Daniel Wallace, who wrote the novel Big Fish, sent me the syllabus for the college writing class he’s teaching. I love the first week’s assignment:
> Write a story as close to 100 words as possible, each and every word a single syllable.
> Then write a story as close to 100 words as possible, a single syllable, but add this twist: no word can be used more than once.
For inspiration, he includes a link to [420 Characters](http://www.420characters.net/).
From Wolverine to The Rock, male action heroes have literally gotten bigger over the last decade. Craig and John look at how that impacts story. Is there hope for the the ordinary man in an extraordinary situation? Will we ever get back to Kurt and Keanu?
Then it’s time for three new Three Page Challenges, with entries ranging from campus riots to suburban detectives.
Links:
* [John jumped off a bridge](https://twitter.com/johnaugust/status/608473352420925440)
* [FAST Screenplay’s Jeff Bollow at TEDxDocklands](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH6AyjGgcns)
* [Action Movies, Stop Taking Away Our Everyday Heroes](http://www.wired.com/2015/06/action-stars-impossible-man/) on Wired
* NEDA’s [Statistics on Males and Eating Disorders](https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/statistics-males-and-eating-disorders)
* [SAG-AFTRA Threatened To Sue Director Amy Berg Over ‘An Open Secret’](http://deadline.com/2015/06/sag-aftra-threatening-sue-an-open-secret-director-amy-berg-1201438339/) on Deadline
* [Submit your Three Pages here](http://johnaugust.com/threepage)
* Three Pages by [Zach Kaplan](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/ZachKaplan.pdf)
* Three Pages by [RM Weatherly](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/RMWeatherly.pdf)
* Three Pages by [Olufemi S. Sowemimo](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/OlufemiSSowemimo.pdf)
* [The Fallen of World War II](https://vimeo.com/128373915) by Neil Halloran, and [fallen.io](http://www.fallen.io/ww2/)
* The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities by Matthew White
* [CellarTracker](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cellartracker/id893759800?mt=8) for iOS
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Adrian Tanner ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_202.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_202.mp3).
**UPDATE 6-22-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-202-everyman-vs-superman-transcript).
John and Craig look at three current news stories from a screenwriter’s perspective, discussing how each lends itself to becoming a movie.
Would FIFA’s Stepp Blatter make a better Coen Brothers hero or a Sorkin villain? Could the Large Hadron Collider lend itself to a romantic comedy? Is there even a movie to make about campus sexual politics and academic freedom?
Also discussed: the trap of “Do what you love.”
Links:
* [A timeline on the FIFA scandal](http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-fifa-scandal-timeline-20150603-story.html)
* [Large Hadron Collider turns on ‘data tap’](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32976838), and the [Large Hadron Collider on Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider)
* Star Trek’s [Prime Directive](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Directive) and [Zefram Cochrane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zefram_Cochrane) on Wikipedia
* [Sexual Paranoia Strikes Academe](http://chronicle.com/article/Sexual-Paranoia/190351/) by Laura Kipnis
* [Title IX Investigation Opened Against Female Northwestern Professor Over Column, Tweet](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/05/29/laura_kipnis_title_ix_investigation_feminism_political_correctness_controversy.html)
* [In the Name of Love](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/do_what_you_love_love_what_you_do_an_omnipresent_mantra_that_s_bad_for_work.html)
* [“Carasc” Tibetan Bridge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCUw3Fpqyaw)
* [So Good They Can’t Ignore You](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1455509124/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Cal Newport
* [Game of Thrones by Telltale Games](https://www.telltalegames.com/gameofthrones/)
* [Traveling back into the past to trade for present gain](http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/05/traveling-back-into-the-past-to-trade-for-present-gain.html) by Tyler Cowen
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener 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_201.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_201.mp3).
**UPDATE 6-12-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-201-how-would-this-be-a-movie-transcript).
As a screenwriter, I’m always looking for ticking clocks to increase the tension in a story. One of my favorite sub-tropes is the Automatic Gate.
No matter what you do, it’s going to shut, and you’re either in or you’re out.
At noon Friday LA time, Kickstarter’s automatic gate will slam shut on One Hit Kill. The backers will be inside, and the rest of the world will need to wait.
I think part of the appeal of Kickstarter is that it’s an Automatic Gate at heart. From the moment I launched the campaign, there was nothing I could do to speed up or slow down the closing gate. The deadline really is a deadline, and nothing can stop it. ((One of my favorite Automatic Gates comes in The Abyss, where (mild spoiler) Ed Harris’s ring does in fact stop the gate. But I couldn’t find a good gif for that.))
We’re more than triple funded, and will be shipping OHK to backers in September. Some will see it a lot sooner at playtests. ((We’re always looking for great playtest venues, so by all means reach out if you have a spot.)) Everyone else will need to wait.
If you want to get it on One Hit Kill, and you want it in September, now’s the last chance. The clock on the Kickstarter page is literally counting down.
In just a few hours, it’s One Hit Kill or squish.