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Working with directors

Episode - 4

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September 16, 2011 Directors, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

In episode four of Scriptnotes, Craig and I discuss migraines, kidney stones and zombie apocalypse preparations before we segue to the main topic: how screenwriters work with directors, from the first meeting to on-set etiquette to giving notes in post.

Screenwriters and directors often come at a project from different directions. The writer is trying to explain the movie he’s already written; the director is trying to explore the movie he’s planning to make.

By understanding what a director wants and needs, you stand the best chance of getting your movie on screen in a way that satisfies both of you.

Links:

* The [wikipedia article on migraines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migraine)
* What you need to know about [kidney stones](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001493/)
* My post on [zombie-class situations](http://johnaugust.com/2009/zombie-class-situations)
* [Words that Always Look Wrong](http://dwgrintalis.blogspot.com/2010/07/words-that-always-look-wrong.html)
* Intro: [ABC Sunday Night Movie intro to Superman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kay-eRh4Phg&feature=related), 1982
* Outro: “All Alone” by [John the Conqueror](http://www.facebook.com/JohntheConquerorBand)

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_04.m4a).

UPDATE 9-24-11: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2011/scriptnotes-ep-4-working-with-directors-transcript).

Related Posts

  1. Writer/director disagreements
  2. Writer and Director and Disaster
  3. Zombie-class situations

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