John and Craig talk about the trope of “Never split the party,” and why, as a writer, you often want and need to divide up your characters to better explore relationships, propel the story forward, give actors something to do, and simply fit everyone in the frame.

We also follow up on screenwriting scams, sequences, websites, and liking things that others don’t.

Links:

• Join us for the WGA’s Princess Bride screening on January 27th.
• You can catch John on august-the-host-of-scriptnotes-explains-his-approach-to-screenwriting.html"> Studio 360.
• “Let’s Split Up the Gang” and “Never Split the Party” are topical TV tropes.
• Watch Patton Oswalt when he’s not being utilized in a big scene.
• Scriptnotes, Ep 381: Double Ampersand with Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens
• outline.pdf">Big Fish sequence outline
• Sarah Silverman recording Slaughter Race, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Phil Johnston and Tom MacDougall
• TripIt
• This Is Your Brain On Pot
• You can now preorder the next Arlo Finch
• T-shirts are available here! We’ve got new designs, including Colored Revisions, Karateka, and Highland2.
• John August on Twitter
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Find past episodes
• Scriptnotes Digital Seasons are also now available!
• Outro by Matthew Chilelli (send us yours!)

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.