John August

John

Escaping the activation server loop

Geek Alert

Last night, my iPhone suddenly insisted that it needed to be activated, even though it was currently playing a song. I dutifully typed in my password, but it replied that the activation server could not be reached.

So I tried again. And again. And again.

I restarted my phone. No luck. Still got the same screen.

A quick search on Twitter revealed I was [not the only one](http://www.product-reviews.net/2013/10/06/apple-activation-server-down-on-ios-7/) with this problem. Like others, I was using the GM of the iOS 7 beta. While the error message was about the activation server, it seemed unlikely the server itself was down — if it were, it wouldn’t be an isolated issue affecting only a tiny portion of users.

Most likely the beta software had simply expired, and it was giving me a very unhelpful message.

I downloaded the new, official iOS 7.02 from the developer portal and attempted to install it. But iTunes wouldn’t let me, because Find My iPhone prevented it. I was told to turn Find My iPhone off in the Settings on my iPhone — which of course I couldn’t, because I was locked out of my iPhone. Catch-22.

I finally got my phone back working. Here’s the solution in case someone else encounters this problem. **This assumes you have your phone backed up, either to a computer or via iCloud.** If not, yikes.

This also assumes you’re an actual developer and can download iOS from the portal.

1. From the developer portal, download the appropriate iOS 7.02 for your iPhone. You’ll end up with an .ipsw file.
2. On your computer, log into iCloud.com. In the Find My iPhone section, look in All Devices. Find your iPhone. Click on it. In the panel that comes up, click Erase iPhone. Seriously. You’re going to erase it. I know it’s scary. But your phone is effectively useless right now, so you gotta do something.
3. Once your phone is erased, put your phone in DFU mode. Here’s a (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15qaTA4lQPc) that explains it.
4. When your phone shows up in iTunes, you’ll be able to do a restore. Hold down the Option key while you click Restore, and choose the .ipsw file you downloaded. It’s basically the same process as when you installed the beta in the first place.
5. Wait and hope. Pray if that’s your thing.
6. When your phone boots up again, you should be able to restore everything either from iTunes or iCloud. All of my stuff showed up just fine.

Of course, just because this worked for me is no guarantee it will work for you. But I suspect many people caught in this loop can escape it the way I did, so I wanted to offer one solution.

How screenwriting style changed movies

Directors, Film Industry, Follow Up, Words on the page

Intrigued by a question asked at the live Scriptnotes NYC event, Tim Nicholas wonders whether the change in screenwriting style has affected [how scenes themselves work](http://somenotesonfilm.tumblr.com/post/62715721616/billy-wilder-physicality-screenwriting):

> A lack of “scenic density” is typical of what Bordwell calls the “intensified continuity style” that dominates post-60s Hollywood movies. Also characteristic of this style is less attention paid to blocking actors. Wide shots that allow actors to use their entire bodies as instruments of expression are less common, and filmmakers frequently default to one of two options for staging conversations: the “walk and talk” (think The West Wing) or the “sit and deliver” (see the previous link).

> Previously I’d thought of this as a directorial trend — Bordwell cites the proliferation of multi-camera shooting as one of its primary causes. Could it be that separate developments in screenwriting, with their own unique causes, also have an important role to play?

Nicholas uses Billy Wilder’s The Apartment as an example.

Attempting to answer the question during the live show, I proposed that part of why Wilder can go on for paragraphs about physical details is that he himself is directing the scene. But that’s at most a half-answer; Wilder’s scenes are more specific regardless of who is behind the camera. It’s not just blocking. The scenes themselves work differently.

Nicholas makes the case that something is lost in the modern, highly-compressed style:

> A contemporary screenwriter might condense those nine sentences to something like “Margie shoots straws in Bud’s direction, but he fails to notice them, even as they hit his bowler and cheek.” And one can easily imagine how this would be shot. The key thing missing would be allowing the action the time to take place. The trend today, first in screenwriting, then in directing, and finally in editing, is to replace the *depiction* of an action itself with the presentation of the *idea* of an action.

To me, that’s a terrific insight that speaks not only to filmmaking but most of popular culture. Increasingly, we replace the object with the reference, and the action with the outcome.

Risky Business, and the choices you make

Directors, Film Industry, Psych 101

Jake Malooley tracks down writer-director Paul Brickman, who more or less [vanished after Risky Business](http://www.salon.com/2013/09/02/risky_business_director_some_people_like_the_visibility_i_dont/):

> Just 34 when “Risky Business” was released, Brickman directed just one other feature, the 1990 bomb “Men Don’t Leave.” The alchemy that made the filmmaker’s arrival so enduring — elegant direction atypical of coming-of-age films; sparkling adolescent dialogue; the use of Tangerine Dream’s propulsive, hypnotic score — makes his lack of output over the last three decades all the more surprising.

Brickman is candid about his ambivalence towards Hollywood and the choices he might have made. He wanted to make more movies. It just didn’t happen.

I’ve seen smaller versions of Brickman’s story many times, including in my own career: success brings heat; heat brings opportunities. But taking advantage of those opportunities is much more difficult than it seems. Pick the wrong project and your heat is wasted. Knowing this, it’s easy to get paranoid and avoid picking any project — and your heat gradually dissipates.

Luckily, a screenwriter can afford to be wrong more often than a director. A screenwriter can write four movies a year. A director is prolific if she directs one.

In the case of Brickman, a director is notable for only directing two films over the course of a career.

All the One Cool Things

Follow Up

Almost every week on the Scriptnotes podcast, Craig and I each recommend a One Cool Thing: something we like that we think you’ll like. Often, it’s an app or a gadget. Other times, it’s a book or website.

At a listener suggestion, I asked my team to assemble all of the previous One Cool Things into a [single page](http://johnaugust.com/onecoolthings) for easy reference.

Stuart will be keeping this page updated each week.

If you have a suggestion for a One Cool Thing, the best way to tell us is Twitter. I am [@johnaugust](http://twitter.com/johnaugust). Craig is [@clmazin](http://twitter.com/clmazin).