- Slate Magazine
13-07-21 11:24 PM
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Now playing at your local multiplex: Save the Movie! - Slate Magazine
13-07-21 11:24 PM
that sets up the conflict between Josh Brolins hard-charging cop, Sgt. John OMara, and the criminal forces of mob boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), OMara is called in to see his gruff police superior. We got rules around here, smartass, the chief growls. Do yourself a favor. Learn em. Thats Snyders second beat, theme stated. And its right at the seven-minute mark, almost exactly when its supposed to happen in a 110-minute movie. The rest of the Snyder playbook is there, too: a story-starting catalyst midway through the first act, a shootout at the midpoint that ups the ante, an all-is-lost momentincluding a deathbetween the 75- and 80-minute mark, and a concluding final act in which the baddies are dispatched in ranking order, just as Snyder instructs. Or look at Marchs Jack the Giant Slayer. Theres an opening image that sets up each of the young protagonists problems and states the theme at the five-minute mark, a catalyst at the 12-minute mark, an act break between the 25- and 30-minute mark when Jack climbs the beanstalk, and a false victory 90 minutes in, when it looks as if the evil giants have been definitively defeated. Oz the Great and Powerful is a fun riff on director Sam Raimis quirky early horror films. But check your watch a quarter of the way through and youll find a tornado that whisks Oz, and the movie, into its first act. Once Oz has landed, he meets Theodora, the love interestand the B-plot. Baz Luhrmanns The Great Gatsby adaptation was reorganized to fit the formula, with a party-filled fun and games second quarter that leads to the decline of the third, in which tragedy looms as the bad guys close in. (Midpoint) Field and McKee were obsessed with the theoretical underpinnings of storytelling. But Snyders book is far more straightforward. And thats why its conquered the big screen so thoroughly. Indeed, if youre on the lookout, you can find Snyders beats, in the order he prescribes, executed more or less as Snyder instructs, in virtually every major release in theaters today. Even the master storytellers at Pixar stick quite close to Snyders playbook: Watching Monsters University this summer, I loved the way it toyed with underdog sports and college movie conventions. Yet the story hits every one of Snyders beats, including an opening image thats mirrored in the final scene, an act break when Mike and Sully reluctantly join forces to compete in the Scare Games, a false victory about threequarters of the way through when (spoiler!) they win the final Scare Games challenge, and an all-is-lost moment followed by an emotionally charged dark night of the soul next to a moonlit lake afterward. (Bad guys close in) Yet once you know the formula, the seams begin to show. Movies all start to seem the same, and many scenes start to feel forced and arbitrary, like screenplay Mad Libs. Why does Kirk get dressed down for irresponsibility by Admiral Pike early in Star Trek Into Darkness? Because someone had to deliver the theme to the main character. Why does Gina Caranos sidekick character defect to the villains team for no reason whatsoever almost exactly three-quarters of the way through Fast & Furious 6? Because its the all-is-lost moment, so everything needs to be in shambles for the heroes. Why does Gerard Butlers character in Olympus Has Fallen suddenly call his wife after a climactic failed White House assault three-quarters of the way through? Because the second act always ends with a quiet moment of reflectionthe dark night of the soul. And if the villain of the past few years of movies is the adolescent male for whom it seems all big-Hollywood product is engineered, Snyders guidelines have helped that bad guy close the door to other potential audiences. Save the Cat! doesnt go so far as to require that protagonists be men. But the book does tell aspiring screenwriters to stick to stories about the young, because thats the crowd that shows up for movies. Following this advice to its logical conclusion means far more stories about young mensince thats who shows up at the multiplex the most. Its not an accident that the chapter on creating a hero is called Its About A Guy Who not Its About A Person Who And with a young male protagonist, women are literally relegated to the B-plotthe love interest, or helper, who assists the male protagonist in overcoming his personal problems. Its not an accident that Raimis megabudget Oz movie featured not Dorothy but a male protagonist. (All is lost) Watching poorly executed movies with Snyders formula in mind can become a tiresome and repetitive slog. How many times can you watch a young man struggle with his problems, gain new power, then save the world? Its enough to make you wonder: Is overreliance on Snyders story formula killing movies? (Dark night of the soul) If so, then all is lost. The major studios increasingly rely on a small number of megabudget blockbusters for their profits. But big budgets mean big risks. And the only way to mitigate those risks is to stick with whats been known to work before. In other words, formulaand the more precise the formula, the better. Americas greatest art form is headed straight, as the Snyderized Star Trek sequel notes, Into Darkness. --(Break into Act III) Its not that the formula cant produce good, fun movies: Monsters University is very enjoyable. Star Wars, Die Hard, The Matrix, and The Avengers all follow something like the story path that Snyder laid out. But it does mean that Hollywood produces way too many movies about adolescent men coming to grips with who they are (think John Carter, Battleship, The Bourne Legacy, Tron: Legacy, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, virtually every superhero movie, and the entirety of the J.J. Abrams canon). (Finale) It also means that theres far less wiggle room for even minor experimentation. Think of a classic popcorn flick like Jurassic Park. Its a pretty classic three-act story, and it includes virtually all of the elements found in
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Now playing at your local multiplex: Save the Movie! - Slate Magazine
13-07-21 11:24 PM
Snyders beat sheet. But they are out of order and out of proportion. Now compare that to a modern megablockbuster like The Amazing Spider-Man, which follows the Snyder structure beat by beat. Theres a reason that even Steven Spielberg is complaining that Hollywood is too reliant on formulaic blockbusters. We can appeal to screenwriters to buck the trend. But why would they? The formula is incredibly useful. Indeed, I relied on Snyders beat sheet to write this piece, using every beat, in the order he lists. I could see the advantages of the beat sheet. It helped me order my thoughts and figure out what I should say next. But I also found myself writing to fit the needs of the formula rather than the good of the essaysome sections were cut short, others deleted entirely, and other bits included mostly to hit the beat sheets marks. It made writing easier, in other words, but it also made me less creative. (Final image) Thats why youve got that strangely familiar feeling at the movies. Hollywood needs to learn a screenplay style life-lesson of its own: Sure, sometimes you can let the formula guide you. But that shouldnt be the only thing you know how to do.
Are You a Stoned Bro, 15 to 25? Then Foxs High-Def Animation Block Is for You.
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