John and Craig discuss the mechanics of getting characters in and out of scenes. They cover why writers might show a character’s entrance or exit, both what it accomplishes for the story and the expectations it sets up for the audience.

We get an update from ‘Please Convince Me to Drop Out of Film School’ and answer listener questions on mortifying managers, cocktail conversations, and whether or not to use trigger warnings in a script.

In our bonus segment for premium members, the guys discuss the longevity movement and whether they’d choose to live forever.

Links:

• The Room – “Oh hi Mark” clip
• Scriptnotes, Episode 543: 20 Questions with John, Transcript
• Los Angeles Arts District: Hauser + Wirth, Night Gallery, Death + Company, la.com/">Manuela
• Knotwords Game
• Upstep Orthotics
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John August on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Owen Danoff (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.