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The Rules (or, the Paradox of the Outlier)

Episode - 186

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March 3, 2015 Apps, Film Industry, Follow Up, Formatting, News, Scriptnotes, So-Called Experts, Story and Plot, Transcribed, Words on the page, Writing Process

John and Craig discuss this year’s screenplay Oscar winners, including the success of Birdman’s outside-the-box approach and Graham Moore’s speech.

Craig asked Reddit’s r/screenwriting sub to collect a list of the so-called rules budding screenwriters are told to follow. From the rules of the page to the rules of the industry, John and Craig look at these commonly-cited rules one-by-one, discussing which ones have merit and which ones are better ignored.

All this, plus follow-up on Tess Gerritsen’s Gravity lawsuit.

Also, John has a new app in the App Store called Assembler. Find out more in the links below.

Links:

  • Scriptnotes, 185: Malcolm Spellman, a Study in Heat
  • Jiminy Cricket educational serials on Wikipedia
  • 87th Academy Awards on Wikipedia
  • Scriptshadow’s review of Birdman
  • Graham Moore’s speech after winning Best Adapted Screenplay
  • Paddy Chayefsky at the 1978 Oscars
  • LA Times retracts an incorrect assumption about Graham Moore’s sexuality
  • Rashida Jones on the red carpet at the 2015 SAG awards
  • Scriptnotes, 183: The Deal with the Gravity Lawsuit
  • Tess Gerritsen’s amended complaint
  • My Cyborg Ear: How a Surgeon and Titanium Cured My Lifelong Deafness by Adam Clark Estes
  • Mike Tyson Mysteries on adult swim
  • I’m no fool with a bicycle
  • Assembler is in the Mac App Store now
  • Outro by Scriptnotes listener Jeff Harms (send us yours!)

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 3-10-15: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Related Posts

  1. The Deal with the Gravity Lawsuit
  2. Go Set a Spider-Man
  3. Blockbusters

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