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Positive Moviegoing

Episode - 119

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November 26, 2013 Film Industry, Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed, Writing Process

Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig to discuss watching movies with an open mind and why it’s important to befriend other writers.

Also this week: what to do when your outline collapses and a look at going broke in your 50s.

The Scriptnotes Live Holiday Show on December 19th is technically sold out, but there’s a chance seats will open up, so keep an eye on Twitter.

LINKS:

* [Aline Brosh McKenna](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0112459/) on IMDb, and her [first](http://johnaugust.com/2012/the-black-list-and-a-stack-of-scenes), [second](http://johnaugust.com/2013/how-screenwriters-find-their-voice), [third](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-100th-episode), and [third-and-a-half](http://johnaugust.com/2013/101-qa-from-the-live-show) appearances on Scriptnotes
* The [Scriptnotes Holiday Show](https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwriting-events/scriptnotes-holiday/) is sold out, but follow [@johnaugust](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) and [@clmazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) to be the first to know if more tickets are released
* [John Gatins](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0309691/) on IMDb
* [What It’s Like to Fail](http://priceonomics.com/what-its-like-to-fail/) on priceonomics
* [Scroobius Pip](http://scroobiuspip.co.uk/) and [You Will See Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OS4W3OCESY)
* [Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0393064425/?tag=johnaugustcom-20) by Keith Houston
* [Irony punctuation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_punctuation) on Wikipedia
* The [TreadDesk](http://asoft11239.accrisoft.com/treaddesk/)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Kris Gotthelf

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_119.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_119.mp3).

**UPDATE** 12-1-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-119-positive-moviegoing-transcript).

Time Travel with Richard Kelly

November 19, 2013 Directors, Education, Scriptnotes, Sundance, Transcribed

John and Craig wind back the clock with writer-director Richard Kelly to look at the origins of Donnie Darko, and how a recent film-school grad gets a movie made.

Along the way, we talk about Sundance and slow success, scope creep and transmedia.

The Scriptnotes Live Holiday Show will be Thursday, December 19th, 2013. Tickets go on sale November 20th at 10am. Links below.

LINKS:

* [Tickets are on sale tomorrow morning](https://www.wgfoundation.org/writing-seminars/) for the December 19th Scriptnotes Live Holiday Show
* Richard Kelly [on IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446819/), [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kelly_(director)) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/JRichardKelly)
* [Donnie Darko](http://archive.hi-res.net/donniedarko/), and [on Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZBFRTY/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [The Donnie Darko Book](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0571221246/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Scope creep](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_creep) on Wikipedia
* [Coin](https://onlycoin.com/) for all your cards
* [The Science and Entertainment Exchange](http://www.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org)
* [Hotel Tonight](http://www.hoteltonight.com/)
* [Big Fish](http://www.bigfishthemusical.com/) is on Broadway through December 29th
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Scriptnotes listener Matthew Chilelli

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_118.m4a) | [mp3](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_118.mp3).

**UPDATE** 11-24-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-118-time-travel-with-richard-kelly-transcript).

Not Just Dialogue

November 12, 2013 Scriptnotes, Transcribed, Words on the page

John and Craig take an extended look at how sound works in movies, and how screenwriters can take advantage of it on the page.

Also this week, advice on naming characters, and what to do when the first cut of your movie is not at all what you had in mind.

Links:

  • Order your Scriptnotes shirts from The John August Store before Friday
  • Get your tickets now for the Big Fish talkback on November 23rd and let us know you’ll be there
  • Previous One Cool Thing WinesTilSoldOut did a cool thing for Craig
  • John’s 2010 Jessica Alba blog post
  • Dolby’s Atmos is one example of why your home theater sound doesn’t compare to the movie theater experience
  • Foley on Wikipedia
  • Behind the Name breaks down first name popularity by country and year
  • Saving Mr. Banks is in theaters this December
  • Knock to Unlock lets you unlock your Mac by knocking your iPhone
  • Register as an organ donor today
  • And register for the Be The Match bone marrow database, too
  • Outro by Scriptnotes listener Jonas Bech

You can download the episode here: AAC | mp3.

