John August

Archives for 2014

Checking batches of PDFs

Apps, Follow Up, Geek Alert

Last week, I [wondered aloud](http://2ja.co/ymstb) how I could check creator codes on a folder full of PDFs without checking them one-by-one.

[Zoë Blade](https://twitter.com/zoeblade/status/465787514427822080) wrote in with a Terminal command, but it turns out I could do it in Automator very easily. Here’s the workflow.

automator workflow

Why didn’t I try Automator first? Past experience.

Over the years, I’ve tried doing a dozen things in Automator, only to run into obstacles where it can’t do quite what I need. Often, the breakdown is conditional logic, or the need to transfer a value from one section to the next. ((Having played with other building-block environments like Scratch, I know it’s absolutely possible to do logic and variables in a drag-and-drop way, but I have a feeling Automator isn’t getting updated.))

This is the rare case where Automator does almost exactly what I want. I’ve saved this workflow as an application so I can periodically test batches of files.

Photoplays and archetypes

Episode - 143

Go to Archive

Broadway, Follow Up, How-To, Screenwriting Software, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

In a wide-ranging episode, Craig and John look at a 1912 screenwriting book, Levinson’s beef with the WGA, and the Periodic Table of Storytelling.

We also answer listener questions about keeping secrets from readers, firing managers, and what happens to a Broadway show after Broadway. Plus, more follow-up on old One Cool Things.

There are still (maybe?) tickets for the live show on the 15th. See the links for details.

Links:

* [Voting for the Live Three Page Challenge is open](http://johnaugust.com/threepagelive) until May 14 at noon
* [Get your tickets now](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/scriptnotes-summer-superhero-spectacular/) for the Scriptnotes Summer Superhero Spectacular
* John’s blog post on [which apps screenwriters are using](http://johnaugust.com/2014/which-apps-are-screenwriters-using)
* Scriptnotes, Episode 141: [Uncomfortable Ambiguity, or Nobody Wants Me at their Orgy](http://johnaugust.com/2014/uncomfortable-ambiguity-or-nobody-wants-me-at-their-orgy)
* Matt Selman [on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Selman)
* The Simpsons, Episode 492: The Book Job, on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Job) and [Amazon Instant Video](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006B318N8/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* The Simpsons, Episode 266: The Trilogy of Error [on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilogy_of_Error)
* John’s blog post on [How to Write a Photoplay](http://johnaugust.com/2014/how-to-write-a-photoplay) and [the book on archive.org](https://archive.org/details/howtowritephotop00hoag)
* Deadline on [Barry Levinson leaving the WGA](http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/barry-levinson-quits-wga-over-sloppy-credit-arbitration-on-screen-version-of-philip-roths-the-humbling/)
* [The Periodic Table of Storytelling](http://designthroughstorytelling.net/periodic/)
* Seattle’s [Experience Music Project Museum](http://www.empmuseum.org/), and [John’s photo of the Archetypes of Fantasy chart](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/archetypes.jpg)
* Joseph Campbell’s [The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Collected Works](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1577315936/?tag=johnaugustcom-20), and his and Bill Moyers’ video series, [The Power of Myth](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A4E8E1O/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Bulfinch’s Mythology](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1440426309/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Memos to Hollywood](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/movies/critics-weigh-in-on-patriarchy-and-the-vanished-film-print.html) from The New York Times
* Big Fish’s [upcoming shows](http://www.theatricalrights.com/big-fish)
* Vote now (for Big Fish!) for the [Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards](http://awards.broadway.com/buzz/2014/5/5/votebway-vote-now-for-the-winners-of-the-2014-broadwaycom-audience-choice-awards)
* All our [One Cool Things](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings)
* [WorkEZ Executive Laptop Stand](http://www.uncagedergonomics.com/workez-executive/) and [on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B9HGHPU/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Sometimes You Die](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sometimes-you-die/id822701037?mt=8) for iOS
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Sam Worseldine ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_143.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_143.mp3).

