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20/80, Blake Snyder, inciting incident, LEGALLY BLONDE, mid-point turn, Save the Cat, three-act structure - February 23, 2022

THE 20/80 STRUCTURE

Most everyone is familiar with the standard three-act structure. We’ve got our first-10; inciting incident on pg 17; plot point one on pg 30; midpoint turn on pg 50; plot point two on ppg 70-75; climax, and denouement. Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat offers a slightly different model, but it’s pretty much in the same ballpark. There is another structural model. It has no name, so I’ve just been calling it the “20/80” because, simply put, plot point lands on pg 20, and plot point two is on pg 80. It’s the minor key of screenplay structure. The other hallmark...

KNIVES OUT: Opening and Closing Image

KNIVES OUT uses the old screenwriting device of the opening and closing image, something that screenwriting guru Blake Snyder was a big proponent of. It’s such a familiar device that, in the wrong hands, it risks being clichéd. In KNIVES OUT, in Rian Johnson’s screenplay, this often-used screenwriting device is incredibly effective. As this post details the ending of KNIVES OUT, don’t keep reading if you haven’t seen it. This is your SPOILER ALERT. Why is the opening/closing image so powerful in KNIVES OUT? The script opens with an image of a coffee cup that reads, “My house, my rules,...

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