John August

QandA

How color timing works

Directors, Film Industry, Geek Alert

Daryn Okada offers a great look at how a cinematographer approaches color-timing a feature in this latest video from [The Academy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOnTvkm00h4&feature=youtu.be):

It’s important to remember that when you see the dull, flat “before” footage, it’s not a mistake. These films aren’t saved in color timing, the way fashion models are transformed by Photoshop. Rather, modern DPs plan for color timing from the start, making choices both in prep and shot-by-shot to get the best possible image.

Bad Teachers, Good Advice and the Default Male

Episode - 180

Go to Archive

Film Industry, News, QandA, Random Advice, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed

Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig to discuss how movies featuring good mentors (Dead Poet’s Society, To Sir with Love) differ from films with bad mentors (Whiplash, The Devil Wears Prada). It’s not just that the teachers are bad guys; rather, the stories are structured completely differently.

John asks Craig and Aline about some ethical quandaries he’s been facing, ranging from awards voting to who is a “friend.”

We also discuss the “default male problem,” especially how it relates to comedy and the cleanest version of a joke.

Links:

* [Aline Brosh McKenna](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0112459/) on episodes [60](http://johnaugust.com/2012/the-black-list-and-a-stack-of-scenes), [76](http://johnaugust.com/2013/how-screenwriters-find-their-voice), [100](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-100th-episode), [101](http://johnaugust.com/2013/101-qa-from-the-live-show), [119](http://johnaugust.com/2013/positive-moviegoing), [123](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-holiday-spectacular), [124](http://johnaugust.com/2013/qa-from-the-holiday-spectacular) [152](http://johnaugust.com/2014/the-rocky-shoals-pages-70-90), [161](http://johnaugust.com/2014/a-cheap-cut-of-meat-soaked-in-butter), and [175](http://johnaugust.com/2014/twelve-days-of-scriptnotes)
* [Raphael Bob-Waksberg Breaks Down Comedy’s “Default Male” Problem](http://splitsider.com/2015/01/bojack-horseman-creator-raphael-bob-waksberg-breaks-down-comedys-default-male-problem/)
* [Writers on Writing: Simon Kinberg](http://scriptnotes.net/writers-on-writing-simon-kinberg)
* Read the Whiplash screenplay [on Weekend Read](http://johnaugust.com/2015/weekend-read-for-your-consideration)
* [Evernote Scannable](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote-scannable/id883338188?mt=8)
* [The Comeback](http://www.hbo.com/the-comeback#/) on HBO
* [Jason Hall in WGAw’s Written By](http://www.mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=239550#{“issue_id”:239550,”page”:12})
* [Ryan Reynolds](https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds) is now on Twitter
* [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_180.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_180.mp3).

**UPDATE 1-23-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-180-bad-teachers-good-advice-and-the-default-male-transcript).

Screenplays on the Kindle, 2015 edition

Follow Up, Formatting, Fountain, Geek Alert, Highland, How-To, Weekend Read

A screenwriter friend just emailed me to ask how she could get one of her scripts to look good on the Kindle. She had Googled and discovered I’d written about reading screenplays [on the Kindle](http://johnaugust.com/2009/the-kindle-is-not-good-for-screenplays) [twice](http://johnaugust.com/2009/reading-scripts-on-the-kindle) back in 2009. (I was an early Kindle adopter.)

Back in 2009, I found there to be a lot of potential for reading screenplays on the Kindle, but a lot of frustration.

Six years later, what’s changed?

Nothing. Kindles and screenplays are still a bad fit.

Attempting to get screenplays to look screenplay-like on Kindle is a fool’s errand, so let me actively dissuade you from trying. Down this path lies futility and despair.

## It’s not the Kindle’s fault.

Kindles are designed for free-flowing text like books. They don’t know anything about how screenplays work, and they will fight you at every step. We know. We tried. That’s a large part of why we made [Weekend Read](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8).

If you’re starting with a PDF, the closest you can probably come on the Kindle is to run the script through [Highland](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12) and save it as a Fountain file. That’s just plain text, so if you then import it into Kindle’s parser, you’ll get a rough approximation, with everything set on the left margin:

INT. HOUSE – DAY

Mary and Tom carry in groceries.

TOM
They oughta call it, “Whole Paychec—

— THWACK! Tom is impaled by a spear.

CUT TO:

I write in [Fountain](http://fountain.io), so this looks fine to me. But that’s not what my friend was looking for. She wanted something like a printed screenplay, and you’re just not going to get that on the Kindle.

But you can get closer. If you dig into the text file and carefully set tags for character names and transitions, you can have them centered or moved to the right margin. Or you can bail on the screenplay formatting. Dave Trottier has [instructions](http://blog.liberwriter.com/2011/08/18/formatting-a-screenplay-for-kindle/) you can follow to make something that looks more like a published stage play. It’s incredibly tedious, but it’s possible.

With a lot of work, you can make something that looks okay — but only okay. That’s the best you’re going to get, and it’s not worth the effort. So in 2015, I use my Kindle for books and my iOS devices for screenplays. Each is the right tool for the job.

The Conflict Episode

Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed, Words on the page

Craig and John discuss conflict — why it’s bad in real life but essential in screenwriting. We define six forms of conflict common in movies, then look at ways to sustain conflict within a scene and throughout a story.

We also look briefly at Whiplash, both the conflict between its two main characters and the controversy over whether it should be considered an original or an adapted screenplay.

If you can spare the ten seconds it takes, leaving us a rating on iTunes is a great way to help others find Scriptnotes. Thanks!

Links:

* [Academy & WGA At Odds Over ‘Whiplash’ Screenplay](http://deadline.com/2015/01/academy-and-wga-at-odds-over-acclaimed-whiplash-screenplay-will-it-hurt-oscar-chances-1201341846/) on Deadline
* [Snowpiercer: Left or Right](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X05TDsoSg2Y) on YouTube
* [Star Trek: The Next Generation In 40 Hours](https://medium.com/@MaxTemkin/star-trek-the-next-generation-in-40-hours-c4a6762cbd3) by Max Temkin
* [Weekend Read now has 21 award season scripts](http://johnaugust.com/2015/weekend-read-for-your-consideration) (and counting)
* [Sous-vide cooking](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide) on Wikipedia
* [Sansaire](http://sansaire.com/) home sous-vide macine
* [Slow-poached eggs](http://momofukufor2.com/2010/01/slow-poached-eggs/) from Momofuku
* [Spoiled Brats: Stories](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I828AYK/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Simon Rich, and its short story [Gifted](http://nypost.com/2014/12/28/in-book-excerpt-ex-snl-writer-takes-aim-at-proud-nyc-parents/)
* [Rate us on iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/scriptnotes-podcast/id462495496?mt=2) and help new listeners find Scriptnotes
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Jason Young ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_179.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_179.mp3).

**UPDATE 1-15-15:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-179-the-conflict-episode-transcript).