Genre

More notes from Blake Snyder. Make sure your story is one of these genres.

• Monster in the House. Jaws. Confined space. Sin committed.
  
• Golden Fleece. Star Wars. Quest. Road Movie. In search of one thing, discovering something else, himself. Internal growth. Heist movies.
  
• Out of the Bottle. Flubber. Wish fulfillment. What if... Hero must be put-upon Cinderella. And learn that magic isn't everything. Lesson at the ending.
  
• Dude with a Problem. Die Hard. Ordinary guy, extraordinary circumstances. The badder the bad guy, the greater the heroics. Dude triumphs using his individuality to outsmart the more powerful forces.
  
• Rites of Passage. Ordinary People. Everybody's in on the joke, except the person going through it. Surrendering. Give up to forces more powerful than ourselves. That's life!
  
• Buddy Love. Rain man. Love story in disguise. All love stories, are buddy movies, with potential for sex. At first they hate each other, but their adventure together shows how much they need each other, and realizing this leads to more conflict. Need All is Lost moment where they separate. Then they have to surrender their egos to win.
  
• Whydunit. Chinatown. Not about hero changing, its about discovering something about human nature we did not think possible. Walk on the dark side. Turns the view back on us and asks, are we this evil?
  
• The Fool Triumphant. Forrest Gump. The wisest among us. Underdog. Everyone underestimates his ability. Thus, allowing him to ultimately shine. Not give up despite the odds. Usually against an "establishment" bad guy. Everyone discounts his chances for success, and an institution for the underdog to attack. Fool has an accomplice, an "insider" who can't believe the fool is getting away with his "ruse." Insider gets brunt of the slapstick, sees the idiot for what he really is, and being stupid enough to try to interfere. Give audience vicariouos thrill of victory.
  
• Institutionalized. M*A*S*H. Honor the institution and expose the problem of losing one's identity to it. Pros and cons of putting group ahead of ourselves. Often told from point of view of newcomer. Good for exposition, can ask, how does that work? Way to show what is a "crazy" world to us civilians. Who's crazier, me or them?
  
• Superhero. Gladiator. Extraordinary guy finds himself in ordinary world. Tales about being "different." Superhero must deal with those who are jealous of his unique point of view and superior mind. We all feel that way. Sympathy must come from plight of being misunderstood. Inspires us to what could be our potential.

For more in-depth analysis, see Blake's excellent book, Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies.