Mar 15, 2019 - Over $495.00 worth of feedback.
Our approach is simple, a screenplay competition that uses the same language the writer, the reader and the decision makers use.A novel idea, right? Get everyone working off of the same page, literally!??We are fortunate enough that Save the Cat! And the 15 story points (our beat sheet) is part of creative culture and has become the shared language between the creator, the reader and the decision maker.We are going to put this to use to better position you to sell your work. Plain and simple.Introducing. “Blake Snyder’s SAVE THE CAT! SCREENPLAY CHALLENGE”All entrants to receive:.
A review by readers and judges trained in the Save the Cat! Methodology. Save the Cat! Script report based on the Save the Cat! 15 Beats.
Feedback grounded in structure and marketability and consistently applied to all screenplays. The report will answer 50 questions while scoring your screenplay (Save the Cat! Strikes Back, Greenlight checklist - pages 104-108). Over $495. Our approach is simple, a screenplay competition that uses the same language the writer, the reader and the decision makers use.A novel idea, right? Get everyone working off of the same page, literally!??We are fortunate enough that Save the Cat!
And the 15 story points (our beat sheet) is part of creative culture and has become the shared language between the creator, the reader and the decision maker.We are going to put this to use to better position you to sell your work. Plain and simple.Introducing.
“Blake Snyder’s SAVE THE CAT! SCREENPLAY CHALLENGE”All entrants to receive:. A review by readers and judges trained in the Save the Cat! Methodology. Save the Cat! Script report based on the Save the Cat! 15 Beats.
Feedback grounded in structure and marketability and consistently applied to all screenplays. The report will answer 50 questions while scoring your screenplay (Save the Cat!
Strikes Back, Greenlight checklist pages 104-108). Over $495.00 worth of feedback. RulesAll writers from all countries are welcome to submit; however, all screenplays must be submitted in English, and application fees must be paid in U.S. AwardsThe grand prize winners will be awarded critical tools to help sell their scripts. 3-day trip to LA ($600).
3-night hotel stay ($1200). Live table read to bring your work to life. Poster/key visual development. In-room pitch practice sessions with industry executives. A real pitch to a production company in LA.
12-month subscription to host your work on The Black List and INKTIP on usAll finalists will receive the following:. 12-month subscription to host your work on The Black List and INKTIP on us. A designed poster of your film.
Save the Cat! 4.0 Software.
Here’s my take on this:Using any of the tips or the Beat Sheet in SAVE THE CAT will in no way guarantee or automatically result in a good script. The ideas it presents are more the basic language of screen storytelling. I believe most great/successful scripts and movies abide by most of what Blake Snyder talks about in his book, but not necessarily because they read it. Rather, SAVE THE CAT builds to a large extent on what other people have written about for years, about three-act structure and other aspects of the craft. It’s not an extraordinarily new or unique “method” — just a new way of talking about how movie stories tend to work, with a few new tidbits added to a body of knowledge about structure (and other concepts) that already existed.
And I think this makes for an accessible and useful resource for writers — especially writers starting out, who might not understand some of the basics.I believe the scripts that industry people react to as being “bad SAVE THE CAT scripts” are ones in which the story and writing aren’t impressive, but it’s really obvious that the writer(s) read SAVE THE CAT, because they have a “theme stated” on page five, a “catalyst” on p. 12, a “break into two” on p. So if one reads a lot of those kinds of scripts, it’s easy to blame SAVE THE CAT as a soulless formula that results in uninteresting scripts that are all kind of the same.I think it’s really hard and rare for a script to break through and be one that such professional readers will really love. It needs an original voice, authenticity, etc. That go beyond what SAVE THE CAT (or any book) can provide.
But that doesn’t mean that such great scripts won’t tend to follow most of the ideas in SAVE THE CAT. It’s just that one won’t notice so much, because they’re caught up in the story and writing. None of it feels artificial or forced.And that’s what I’d say about any book or method of instruction about writing: that at best, it’s one of many potentially helpful tools that can help build a writer’s education and craft.
