The-Electric-Daily

Roger Ebert is a legend.  He stays true to his vision while adapting with the times.  I continue to respect his opinions of films and his ever present Thumbs Up List,

Most of the world is familiar with the Coen Brothers and their films.  Around M8M Studios the Coens are legends.  Anyone who makes Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O’ Brother Where Art Thou? and True Grit can do nothing else and be great in our book.

Some of the world may know Noah Baumbach.  He has several films under his belt and is a stylistic force to be reckoned with.

This video has all three dudes…talking.  Enjoy.

Watch the full episode. See more On Story.

SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder

“Save the Cat” seems to be the everyman’s screenplay book, but at the same time it’s a book for beginners and seasoned pros alike.  It teaches you to define WHO your screenplay is about and walks you through the process of writing a log line that will capture everyone from a stranger in line to a studio executive.  It also helps define the genre of your screenplay, therefore establishing parameters for you to write in.

The meat of the book is the Beat Sheet, a 15 beat outline that Blake Snyder claims every movie functions within.  He references a handful of movies that fit into this formula and upon closer look your realize that he has a point.  A high number of successful films and well written screenplays fall into a “formula” and while this “formula” can seem, well… “formulaic”, he puts a heavy emphasis on the importance of your characters and dialogue, summing it up by saying “give me the same thing, but different”.  In other words, writing a screenplay with unique characters and original dialogue that follows a traditional, tried and true story format, will increase your chances of success.  After all Snyder’s intent with this book is to write a “successful” “sellable” screenplay.

Save the Cat claims to be “the last book on screenwriting that you’ll ever need”.  While that may not be 100% true for everyone, as a beginning screenwriter having read several screenwriting books and STC twice already, I have found it to be a noble and worthy claim.

You can buy the book here.  Happy writing.