Elements of Dialogue
- Dialogue reveals character
- A character will talk about himself and other people will talk about him.
- Dialogue establishes relationships between character
- Once you have established your main character’s POINT OF VIEW, you can use dialogue with other characters to show that they have 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 the device 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!
In Hollywood when they look at a page it’s 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 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 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.
- Common mistake
- Students tend to creater readio shows with images
<< Film is a visual medium>>
A screenplay is a story told in pictures.
Exercise: Writing Dialogue
Husband: “I’m home!”
Wife: “Why didn’t you call me to inform me that you are not coming back for dinner?”
Husband: “I went for a few drinks with Mark and all and it slipped my mind.”
Wife: “Do you know what day is today? It’s our 10th year anniversary! I prepared steak and bought a Chateau Chalon for 100 bucks just for today!”
The real exercise:
Dad:What’s for dinner?
Mom: Chicken soup.
Dad had the chicken soup.
Purpose of the exercise:
We write best what we know well.
Storytelling tool 1: Observation
- Adopt a KEEN EYE
- Develop a natural SENSE OF CURIOSITY
- An observed event, when subject to sinmple questions, can set up a sequence of possibilities that will develop into a story worth telling.
- Whom am i writing about?
- Who is my character?
- What is he/she/it like?
- What does he/she/it do?
- What happens to him/her/it in the story?
Exercise: Awarness Level
- People rarely observe familiar people or things closely
- Mot people pass through the da with 20%-30% awareness
Mindless observation vs true observation
- Observe in a conscious way
- Develop the ability to see and record people:
- Their movements
-Their physical characteristics
-The setting/places they’re in
Exercise: People-watch
- Walk into the canteen/library, etc. and watch people pass by.
- Eventually, one will catch our attention.
- Write down as many details as possible trough observation.
* Write why and what their physical appearance, behaviour, attire and they are in.
CHARACTERIZATION : DEFINING THE CHARACTER
- A story starts with a character
- A character is the heart and soul and nervous system of your screen play
- It is through your characters that viewers experience emotions. It is through your characters that you are touched.
< Without a character, there is no action >
< Without action, you have no conflict >
< Without conflict, you have no story >
< Without story, you have no screenplay >
DEVELOPING CHARACTERS
- When developing a character, ask youself:
-Who is your character?
-What does he wants?
-What is his quest?
-What drives him to the resolution of the story?
- Establish your main character
Characters should have a 3 dimensional structure.
- Physiology
- Sociology
- Psychology
PHYSIOLOGY
- Sex
- Age
- Height, wieght
- Colour of hair, eyes, skin
- Posture
- Appearance
- Defects, denormalities, deformaties, birth marks, diseases
- Heredity
SOCIOLOGY
- Class (lower, middle, upper)
- Occupation: Type of work, hours of work, income, condition of work, attitude towards organization, suitability for work
- Education: amount, kind of schools, marks, favourite subjects
- Home life: parent living, earning power, orphan, parents seperated.
- Religion
- Race, Nationality
- Place in the community: leader among friends, clubs, sports
- Political Afiliations
- Amusements: hobbies, books, newspaper, magazines he/she reads
Psycology
- Sex life, Moral standards
- Personal premise, ambition
- Frustrations, Chief Disappointments
- Temperament: chloric, easy-going, pessimistic, optimistic
- Attitude towards Life: resigned, militant, defeated
- Complexes: obsessions, inhibitions, superstitions, phones
- Personality: extrovert, introvert
- Abilities: language, talents
- Qualities: Imagination, judgment, tastes, poise
- I.Q
- What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/ hide?
- Separate the components of his life into 2 basic catergories:
a) Interior
b) Exterior
>> Interior
The interior life takes place from birth until the moment your story begins.
It is a process that forms character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]
- How old is he when story begins?
- Where does he live?
- Does he have siblings?
- What kind of childhood do he have?
- What was his relationship to his parents?
- What kind of child was he?
- Is he married, single, widowed, separated or divorced?
>> Exterior
It is a process that reveals character.
- Who are they and what do they do?
- Are they sad or happy with their life?
- Do they wish their life was different? Another job, another wife?
>> You must create your characters in relationship to other people or things
ALL DRAMATIC CHARACTERS INTERACT IN 3 WAYS:
- They experiences conflict in achieving their dramatic need. [ eg, Need money - Rob a bank, rob a store, rob a person?]
- They interact with other characters. [Either in an antagonistic, friendly or indifferently way]
- They interact with themselves. [eg, He overcame his fear of being caught by pulling off the robbery successfully]
CONFLICT
- Definition
- (opposition of persons o forces)
- It is the interaction of opposing ideas, interests, or wills, and creates the plot.
