Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Beat sheets

Today I saw this post by Francesca Zappia. It contains a link to a beat sheet spreadsheet which I found fascinating. I had heard of beat sheets for screenplays before but had never really looked at one or tried to use one for noveling. I did some digging around and found an INCEPTION beat sheet on the website of the guy who designed the beat sheet spreadsheet. I also found a THE HUNGER GAMES (novel) beat sheet on there too. Between the two of them, I got a pretty good idea of how it works, and I think I understand something of what made the pacing in INCEPTION and THE HUNGER GAMES so well done and satisfying. Also, neither one adhered specifically to the number formula used in the spreadsheet, I imagine there's a lot of flexibility to be had there, so I'm not planning to use it as some kind of paint by numbers worksheet but more as a guide.
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2 comments:

  1. JaniMay 24, 2012 at 2:14 AM

    On my way to check it out right now :D

    Here's another version, if you haven't seen it yet.
    http://timstout.wordpress.com/story-structure/blake-snyders-beat-sheet/

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    1. BridgetMay 24, 2012 at 10:59 AM

      Thanks! Looks like it's the same beat sheet as the spreadsheet with slightly different descriptions, those could be helpful too. :)

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