Dialogue
Elements of dialogue
- dialogue reveals character
-a character will talk about himself and other people will talk about him.
- Dialogue establishes relationships between characters
-once you have established your main character’s POV. You can use dialogue with other characters to show that they have other attitudes, creating opposite/alternative POV’s.
-This helps to create and sustain the element of conflict between characters.
- Good effective dialogue will move the story forward
- Dialogue communicates faces and information to the audience
-It conveys essential exposition.
-Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the story-line.
- Dialogue comments on the action
- Dialogue ties the script together
-It is one of the devices that you as a writer can use to expand and enlarge your character.
“if you can see it or hear it, don’t write it” – Neville Smith
- Dialogue should be used sparingly
- Never tell the audience what they can see for themselves
*Dialogue is not a substitute for action*
In hollywood when they look at a page and its got too much black, too much ink on the paper, they say
“shit! It’s freeze the camera time”
*common mistake
-students sometimes never achieve a level of competence as they tend to reproduce conventional spoken language, long statements of “REAL TALKING”, and defend their decision by telling us that:
“it’s how the character speaks”
- Good dialogue is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life.
-If that was all there is to it, you can just push a button on the tape recorder and then collect your oscar.
- Good dialogue is the illusion of reality
-You’ve got to know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit.
- Common Mistake
-students tend to create radio shows with images.
>Film is a visual medium<
A screenplay is a story told in pictures.
