Film Courage: Can you explain the Blake Snyder beat sheet?
Naomi Beaty, Writer, Screenwriting Teacher and Consultant: Sure, Blake [Author Blake Snyder] came up with this idea of the 15 beats that make up any story. He put them on a beat sheet. It’s become famous now, it is a great tool for people who are developing a story idea or trying to learn about story structure. The one thing that I think people who are introduced to the beat sheet may overlook and then have to learn later (this is a shortcut) some of the beats are turning points and then some of the beats are sections of the story. I’ll go over them but it’s useful to note that because I think that’s one of the things that confuses people when they’re trying to learn about the 15 beats.
The opening image is the first image of your screenplay or of your movie, it sets the tone, establishes when and where we are in the world. The world of your story the next beat that shows up on the beat sheet is the theme stated (and Blake wrote in Save The Cat) I think the theme stated shows up on page five of your screenplay. The theme is usually the guiding principle or the big idea of the story, what it’s about behind the plot and behind the characters. He liked to say that it was stated somewhere in the story or on page five of your screenplay it was stated outright usually in a line of dialogue by one of the characters.
The next beat on the beat sheet is the setup. That’s one of those beats to pay attention to because the setup is actually a section of the screenplay so it’s not just…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
Naomi Beaty is a writer, screenwriting teacher, consultant and owner of WRITE+CO., along with the author of LOGLINE SHORTCUTS: Unlock Your Story And Pitch Your Screenplay In One Simple Sentence and THE SCREENPLAY OUTLINE WORKBOOK: A step-by-step guide to brainstorm ideas, structure your story, and prepare to write your best screenplay.
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