified by Star Wars; The Wizard of Oz; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Back To The Future; and most "heist movies." (Bad News Bears,
Out of the Bottle — This incorporates films like Liar, Liar; Bruce Almighty; Love Potion ; Freaky Friday; Flubber; and even my own little kid hit from Disney, Blank Check.
Dude with a Problem — This is a genre that ranges in style, tone, and emotional substance from Breakdown and Die Hard to Titanic and Schindler's List.
Rites Of Passage — Every change-of-life story from "10" to Ordinary People to Days of Wine and Roses makes this category.
Buddy Love — This genre is about more than the buddy movie dynamic as seen in cop buddy pictures, Dumb & Dumber, and Rain Man — but also every love story ever made!
Whydunit — Who cares who, it's why that counts. Includes Chinatown, China Syndrome, JFK, and The Insider.
The Fool Triumphant — One of the oldest story types, this category includes Being There, Forrest Gump, Dave, The Jerk, Amadeus, and the work of silent clowns like Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd.
Institutionalized. —Just like it sounds, this is about groups: Animal House, M*A*S*H, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and "family" sagas such as American Beauty and The Godfather.
Superhero — This isn't just about the obvious tales you'd think of, like Superman and Batman, but also includes Dracula, Frankenstein, even Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind.
On the other hand, Blake Snyder's Save the Cat Goes to the Movies is a great survey of (mostly) popular films, which attempts to fit each film to his guidelines. It works a lot better, and this approach is a lot less offensive than his page 25, page 55, etc rules: (note that he does allow that in longer or shorter films that the values are proportional)
————
Opening Image (1)
Theme Stated (5)
Set-Up (1-10)
Catalyst (12)
Debate (12-25)
Break Into Two (25)
B-Story (2-hander, 4-hander) (30)
Fun & Games (30-55)
Midpoint (55)
Bad Guys Close In (55-75)
All Is Lost (whiff of death) (75)
Dark Night of the Soul (75-85)
Break Into Three (85)
Finale (A&B stores cross, synthesis) (85-110)
Final Image (110)
If you are interested in screenwriting, both books are essential, but this is not the truth. The truth is in your head. ;-)
amlibera's review against another edition
4.0
Clearly not the last book or even the first book on screenwriting that you ever need to read. But the definitions of genre and structure in popular film are really useful and sparked a number of related insights.
ztaylor4's review against another edition
5.0
I haven't written a screenplay, so maybe I'm not even the best person to review this book. What I can say is that I think the templates and recipes in Save the Cat could help a person write a decent screenplay. It provides clear-cut, concrete story guidelines, and practical advice on what to do with your screenplay once you write it. I think the advice in this book will help me as I write and revise my own stories.
devfor96's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.25
puck_jay's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Do not develop a parasocial relationship with the writer challenge level impossible (this guy is my grandpa now)
swicksy's review against another edition
4.0
I have worked in the Entertainment Business, in particular the development business for many years and currently read and evaluate scripts for a living. I had heard a lot about this book from colleagues and thought I would give it a read, and thought it was one of the more clear and concise screenplay books out there with clear examples of strong movie ideas and an approach to not only write but hopefully sell your screenplay. It's a no-nonsense approach that anyone can follow and hopefully budding screenwriters will pick this book up and use this advice, because it is good advice.
sofijakryz's review against another edition
3.0
A clear and concise summary on how to write yet another, standard screenplay. And I was wondering why so many movies or books watch/read the same these days. The book is strongly focused on writing as a craft - like making shoes or cheese, or baking bagels. Which does explain a lot about screenwriting or writing industry and the market this industry supplies. No, I would not be able to write even half the things the author has written. But even so, I suspect that even if one practices the tips within the book by a rule, unless the person is very talented, they will hardly go very far. The market is competitive and you have to be able to do more than average thing to get published these days. Perhaps that's the reason so many newer books I pick up contain the elements of weird. The tips themselves are quite good though: thinking about the structure, characters, audience, knowing one's aims and goals as an author, studying examples of movies one likes. There are even exercises at the end if each chapter. Which is nice. What I did not like, though, was that hyperfocus on "let's bake another something using the formula" - I've read a few books too many by Dan Brown (I read 4 and they were all the same) and saw a few Hollywood movies too many. Perhaps that's why I don't watch them any more.
I also suspect the gentleman knows more tricks than he has betrayed.
I also suspect the gentleman knows more tricks than he has betrayed.