FILMandMOVIEmaking.com

5 stars*****

There’s a substantial difference between wanting to write a superior screenplay that you would like to write and a killer screenplay that you want to win the academy award. If you follow Blake Snyder’s rules you’ll be on target for your academy award rather than the screenplay you really sought to write.

Blake shows us the rules for writing the blistering screenplay; the script that will be set up with a structure that matches exactly what Hollywood is looking forward for, down to the very page where vital action must occur. You (and your script) will need major surgery if you don’t have the ‘all is lost’ moment on page 75! Dare you move it to page 74 or 76? According to Blake you’ll put it exactly where he says otherwise Hollywood and studio executives will turn to page 75 and if they fail to see your ‘all is lost’ moment, your screenplay may be heading for the trash can. Can you cope with such detail as a screenwriter?

If you want to write a full flowing masterpiece and it doesn’t matter to you if it can get made, if you want to break all the rules; then it’s best you know all the rules first, so you know which ones to break and where.

Blake has had great success as a screenplay writer, seen his screenplays as movies, so his opinion does count. He has also sold a high number of scripts that have yet to be turned into films, so he must know what he’s talking about, but his opinion is just an opinion and as is the way with opinions, others will disagree. They’ll say he’s too structured in his approach, but he agrees with that thought. His structures are what Hollywood business studios want; it’s the type of script they’ll buy.

Blake suggests you spend a lot of time getting your logline ready first. You should make it so good that once heard, you’ll just need to see the script.

Next he talks through genre. He’s created ten different named genres, but the way he takes you through them, you know he’s right. He leaves little room for disagreement. If you know your logline and your genre inside out (watch movies in your genre!) you’re well on the way to organising your plan.

Blake takes us through the necessary planning of your hero. Where he’s been, where he’s going. What he has to go through to get there. You’ll need to know your hero through your logline.

Now if you think you’re ready to write your script Blake will tell you otherwise. Now is the time to really plan your movie into his specific 15 ‘beats’ which provides the structure of your screenplay, explaining how it can be cast on your storyboard. His software matches the beats and storyboard exactly – we’ll review it and post it here.

Blake expertly shows us how a major movie exactly matches his ‘beats’ planning. His second book (Save the Cat Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Every Story Ever Told) takes fifty movies and breaks them all down to his perfect 15 beat arrangement. We’ll review that later and let you know what we think.

Finally you get to write your script and it’s here that this book also guides you though the problems you may come across and how to solve those issues.

It’s a wonderful, friendly read. He comes across as your friend, but don’t mess with his views, because he’s right!

You’ll either love or loathe Save The Cat. I suggest you give it a read if you want to write your academy winner. If you just want to write your movie for pleasure and not necessarily to gain a hit, the book is still a great read because it shows you all the rules you’ll need to break, and you might just prove Blake Snyder wrong.