What You'll Learn

Learn the key elements and purpose of each of Blake Snyder's 15 story beats, as illustrated by 3 acclaimed films:

  • the Marvel blockbuster BLACK PANTHER
  • Disney's animated COCO
  • the indie LADY BIRD


In 15 short videos, one for each story beat, you'll see how the writers structured their very different stories in a very similar fashion, so that you can do the same when you write your film or novel.

This Course Includes

  • 15 videos—one for each of Blake Snyder's 15 story beats
  • a downloadable PDF of the Crash Course's Essential Vocabulary, including Promise of the Premise, Stasis = Death, the Moment of Clarity, and much more
  • a free preview of Beat 1: OPENING IMAGE

Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Beat 1: OPENING IMAGE

  • 2

    CRASH COURSE ESSENTIALS

    • Save the Cat! Crash Course Essential Vocabulary
  • 3

    Beat 2: THEME STATED

    • See the key elements of the Theme Stated Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 4

    Beat 3: SET-UP

    • See the key elements of the Set-Up Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 5

    Beat 4: CATALYST

    • See the key elements of the Catalyst Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 6

    Beat 5: DEBATE

    • See the key elements of the Debate Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 7

    Beat 6: BREAK INTO TWO

    • See the key elements of the Break into Two Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 8

    Beat 7: B STORY

    • See the key elements of the B Story Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 9

    Beat 8: FUN AND GAMES

    • See the key elements of the Fun and Games Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 10

    Beat 9: MIDPOINT

    • See the key elements of the Midpoint Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 11

    Beat 10: BAD GUYS CLOSE IN

    • See the key elements of the Bad Guys Close In Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 12

    Beat 11: ALL IS LOST

    • See the key elements of the All Is Lost Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 13

    Beat 12: DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

    • See the key elements of the Dark Night of the Soul Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 14

    Beat 13: BREAK INTO THREE

    • See the key elements of the Break into Three Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 15

    Beat 14: FINALE

    • See the key elements of the Finale Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 16

    Beat 15: FINAL IMAGE

    • See the key elements of the Final Image Beat in BLACK PANTHER, COCO, and LADYBIRD
  • 17

    TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

    • Exit Survey

Your Instructor

Cory Milles

Cory Milles writes Young Adult novels that seek to capture the power of story to transform his readers. When he’s not writing, teaching, or listening to his collection of movie scores, he can usually be found reading more on the craft of writing or analyzing story beats in films, TV shows, or video games. He is an editor of Save the Cat!® Goes to the Indies and the author of New Miller's Grove, Legacy, Paradox, Redemption and The Reboot. One of his passions is helping writers tell the story they were born to tell. If you're interested in developing your story, he'd love to schedule a consultation with you!

Reviews

5 star rating

Very helpful!

Pam Heidenberg

Breezy, yet thorough, this is a great list of “things to do” to keep you on track and focused when creating your story.

Breezy, yet thorough, this is a great list of “things to do” to keep you on track and focused when creating your story.

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5 star rating

Crash Course1

Derrick Greene

Awesome!!!

Awesome!!!

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5 star rating

YOU ROCK.... THEN ROLL.... THEN START WRITING...THANK YOU

Sedly Bloomfield

SPOT ON WITH THE TEXT...JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO FILL IN THE PAINS AND LACK OF CONNECTION FOR THE WHOLE

SPOT ON WITH THE TEXT...JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO FILL IN THE PAINS AND LACK OF CONNECTION FOR THE WHOLE

Read Less