UPDATE 11-16-13: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Shirts back in the Store

November 7, 2013 Follow Up, Geek Alert, News

Back in June, we sold the first-ever [Scriptnotes t-shirts](http://johnaugust.com/2013/t-shirts-and-transcripts). We took pre-orders, printed them, and sent them out all in a batch.

In that process, we learned a lot about the making and shipping of physical goods — how online shopping carts work, how to calculate sales tax, optimizing postage. We’re geeks. We like that stuff. Plus it’s been fun seeing Scriptnotes t-shirts out in the wild.

So we’re doing it again.

Through Friday, November 15th, we’ll be taking orders for a new batch of shirts. They’ll ship starting December 2nd, in time for the holidays.

Like last time, we’ll only print what people order, so if you want a shirt, you need to [order now](http://store.johnaugust.com).

The first batch of Scriptnotes shirts were available in umbrage orange and rational blue. The new Scriptnotes t-shirt is available in any color you want so long as it’s black. ((I always assumed this Henry Ford quote was apocryphal, but apparently it’s real. The original wording was, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.”)) For this shirt, we offer both unisex and women’s cuts.

scriptnotes black

I’m really happy with how the logo turned out. It’s faint, and seems to be gently glowing from inside the shirt.

Scriptnotes is not our only labor of love, so we decided to make some more shirts while we were at it.

First up is Fountain. How do you show a revolutionary [plain text screenplay markup syntax](http://fountain.io) on a t-shirt? Ryan Nelson and I went through a bunch of variations with document icons and street maps, but none of them felt right.

Ultimately, it was the color that set the tone. Olive green felt appropriately basic. Paired with white type (Highway Gothic) and a Fountain flag, this shirt feels like what you’d wear at boot camp. We’re recruiting a Fountain army, and this is the uniform.

fountain shirt

Courier Prime is a [beautiful font](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/courierprime/) designed by Alan Dague-Greene. Since it’s a text face, you aren’t supposed to notice the individual glyphs — it’s for reading, not showing off — but I wanted to highlight just how smart the whole character set is. What makes Courier Prime special — apart from its bolder bolds and crisper serifs — are the true italics, modeled after the “informal” script of old typewriters. Here you get to see the full alphabet at once. ((If you’re ever in doubt which Courier you’re seeing, check the lowercase y. In Courier Prime, the tail of the y never flattens out to a line.))

courier-prime

Right after Courier Prime came out, we made a few shirts with a similar design, but printed them on a heather gray. If you’re not familiar t-shirt lingo (I wasn’t), “heather” means that the fabric has a speckled quality, woven of threads in a range of colors to give it depth. For Courier Prime, that made it far too hard to see the details.

This time, we’re printing white on solid midnight navy, so you can see everything.

Our fourth shirt is actually the very first shirt we printed: Classic Karateka.

karateka shirt

We made one hundred of these shirts to celebrate the launch of Jordan Mechner’s game on iOS. Only friends and team members got the first batch, but when we put up the few remaining shirts last month, they sold out in minutes. So we’re doing one last run.

Our final shirt isn’t about a product, but rather an idea. Longtime readers and listeners know I’m not just a fan of technology and gadgets, but the underlying science behind them. We live in a culture that has been completely transformed scientific innovation, yet at the same rejects scientific realities.

I vented some of my frustration through the frustrated science teacher (Mr. Rzykruski) in Frankenweenie. For this last shirt, I’m paraphrasing myself and his answer to the question of why no one likes scientists.

The adult shirts are silver (very light gray):

science adult

For the kids shirts, we went black:

All the t-shirts were designed in-house by Ryan Nelson, and printed locally in LA.

Once again, we’re only printing what people order, so if you want a shirt, [visit the store](http://store.johnaugust.com) before next Friday.

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