Hi there,
I recently signed and options agreement to have one of my books made into a movie, did the adaptation from book to screenplay, treatment and bible and I'm looking at how to do beat sheets so A: I have the skill if needed and B: the more I know, the more comfortable I am with each step. Anyone have any recommendations for a great resource on how to do this. I'm not an outline person - but I think for this it might be an idea to have them done.
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It looks like you already wrote the script and treatment, and now you are wondering how to do a beat sheet. That should be so easy for you at this point, since you already wrote the story that is the end-product of your beats. Usually it happens the other way around.
Beats are simply the important actions of your story - physical and non-physical - written as a document. Some specific beat sheets are created in paragraph form, and each scene is broken down and details the essential action. Some do that in a spreadsheet-style document, too, and with bullet points. Final Draft software has a Beat Board that helps you visualize and write your beats, and so do some other script softwares.
Uh, outlines are your friend, and can be considered a pre-beat sheet, but I understand what you're saying, and apologize for trying to persuade you to become friends with something you don't like (but should).
Here are a few examples of a spreadsheet-style bullet-point beat sheet, a paragraph-style beat sheet, and a beat sheet that follows Save the Cat beats. You can google for other beat sheet examples, too, but I prefer the spreadsheet-style beat sheet. I guess it all depends on which style you are best suited for. Be succinct in your beat sheet, and best of luck to you.
https://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/ops_venezuela_who_writes_what.pdf
https://johnaugust.com/Assets/charlies_beat_sheet.pdf
https://www.writersstore.com/toy-story-3-save-the-cat-beat-sheet/
I don't see in her original post that she said something like "and now the producer wants a beat sheet." Maybe she's just learning about it kinda after the fact, and wants to learn how to do it.
I could also understand if that was the case, though. A producer might have read a script first, and now wants a beat sheet to help with better visualizing the shooting process, or for other reasons.
Either way, at least she got the harder things done. From book to screenplay is pretty freaking impressive in its own right - and especially for a person who doesn't like outlines. Bad Patricia! Heh-heh. (Just kidding, of course. Kinda.)
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It sounds like the person requesting a beat sheet is either too lazy to read the screenplay or treatment OR the person is putting together a pitch deck and wants a beat sheet as part of it in case someone they are PITCHING to is too lazy to read the treatment or script and has a special place in their heart for a beat sheet.
I'm guessing it's the second. The person who optioned the project is building a pitch deck and wants a beat sheet as part of it.
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CJ Walley Is it sad that when I saw the term "beat sheet" I thought of Save the Cat too. I have a Save the Cat beat sheet saved somewhere on my computer.
Hi there, Sorry it took me a bit to get back.
The producer hasn't asked for anything more than the screenplay I sent her. She has looked it over, I've spoken to her about it.
As Bill Constanini said, I'm looking to learn simply for my own self. There hasn't been a request for anything beyond the package I submitted. Sadly, I'm one of these people that like to know how to do a little bit of everything. I've been told I'm a control freak - I often feel the need to do leg work just to quell my curiosity.
I appreciate everyone's input though. It certain has given me a ton of things to think over and to learn.
I downloaded the Save the Cat - wow its fantastic really let me break things down with ease.
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Patricia: yeah...I kinda figured that, based on what you originally wrote, and that's really good for you to pursue that endeavor.
Before the Save-the-Cat haters pounce on you (some people just don't like dem cats), I''m copying and pasting a reply I recently made elsewhere, and thought I'd share it here with you too. You will really like the document link at the end.
A writer can write a great story or beat sheet using Save the Cat, or any of the other story throughlines that are out there. And they can write a bad story or beat sheet, too. Remember what Bruce Lee said:
"Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own."
Audiences expect that they are going on a journey that is going to evoke feelings; that may surprise them at times and that should result with a satisfactory ending - happy, not happy, and anywhere in between.
Here is a link to a comparison of different types of defined structures. They are all excellent tools to help structure stories and beat sheets. You can write a great story or beat sheet using any one, or you can write a bad story or beat sheet using any one. It's long, but worth the read. Save the Cat isn't in the comparison. And a short little plug for the guys who wrote it. The Write Brothers are great friends of writers!
http://dramatica.com/resources/assets/Dramatica_paradigms-0707.pdf
Much luck and good fortune for you, Patricia, and for everyone else, too.