index

Recommendation 9
Preface 13

Chapter 1.
What is the movie about? 19
Killer Loglines / Irony / Images That Stick in Your Head / Target Audience and Budget / Killer Titles / What Is the Movie About? / Examples of 'Test Marketing' / The Death of 'High Concept'

Chapter 2.
Give the audience what they want, but in a different way 41
What genre is this movie? / 'The Monster in the House' / 'The Golden Fleece' / 'Genie Out of the Kettle' / 'The Problem with Ordinary People' / 'Rite of Passage' / 'Buddy Love Story' / 'Mystery Movie' / 'Triumph of the Fool' / 'Collective Story' / 'Superhero' / The Ugly Truth about Hollywood

Chapter 3.
Setting up the main character 71
Who is the story about? / Amplify the logline / Primal desires / Casting the main character / Actor archetypes / Special cases / Slave to the logline

Chapter 4.
Chapter 93
Structure, structure, structure...
/ Opening image / Statement of theme / Setting / Detonator / Discussion / Entry into Act 2 / B-story / Fun and play / Midpoint / The villain approaches / Moment of despair / Dark night of the soul / Entry into Act 3 / Finale / Final image

Chapter 5.
How to Make the Perfect Movie 125
Master of the board / Starting from the first card / Major turning point / Black hole / The always poor third act / Color classification / Cutting out scenes / +/- and ＞＜ / Throwing away the board / Final request / Secret weapon

Chapter 6.
Scenario Invariant Laws 149
Save the Cat / The Pope in the Pool / Duplicate Magic / Laying Pipes / 'Black Vet' or 'Too Much Marzipan' / Beware the Glacier! / Promises of Change / Get the Press Out!

Chapter 7.
What's the problem? 177
Passive protagonist / Don't explain the plot with dialogue / Make the bad guy worse / Transition, transition, transition / Colorful wheel of emotions / "Hello, I'm doing well" / Take the character back a step / Crippled and cross-eyed / Primitive?

Chapter 8.
Final fade-in 201
Marketing Success/Failure Stories / That's All There Is

Glossary of Terms Commonly Used in Hollywood 209

Writing a successful movie script that satisfies both artistic and commercial needs

A screenwriting guide written in a plain language, without the difficult academic tone, by Blake Snyder, a screenwriter with 20 years of experience creating box office hit movie ideas and scenarios.
The title of this book, 'SAVE THE CAT!', comes from the principle of character building in movies, which states that the character of a protagonist is defined through certain actions of the protagonist, such as a scene showing him saving a cat, and that the audience comes to like that protagonist.
It also covers the following methods for creating a successful film script that satisfies both artistic and commercial needs:

▶ 4 Elements of a Successful Logline
▶ 8 Unchangeable Laws of Scenarios
▶ 10 Film Genre Categories and Why They Matter to Your Screenplay
▶ Why the protagonist must serve the movie idea
▶ Mastering the chapter
▶ Create a 'perfect movie' using the board
▶ How to edit a scenario