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| |  | Learning & Education | Home » » » Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need | | | | | | | Description: | | This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat! | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Blake Snyder | | Paperback:
| 195 pages | | Publisher:
| Michael Wiese Productions | | Publication Date:
| May 25, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1932907009 | | Package Length:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.7 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.2 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.8 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 273 reviews |
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 not perfect, but pretty goodJul 26, 2010
To those other reviewers that complain about the scripts this author has sold and/or had made into films, they have a point. Both of his produced movies seem to be instantly forgettable. However, it is a fact in life that those who do a thing best are not necessarily the same as those who teach it best. I have seen that principle made flesh in hundreds of different ways.
Save the Cat is not as shimmeringly brilliant as some claim it is, but it isn't half bad either, and certainly not as bad as some claim it is. There is a lot of sound advice here, even if much of it has existed in previous forms elsewhere. Snyder's main success is to boil a very tricky and subtle process down to something that can be digested and thus internalized.
But that is probably also its risk. As others have pointed out, this tendency towards reduction drives the advice given in the direction of formula. In my opinion (not being an expert however) this is the one area of Blake Snyder's advice you would do well to treat with some skepticism, especially (and surprisingly) since he drops hints that he wants you to follow his "cheat sheet" more or less to the letter (i.e. to the page number).
My suspicion would be that seasoned script readers in Hollywood can "smell" any script that has emerged as the output of any individual's formulaic "method" a mile away, and in that scent they can probably even discern fairly quickly which method or which guru it is. Such a script is likely to describe a short throwing arc into the trash can.
These cautions aside though, Save the Cat has a lot of helpful advice, especially when combined with a number of other books that do what this one does not, and which travel deeper into story. It certainly is not the last book on screenwriting you will ever need. It's probably better if it is your first, learn his rules, and then be prepared to break them, or at least bend them.
 One of three must-have books for screenwritingJul 13, 2010
I got this book from the library because I thought the subtitle of the book was too arrogant. However, I ended up purchasing it and STC Goes to the Movies.
WHO IS THE BOOK FOR:
This book is great for anyone who has trouble with story structure or whose screenplay is languishing. Blake (R.I.P.) probably wasn't the best screenwriter, but he is a genius when it comes to explaining structure in simple, usable terms. It is the most practical guide to story structure.
This is a how-to book! Practical. User-friendly. This book is how to write a screenplay that sells. Making a masterpiece is up to you, but this formula is what Blake found by examining good movies. It isn't a silver bullet, but it is essential.
(In full disclosure, I hated Syd Field's SCREENPLAY. I learned only two things: Films have three acts, and the guy loves CHINATOWN. It is not a how-to book at all.)
WHO IT IS NOT FOR:
Never written is screenplay before? Then get the SCREENWRITER'S BIBLE first! This book is for people who know screenplay structure. This fills in the blanks on how to make your story work.
IF YOU WANT TO BE A SCREENWRITER:
Anyone who doesn't educate themselves in the craft of their choosing is shooting themselves in the foot. Drop your ego and attitude. Read these books with the knowledge that you have more to learn than you realize. Read THE SCREENWRITER'S BIBLE first, SAVE THE CAT! second, and THE WRITER'S JOURNEY somewhere in between.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Not the Most Complete GuideJun 30, 2010
This was one of the first screenwriting guides I bought and it was not very helpful. It was kind of like my class in screenwriting freshmen year-- it made my head spin. I needed more cohesive and professional guidelines about what actually goes into a publishable script.
petra
Amazingly InsightfulJun 24, 2010
I was completely blown away by how insightful "Save the Cat" was. Snyder's overall theory of screenwriting is founding completely in logic but no one has ever articulated it so clearly. The book is filled with moments where I was slapping my own forehead saying "of course, why didn't I think of that." He doesn't dance around the fact that he is a spec script writer and that his main goal is to write scripts that get purchased and appeal to large demographics and in his honesty about that he doesn't dance around telling you what you need to do to write a successful screenplay.
If you are open to it, he'll force you to sit down with your original screenplay idea and rewrite the entire thing and it'll be better because of it. A must have for any director, producer and writer that hopes to work in the industry and understand storytelling better.
Sad that he is gone, but his passion lives on in this book!Mar 30, 2010
Blake sadly passed away last summer, but he left us perhaps the finest primer on commercial screenwriting ever done. Easy to read and full of those light bulb moments where everything suddenly comes together for you. The guy loved his work and his students and I only wish he'd still been around for me to personally thank. As a passionate educator in the music community, I have special respect for his efforts here. Buy this book and then write the best works of your careers!
Brian Austin Whitney
Founder
Just Plain Folks Music Organization
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