How important is 'Save the Cat'

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  • #16
    Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

    A lot of the people you're selling to have read or are aware of the hot how-to book of the moment, and sometimes that's a reason to read it. Blake's book makes the feel process fun, and not especially schematic, which is a plus. One big difference between that book and Carson's book is that one of them was written by a writer.

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    • #17
      Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

      I prefer Save the Cat Goes to the Movies. Applies the theory to a variety of successful films in various genres.
      If you really like it you can have the rights
      It could make a million for you overnight

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      • #18
        Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

        I read 2 or 3 of these books and thought this the best of them. For a newbie, the bits on outlining, as mentioned above, are pretty good.

        As with all learning, it's about what you take from them and discarding the rest, but I think it can help accelerate learning. I took the beat sheet and changed it to suit myself, but it gave a nice starting point.

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        • #19
          Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

          Yes, you must save the cat otherwise your screenplay will burst into flames!

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          • #20
            Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

            I found it helpful, with lots of useful ideas on structure and premise to think about. Plus it's an easy, fun read that will get you charged up about writing. It's not a Bible nor a one-stop guide to a Hollywood career, but then nothing is. Use the parts you find useful, discard the rest.
            Patrick Sweeney

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            • #21
              Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

              No such thing as a "must read" but if you have any issues with Act 2, I highly reccomend this book. It helped me more than any other book ever has.

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              • #22
                Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                I was in a writer's group once with a guy who quoted this book nonstop. He was obsessed with it. The thing is, I was in that group for two years and this dude never wrote a thing, just used Save the Cat to do his notes for our material. And even then, it was obvious he skimmed the scripts.

                That's probably not Blake Snyder's fault, but I still refuse to read Save the Cat because of that.

                I seem to have done okay without it.
                Chicks Who Script podcast

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                • #23
                  Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                  There's at least one person on here that anytime they comment on loglines, pages or story development always use terminology and theories from it. Could be your old friend.

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                  • #24
                    Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                    Anecdotally, I haven't read the book, and I've never (knowingly) heard anyone involved with any of my films reference the book. It exists solely to me as something mentioned on screenwriting forums. I'm sure there are important film folk out there who were shaped by this book, I just haven't (knowingly) met any of them.

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                    • #25
                      Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                      For years I wondered why OPEN RANGE had that entirely pointless and hokey scene at beginning where Kevin Costner saved a dog from drowning in a mud puddle and then I read this book.
                      Steven Palmer Peterson

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                      • #26
                        Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                        Originally posted by Patrick Sweeney View Post
                        I found it helpful, with lots of useful ideas on structure and premise to think about. Plus it's an easy, fun read that will get you charged up about writing. It's not a Bible nor a one-stop guide to a Hollywood career, but then nothing is. Use the parts you find useful, discard the rest.
                        This was my experience too. Also, Blake underscores the importance of having a compelling concept from the start, and writing a good logline. He also explains his "Starbucks Test" (not his words exactly) - it's where he pitches his screenplay idea to someone in line at Starbucks and sees if they engage or if their eyes glaze over. Most amateur scripts fail at this level - either the writer can't even summarize what it's about at a macro level OR the idea is not compelling. The writer was doomed before they even got to page 1. This part of the book is definitely worth reading closely.

                        Like Emily, I've also known some writers who are attached to his rules and beat sheet too closely. (Good luck trying to get them to talk about a screenplay without leaning on his terminology.) But for the average amateur writer who will read 5-10 how to books as they learn the craft, it's a good one to pick up.

                        His second book is good if you want to read his breakdowns of 50 or so movies. (I actually use this book more than his 1st book.) His third book is his best, but is maybe for a more limited audiences. It explores trouble writers get into more from a psychological point of view.

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                        • #27
                          Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                          I've actually owned the book for years but have yet to read it. There was a lot of buzz about it when it first came out and it very seemed popular and heavily discussed in forums.

                          I know there was a writer on DD who sold a script a few years ago and swears by the book.

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                          • #28
                            Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                            Originally posted by Why One View Post
                            I've actually owned the book for years but have yet to read it. There was a lot of buzz about it when it first came out and it very seemed popular and heavily discussed in forums.

                            I know there was a writer on DD who sold a script a few years ago and swears by the book.
                            It's still usually the top rated screenwriting book on Amazon. I just checked - it's #1 right now. Ha - it's #1,120 overall on Amazon right now. That's pretty high for a book released in 2005. Blake's mother's bank account is doing alright.

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                            • #29
                              Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                              STC in a learning tool & information source. It has some good stuff in it but some ppl go overboard with it. A lot of stuff in it is old hat (using index cards & a board) & formulaic (designating pgs where stuff happens).

                              I'd recommend it to writers who are into mainstream HW high concept comedies. They would get the most out of it.

                              And writers looking for some inspiration. Snyder has a v. positive attitude & makes writing SPs seem like fun. There's a lot of negativity thrown at amateurs & it's nice to see such an enthusiastic attitude expressed towards writing & breaking in. This is my favorite aspect of the book.

                              There's some general SWing tips in it like "put in a save the cat/pat the dog moment" & don't lay too much "pipe" etc...

                              But the real reason it's become so popular is that Snyder was the first person to try & lay down a clear, systematic method using something close to the Hollywood story template (or "story beats") which is used in almost every mainstream HW movie. Starting with Field, a lot of books mention "plot points" here and there, but Snyder was the one who went into it in depth with his 15 point "Beat Sheet", and incorporated the Hollywood plot points/beats into a larger methodology.

                              I don't think Snyder was completely successful with his Beat Sheet which came close to enumerating the story beats used in HW movies-- his beats aren't as accurate as they could be, IMO-- but I appreciate that he tried to lay down a method for neophytes to follow.

                              At his core, I think Snyder was a TEACHER & he was trying to communicate what he knew about the craft as best he could.

                              Bottom line, the book is geared to writing mainstream commercial movies, so if you're not into that or you think following someone else's method could be stifling, then skip it.

                              "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

                              ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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                              • #30
                                Re: How important is 'Save the Cat'

                                Blake Snyder completely understood all the concepts he wrote about, and never missed a beat (pun intended). He implemented them into his movie. Let's check out the results:

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZockS-OBXLU

                                You have to admit, this is pretty funny.
                                Last edited by magnet360; 01-09-2013, 06:37 PM. Reason: Sp?

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