Dead Dog Barking
So sure, like most of us, I read John August’s blog from time to time and have been keen to use the newly developed scrippet plugin he had developed for WordPress and now even a few other content management systems.
Pretty much everywhere I see it being used, it looks very good and it’s outstanding for quickly getting up some screenwriting examples or scene challenges as Mr. August had recently.
But of course like EVERYTHING I attempt to do, MURPHY’S LAW rears its head and we go nine rounds… The scrippet was a snap to install and it SEEMS to work for me except for the dialogue. It keeps wanting to skip a line before printing it out.
I headed on over the scrippet forum and indeed, something is mentioned about the problem I’m experiencing so I went ahead and registered and asked for some help.
But so you can see how it works, take a gander…
FADE IN
INT. UNK’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
INDEX CARDS upon INDEX CARDS layer a textured wall as UNK (50), outfit in tortoise shell RAY BANS, BANGS away at his laptop.
A BARKING DOG in the distance.
UNK
I’ve had it with that fuckin’ dog.
More BANGING -- more BARKING.
Unk shoves the laptop forward on the bed -- pulls his .22 RUGER AUTOMATIC from under the pillow, checks the clip:
Full.
He shuffles down the hallway to the
KITCHEN
opens the refrigerator door -- retrieves a
BOTTLE OF WATER
unscrews the top -- screws the .22’s barrel into the opening -- tight.
EXT. UNK’S HOUSE
Front door eases open, Unk slides out -- .22 dangling to his side.
BARKING louder now -- Unk disappears into the night.
EXT. STUCCO WALL
BARKING almost deafening -- a SILHOUETTE of the .22 and attached bottle of DRIPPING water hovers against a FULL MOON.
The SILHOUETTE of Unk’s head follows as the weapon angles across the wall and down.
PFFTCLACKGLUGGLUGGLUG -- BURST of water -- muffled YELP -- no more barking.
Both silhouettes fade backward into the night.
INT. UNK’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
INDEX CARDS upon INDEX CARDS layer a textured wall as Unk BANGS away at his laptop.
FADE OUT.
What’s even more cool is that the same thing can be done in the comments section by anyone. I should also thank Nima Yousefi for her hard work in getting this plugin completed.
So if you have a blog or forum about screenwriting, definitely get this plugin!
Unk
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23 Responses to “Dead Dog Barking”
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uh, what about the dog>?
What dog?
Unk
INT. COMPUTER ROOM
NICK -- dressed to impress in STRIPED BOXERS and knee-high BLACK SOCKS -- scrolls through UNK’s latest post.
ON THE FLOOR
LUCY -- the world’s cutest COCKER SPANIEL -- WHIMPERS.
NICK
You said it, Lu.
He SHUDDERS -- powers down his PC.
NICK
More like The Unbalanced Screenwriter.
Did not work…..
:(
Nick,
I didn’t realize anyone would actually try it out yet… LOL.
In order to make it work, you have to start out with:
[ scrippet ] without the spaces I added after and before the brackets…
And then end with:
[ / scrippet ] — again, without the spaces before and after the forward slash and before the second bracket.
I added those to your comment and it worked fine except for the blank line between character cue and dialogue.
Unk
I noticed The Artful Writer added this feature about a week ago. It’s been very helpful to have when someone needs to show an example.
I’m very excited you were able to add this as well! Thanks!
I used the Scrippets Maker mentioned in this post — I guess it only works for Blogger.
INT. AVID EDITING BAY - SYDNEY - DAY.
A lone TV editor ponders how to avoid working on this week’s show
GRANT
I know! I’ll stuff around with this really cool script markup thing I found on Unk.
He turns to his small idol of John August and lays 5 cents (Australian) at it’s feet.
GRANT
Respect.
INT. RYAN’S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
RYAN lounges on his COUCH -- comfortably -- watching
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
RYAN
Damn this game sucks!
(beat)
I hate the Steelers and the Ravens suck! Actually... They both suck a whole lotta.
CLEO a DOBERMAN PINSCHER comes trotting in -- sits between Ryan and the TELEVISION with a BALL in her mouth -- blocking Ryan’s view -- both eye balling each other.
RYAN
Now what?
Cleo drops the ball on the couch.
RYAN
Wanna play catch?
Cleo picks the ball back up only to drop it on Ryan’s chest.
Ryan reluctantly climbs out of the couch -- ambles to the
REAR DOOR
Opens it -- snatches the ball from Cleo -- tosses it out the door.
Cleo chases after it -- disappearing into the darkness.
RYAN
She can play day and night non stop. Amazing!
Closes the door -- returns to the couch -- plops down on it.
RYAN
This game freakin’ sucks!
He snatches the REMOTE from off the COFFEE TABLE -- surfs through the channels.
PAT PAT PAT -- Cleo’s PAWS tap on the rear door.
Raising his head off the couch -- gazing at the door -- staring at
Cleo
Staring back at him with the ball in her mouth.
Cool addition. I noticed you seemed to like “directing the eye” like I do. More writers should understand how to direct the eye.
Reading your scrippet, you see the person going to the kitchen, you see the water bottle. You see the wall.
Plus, I love those secondary slug lines. I mean it’s almost an obsession.