**UPDATE 5-16-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-143-photoplays-and-archetypes-transcript).

Which apps are screenwriters using?

Follow Up, Fountain, Geek Alert, Highland, Screenwriting Software

We had [57 entries](http://johnaugust.com/threepagelive) for the Three Page Challenge we’re conducting on May 15th.

I wondered which apps these screenwriters were using, so I checked the metadata for each file. ((Mac Nerds: After a lot of Googling, I couldn’t find a way to display creator information for each file in a folder; I had to do them one-by-one using Finder’s Get Info. If you have a command-line trick for this, I’d love to know it.))

| **App** | **# of Entries** | **% of Total** |
|—————|————–|———–:|
| Final Draft 8 | 18 | 32% |
| (unclear) ((The (unclear) category is for PDFs that don’t have a recognizable creator. For example, some PDFs show up as being from Preview on the Mac, which is primarily a reader but can be used to paste together multiple files.)) | 7 | 12% |
| Fade In | 7 | 12% |
| Final Draft (Windows) | 6 | 11% |
| Slugline | 5 | 9% |
| Final Draft 9 | 4 | 7% |
| Screenwriter | 3 | 5% |
| Celtx | 2 | 4% |
| Final Draft 7 | 2 | 4% |
| Highland | 1 | 2% |
| TextEdit | 1 | 2% |
| Word | 1 | 2% |
| **Total** |**57** | 100% |

Adding up its various incarnations, we find that Final Draft created just over half the entries. That’s about what I would have expected.

But I find it interesting that so many users have stuck with Final Draft 8, rather than version 9. There are still holdouts with version 7 as well.

I was happy to see six dedicated screenwriting apps (Final Draft, Fade In, Slugline, Screenwriter, Celtx and Highland) among the entrants. I didn’t find any Adobe Story or WriterDuet scripts. ((If you submitted a script written in Adobe Story or WriterDuet, let me know and I’ll amend the figures.))

Writers submitting to the Three Page Challenge are, almost by definition, listeners to the Scriptnotes podcast, in which we’ve discussed Final Draft, Fade In, Slugline and Highland among other apps. I wonder to what degree that has influenced their choices.

Three Page Challengers are also generally aspiring screenwriters, rather than working pros. To me, that makes entrants more likely have recently purchased software (or web-based subscription services) than established writers, who tend to stick with what they know.

The online submission for Three Page Challenges worked well enough that we’ll keep using some version of it. In the next incarnation, we’ll ask upon submission which app the writer used.

The ruins of Spectre

Big Fish, Follow Up

Kelly Kazek looks at [what became of Spectre](http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/04/take_a_video_tour_of_ruins_of.html):

> Spectre was a “town” built as a set for the filming of the movie “Big Fish,” which premiered in December 2003 but had its wide release 10 years ago, in January 2004. With the exception of one scene in Paris, the entire movie was filmed in Alabama, a rarity in a time before the state offered film incentives.

> The road and fake trees leading into the town of Spectre, and the buildings, mostly just facades, were never demolished but were left to the elements.

We shot Big Fish primarily in Wetumpka, Alabama. The town of Spectre was constructed on a privately-owned island.

In the film, you see Spectre in three incarnations:

– The magical little town young Edward encounters at the start of the film.
– The rundown early-80s version after the road is build.
– The fixed-up version after Edward gets everyone to sign on to a trust.

We shot the rundown version last, so that’s what remains on the island: the ruins of the ruins.

Spectre doesn’t exist in the musical version of Big Fish. Instead, Edward’s home town of Ashton plays a much bigger role, ultimately becoming the town he needs to save at the end.

Several years ago, Derek Frey (Tim Burton’s assistant for Big Fish) visited the Spectre sets to see how they were holding up. You can see his photos [on Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/derekfrey/sets/72157604393626472/).