But it will not, in and of itself, be the reason a writer succeeds (or fails) with any given script. This is very interesting.Is there a chicken and egg situation here at all? Is it not possible that a good dramatic screenplay will naturally approximate these beats to a large degree?
Perhaps it will misplace some but, even if so, why could the movie not be told that way? Even if the cat isn’t saved or the dog isn’t kicked at the appropriate time.Can you offer any examples of hit movies that do not conform to these beats?
Or do we just ‘manage to find’ the beats in all films to confirm the theory?. I confess I haven’t seen it, but based on the Wikipedia synopsis, it sounds like Kate remains the main character throughout. If not, that would be very unusual, I agree. Psycho is probably the best-known example. SPOILER ALERT: They murder the main character mid-way through!I would basically say that if you change main characters, either the main story goal has been handed off from one to the other, and most of the “Beats” would still be there, or you’re starting a new story, essentially, with a new main character, which might have its own beats.
(And both “stories” would still need to earn the audience’s emotional investment, which is a lot of what those beats, and the “Saving the Cat” moment, are really all about.). This has helped me tremendously! I’m a Creative Writing student at Full Sail University and we have read Save the Cat as part of our curriculum. Your interpretation is spot on and so much easier to understand.#4 Catalyst – you have put this into complete perspective for me. I am working on my first novel (sci-fi/romance), that I also hope to write a screenplay for, and I have ideas to put into the story but they were sort of jumbled in my head. But when I read #4, I had an epiphany!Thank you!. Hi There,I know that these page counts are approximate, but I’d be curious to know your thoughts on the approximate timing of a 90 or 100 page script (as opposed to a 110 page script).If the final image took place on 90 or 100 what would be the timing of the midpoint, all is lost moment, and new plan moment — without it all feeling too rushed.
Would 55, 75, 85 still work? Would love your thoughts.ALSO–In terms of “all being lost,” if the midpoint is a downer does all is lost HAVE to be an upper? Or can it be a downer as well?Thanks in advance for your help! Your site and this article is terrific!!Beth.
Thanks Beth!With a shorter script, I would just recommend pro-rating the page counts down by whatever percent shorter than 110 it is. The only one I’d be careful with is the Catalyst — if it comes before page 10, there’s a risk that the audience doesn’t have enough attachment/investment in the main character first. I wouldn’t skimp on Set-up.As for All is Lost, it is ALWAYS not just a downer, but the story should seem OVER, with no hope left. The false victory can come just prior to that, but that doesn’t mean the whole beat turns into a “positive”. (In general, the “positives” should be very limited in a script, and always followed by more problems.
Only the very ending can be truly happy.). Yo Erik, I am probably being anal about several gaps in the page counts, but perhaps this will shed further light on structure. (I realize the beats are all approximate). What happens on page 11?
Why doesn’t set-up just go to 11? Is there supposed to be a transition page or two from set-up to catalyst that isn’t the set-up anymore? More important, I assume that the break into two at page 25 really is a 15 page break that takes us to the B story on page 90. But why is the break into three INCLUDED in the finale section when the first break stands alone?
Is it supposed to be a quick transition? And the first break an extended one?. I haven’t personally studied or worked with the mini-movie method, but I would say with the beat sheet, you kind of also have big moments at regular intervals like that — for instance, Catalyst, Break into Two, Midpoint, All is Lost, Break into Three, etc. I like the STC approach in that it takes the story as one organic whole, and I think there’s less risk of it feeling episodic or disconnected. But I would assume that the two ways of looking at story could probably be overlaid on top of each other, and both be useful.I’m interested in hearing if anyone else has experience with this.
I’m a screenwriter best known for my work on the HBO miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, for which I wrote multiple episodes, and won two Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards as part of the producing team. I’ve also sold series pitches (and written pilots) at NBC and FOX, worked on the writing staff for two primetime dramas, and written feature screenplays on assignment for companies like Universal, HBO, TNT, and Playtone. I teach screenwriting for UCLA Extension, National University and The Writers Store, and offer one-on-one consulting to writers.