If you’ve studied screenwriting at all, you’ve probably heard of Save the Cat, the book written by Blake Snyder with quippy, basic advice on how to write a screenplay. Not everyone is a fan of the late Snyder’s approach, but those who like him LOVE him.
Snyder is particularly famous for his Blake Snyder Beat Sheet, a fifteen beat breakdown of virtually any script. It’s a relatively simple tool, but some of the later beats in particular can get a bit confusing, so Erik Bork has written fresh explanations for the fifteen beats.
He begins:
(Target page numbers are in parentheses, and examples from the movie LEGALLY BLONDE in ALL CAPS.)
1. Opening Image (1): The audience is first engaged with something compelling that sets the tone – and we begin to see how things as they are right now (they will be clearly different at the end).
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