The hero can state the theme: I will save my family, I will get revenge, I want to marry this girl… The Theme is Stated by Liam Neeson in Taken Usually, the hero actually speaks it out loud. In your screenplay, the theme of the movie should be stated early on. Next, the audience should discover what the moral of the movie is. The Matrix starts with a computer screen and a blinking green line.įrom the very first beginning, we already have an idea that the movie is about tech and computer programming. In your script, this is usually on the first page.įor example, Home Alone is a Christmas movie so it starts with bright lights, a tinkly soundtrack, and lots of decorations. It is a visual that starts the movie and explains the tone of the film. This structure helps screenplay writers organize the script and helps the audience understand the movie and stay engaged. Keep in mind that this is not a rule or a formula! Save The Cat Beat Sheet Template The Blake Snyder (Save The Cat) Beat Sheet Snyder even numbers the pages in a script that each beat should land on.

So, he came up with an outline from 15 specific beats or story points that every good screenplay should have. What is a “Save The Cat” Script Beat?Ī script beat is an event that changes the character or the story.īlake Snyder studied many successful movies and he noticed that almost all these movies have the same narrative structure. We will list and explain them in this article. Mainly, the script can be divided into 15 beats or turning points. You may know it as the 3 act structure, the 5 plot point structure, or the 15 beat structure. So how can we use this structure to understand movies or write better scripts?

This narrative structure is also known as the Blake Snyder 15 beat sheet.īlake Snyder is the author who wrote about this script formula in his book: Save The Cat. In this post, we will be discussing the beats in a script and the Save The Cat structure. They follow what’s called the Save The Cat beat sheet template. Almost all movies have a similar narrative structure.

Screenwriting cat