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This Title is an Example of Exposition

Episode - 357

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July 3, 2018 Comics, Film Industry, Follow Up, How-To, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Sundance, Words on the page, Writing Process

John and Craig debate and defend one of the most-maligned elements of screenwriting: Exposition. How do you tell an audience what they need to know without being labeled a hack? We offer tips for getting viewers up to speed without them realizing they’re getting fed exposition.

We also follow up on screenplay competitions, the psychology of toxic fandom, fridging as a trope, and the market for lesbian love stories.

Links:

  • Michael Arndt’s thoughts on Endings (and Beginnings)
  • Midnight blue typewriter Scriptnotes t-shirts are back on Cotton Bureau for a limited time!
  • “Fridging” is the trope of violence against women motivating a male protagonist’s plot.
  • These seven lesbian movies are coming out in 2018.
  • This exposition scene in Aliens does it right.
  • American Animals, written and directed by Bart Layton
  • Isoland 2: Ashes of Time for iOS and Android
  • The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
  • The USB drives!
  • John August on Twitter
  • Craig Mazin on Twitter
  • John on Instagram
  • Find past episodes
  • Outro by Timothy Vajda (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 7-10-18: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Related Posts

  1. Dialogue versus exposition
  2. Should You Give Up?
  3. Knowing vs. Discovering

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