I mentioned Save The Cat and beat sheets and the importance of outlining in my last post AND I’ve also mentioned Christopher Nolan once before on this blog. I wouldn’t call myself a die hard Nolan fan, but I really enjoyed Memento, the movie he directed and co-wrote that got Hollywood to take notice (hey, his screenplay got nominated for an Oscar). I’ve gotta say, I didn’t remember much about the movie except some of the actors, a few key scenes, and most importantly...spoiler alert…that the movie happens in reverse.
I bring up Memento because I think it’s the type of movie lots of baby writers are dying to write – something indie and something that has a really unusual or unique hook (like being told in reverse). One problem though, is that writing these sorts of scripts divides a lot of people. Some, including the late great Save The Cat creator himself, Blake Snyder, point out that while these types of scripts can be calling cards, they aren't the sort of specs that sell. And so, I see writers who want to write these types of scripts saying “screw beat sheets, screw Save The Cat” OR giving up on their original idea to write something mediocre that they think is “commercial."
That’s why I think it would surprise certain baby writers to read this entry that appeared last year on the Save The Cat blog…why look, it’s a beat sheet for Memento. Ha. I know there are some people that would say it’s easy to try and make any completed movie fit into a box or beat sheet, but I think the beat sheet is right on...annnnd...as out there as the movie/script might seem, Memento is surprisingly simple and can be viewed as hitting all the usual beats.
So yeah, read that beat sheet, watch the movie again, and know that maybe, just maybe, the world of Save The Cat beat sheets and the world of unusual indie screenplays don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
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