About Screenwriting Rules [And The 3-Act Structure]

When How To Train Your Dragon was released, some people learned to their horror that the film was written following Blake Snyder’s beat sheet. How could such a successful – and critically acclaimed – film be written by the numbers?? Creatives hate screenwriting ‘rules’. So they should. But it is also helpful to understand what rules … Read more

Best o/t Web 12 Sep

:: John August’s blog revamped. Gorgeous!
:: Danny Boyle and the Art of Amputation
:: Blake Snyder’s Story Patterns vs. Genre
:: Universal brings King’s Dark Tower to the cinema
:: Top 7 New York Films
:: Sixty Bill Murray facts to celebrate his 60th
:: Movies for free: Phantom of the Opera
:: Carson Reeves vs. M Night Shyamalan. Guess who loses
:: Screenwriter Peter Morgan just can’t get enough of Tony Blair
:: Roger Ebert’s collection of 100 Great Movie Moments (via Kottke)
:: Actors have a job too. So stick to writing the story
:: Sequences will save you during the rewrite
:: Who might be the new Ellen Ripley? Here’s a good candidate…
:: More arthouse doom and gloom. Next victim: Breillat
:: Nolan is hot, Bruckheimer is not. Summer winners and losers
:: Mad Men: The future of American cinema is on TV, says David Hare
:: Screenwriter finally makes first sale: old lamp on eBay (Hollywood Roaster)

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Video: Save The Cat

If you’ve heard of Blake Snyder but never read any of his books, you might wonder what that Save The Cat phrase really is about. Using four examples of STC moments, Steve White explains clearly and simply how to set up the hero’s core of redeemability.

The four movies are: Aladdin, Sea Of Love, Heist and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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When the script and story gurus speak

Most ‘gurus’ each have their own area of expertise and angle of attack, they each follow their own agenda. And with every new light shed on the craft, different people may see that light. Don’t they ever contradict each other? And if they do, which truth do YOU choose? Screenwriting is a dynamic craft. What … Read more