John August

John

First look at Frankenweenie

Frankenweenie

This week’s EW not only has the unstoppable Melissa McCarthy on the cover, it also features a [first look at Frankenweenie](http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/10/27/tim-burton-re-animates-boy-and-dog-story-frankenweenie-first-look/).

Here’s Sparky contemplating a ball:

sparky

There’s something very important on the other side of that fence, but I can’t tell you what. You’ll have to wait until the movie comes out on October 5, 2012.

Yes, *a year from now.* Stop-motion animation takes a bit.

By the way, back in 2007 when I [denied I was writing Frankenweenie](http://johnaugust.com/2007/frankenweenie), that was true. Tim Burton asked me to write it in September 2008, and most of my work on it was finished back in 2009.

Who killed the mystery?

Television

As June Thomas points out, the recent crop of one hour dramas aren’t satisfied with [simply solving crime](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/10/unforgettable_person_of_interest_why_the_next_generation_of_proc.single.html):

> Why are TV writers making their mysteries less mysterious? I think it’s because lots of new procedurals try to fit more than just a case of the week into the 44-minute running time. Most shows also have a serial element, a mystery — usually a quest for elusive information — that lasts throughout the whole series. In the case of Unforgettable, it’s Carrie’s attempt to remember the day her sister was murdered; on Person of Interest, it’s a driven cop’s attempt to capture Reese, who is wanted for a number of serious crimes around the world.

On “pure” procedurals like CSI or Law & Order, ongoing character arcs are squeezed in the margins, with an off-hand comment here, a long look there. You could watch three seasons before you meet a character’s wife — and when you do, watch out, because she’ll likely be dead soon.

With their Sudoku-like straightforwardness, traditional procedurals are easy to watch but hard to obsess over, with the same low barriers to entry making it easy to leave. To use the modern lingo, they’re not *sticky.*

I haven’t watched either Unforgettable or Person of Interest, but the procedural-plus genre can work: consider Sherlock, which features twisty mysteries, ongoing arcs and plenty of snogging. ((And no, I don’t think Sherlock’s epic episode length is the main thing that makes it possible. Buffy and Angel were short and largely procedural (monster of the week), but very arc-y.))

Procedural-plus shows are simply more difficult to pull off, both at the whiteboard stage and in the finished episode. Once you’ve established the stakes of the A-plot — a killer is on the loose! — any scene that doesn’t address that feels like filler. So writers need to find ways to weave character moments into plot scenes, which can be a bear.

Too often, what you end up with is neither plotty enough for crime fans or sophisticated enough for the drama crowd.

Age of Monsters

Comics, Geek Alert

I helped make a new iPhone game that’s in the App Store starting today.

In a hurry? Here’s a link:

[Age of Monsters – Rock, Paper, Scissors](http://massivejoestudios.com/aomfw)

(It’s free.)

The game hails from Massive Joe Studios, the tiny shop run by illustrator/animator/whiz Jeff Matsuda (‘The Batman’ cartoon) and the indomitable Mike Su. I got involved with them early on, back when it was just a stupid/great idea that they would have gone ahead and done without me anyway. But still — I helped where I could.

Here’s the trailer:

So, yeah, it’s the most absurdly over-produced version of Rock, Paper, Scissors you’ll ever see. Until the feature.

The Good Boy Syndrome, and whether film school is worth it

Episode - 8

Go to Archive

Education, Psych 101, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig discuss why screenwriters want to please people — and how it often hurts them and the movies they write — before a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons of going to film school.

We frame our film school discussion around John’s generic list of why people choose to go to college or graduate school:

1. The information
2. Certificate/degree
3. Access to special equipment
4. Structure
5. Professors/instructors/experts
6. Peers
7. Alumni
8. Enjoyment

That last point led to our alternate title for this podcast: *Film school: An expensive way to get laid.*

Craig got a new microphone, which seems like cause for celebration, but it picked up a tremendous amount of room noise. We’ll be working on that for next time.

Thank you to all the listeners who lavished [stars and praise](http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/scriptnotes-podcast/id462495496) upon us in iTunes. Being classic Good Boys, that kind of validation is like mana to us.

LINKS:

* [Cruft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruft) definition
* The [human back is a compromise](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/1/l_071_02.html)
* The [fourth trimester](http://www.parentmap.com/article/babys-fourth-trimester-helping-your-baby-make-a-peaceful-transition-from-womb-to-world)
* [Out of This World/Another World](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/another-world-20th-anniversary/id460076328?mt=8) for iOS
* [Life and Death](http://www.d4.dion.ne.jp/~motohiko/puppylove.htm#LIFE%20and%20DEATH), the Mac operating game
* Intro: [Atom, Filmation intro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZXHVqrBpHw)
* Outro: [Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJVdnMAGIt8) at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2009

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_08.m4a).

UPDATE 10-25-11: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2011/scriptnotes-ep-8-the-good-boy-syndrome-and-whether-film-school-is-worth-it-transcript).