History Main / TenMoviePlots

"Anybody who's ever been shot down at the PTA or sneered at for bold thinking in a meeting at work," says Snyder, can identify with the great man who has to "deal with the likes of us little people." It's the same story, whether it's ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', ''Film/ABeautifulMind'', ''Franchise/XMen'', ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', or ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}''. It's all "the plight of being misunderstood" and "gives flight to our greatest fantasies about our potential, while tempering those fantasies with a dose of reality."

the essential ingredients are a '''life problem''' that must be dealt with, a '''wrong way''' to attack the problem, usually a diversion from confronting the pain, and a solution that involves '''acceptance''' of a hard truth, and the knoweldge that it's the hero who must change, not the world around him.

This summary is of one chapter in:

In the book '''''Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need''''', Blake Snyder categorizes movies into ten basic plots. In the sequel, '''''Save The Cat! Goes to the Movies''''', he expands on these plots in great detail. Many he calls "primal," saying you could "pitch (the idea) to a caveman." Snyder knows his subject well, as he wrote both ''Film/BlankCheck'' and ''Film/StopOrMyMomWillShoot''.

Snyder's categories are as follows (rearranged somewhat):

Here's Snyder's version of TheQuest, which he connects with the [[RoadTripPlot Road Movie]], a series of seemingly unrelated encounters that cause CharacterDevelopment for the hero. He may never reach the goal he set out for, but he does reach a different goal: self-discovery.

"Anybody who's ever been shot down at the PTA or sneered at for bold thinking in a meeting at work," says Snyder, can identify with the great man who has to "deal with the likes of us little people." It's the same story, whether it's ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', ''Film/ABeautifulMind'', ''Franchise/XMen'', ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', or ''{{Frankenstein}}''. It's all "the plight of being misunderstood" and "gives flight to our greatest fantasies about our potential, while tempering those fantasies with a dose of reality."

!Monster in the House

!Out of the Bottle

!Whydunit

!Golden Fleece

!Rites of Passage

!Institutionalized

!Buddy Love

!Superhero

!Dude with a Problem

!The Fool Triumphant

On the wish side, we have a hero who makes a wish that gets unexpectedly granted. Or, less directly, perhaps he needs some help and gets it from an unexpected source - Snyder points out ''Film/TheMask'' as being another tale following this plot. Then we get a classic Wish Fulfillment tale, although of course there's going to be problems.

the essential ingredients are a '''life problem''' that must be dealt with, a '''wrong way''' to attack the problem, usually a diversion from confronting the pain, and a solutin that involves '''acceptance''' of a hard truth, and the knoweldge that it's the hero who must change, not the world around him.

This is the tale of a group: the mental patients of ''OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'', the doctors of ''Film/{{Mash}}'', the Mafia family of ''Film/TheGodfather''. The story details the pros and cons of "putting the group ahead of ourselves." It honors the group - yet exposes "the problems of losing one's identity to it."

This sort of plot pokes fun at things we take too seriously. Snyder proposes that "no establishment is too sacred to be skewered." After seeing ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful'', where a fool takes on the Holocaust, I'd say his hypothesis won out.

The three basic ingredients are vital to the success of this tale. Without the '''''monster''''', there's nothing threatening the characters. But without the '''''house''''', there's no reason they couldn't just up and leave, [[BystanderSyndrome letting others deal with the problem]]. Stick the characters in a room, a building, a small village; put them in a spaceship, or on an island, or in a quarantined city. [[ClosedCircle Suddenly there's no place to run.]]

According to Snyder, a '''sin''' is committed, "prompting the creation of a supernatural '''monster''' that comes like an avenging angel to kill those who have committed that sin and spare those who realize what that sin is. The rest is ''run and hide''." He includes movies from ''Film/{{Alien}}'', and ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' to ''Film/JurassicPark'', and even ''Film/FatalAttraction'' along with just about every horror movie out there. Some movies, such as ''Film/SawI'', have monsters that go after the "sin" of ignorance.

According to Snyder, a '''sin''' is committed, "prompting the creation of a supernatural '''monster''' that comes like an avenging angel to kill '''those who have committed that sin''' and spare those who realize what that sin is. The rest is ''run and hide''." He includes movies from ''Film/{{Alien}}'', and ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' to ''Film/JurassicPark'', and even ''Film/FatalAttraction'' along with just about every horror movie out there. Some movies, such as ''Film/SawI'', have monsters that go after the "sin" of ignorance.

According to Snyder, a '''''sin''''' is committed, "prompting the creation of a supernatural monster that comes like an avenging angel to kill those who have committed that sin and spare those who realize what that sin is. The rest is ''run and hide''." He includes movies from ''Film/{{Alien}}'', and ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' to ''Film/JurassicPark'', and even ''Film/FatalAttraction'' along with just about every horror movie out there. Some movies, such as ''Film/SawI'', have monsters that go after the "sin" of ignorance.

