There is a very specific set of expectations from audiences when they sit down to see a film, and he believed that this beat sheet can be used to match every top 250 except from 'Momento', and that the further you went from the sheet, the less the audience would be interested in the film.
The numbers in brackets are the timings within the film in minutes, and Snyder believed that if you differed from this the audience would get restless.
The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet.
Project title:
Genre:
Date:
1. Opening Image (1):
The first thing you see, which should hook the audience and drag them into the universe that the film is set in. It's extremely important within the film.
2. Theme Stated (5):
Theme isn't always linked to the genre, but it can be. Friendships/war/life/death etc, and Snyder believed that a character should always verbally state the theme of the film at this point in the film. For example, in Spiderman, Uncle Ben says 'with great power comes great responsibility' and this is the main theme of that film, and also the message portrayed to the audience.
3. Set-Up (1-10):
About ten minutes are needed to establish what the world where the movie is set is like. Introductions to characters/places/relationships etc should be made during that time, and how things are before the events within the film should be made clear in the first ten minutes. There's an idea that there should be six things that need fixing with the main character and/or their world, and these things should be shown within this time.
4. Catalyst (12):
The thing that happens that shakes the main character's world up quickly, and gets the story going. Can be very obvious or also very subtle, but it should not be much sooner or much later than this otherwise the audience would have too much/too little time to make sense of the world of the film and it would not work properly. It can also be called the 'call to adventure'.
5. Debate (12-25):
The story needs to slow slightly between the catalyst and the second act of the film. If the catalyst is the call to adventure, the debate is whether or not they'll accept the call or not, and wether they will or won't do it. It's after we know what the story's going to be, but it's before the main body of the story.
6. Break Into Two (25):
The second act of the story begins here. The second act is where most of the things within the film take place, and where things are different from the beginning of the film, being up in the air slightly.
7. B Story (30):
A b story is another, smaller story happening in the background of the main storyline - such as a best friend character with their own little storyline. If you plan to include a b story, then this is the time to do so. Also, if you want to introduce another important character then this is the last chance to do so. It's not the main story of the film, but it's another backstory in the background to carry things through, and every 'best friend' character in a film has their own b story. Introducing them any later would mean that the audience would not have enough of a chance to get to know them.
8. Fun And Games (30-55):
This is the reason why people bought a ticket to see the film. If a film is meant to be incredibly gory, this is when most of it would happen. During Die Hard, this is usually when Mclain starts to fight the terrorists, and during a romantic comedy this is when there's the most of the laughs and misunderstandings between the characters. These are also normally the parts that are shown during the trailers of the film.
9. Midpoint (55):
The midpoint is half way through the second act. The audience would start to get bored during this time because it doesn't have the excitement of the first act, and the fun and games are usually over, so the film needs a bump to keep the audience interested. Raising of the stakes, or the introduction of a ticking clock/time limit usually works well - for example, a bomb, someone moving away or something needing to be completed before something bad happens makes things more interesting and makes the things that happen afterwards seem more important.
10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75):
The bad guys that lurk in the background for the most of the film now start to make a move, and the good guy(s) may begin to lose control of the situation. If the villains were a bit of a joke for the first part of the film, the tides suddenly turn and they suddenly start to seem more serious. It doesn't literally have to be a person, but could be the environment, the weather, starvation/dehydration or a disaster could also be classified as a 'bad guy'.
11. All Is Lost (75):
The worst thing that could happen to the good guy happens now. The bad guy does something really bad here, and the good guy cannot stop it from happening. Something close to the good guy gets dragged into the situation where they have been trying to prevent it from happening, or someone important to the main character - like a mentor or best friend - is killed off here. For example, this is when Darth Vader kills Ben Kenobi during Star Wars. If a character has desperately not wanted to be left alone for the entire film, this is the point where they find themselves alone with their worst films or a break up would happen.
12. Dark Night Of The Soul (75-85):
This is how the characters deal with the 'all is lost' situation. This is where the band splits up, for example, and all get normal jobs or their reaction to the worst possible thing ever happening. This could be someone reacting to a death of someone close to them, or what they do after a relationship breaks up, even.
13. Break Into Three (85):
This part is the third act, and is how things end up at the end of the film. It includes some of the chaos of the middle act too, but things get fixed within this act. The hero turns around during this part and changes his mind to overcome the 'dark night of the soul' and they are suddenly determined to make things right by finding their inner strength. Like someone trying to find their love after they have broken up with them and moved away, or someone standing up after being beaten in a fight and tracking down the villain to finally end the battle.
14. Finale (85-110):
On Save The Cat, this part is broken down into five smaller points, but in simple terms this is the big finish. Any problems faced by the characters should be overcome, and this should happen in an escalating way so that the character faces the smaller problems before the bigger problems within the film - like killing the henchman before they kill the main villain of the film.
15. Final Image (110):
This is the last thing that the audience is, and sums up how the world is now that the story has been told. It is the thing that the audience take with them and remember as they leave the cinema. If it's exactly the same as the opening it may feel rather pointless to the audience, like the character has accomplished nothing during the film - unless they can now see a different side to this same shot within the opening.
This is the last thing that the audience is, and sums up how the world is now that the story has been told. It is the thing that the audience take with them and remember as they leave the cinema. If it's exactly the same as the opening it may feel rather pointless to the audience, like the character has accomplished nothing during the film - unless they can now see a different side to this same shot within the opening.
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