Elements of a 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 POVs.
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 storyline.
- 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 characters.
“If you can see it or hear it, don’t write it,” – Neville Smith.
- Dialogue should be used sparingly.
- NEVER TELL AUDIENCE WHAT THEY CAN SEE FOR THEMSELVES.
- Dialogue is no substitute for action.
In Hollywood when they look at a page and it’s got too much vlack, to 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.
Students tend to create radio shows with images.
Redifusion.
FILM IS A VISUAL MEDIUM.
A SCREENPLAY IS A STORY TOLD IN PICTURES.
“It’s how the character speaks.”
Consider the age, education, race, background, gender and religion of the character.
- Good dialogue is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life.
Bad dialogue: cheesy, unfocused, inappropriate tone or language, long winded.
If that was all there is to it, you can just push a button on the tape recorder and then go 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.