THE ROLE OF CONFLICT
- Conflict is the central feature of the screenplay
-man against man
-man against environment
-man against self
- It’s variations of sex, age, religion and culture which provide variety to the conflict.
CONFLICT = CHANGE
- As universal as change may be, people ften resist it for fear of the unknown.
- Poeple must learn to cope with change if they want to survive
- The action drama depends on conflict.
CONFLICT
- Plot cannot be constructed withot conflict.
- As your characters attempt to reach their goal, they come into conflict with each other.
- The end of the story nears when the protagonist and antagonist approach their goals and the conflict rises to generate maximun suspense and excitement.
CREATING CONFLICT
- The protagonist and antagonist must be locked together with no possible compromise between them.
- This is done by having characters of strong conviction and purpose who will fight for what they want.
- The more evenly matched they are, the stronger the battle will be and the more suspense will aroused.
Exercise: 50 word stories
- Write an essay of exactly 50 words
- Post 5 stories each on a “50 word stories” page on blog.
Purpose of exercise
- Break down the myth of hadling only 1 idea at a time.
-Encourage precise and concise writing
-Teaches basic script editing skills, to focus and reveal the essential elements.
Dynamic Action
<<Story is action>>
- action encompasses any kind of movement, activity and interaction between the characters and also between the characters and their surroundings.
- Talking about how one feels in not as powerful as illustrating why one feels the way they go through action.
<<Film behaviour>>
- Action is the manifestation of behaviour.
- The complexity of human psyche and interaction is better understood when it is possible to watch the actions, nuances and reactions of the characters.
<<Dynamic Action>>
- Has the potential to enrich the experience of audience by heightening the stakes and increasing the tension.
MOVING PICTURES
The power of the any story lies in the narrator’s ability to project a mental picture for the audience
>>Purpose of the exercise
- Addresses the problem many newbies have to screenwriting:
How to convey visually any sense of inner conflict of emotion.
INTERACTIVE LOCATION
- Location is:
-A physical location
-A place in which events occur and characters interact
- Interactive Location is:
-A phyical setting and surrounding that INTERACTS with the characters of the film by postively heightening their action.
- It can enhance the impact of the action and heighten stakes.
- eg, a high rise building invokes more suspense than a low rise building if a character is afraid of heights and has to leap between two buildings.
STORYTELLING TOOL 2: Memory
- Your memory is a wonderful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told.
- There memories are points of reference to your own past existence.
TIP:
- Write what you do not know because you will find some part of you that does know.
- There is always room for personal discovery!
EXERCISE: LETTER TO SOMEONE FROM THE PAST
- This might be a person to whom you can no longer speak to
- Could be someone you completely lost touch with
- Even someone who is dead
You should describe yourself exactly as you are in present time and then try and contrast that image with how you were earlier, when you and the recipient were together.
- Entries to be posted on your blogs under the page “Letter To The Past”.
- You can password-protect your page – `
REVIEW EXERCISE 4: LETTER TO THE PAST
>> PURPOSE OF THE EXERCISE
- The letter is a practical, personal example of how a character – YOU – undergo
- In dramatic writing, the very essence is character change.
STORYTELLING TOOL 3: EXPERIENCE
- A storyteller should be concerned with the potential of every experience.
- Everything about you – where you were born, what food you eat, the bump on your forehead – your experiences are unique and irreplaceable.
- Many of your experiences are universal and translatable and can be used in any location.
TIP:
- If you don’t know what to do with a character, make him yourself for a while.
- See how he relates to the world he has been thrown into.
>>> PLUNDER YOUR OWN PERSONAL BACKGROUND!
The things that happen to you as you grow up and the things that are currently happening to you make terrific story sources.
EXERCISE 5: TRES AND FALSE STORIES
- Write 2 short stories
-One is completely true
One is completely False
>> Purpose of the exercise
- A true story is not necessarily a good story.
GOOD STORIES HAVE TO BE WORKED AND RE-WORKED.
- True life stories do not offer neat and relevant endings.
- Life is unpredictable
- In a story, we can and must control the events and sequences so that it gives the appearance of being like life.
STORYTELLING TOOLS
- Observation
- Memory
- Experience
REVIEW
- Week 1
-Write in third person
-Writing in persent tense
-Writing in the visual voice
- Week 2
- The role of conflict/ creating conflict
-Element of dialogue
-Storytelling tool 1: Observation
- Week 3
-Chracterization: defining the character – psychological, sociological and physical
-Developing character.
- Week 4
-Dynamic action
-Story is action – film is behaviour
-Interactive location
-Storytelling schematized
-Storytelling tool 2: Memory
- Week 5
-Storytelling Tool 3: Experience
-Summary of 3 storytelling
