Save The Cat The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need Review

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(More customer reviews)OK, maybe not the last book you'll ever need, but if you are a screenwriter or play one on TV, this just may be the BEST book you'll ever need, or read, on the subject of how to break into the big screen big time as a writer of tall tales.
Blake Snyder is a working, selling writer himself, so that gives the reader a true inside glimpse into what it's like, what it takes, and what to expect on the long road to screenwriting stardom. Many screenwriting how-to tomes are written by guys and gals who have few or no real studio credits, so with this book you can be sure you are getting the info direct from the source of a successful member of the Hollywood elite.
Snyder starts out with a bang, describing how important a good title, pitch and concept are, and giving tons of useful advise for whipping those log lines into shape, the best shape ever in fact, for as the author points out, many industry powerbrokers won't even look beyond a log line...so it better be good. Damned good. He then discusses how to make your story like everything else out there, only different, and if you can come to understand that paradox, you will be a success indeed.
We also learn about the importance of creating characters that fit certain archetypes, like the hero and the villain, and how the use of Jungian archetypes can help you shape and mold real people that resonate with the audience. Also covered is the importance of knowing your genre and how to best amplify the style of that genre.
Another chapter deals with the author's own system of breaking a script down to 15 beats, and how every successful movie fits this same beat system. We also learn the art of building scenes and the use of those wonderful index cards for moving and changing scene progression, as well as following the basic rules of a great story, rewriting and reshaping the script, and of course, what the heck to do with the darned thing once you've finished. I really appreciated the glossary of screenwriting and industry terminology, something every writer should know (or at least pretend to know in meetings).
Although this book does follow the mold of many other screenwriting books before it, focusing both on writing and marketing the script and including summaries and exercises for the reader to expand their understanding, the difference that makes this book stand out is the honesty and directness of the author in giving the reader every best chance to comprehend and conquer the inner and outer workings of screenwriting. "Save the Cat" (I'll let you find out what the title means on your own!) doesn't hold back on doling out the solid advise, and presents it in a way that will not only inspire screenwriters, but also make them more aware of just how hard it really is to succeed. No sugar-coating here, but plenty of motivation and great info packed into one book.
So, "Save the Cat" may not be the final screenwriting book you will ever need, should for some reason the entire industry change and adopt some bizarro new standard of screenwriting that will require you to learn the metric system and Pig-Latin. But barring a drastic reshaping of the industry standard (I think most execs are too lazy to change much of anything), this is no doubt the one book that will do more to help you achieve success and get your two-brad-bound puppy through the door than any other I've read so far. And believe me, folks, I've read them all.
FADE OUT.

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Understanding Screenwriting: Learning from Good, Not-Quite-So-Good, and Bad Screenplays Review

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(More customer reviews)Screenwriter manuals can be potentially great resources, but the best advice is the simplest: read the damn scripts yourself, taking care to identify what you like and what you don't. A close reading of "Michael Clayton" or "Chinatown" yields more insight into the art of screenwriting than anything in Syd Field. In that sense, "Understanding Screenwriting" is more helpful than most screenwriting books because it challenges its audience to glean lessons from good, mediocre and bad screenplays.
Unfortunately, the book itself is filled with largely banal and mostly unhelpful tips and pointers. Each chapter reads like a book report on a particular screenplay; superficial recaps of the movie's plot are combined with loose observations about glaring plot holes or character inconsistencies (amusingly, when Stempel offers suggestions for smoothing over the clumsy plotting that undermines the final third of "Collateral," his suggestions are even more outlandish, like adding a conniving, bloodthirsty prosecutor). Throughout, the tone is more descriptive than analytical, and on the few occasions when Stempel pauses to address larger concerns about rhythm, structure, pacing or theme, his conclusions are just plain wrong.
Perhaps the best example is his analysis of the Coen Brothers' (or "Cohen Brothers," as he sometimes spells it) movie "Fargo." The most challenging aspect that "Fargo" poses to a screenwriting instructor is how to grapple with the curious (and controversial) scene midway through when Marge Gunderson talks with her former high school classmate Mike Yanagita. Mike makes a hilariously awkward attempt at hitting on Marge, which she politely rebuffs. He then tearfully confesses that he's been lonely since his wife and former classmate Linda Cooksey died of cancer. Later in the film Marge discovers that this story was a lie, and that Mike was actually harassing Linda, who is still alive.
As Stempel points out, viewers have a lot of questions about this scene. Why is it in there? What is its purpose? The conventional wisdom is that it's simply a funny scene that underscores how nice Marge is. Stempel repeats this idea: "Marge is so smart, so nice, so warm, so perfect, that we need to see a little human weakness, vanity in this case, to make her as well rounded as she is."
A deeper, better explanation (and one I confess I found on a discussion thread on a movie web site) is that when Marge later learns about Mike's lies, she decides to again interview Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy. It's at that point that she begins to believe that Jerry, whom she didn't otherwise suspect, was lying to her. Mike's connection to the rest of the film is subtle, but it underscores Marge's dawning realization of just how deceptive and selfish people can be. The scene is also a beautiful illustration of how the Coen Brothers calibrate and structure their scripts. Unfortunately, this is the kind of insight that's otherwise lacking in this thoroughly pedestrian book.

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