Americano & Outlines

Troublemakers

Welcome to Troublemakers a podcast about coffee and screenwriting and the things that go together just as great as the aforementioned.

In this episode, we cover some of the greatness of my favorite drink the americano. It’s a simple espresso shot with a 1:3 ratio of espresso to hot water. It doesn’t mask the taste of the complexities of the bean, the roast, or the extraction process. Not nearly as intense as a solo shot of espresso and not as diluted as a latte with milk or too much water. The perfect ratio to get a great cuppa coffee.

Some of my favorite beans I've played with lately are:

Pilot Coffee Roasters ANTHEM

Pilot Coffee Roasters HERITAGE

and Detour Coffee Roasters PUNCH BUGGY ESPRESSO

(No affiliate links in this episode posted above)

Outlines are a topic of controversy when it comes to feature screenplay writers. Some swear by them, making a large format blueprint of the who, what, where, and how for the story to progress from act to act or scene to scene. Others swear by starting at one end of the story and working backwards or burning the story at both ends and finding themselves somewhere in the middle. I’m personally one to find an outline crucial to plot out where my protagonist is coming from, going to, and what will ultimately be that circle of change that brings them back to where they began with a new layer of growth from their journey.

For television screenplay writers outlines are a necessity. The deadlines are tight, the teamwork required to get the show up, shot, and edited are so intrinsic that having a clear path keeps the forward momentum going.

Stories can be elevated, twisted, or be dead on arrival in the outline process depending on what discoveries appear in the outline process. If something doesn’t fit into the world the Showrunner has created, the outline can be that spot where glaring problems can be identified and triaged before sending the writer for that episode off to write the script.

Some of the best shows have such clean outlines that you really see the talent of the writing team mixing such complex stories within a single episode. Pulling you deep into the story and when you get to the end, you’re sitting there taking a moment to comprehend all the information you easily digested. I find those are the moments when someone asks you what the episode was about and you’re dumbfounded for a moment trying to figure out how to describe all that you witnessed in the last hour or half-hour.

So, what are some of your favorite things about the Americano or Outlines?

If you liked the episode, please subscibe.

For short comments I'm at @MichaelTBurgess on Twitter, @marsboymike on instagram

For longer questions, email me at [e-mail]

©2019 Deelen with Trouble, Inc.