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精選書評:先讓英雄救貓咪

 

The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need

作者:Blake Snyder
出版社:Michael Wiese Productions
中譯本:《先讓英雄救貓咪:你這輩子唯一需要的電影編劇指南》,雲夢千里出版

• 作者是好萊塢最成功的原創編劇之一,曾靠賣劇本賺入數百萬美元。
• 本書是北美大專院校、與好萊塢業界首推的入門編劇書。
• 作者英年早逝,夢工廠推出動畫片《馴龍高手》紀念他的貢獻。

預估閱讀時間:02:25
文章難度: ★★★☆☆

Like any other profession, to be a successful screenwriter your ideas must be remarkable and marketable. In this book, Blake Snyder explains the science behind the writing of Hollywood’s most financially successful scripts. This book won’t teach you about how to create artsy, independent, transgressive stories. The author makes it very clear that he is teaching you about commercial screenwriting. In fact, it is a textbook for marketing ideas and creating them.

和所有行業一樣,作為一名編劇,你的點子必須既出色又能賣錢。本書作者Blake Snyder將為你剖析好萊塢最賣座的幾部劇本,解釋其背後的科學。這本書並不會教你如何寫出獨特、具藝術性、又能突破框架的劇本,作者開門見山地說了,他要教你的是商業的劇本寫作方式。事實上,它可以說是一本關於行銷的教科書。

Save the Cat is a well-known book among writers. When you talk to other writers about it, they have a strong opinion, either positive or negative. Some writers don’t appreciate Snyder’s advice about creating stories because he has a very narrow view of story structure. He asserts that there are three acts in every story, the main character must be likeable and be seen doing something heroic like “saving a cat” at the beginning of the story. The motivation of the hero should also be about a primal emotion: power, family, survival or revenge. Although this may not be welcome advice for experienced writers, Snyder’s perspective is valuable regardless.

《Save the Cat》是寫作人都知道的一本書,當你和寫作人提到這本書,他們通常都會有很強烈的反應,有些正面、有些負面。有些人不太欣賞Snyder對於故事創作的建議,他們認為他將故事的格局定義得太過狹窄。作者斷言,每個故事都由三幕組成;而主角必須討人喜歡,並在故事的開頭展現一些類似「救貓咪」的英勇舉動。英雄的動機也多半來自一些原始情緒:權力、家庭、生存、或復仇。儘管這種建議可能不太受老練的寫作人歡迎,但Snyder的觀點仍非常有價值。

You can find some true insight into telling stories from this book, even if you don’t write. For marketers, it acts as a window into creative writing, and might change how you watch movies. For people outside of the marketing industry, this book may convey a respectful inspiration. He describes movies as “intricately made emotion machines… you have to be able to take them apart and put them back together again”. This book can give you the tools you need to deconstruct stories and put them back together in different shapes. It will help you appreciate and analyze the craft of storytelling, which is a valuable skill in any industry.

即便你不是寫作人,閱讀本書你仍可以獲得關於說故事非常實際的觀點。作者這麼形容電影:「(電影是一種)錯綜複雜的情感機器,你要能將他們拆解後,再重新組裝在一起。」而這本書就能提供你能「拆解」故事的工具,讓你在解構它們之後,再重組成不同形狀。它能幫助你欣賞並分析說故事的藝術,無論你身處哪個行業,都能受用無窮。

 

 


 

文/ Peter Gibbon

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2019年1月號
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