John August

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How screenwriters find their voice

Episode - 76

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Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed, Words on the page

Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig for a conversation about what writers mean by a “voice,” and how it develops.

For some screenwriters, their voice develops long before their craft, leading people to label them as “promising” even though the scripts themselves are a mess. Other writers get all the technical stuff right from the start, but have a hard time finding something distinctive about how they write.

From there, we segue into a look at three new Three Page Challenges, easily our most contentious session yet, with wildly split opinions.

All this and Craig’s confession in the new episode of Scriptnotes.

LINKS:

* [Aline Brosh McKenna](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0112459/) on IMDb, and her [first appearance on Scriptnotes](http://johnaugust.com/2012/the-black-list-and-a-stack-of-scenes)
* [Spy: The Funny Years](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KZHGR4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001KZHGR4&linkCode=as2&tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* [Recitative](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitative) on Wikipedia
* Three pages by [James Topham](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/JamesTopham.pdf)
* Three pages by [Cheryl Laughlin](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/CherylLaughlin.pdf)
* Three pages by [Chris Vieira](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/ChrisVieira.pdf)
* OUTRO: [Robot Love](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqLIl6-1ZEU) by some youth ministry conference

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_76.m4a).

**UPDATE** 2-17-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-76-how-screenwriters-find-their-voice-transcript).

Villains

Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Television, Transcribed

John and Craig give heroes the week off and talk bad guys. Not every movie needs a villain, but if you have one, he better be good.

Also this week, follow-up on Courier Prime, John’s TV pilot, and most importantly Craig’s movie Identity Thief, which hits theaters this weekend.

In our One Cool Things, John talks up Gillian Flynn’s terrific but tough-to-adapt Gone Girl, while Craig wants fewer dead athletes.

LINKS:

You can download the episode here: AAC.

UPDATE 2-9-13: The transcript of this episode can be found here.

Three-Hole Punchdrunk

Follow Up, Meta, News, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Craig and John discuss a new report that tallies spec script sales for 2012 — with the reminder that selling a spec isn’t necessarily the most important thing for new writers.

After some follow-up on last week’s Raiders episode, we crunch the numbers on our listener survey and discuss the genesis of Courier Prime, the typeface all the best scripts will be sporting in 2013.

Finally, we tackle reader questions on topics ranging from Facebook connections to “just checking in.”

All this and many suggestions for hole-punching in this week’s Scriptnotes.

LINKS:

* [IndyCast](https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/indycast-indiana-jones-news/id275916349?mt=2) on iTunes
* The truth about [Indy’s hat drop](http://pikdit.com/i/indiana-jones-hat-didnt-fall-off-someone-off-camera-threw-it-at-him-cant-be-unseen/)
* [Harrison Ford’s shooting script for Raiders](http://bid.profilesinhistory.com/Harrison-Ford-heavily-annotated-complete-shooting-script-for-Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark_i10030668)
* [Scoggins Report](http://scogginsreport.com/2013/01/2012-year-end-spec-market-scorecard/) on spec sales for 2012
* [Scriptnotes survey results](http://johnaugust.com/Assets/scriptnotes_survey.pdf)
* [Courier Prime](http://quoteunquoteapps.com/courierprime)
* [Stanley Bostich Heavy Duty Hole Punch](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFSC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000H0XFSC&linkCode=as2&tag=johnaugustcom-20) on Amazon
* Casting director [Pat Moran](http://www.thecredits.org/2013/01/the-queen-of-casting-meet-emmy-award-winning-baltimore-legend-pat-moran/) from The Credits
* OUTRO: [Ben and Kate](http://www.fox.com/ben-and-kate/) opening theme by Michael Andrews

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_74.m4a).

**UPDATE** 2-1-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-74-three-hole-punchdrunk-transcript).

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Scriptnotes, Story and Plot, Transcribed

Craig and John spend the entire episode discussing and dissecting RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, looking at both its structure and scene work.

This amazing and iconic 1981 film established so much of what we expect of out movie heroes and set pieces — but a lot of what it does would have a hard time getting through modern studio development. Five-minute exposition scenes! Nazi monkeys! Helpless heroes at the climax!

And yet it works so well. There are great lessons to be learned for screenwriters in every genre.

LINKS:

* Raiders of the Lost Ark [official website](http://www.indianajones.com/), and on [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/?ref_=sr_1), [Netflix](http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark/60011649?strkid=1024294360_0_0&strackid=28d787371bc40f39_0_srl&trkid=222336), [iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie-collection/indiana-jones-complete-adventures/id561542568) and [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014Z4OMU/?tag=johnaugustcom-20)
* George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Larry Kasdan’s [Raiders story conference transcripts](http://moedred.livejournal.com/2009/03/04/)
* [“Apple for teacher? Why’d he do that?”](http://raven.theraider.net/showthread.php?t=6083) thread on theraider.net (via [@sethgs](https://twitter.com/sethgs/status/292779295905021952))
* OUTRO: [A British Tar](http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/britisht.htm) from the HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan, performed by John Rhys-Davies

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_73.m4a).

**UPDATE** 1-25-13: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-73-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-transcript).