“Save the Cat” comes up fairly frequently in discussions about screenplay structure. So I decided to look into what this mysterious phrase actually means.
It comes from the Save the Cat trilogy of books by Blake Snyder. ‘Save the Cat’ references the moment the protagonist does something nice, like, for example, saving a cat, that makes them likeable to the audience.
Blake Snyder provides a pretty strict template for screenwriters, advocating genre and structure as the “basic requirements for a winning screenplay.” Whereas Robert McKee (1999) in Story doesn’t really advocate a strict structure, Snyder has this structure down pat – literally, down to the page numbers. Snyder gives 15 ‘beats’, or events, that should happen in a successful screenplay, as in the image below:
Snyder Beat Sheet
He claims that this structure is what audiences and moviegoers want, which seems pretty true, because best-selling blockbusters follow this structure pretty closely. And like cult/art films that don’t aren’t easily successful, maybe because this structure is what makes a film satisfying to watch.
On a side note, though this isn’t really a new concept I liked Snyder’s reminded that “all stories are about transformation” – a change, usually in the protagonist. This is enhanced through his structure, where the final image is the opposite to the closing image, thus signifying that a change has taken place.
This structure has had some pretty harsh criticism though. Like Christopher Keelty on Youtube:
He says that every film in Hollywood is pretty much written by the same person.
I think that’s a pretty unfair criticism, though, considering that similar ideas on story structure go way back. Thinking of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, for example. But as we’ve discussed before, it is useful to be aware of the tools available to a screenwriter and when to break them.
Possible further research:
Screenplay, Syd Field.
How to Write A Screenplay in 21 days, Viki King.
Reference List:
McKee, Robert. (1999) Story.
Snyder, B. (2007). Save the cat! goes to the movies : The screenwriter’s guide to every story ever told / [eReserve]. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions. pp. xi-xxi
Keelty, Christopher. On Story Structure (and how Save the Cat Ruined Hollywood, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4UiUckSmLE, Accessed 23/4/18.