Christian- “directing the eye” is the only way to go. One thing about it. It takes up a lot of space. That’s a bummer for me, cause I have more material to write. I have too much and I don’t know how I’m gonna cut some of it.
I typed a comment last night in scrippets form, and it didn’t post. Was it because it was too long? I’m kinda confused. I wanted to see if I could get it to worked properly or not. No big deal.
Christian,
I call it CONTROLLING THE READ but yeah — directing the eye, works.
Ryan,
Do you really have more material to write or are you just writing too much?
Unk
Okay… I’m not going to answer ANY MORE EMAIL about the dog… LOL.
I didn’t kill the dog. It AIN’T the dog’s fault he’s a miserable little fuck that barks all fucking night long… LOL.
It’s his miserable owners’ fault.
That’s just how I simply dealt with the barking and tried out the scrippet plugin at the same time.
But hey… At least you’re readin’ between the lines… LOL.
Unk
At first I thought I was just writing too much. That was before I was “controlling the read” and wrote it all rookie style.
Then I went through it all and converted it to “controlling the read”. That made it so I’m not writing so much, but I’m finding out that I have more material than what I can put in a typical 110-120 pages.
I’ve been going throughout the script and trimming some scenes or actual scenes that aren’t necesary for the story. As I learn more… I’m figuring out I’ve been kinda redundant on a few scenes. So… I’m figure I’m just gonna have to continue to doing that until it’s at the correct page number.
As I continue working on my script… I’m getting other ideas. New ideas that I could really add to my script, but it’s already too long and I’ve got to figure out a way to get it right.
Ah! Thanks. I wasn’t sure how to do it for Blogger but I got it working. I put up a scene from my next short.
I’ll take Barking Dog over Leaf-Blower Man any fucking day of the week. You want to team up with me and find a way to make that asshole bleed through all 7 orifices of his face, you let me know :)
What’s with all the double dashes? I’ve never seen them used so liberally! :) I like the piece about the dog. I’d love to know how you would have dealt with this. I wear earplugs AND wireless headphones on sounds I choose to hear rather than the scrapping of chair, conversations and banging of doors around me and particularly above me. These people seem to use a drill a LOT. The other day it was so bad it was reverbing down the wall..through the wall and I could feel it in the mouse. I could not block the sound. They are entitled to do this in daylight hours. I have already sent them one formal letter about my being able to hear every thumping footstep over my head (and they are not big people so heaven knows what that stepping thump is all about).
ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGhhhhhhhhhhh. I long to be away from a lift on a top floor with no-one over top; where every apartment has carpets and I don’t need to hear each person’s every little act through thin walls.
Have you ever written with directing the camera. I have done that with the only scr. play I have written. Sometimes I imagine how the cam will move and that helps describe the scene. I do have interests to write other screenplays. I don’t know the terminology though (have you ever read books that contain popular movies’ scripts?). It sure takes a huge amount of time to write an entire story even in a movie, it seems. I want to write more appropriately too.
Do you believe in God? Think of how the tree grows (how does it know up from the ground?_).
Jesus saves. He saved Me! JOhn 10:30:
“The Father and I are one.”
I remember the dog that used to bark outside the place I lived. It was years back and it barked probably from 11to 12 or so.
Yeah. Have you ever purchased earplugs? :)
It is a good idea to get calm and either report it to friends who are neighbors or do what my dad did. 911.
Don’t use it too much. It is disturbance of peace.
Peter from the book of Peter is intersting. I can relate to him (I had a foul mouth). I hope the best, friend.
Oh yeah, I missed Bib. Study. (ha ha last entry).
PSALM 107:43: Whoever is wise, heed these things and consider the love of the Lord.
Frowns…I wear earplugs AND headphones and still could hear a dog barking down the hall from me. It was funny to slip into the corridor and watch another neighbour slipping wafer biscuits under the door to sooth it. She looked up at me and said it would be a valium next.
Unk, the September 29th entry to the comment made me laugh.
Listen to this, is this a new storyline to a story on a third installment?
-Person dies alone in the movie place he works at and people don’t know how. The door was locked and the last person that saw him claims he didn’t (or at least will admit it). What happened and why can’t anyone explain the “cause of death.” Could it have been something he has. . . seen?
God BLESS writers. Think of Norristown.
Susan P.
Go to a bookstore on weekends or whenever you have time off (it is a great outlet to talk to people and to read the “latest.”).
Take good care of yourself :)
And GB (a square is much diff. from a rectangle ha ha ha).
Susan P. thanks. The last time I went to a bookstore, I went with friends (one I met the day before) so I never got to speak with people totally new. My bro got some music.
I have learned that anger and obsession are not very good. I remember a time where I was jealous of my bro and when he asked me a personal question I felt anger toward him. I thought, “How dare he tell me that. I have barely any friends and Mr. Bigshot asks me something so personal as he probably has forty.”
And yes I have even been bitten by a critter or scratched by a few. (That crazy hamster that felt like he took a chunk of my Finger when he really didn’t. . . ow.).
But it isn’t good to go the other way with animals and explore their every day lives. They should be loved. . . but not like they are a first or second child.
People. There are PEOPLE OUT THERE. I remember when I was obsessed with my rabbit; all I did was say every little thing that he did. He is an animal and not a human being.
And there is Jesus who can save anybody; hey. . . He saved Me!. :)
Be gentle and be calm.
c. s.