Save the Cat Goes to the Movies Read Free

of the ’70s right up to their 21st Century counterparts. I detail the variations in each genre, and also show how a movie from 1975 begat one in 1987, which led to the most recent incarnation. And if you look at this enterprise as a whole, you can start to see the method of my
Cat!
madness.
    To paraphrase Jodie Foster in
Contact
, this is an “encyclopedia galactica,” a compendium of every story type ever told for film. It is, in short, the most useful tool I can think of for any screenwriter, the “cheat sheets” for 50 of the most instructional movies from the past 30 years, to give you the clues to write
your
movie.
    It will reveal how other screenwriters who came before you tackled the same challenges you are facing with the film you want to write — or the one you are currently working on. And to use this book, all you need is a good idea to get started. Right now. Today.
    How’s
that
for a sequel?
    For those of you new to my approach, I realize there is nothing worse that tuning in to a re-run of
The X Files
and seeing that this is Part II of an episode you missed. There is no more sinking sensation than to feel left out, or that you’ve come in late. To that end, I have tried to make this book complete unto itself. I’ve given you a second that adds to the first, enhances what came before — yet stands alone. If you’ve never read
Save the Cat!
(poor soul!), you don’t need to in order to use
STC! 2.
But I’m hoping that if this is your first
Save the Cat!
experience, you’ll want to go back and see where it all began. And if you’re a veteran Cat!-ite… this book will blow your mind.

“GENRE” AND “STRUCTURE”
    In doing all of my research for
STC!2
— and learning more than I ever expected — I was reminded again what makes for a good movie, whether it’s a quirky indie or a big-budget blockbuster. And while many studios greenlight a script based on a point system of star, director, and the last hit like it, in fact the success of any film is based on two far more important factors:
A story that surpasses our expectations for the familiar genre of movie it is. And …
The most crucial element: structure.
    Genre and structure. These are the two requirements for creating a winning screenplay — and the basis of this book.
    Unlike the authors of other how-to’s on screenwriting, my job day-in and day-out is writing and selling scripts. I am a screenwriter first and foremost and my daily struggle is figuring out what it takes to turn my ideas into movies that everyone — agents, producers, studio executives, and audience members — will love! And the odd thing is: To have a true hit movie, to please one, is to please all.
    This simple mandate, which I want to instill in others, makes up the raison d’etre of the
STC!
oeuvre: Hollywood is not the problem, story is — and I want my story, and yours, to be the very best it can be.
    In years of trying to get a better grip on what our stories entail, my screenwriting buddies and I have come up with 10 types that have proven to be the ones moviemakers find most popular with audiences. Within these 10 you will see comedy, drama, and action, but that’s not what each is about. Tone is not the issue. Neither is subject. It’s about story. Only by lumping together movies that are alike as story types have we discovered that others know these tricks, too. They
must!
Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many similarities shared by the movies in each category.
    Look hard at the films found in the genre I refer to as“Monster in the House” and see how
Jaws, Alien, Tremors
, and most “ghost stories” are alike.
    And need to be!
    Take a peek at what I call “Superhero,” and you’ll be amazed at how
Gladiator
and
The Lion King
use exactly the same kinds of story dynamics. Both pit a “special being” against us Lilliputians who are jealous of his amazing gifts and want to stop him. These match, identically, stories from the comic-book universe and