Erik Bork has gone through several of 2013′s best films and has pinpointed which of Blake Snyder’s ten genres each film fits into (the genres are from the books Save the Cat and Save the Cat Goes to the Movies). The movies run the gamut, ranging from Dude with a Problem to Buddy Love.
The point isn’t to say that any genre is better than any other, but to note that they all do fall into set story types.
Try going through some of your favorite films and figure out which of the ten genres they fit best. You might be surprised how clearly each film falls into one category. Then look at your own scripts. If they don’t fall neatly into one genre, you probably have some structural issues that you need to work on.
Here’s what Erik has to say:
12 Years a Slave: “Golden Fleece”. The original Golden Fleece, Homer’s Odyssey, established the basic criteria: there’s a long road which some sort of team travels down (usually with a single main character at the center of it), in pursuit of a life-changing prize. The key here is that the audience really cares that they reach the prize – life will be unthinkably bad if they don’t, and so much better if they do. And there are a lot of trials and costs along the way of trying to reach it. What could be a more compelling prize than what this main character is chasing, which is freedom from being unjustly enslaved? And this is what he constantly pursues, throughout the movie. (Great central problems require the main character to continuously push toward their goal, which leads to loads of complications that only increase the problem – until it’s finally resolved at its climax.) Other “Fleeces” include Finding Nemo, The Hangoverand Saving Private Ryan.
American Hustle: Also a “Golden Fleece,” subgenre “Caper Fleece”, where a group of somewhat damaged people try to outwit an (arguably) less sympathetic opponent through a complicated mission, as in The Sting or Oceans 11. I personally wasn’t sure I loved the hero(es) enough, or understood what they were trying to pull off, but wow, great performances, and great hair!
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