Save the Cat Goes to the Movies Read Free Page B

salvo of a film, a “before” snapshot — and the opposite of the Final Image.
        Theme Stated — Also easy. Usually spoken to the main character, often without knowing what is said will be vital to his surviving this tale. It’s what your movie is “about.”
        Set-Up — The first 10 pages of a script must not only grab our interest — and a studio reader’s — but introduce or hint at introducing every character in the A story.
        Catalyst — The telegram, the knock at the door, the act of catching your wife in bed with another — something that is done
to
the hero to shake him. It’s the movie’s first “whammy.”
        Debate — The section of the script, be it a scene or a series of scenes, when the hero doubts the journey he must take.
        Break into Two — Act Two, that is; it is where we leave the “Thesis” world behind and enter the upside-down “Anti-thesis” world of Act Two. The hero makes a choice — and his journey begins.
        B Story — The “love” story, traditionally, but actually where the discussion about the theme of a good movie is found.
        Fun and Games — Here we forget plot and enjoy “set pieces” and “trailer moments” and revel in the “promise of the premise.”
        Midpoint — The dividing line between the two halves of a movie; it’s back to the story as “stakes are raised,” “time clocks” appear, and we start putting the squeeze on our hero(es).
        Bad Guys Close In — Both internally (problems inside the hero’s team) and externally (as actual bad guys tighten their grip), real pressure is applied.
        All Is Lost — The “false defeat” and the place where we find “the whiff of death” — because something must die here.
        Dark Night of the Soul —
Why hast thou forsaken me, Lord?
That part of the script where the hero has lost all hope …
        Break into Three …but not for long! Thanks to a fresh idea, new inspiration, or last-minute action or advice from the love interest in the B story, the hero chooses to fight.
        Finale — The “Synthesis” of two worlds: From what was, and that which has been learned, the hero forges a third way.
        Final Image — The opposite of the Opening Image, proving a change has occurred. And since we know All Stories Are About Transformation , that change had better be dramatic!
       These two sets of organizing principles — “genre” and “structure” — give us everything we need to write our movie and make the idea we’re working on more likely to succeed.
    I’ll say it again.
    If you want to sell your script and create a story that pleases most audiences most of the time, the odds increase if you reference these two checklists to write it.
    Genre and structure are what buyers
and
moviegoers want.
    This is because one of the other things I discovered in selling many scripts to Hollywood — a couple in the million-dollar range — is that executives know this, too. The savvy ones follow the same rules writers do. They want to know the type of story they signed on for, and whether it’s structured in a way that satisfies everyone. It’s what they’re looking for.
    Why not give it to them?
    And while many of you rebel from “structure” or referencing other films for clues as to how to create and write your story, it has been my experience that mastering these templates is the only way to know if what you have is actually new — or if you are inventing a wheel that has already rolled out of the factory and down the road without you.
    What I’ve done is fully expand on genre by showing the range and breadth of each. And since we learn from all movies, this isn’t about the 50 “best,” but the ones we can gain the most insight from. Along the way, I’ll also point out some of the tricks the directors and writers used. And for those of you who haven’t seen these films yet … WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

SOME FINAL