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Do Muppets Bleed?

Episode - 585

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January 31, 2023 News, Scriptnotes

John and Craig take a look at ‘writer fingerprints.’ They break down how idiosyncratic choices make up an individual’s style on-the-page and offer advice on how to mimic someone else’s voice.

Follow up includes pet rock, a defense of script consultants, the preface page in Tár, and the anti-“actually” mindset.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we offer advice to a producer who needs help working with a writer who can’t seem to finish — or deliver — a script.

Links:

  • Scriptnotes episodes with 2023 Oscar Nominees Sarah Polley, Rian Johnson, Daniels, Pamela Ribon
  • Weekend Read Beta Try it out — now updated with all FYC scripts!
  • Writing in another writer’s style on John’s blog with advice from Dara Resnick Creasey
  • Algorithms were able to figure out that Robert Galbraith was JK Rowling
  • Good Conversations Have Lots of Doorknobs by Adam Mastroianni
  • The Case of The Golden Idol game
  • Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
  • Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
  • Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
  • Craig Mazin on Twitter
  • John August on Twitter
  • John on Instagram
  • Outro by Luke Yoquinto, who discovered it in the score to Coming to America by Nile Rodgers (send us yours!)
  • Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

Finding a Way In, and Out

December 27, 2022 News, Scriptnotes

In this How Would This Be a Movie case study, John interviews screenwriter William Nicholson (Les Misérables, Gladiator) on the challenges he faced with his script for Thirteen Lives, a film that follows the attempted rescue of a Thai soccer team trapped in a cave in 2018. They cover issues of life rights, competing projects, narrative point of view and cultural sensitivity.

Before that, John and Craig discuss end-of-year news in Hollywood, the recent changes to HBO Max, and what that means for creators and audiences in the new year.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we discuss our aspirations and resolutions for 2023.

Links:

  • William Nicholson on IMdB
  • Watch the conversation between John and William here
  • Thank you to the Writers Guild Foundation for organizing the event!
  • Use Promo Code ONION for two months free in our annual Scriptnotes premium membership
  • Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
  • Welcome to Digital Nomadland by Kyle Jeffers for Wired
  • Fleischman Is In Trouble on Hulu
  • Andor
  • Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
  • Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
  • Craig Mazin on Twitter
  • John August on Twitter
  • John on Instagram
  • Outro by Michael Lane (send us yours!)
  • Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

Social media has always been dying

December 19, 2022 Meta, News

For this week’s Inneresting rebroadcast, editor Chris Csont chose this 2011 blog post in which I wondered how much of ourselves we present online. Even then, I was looking backwards:

In the seven years I’ve been running the blog, I’ve noticed the online version of myself drifting closer to the “actual” version. But there is still a difference, and that’s deliberate. Even though this site has my name on it, it’s still a fairly controlled product: a ton of useful information on screenwriting. You’re getting the screenwriter John August, not the Eagle Scout, the cook or the Real World/Road Rules Challenge completist.

For the newsletter, I wrote up a blurb to put the post in context which ended up nearly as long as the post itself.

Eleven years ago, I was talking about Facebook, a platform I’ve largely abandoned. Nearly all the same points apply to Twitter and Instagram today.

Twitter has been problematic for years, with its trolls and mobs and twitchforks. But I’m honestly grateful for it. It’s where I first met many colleagues and learned new ideas, mostly by listening in on conversations from communities I wasn’t a part of.

For all the talk about Twitter leveling the playing field, allowing direct access to powerful people, I found my blue-check status to be incredibly useful. The moment I followed someone, they would get a notification and often follow me back. That digital introduction made it easy to DM them a question like, “Hey, would you ever want to come on Scriptnotes?”

Scrolling through someone’s Twitter gave you a sense of who a person was, or at least how they wanted to be perceived.

I’m talking about Twitter in the past tense because I think it’s dead. It may still exist in six months or six years, but Elon Musk’s erratic decisions have broken its hold on the conversation. It will ever feel essential again. Maybe that’s good. Other weird things can flourish in its absence.

Meanwhile, I still use Instagram, particularly Stories and DMs. If I meet someone at a party, Instagram is probably how we’ll keep in touch. Yet it’s an every way a more extreme version of what worried me back in 2011. It’s curated, performative and artificial. It feeds body dysmorphia and parasocial relationships. But it doesn’t feel like it’s contributing to imminent collapse of democracy, which in 2022 is the low bar we’ve set.

As I’m posting this, I haven’t officially left Twitter. I still skim and reply. But I’m not going to be engaging in any discussion or debate. I’ll certainly try out Hive and Post and Mastodon, just like I used to have Tumblr and others. But I don’t expect any of them to replace Twitter for me.

Just as it was 12 years ago and seven years before that, I suspect this blog will remain the official version of me, so follow me here. RSS forever.

Writing as Acting

Episode - 568

Go to Archive

September 27, 2022 News, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig analyze what lessons writers can learn from acting techniques (such as staying present) and working with actors (like staying open).

We also discuss writer retirement, how Craig’s “central dramatic argument” applies to TV, and the skill of cutting a character to save a scene.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we discuss The Future and what we owe it.

Links:

  • Writer Emergency Pack XL is funded! Support here on Kickstarter!
  • Green Burial Council and Is California ready for ‘human composting’ as an alternative to casket burial, cremation? by Anabel Sosa for the LA Times
  • John’s Blogpost on Fake Tears
  • Scriptnotes Episode 76: How screenwriters find their voice
  • Scriptnotes Episode 403: How to Write A Movie
  • Patton Oswalt on King of Queens
  • Cut A Character Save A Scene on John’s Blog
  • Ants Outnumber Everything by Dino Grandoni for the Washington Post
  • Why Question Words Start with Wh on Reddit
  • Bo Shim’s LA Food Guide: Western Doma Noodles hole-in-the-wall treasure, MDK Noodles in K-town, Zzamong for Jjjangmyun, KyoChon for fried chicken–especially the honey wings, Aliya Lavaland for (lava) mooncakes, Mandarin Noodle House in Monterey Park
  • What We Owe the Future by William Macaskill
  • Candy Corn Infused Vodka
  • Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
  • Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
  • Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
  • Craig Mazin on Twitter
  • John August on Twitter
  • John on Instagram
  • Outro by Nico Mansy (send us yours!)
  • Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 11-1-22 The transcript for this episode can be found here.

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