John August

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The Mystery of the Disappearing Articles

Episode - 159

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Follow Up, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, Words on the page

John and Craig take a look at four new entries in the Three Page Challenge, ranging from galactic drama to medieval comedy. Along the way, they talk about the nature of one-hour teasers, trust, plausibility, and how to properly address religious authorities.

Screenwriting is often described as a compressed form of writing, but one can take it too far. “The” and “a” are often useless articles — but you notice when they’re gone, as we did in one of the entries.

Links:

* John’s blog post [on trust](http://johnaugust.com/2014/on-trust-drama-and-corporations)
* [Less IMDb](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb) is working again
* [Submit your Three Pages](http://johnaugust.com/threepage)
* Read this week’s pages on [Weekend Read](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/weekendread/)
* Three Pages by [Joseph Bodner](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/JosephBodner.pdf)
* Three Pages by [Lisa Mecham](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/LisaMecham.pdf)
* Three Pages by [Patrick McGinley](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/PatrickMcGinley.pdf)
* [Handling numbers in dialogue](http://screenwriting.io/how-should-you-handle-numbers-or-confusing-jargon-in-dialogue/) on screenwriting.io
* Three Pages by [Todd Bosley](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/ToddBosley.pdf)
* [@abone114](https://twitter.com/clmazin/status/502894592862060544) recommends [Sugru](http://sugru.com/) for fixing that thing
* Sugru on [Cool Tools](http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/4671)
* Please Like Me on [ABC](http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pleaselikeme/), [Pivot](http://www.pivot.tv/shows/please-like-me), and [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/please-like-me-season-1/id671267950)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes editor Matthew Chilelli ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_159.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_159.mp3).

**UPDATE 8-28-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-159-the-mystery-of-the-disappearing-articles-transcript).

Less IMDb gets unbroken

Apps, Less IMDb

We love IMDb, but man, there’s a lot of clutter on those pages. That’s why one of our very first coding projects was [Less IMDb](http://johnaugust.com/2010/less-imd), a browser extension that rearranges IMDb pages to emphasize credits and minimize everything else.

screen shot

For the past four years, Less IMDb sat in the righthand margin, quietly doing its job. Occasionally it would encounter an odd IMDb page that didn’t play nicely — often a themed page with oversized ads — but for the most part it worked as intended.

Then last month Less IMDb broke altogether. So Ryan Nelson dusted off the code and got it working again.

The Safari version of Less IMDb has been updated to 1.3.1 and is available [here](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb). He’s working on the Chrome version now.

Unfortunately the auto-updaters for both Safari and Chrome won’t work properly, so you have to download and install it yourself.

For best results, uninstall your existing version of Less IMDb first. (After all, you don’t want More Less IMDb.)
You can find it in Preferences > Extensions.

Then [download the new one](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb) and follow the instructions. (There is also a (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv0A5XUOpBg).)

What’s New:

– The sidebar is back when Less IMDb is turned on.
– Fixed formatting of release date, genre, and runtime information.
– Added retina display support to Less IMDb controller icon.
– Fixed bug that hid ratings even when Less IMDb was set to off.
– Changed extension permissions to allow Less IMDb to run on any subdomain for better international support.
– Fixed bug that prevented video from playing.
– Fixed bug that prevented ratings from working.
– Future versions will automatically update once 1.3.1 is installed.

Known issues and notes:

– Older versions of the extension will not automatically update to the latest version, and should be deleted before using the updated extension.
– Pages with heavily-branded content may look funky, particularly those using dark backgrounds.
– Photos and video thumbnails don’t always load when Less IMDb is turned on.
– Apple’s Safari Extension gallery doesn’t yet link properly.
– The Less IMDb page is old and FAQ is out of date (update coming).

Once Ryan get the Chrome version finished, we’ll be open-sourcing the whole project. We’d love for coders to springboard off what we’ve done to build a Firefox version, for example, or incorporate it into some of new WebKit goodness announced for Yosemite.

Less IMDb continues to be a useful little utility, something you don’t notice until it’s gone. If you haven’t tried it, [give it a shot](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/less-imdb).

Putting a price on it

Film Industry, Follow Up, QandA, Scriptnotes, So-Called Experts, Transcribed

From Amazon to animation, there’s drama this week about prices for books and movies and even internships. John and Craig take a look at what happens when companies wrestle over how much things cost, and the effect it has on people trying to make a living as writers.

We recorded this episode with a live audience listening in online. It went well enough that we’ll try to do it occasionally.

Craig won’t be able to make to this year’s Austin Film Festival, but never fear: Kelly Marcel will take his place at the live Scriptnotes show.

Links:

* This episode was broadcast live [on Mixlr](http://mixlr.com/scriptnotes/)
* Come see Scriptnotes live with John and Kelly at the [Austin Film Festival](http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/)
* Brian Koppelman’s The Moment Podcast [with guest Craig Mazin](http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/the-moment-podcast-brian-koppelman-and-craig-mazin/)
* [Sparknotes: Goodnight Moon](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/sparknotes-goodnight-moon) on McSweeney’s
* Slate on [How Gobbledygook Ended Up in Respected Scientific Journals](http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/27/how_nonsense_papers_ended_up_in_respected_scientific_journals.html)
* Christopher Wright [on Amazon vs Hachette](https://www.eviscerati.org/articles/2014/08/Amazon-v-Hatchette-Everyone-Wrong-Me), and Dave Bryant’s follow up [on the true costs of publishing a book](http://dave-bryant.livejournal.com/21544.html)
* John’s blog post on how [no one cares about manufacturing costs](http://johnaugust.com/2014/no-one-cares-about-manufacturing-costs)
* LA Times on [Amazon vs Disney](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-amazon-disney-20140811-story.html)
* The Weinstein Company is [auctioning off an internship for charity](https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/597305)
* [Court docs show role of Pixar and Dreamworks Animation in Silicon Valley wage-fixing cartel](http://pando.com/2014/07/07/revealed-court-docs-show-role-of-pixar-and-dreamworks-animation-in-silicon-valley-wage-fixing-cartel/)
* The Anonymous Production Assistant’s Crew Call Podcast [with guest Stuart Friedel](http://www.anonymousproductionassistant.com/2014/07/31/personal-assistant-stuart-friedel/)
* Robin Williams’s obituary from [The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/movies/robin-williams-oscar-winning-comedian-dies-at-63.html?_r=0)
* The [National Suicide Prevention Lifeline](http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/) and [National Alliance on Mental Illness](http://www.nami.org/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Brian Shane ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_158.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_158.mp3).

**UPDATE 8-22-14:** The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-158-putting-a-price-on-it-transcript).

Texting in film and television

Follow Up, Television, Words on the page

Craig and I may have [taken umbrage](http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-147-to-chase-or-to-spec-transcript) at his video about comedy directors who aren’t Edgar Wright, but Tony Zhou’s [newest video](http://vimeo.com/103554797) looking at how filmmakers handle texting and the internet on-screen is all good.

Zhou’s underlying point is that we still haven’t settled on conventions for showing texting or the internet. And that’s good! Filmmakers can and should experiment to see what works best for their needs.

In ten years, some of our choices will look quaint and foolish, but that’s the fun and challenge of making new things.