According to Snyder, a '''''sin''''' is committed, "prompting the creation of a supernatural monster that comes like an avenging angel to kill those who have committed that sin and spare those who realize what that sin is. The rest is ''run and hide''." He includes movies from ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' to ''Film/JurassicPark'', along with just about every horror movie out there. Some movies, such as ''Film/SawI'', have monsters that go after the "sin" of ignorance.

"Anybody who's ever been shot down at the PTA or sneered at for bold thinking in a meeting at work," says Snyder, can identify with the great man who has to "deal with the likes of us little people." It's the same story, whether it's ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', ''Film/ABeautifulMind'', ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}'', ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', or ''{{Frankenstein}}''. It's all "the plight of being misunderstood" and "gives flight to our greatest fantasies about our potential, while tempering those fantasies with a dose of reality."

The [[ABoyAndHisX Boy and His Dog]] gives us a "catalyst" character who enters the hero's life, changes him, then leaves. The movie ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'' is like this. And stories like ''RainMan'' and ''Film/LethalWeapon'' give us a main character who changes drastically while the secondary character changes little or not at all.

According to Snyder, a '''''sin''''' is committed, "prompting the creation of a supernatural monster that comes like an avenging angel to kill those who have committed that sin and spare those who realize what that sin is. The rest is ''run and hide''." He includes movies from ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' to ''Film/JurassicPark'', along with just about every horror movie out there. Some movies, such as ''Film/{{Saw}}'', have monsters that go after the "sin" of ignorance.

According to Snyder, a '''''sin''''' is committed, "prompting the creation of a supernatural monster that comes like an avenging angel to kill those who have committed that sin and spare those who realize what that sin is. The rest is ''run and hide''." He includes movies from ''Alien'' and ''Tremors'' to ''Jurassic Park'', along with just about every horror movie out there. Some movies, such as ''{{Saw}}'', have monsters that go after the "sin" of ignorance.

The archetypal ''Monster in the House'' tale is the myth of the Minotaur: You're stuck in a maze with a half-man, half-bull guy trying to kill you.

You might call this plot the... inverse?... of Booker's ''[[TheSevenBasicPlots Overcoming the Monster]]'' tale, where the Hero leaves home, gathers weapons, and heads across the world to find and destroy the monster that's been terrorizing the countryside. In ''Monster in the House'', the Hero can't leave home, has no chance to build his arsenal before the showdown, and either destroys the monster for his own sake or fails to destroy it at all.

This plot deals with wishes and curses.

Compare [[TheSevenBasicPlots Booker's version]] of The Quest.

Any sort of "life transitions" story fits under here. Also compare [[TheSevenBasicPlots Booker's Rags to Riches plot]].

As a man [[ActionSurvivor thrust into a situation you're ill-equipped to deal with]], you've got the audience's sympathy almost from the get-go. As you try to defeat the aliens, or [[{{Terminator}} escape from the killer robot]], or [[Film/DieHard save your wife from the terrorists]], we'll be pulling for you. And you'll eventually triumph over the villains - though not through show of force.

This goes a step beyond being the Everyman and moves into being the [[IdiotHero Village Idiot]]. He's the underdog, the overlooked, the ridiculous, and he's set against a [[DavidVersusGoliath Goliath]] of an [[BigBad enemy]], often an "establishment" bad guy. But they [[ObfuscatingStupidity underestimate]] him, and because he's TheFool, he's got the forces of luck and good nature on his side. He may not fully understand the danger he's in, but whatever his goal, he won't give up - and the villain doesn't stand a chance.

This sort of plot pokes fun at things we take too seriously. Snyder proposes that "no establishment is too sacred to be skewered." After seeing ''LifeIsBeautiful'', where a fool takes on the Holocaust, I'd say his hypothesis won out.

Also, there may be a straight man "who is in on the joke and can't believe the Fool is getting away with his ruse." (One example given: Lieutenant Dan in ''ForrestGump''.) This character sees the Fool for what he is - and, if he's "stupid enough to try to interfere," he'll "get the brunt of the slapstick."

Here's Snyder's version of TheQuest, which he connects with the RoadMovie, a series of seemingly unrelated encounters that cause CharacterDevelopment for the hero. He may never reach the goal he set out for, but he does reach a different goal: self-discovery.

For the sixth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the enemy was [[WordOfGod said to be]] "Life" (as opposed to the trio or even [[spoiler:Dark Willow]]). So that probably counts here, too.

Snyder includes in this category such gems as ''WaynesWorld'', ''ThelmaAndLouise'', ''ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'', and ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. They all share the dynamic of two characters debating "important story issues."