John August

Projects

Three Days to One Hit Kill

Projects

Next week we’re consolidating our One Hit Kill inventory, which means counting, boxing and shipping games from four different warehouses.

We’d much rather these copies of One Hit Kill be in players’ collections than Amazon’s shelves. So through Friday, we’re selling One Hit Kill at [50% off on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/One-Hit-Kill/b/ref=bl_dp_s_web_14031125011?ie=UTF8&node=14031125011&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=One+Hit+Kill).

It’s a great chance to nab a copy, or one for a friend.
OHK expanded
ohk-makers
ohk-core

One Hit Kill is only available on Amazon’s US store. (International buyers can find it at the [OHK site](http://onehitkillgame.com).)

Outlines and Treatments

Episode - 245

Go to Archive

Film Industry, Follow Up, Projects, QandA, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed, Treatments, Words on the page, Writing Process

John and Craig look at the non-screenplay things screenwriters end up writing, most notably outlines and treatments. We discuss some of the ones we’ve written (with examples), and offer advice on writing your own.

Also, how do you deal with sudden success? And what should a writer-director say when talking to a Very Famous Actress about starring in his movie?

Our live conversation with Lawrence Kasdan is this Saturday! Find out more about the all-day Craft Day featuring many previous (and future) Scriptnotes guests in the links below.

Links:

* [Get tickets now for the 2016 WGFestival, featuring John and Craig’s interview with Lawrence Kasdan, and more](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/wgfestival-2016-craft/)
* [BuzzFeed talks to Karyn Kusama](https://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/karyn-kusama-the-invitation-girlfight#.xdpX87R768)
* Overnight on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overnight), [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390336/) and [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000929VTU/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [ID Theft treatment](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/id_thief_treatment.pdf)
* [Original Big Fish outline](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/bf-original-outline.pdf)
* [Big Fish sequence outline](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/bf-outline.pdf)
* [Short Circuit treatment](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/ShortCircuitTreatment.pdf)
* [D.C. pitch](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/dc-what-it-is.pdf)
* [D.C. pilot outline](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/dc-pilot-outline.pdf)
* [Alaska write-up](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/alaska_writeup.pdf)
* [Ops write-up](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/ops_writeup.pdf)
* [Ops Iraq outline](http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/ops_iraq_outline.pdf)
* [@TomSchnauz](https://twitter.com/TomSchnauz) on Twitter
* [Watch the performances from MCC’s Miscast 2016](http://www.playbill.com/article/video-recap-watch-the-performances-from-miscast-2016)
* [Tesla Model 3](https://www.teslamotors.com/model3)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Rajesh Naroth ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_245.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_245.mp3).

**UPDATE 4-14-16:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2016/scriptnotes-ep-245-outlines-and-treatments-transcript).

The Script Graveyard

Follow Up, Projects, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Where do screenplays go when they die? John and Craig take a look at their movies that never were, looking for patterns among dozens of their unproduced works. What can screenwriters learn from the dead, and is it ever worth trying to resurrect these flatliners?

We also have lots of follow-up on finding a place to write, and news of an old-man-robbers movie already underway.

Yesterday’s live show will be released as an upcoming episode.

Links:

* [You Must Remember This](http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/) podcast
* [Scriptnotes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/scriptnotes-podcast/id462495496?mt=2) on iTunes
* [Become a premium subscriber at scriptnotes.net](http://scriptnotes.net/) for access to the entire back catalogue
* [Hatton Garden heist film goes into production](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/18/hatton-garden-heist-film-goes-into-production) from The Guardian
* The Sun on the [Bloody past of Blingo Blaggers: PC stabbing, armed robbery and mayhem](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6862427/Bloody-past-of-Hatton-Garden-Blingo-Blaggers.html)
* [Rodney Ascher’s The Nightmare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare_(2015_film)) on Wikipedia
* The Atlantic asks [A New Planet or a Red Herring?](http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/01/a-new-planet-or-a-red-herring/426810/)
* [Breather](https://breather.com/) helps find a place for you to work
* John Hess’s [filmmakeriq.com](http://filmmakeriq.com/)
* [Writer Emergency Pack](http://writeremergency.com/)
* [Withings Thermo](https://www.withings.com/eu/en/products/thermo)
* [Music Memos](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/music-memos/id1036437162?mt=8)
* [Tickets are now available](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/beyond-words-2016/) for the Writers Guild Foundation Beyond Words panel on February 4
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Sam Tahhan ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_234.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_234.mp3).

**UPDATE 1-28-16:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2016/scriptnotes-ep-234-the-script-graveyard-transcript).

Changing heroes mid-stream

Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, Writing Process

Germain Lussier looks at how and why the upcoming Zootopia switched out its lead character [late in production](http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-disney-fixed-a-huge-mistake-with-zootopia-just-one-1753845684):

> In Zootopia, which hits theaters March 4, a young bunny named Judy Hopps leaves home for a job as a police officer in the big city of the title. There, she must team up with a con-man fox named Nick Wilde to solve a crime. Nick, voiced by Jason Bateman, is jaded, sarcastic, and believes everyone is exactly who they are. Judy, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, is exactly the opposite. She’s cheery, optimistic and believes anyone can be whatever they want.

> For years, Nick was the focus on the film, with Hopps playing a crucial, but secondary role. But on that fateful November day, a little over a year before the film’s release, director Byron Howard realized they had to make the switch.

In live-action films, the stages of writing, production and editing are distinct and sequential, so you rarely see this kind of major 11th-hour refocussing. By the time you realize you’ve made a fundamental mistake about your central character, you’re largely stuck with what you’ve shot.

Animation, on the other hand, is iterative. As you move from screenplay to storyboards to scratch reels, you see the story coming to life — and the problems front-and-center. At each step, you’re screening and debating and rewriting. Talk to animation folks and you’ll hear countless stories of sidekicks promoted to heroes, and whole plotlines ditched.

In our [Scriptnotes episode](http://johnaugust.com/2014/frozen-with-jennifer-lee) with Jennifer Lee about Frozen, she described some of the major changes to Anna and Elsa while in production.

I’ve mostly worked in stop-motion animation, which falls in the middle between live-action and CG animation. For Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, we had a lot of flexibility up until the shutter clicked. From that point forward, it was very difficult to make significant story changes, much like a non-animated movie.