John August

QandA

We’re all starring in our our show

Directors, Genres

The first episode of the final season of Broad City is told through a social media story shot on the characters’ phones. It was a [huge challenge](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/broad-city-final-season-premiere-inside-social-media-episode-1178853):

> The opening episode came with a unique script and was filmed entirely on the iPhone (using six iPhone Xs that were constantly swapped in and out) over a four-and-a-half day shoot that saw the crew canvassing Manhattan, much like Abbi and Ilana do in the final product. They filmed in September and then entered into an edit that wasn’t completed until early December.

> “It looked very different than our other scripts. There was more post work with lots of emojis and text where you could thread the story through other means besides just live-action footage, which was very different and freeing in a way,” said [writer-creator-star] Jacobson.

I suspect we’ll look back on the late 2010s as an inflection point when scripted comedy incorporated new comedy grammar, from jump cuts to close-ups to emojis. Explains director Nick Paley:

> “In the edit, I went into it asking, how do you make a joke land and how do you time it? Then I found adding the titles and visuals to be really liberating and a way to add jokes and story beats organically and move the story along. The expectation with social media stories is that time is jumping moment to moment, and that is a gift in terms of storytelling, because it lets you get to the most interesting part of a scene.”

The episode is terrific. It manages to maintain the conceit of being an Instagram-like story while still feeling like an episode of the show. The direction and editing are great, but the main reason the episode works is the writing. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson have a sharp eye for how modern life has become weirdly performative. We all want to be the stars of our own shows.

Bear spray is not stronger than pepper spray

Arlo Finch, Books, Words on the page

For the third [Arlo Finch](https://johnaugust.com/arlo-finch) book, I was considering having one character use bear spray on a non-bear adversary. Since the books take place in the mountains of Colorado, it was very believable that the character would have it handy.

I also assumed that bear spray is stronger than conventional self-defense pepper sprays because, well, bears.

But it turns out, [I was wrong](https://www.selfdefenseninja.com/bear-spray-vs-pepper-spray-whats-difference/):

> Although pepper spray and bear spray contain the same active chemical, they are not the same thing. Bear spray has a much lower concentration of oleoresin capsicum, and should only be used as a bear deterrent.

> Pepper spray is a self defense weapon intended to incapacitate human threats, and it is very effective at doing this due to its higher concentration of oleoresin capsicum. If you are serious about self defense, go purchase some pepper spray. If you are a hiker or camper in bear country, buy some bear spray.

What’s more, bear spray is designed to [put out a wide cloud](https://cottagelife.com/outdoors/whats-the-difference-between-bear-spray-and-pepper-spray/), filling the air with droplets, discouraging the bear from attacking. On the other hand, pepper spray is a targeted stream designed to incapacitate a person close to you. ((I really want “incapacitate” and “capiscum” (pepper) to have the same word origin, but it appears they’re not especially close.))

Bear spray isn’t designed to fend off humans, but one reason you might see people carrying it for self defense (in real life and in fiction) is that it’s legal in places where pepper spray isn’t. It just isn’t as effective.

You’ll have to wait until book three to see if and when oleoresin capsicum gets used.

Is it the show, or the venue?

Television

I remember seeing a billboard for a new TV show called “You” last fall. It was the first I’d heard of it, so I was basing my opinion strictly on the artwork.

you artwork

The title sounded like a romantic comedy, and it starred that guy from Gossip Girl. Yet the slashes through the typeface gave off a serial killer vibe. I then noticed that it was on Lifetime, and it all sort of clicked: maybe it was a romantic murder show.

My hunch was right; that’s basically what You is. I never watched it on Lifetime, and neither did anyone else. It tanked, with around 650,000 viewers per episode. They didn’t order a second season.

And then it [went to Netflix](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/business/media/netflix-you-ratings.html):

> Last week, Netflix declared “You” had drawn the sort of audience to make it a “huge hit.” The streaming service said that “You” was on track to be watched by 40 million households within its first four weeks on the service.

You can’t directly compare Netflix’s numbers to Nielsen ratings, but it’s not hard to gauge the cultural moment happening on social media. For most viewers, You is a Netflix show, just like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Queer Eye. And they dig it.

I think the bigger story is that for a lot of people, Netflix *is* television. They don’t think about channels and networks anymore. They just expect all of the shows to be available at every moment. The streamers make this possible, and Netflix is by far the biggest player.

While it’s good news for You, I wonder if it’s bad news for Us as creators. This feels like a tipping point where one outlet is so dominant that not being on its main screen is akin to invisibility, and not being in its catalog is a death sentence. I have friends working on great shows that no one notices because they’re on cable. As writers, we want the most venues possible for our work, and I don’t know how some of these networks are going to survive the transition to streaming.

Ultimately, I did watch the pilot for You, on Netflix. It’s really well done.

Plot Holes

Episode - 384

Go to Archive

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

John and Craig dive into plot holes: why they happen, how to fix them, why not to fix them, and how to turn them into opportunities.

We also respond to listener questions on outlining, servicing many storylines, and what screenwriting challenges go under-appreciated.

Links:

* Join us for the WGA’s [Princess Bride screening](https://www.wga.org/news-events/events/guild-screenings) on January 27th.
* [The Seattle Live Show](https://nwsg.org/events/) is on February 6th!
* You can now [preorder Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/162672816X/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) or come to the [launch event](https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/john-august-2019) on February 9th.
* [Scriptnotes, Ep 383: Splitting the Party](https://johnaugust.com/2019/splitting-the-party)
* [Scriptnotes, Ep 3: Kids, cards, whiteboards and outlines](https://johnaugust.com/2011/kids-cards-whiteboards-and-outlines)
* Plot Holes on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_hole) and [TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotHole). You can find examples at [Movie Plot Holes](https://movieplotholes.com)
* [The perils of coincidence](http://johnaugust.com/2007/perils-of-coincidence)
* [Measure App](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbLe4rHQI_I) on iPhone
* [Install These Apps on your New Mac](https://lifehacker.com/install-these-apps-on-your-new-mac-1831687258) by Nick Douglas for Lifehacker
* T-shirts are available [here](https://cottonbureau.com/people/john-august-1)! We’ve got new designs, including [Colored Revisions](https://cottonbureau.com/products/colored-revisions), [Karateka](https://cottonbureau.com/products/karateka), and [Highland2](https://cottonbureau.com/products/highland2).
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [Craig Mazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [Find past episodes](http://scriptnotes.net/)
* [Scriptnotes Digital Seasons](https://store.johnaugust.com/) are also now available!
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by James Llonch and Jim Bond ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_384.mp3).

**UPDATE 1-30-19:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2019/scriptnotes-ep-384-plot-holes-transcript).