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Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter's Guide to Every Story Ever Told |  | Author: Blake Snyder
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $11.99
as of 11/22/2009 16:32 CST details
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Seller: backpack_books
Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 11664
Media: Paperback
Edition: illustrated edition
Pages: 287
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1932907351
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.23
EAN: 9781932907353
ASIN: 1932907351
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the long-awaited sequel to his surprise bestseller, Save the Cat!, author and screenwriter Blake Snyder returns to form in a fast-paced follow-up that proves why his is the most talked-about approach to screenwriting in years. In the perfect companion piece to his first book, Snyder delivers even more insider's information gleaned from a 20-year track record as ?one of Hollywood's most successful spec screenwriters, ? giving you the clues to write your movie. Designed for screenwriters, novelists, and movie fans, this book gives readers the key breakdowns of the 50 most instructional movies from the past 30 years. From M*A*S*H to Crash, from Alien to Saw, from 10 to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Snyder reveals how screenwriters who came before you tackled the same challenges you are facing with the film you want to write ? or the one you are currently working on. |
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 48
 A great sequel. November 22, 2009
Alexandru Sava
Blake Snyder's first book, "Save the Cat," is an amazing read. You can check out my review for it... Long story short, I was starting work on a feature-length script and decided to buy the book first. One of the best decisions I had made because it has helped me in ways I didn't even imagine.
Luckily for me, I also bought this one. And after I finished the first one I jumped STRAIGHT into this one. While this book is pretty standalone, its true value lies within reading it AFTER you read the first, because the first explains the terms and the methods and everything, and this is a list of examples of big, well-known movies.
If after the first book you thought "Are movies really that easily categorized?" then this book will answer your question big time. So if you read the first one and are considering buying this, do it. It goes hand in hand. If you haven't bought any, I suggest you get them both and read them in order. If not, just get the first one. Maybe I'm biased but I don't think this book does that well on its own.
 Another Great Book for Screenwriters October 20, 2009
Thomas J. Herring (Portland, OR)
I thought Blake Snyder gave us another well written sequel to Save the Cat. This time he goes through movies and breaks them down so you get an idea were the beats go and why. This author was recommended by one of the guest speakers at the Willamette Writers Conference this past summer. I've written screenplays that did okay in competitions but still didn't sell. I think this book gives insight on what Hollywood producers look for in a great script. I'm going through this book page by page and using it's resources to help make my script better. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get into this field.
buy it. September 8, 2009
C. A. Thompson (Los Angeles)
Blake Snyder was truly a powerful voice of modern screenwriting and his book should be read by every aspiring writer. Well done, sir.
 The First Six Pages Are Excellent August 17, 2009
F. L. Reeves (Federal Way, WA USA)
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
- Tom Hanks
Having thoroughly enjoyed the first Save the Cat! book, I was really looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get past page seven. I was incredibly disappointed. No kidding.
In his description of the movie Alien, I got to the line where Mr. Snyder writes: We also learn something is up with Tom.
Having seen Alien countless times since its theatrical release in 1979, I am quite confident that there are no characters in the story named Tom. Who the heck is Tom? That's when I was horrified to discover that the author used the actor's name in place of the character's name within the context of the story.
I couldn't read any more pages after that. The book is completely ruined for me. Like most people, I relate to the story by the character's name, not the actor's. It is too taxing on my tiny brain to read the story description and continually have to substitute Tom for Dallas, Sigourney for Ripley, Ian for Ash, etc. Throughout the whole story, the name Ripley is used one time, and that's to introduce Sigourney Weaver. C'mon! This is Ripley's story, not Sigourney Weaver's!
If I struggle this much to decipher an 8-character story that I'm completely familiar with, then I'm FUBAR when it comes to any epic stories that are new to me. I flipped though the book, and sure enough, Mr. Snyder wrote all the story descriptions the same way.
If you look at the movie quotes at imdb.com, they all reference the character not the actor. So why did Mr. Snyder write movie descriptions contrary to the established norm? My tiny brain cannot comprehend the possible reasons. The author might be on a first name basis with all the actors in the book, but most of us readers are not. To illustrate, I bet that my improper Forrest Gump quote is still resonating throughout the reader's gray matter.
I like to entertain the idea that a future edition of this Save the Cat! book eliminates this most egregious of errors. If the author makes all the character/actor substitutions for me, I will gladly pre-order the new and improved version. Until then, I'll just re-read the first six pages. They're great!
I'd been ooking for THIS book June 15, 2009
H.E. Jovel
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Save The Cat is a pretty good book on writing, I've read many on the subject, but none has ever been as enjoyable to read as this one, I strongly recommend this book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 48
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