Not sure if I posted this before or even got this from here.
Even indie flick "Safety not guaranteed" (which I loved) followed the beats laid out.
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Not sure if I posted this before or even got this from here.
Even indie flick "Safety not guaranteed" (which I loved) followed the beats laid out.
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Yup... I read the book years ago. Really helpful in breaking down story and troubleshooting stories but has become a formula, which I really am not sure was the intention. Most script readers (many of which wouldn't exactly be considered good script writers) read this book and others (Save the Cat wasn't the first but has become one of the most well known) and then tell script writers they're doing it wrong if they don't stick to the format, never asking themselves the basic question: is this story actually fun.
I know someone who wrote an Irish movie that did pretty well and on one draft a funding body sent a reader's report saying there were real problems in the third act. His reaction: I wrote a third act?
On the plus side, the format is a good one. It can be a real help in improving scripts, as long as it doesn't strangle them or make every one of them the same. Structure in itself is not a bad thing. -
In the film mentioned above, I felt cheated because as soon as the deception was discovered, it then just followed the usual cliche path, instead of forcing him down an even crazier path (which would have been more real, and in keeping with the rest of the film). On the plus side, they dispensed with the forgiveness phase REALLY fast
Well worth a watch.Comment
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