Categories
Screenwriting

Action Through Dialogue

Earlier this year I decided to do another rewrite of a screenplay I had written years ago, but in order to do that, I had to learn more about the craft. And that has been the focus of my writing most of this year.

Hence the reason my posts have focused on different film genres, instead of aspects of screenwriting. I am grateful for the managing editors of AlmostAnAuthor.com allowing me the freedom to share less in-depth content while I focused on strengthening my weakest area in screenwriting.

The art of writing good dialogue for movies is a difficult aspect to learn. The saying in the screenwriting community is, “Some writers have an ear for dialogue and others don’t, and may never get it.” I’m at a point in my studies where I want to share what I’ve learned in the past six months. So for the rest of the summer, I will discuss this.

Last year I shared how the first movies had no sound and relied only on visual acting and action until “talkies,” gave film a whole new dimension in the late 1920s.                                     

With the added feature of sound to film storytellers could raise the bar for the action in their narratives, not just through musical scores and sound effects, but also through dialogue!

DIALOGUE?

I used think dialogue was simply conversations between characters in a story, but as you’ll see over the next few months, it is much more complicated. Actually, simple chitchat and casual pleasantries are frowned upon in screenplay dialogue, because it is boring. Words like: hi, bye, thank you, you’re welcome are unnecessary, they are stagnant talk while the driving force behind every story is conflict.

Robert McKee explains, “There needs to be conflict in every scene… Each exchange of dialogue creates an action/reaction that progresses the scene.”[i]

Think about a couple or siblings arguing. The exchange of words incites feelings and possibly physical actions that build the scene and hopefully the story. A screenwriter’s job is to dictate the dialogue in a way that will encourage action and/or reactions to build conflict that requires a resolution—this is our story. Dialogue runs along the three distinct levels to accomplish this:

  • Said to others.
  • Said to oneself.
  • Said to the audience.[ii]

Regardless who is being spoken to, the words either reveal OR conceal what is happening on the inside of the character. In fact, the very words they use and how they use them can shed light on the character’s personality. For example:

  1. Education level.
  2. Imagination.
  3. Genetic givens.
  4. Regional upbringing.
  5. Personal beliefs.
  6. Overall personality.

One of my favorite movies of all times is a prime example of this, the dialogue in Grease reveals so much about the era, characters and their desires.

On the flipside, what isn’t said by the main characters also reveals their desires. In the same scene, we get the impression Sandy desires love, while Danny is interested in lust. This is called subtext.

When less is said through verbal dialogue, we leave room for subtext, and subtext gives actors more room to act and reveal more inner action.

SUBTEXT?

One of the biggest no-nos in screenwriting is “on the nose” dialogue. Even I’ve had trouble with this at times. This is simply dialogue with no subtext; the characters are saying how they feel.

The problem is, as with chitchat and pleasantries, it’s boring. It leaves no room for action. Worse, it leaves no room for actors to act. They can’t become the characters our story needs, because they’re telling everything.

This is why I got excited when I saw the teaser trailer for Last Blood. John Rambo is a man of few words and is legendary for letting his actions speak for him.

Robert McKee explains, “Once the character speaks (text), readers and audiences instinctively look past the words to intuit the unsaid, to glimpse what the character actually thinks and feels (subtext) but chooses not to put into words.”[iii]

Skillful screenwriters can imply subtext in a variety of ways:

  • Counteractions.
  • Pauses.
  • Silence.

If you tap your creative instincts there are endless ways to reveal a story’s dialogue through action.


[i] McKee R. (2016).  Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen (Kindle edition) pg xvii.

                 [ii] McKee R. (2016).  Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen (Kindle edition) pg 3.

[iii] McKee R. (2016).  Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen (Kindle edition) pg 46.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
A Little Red Ink

Dialogue Tips

dialogue film crew

When you write dialogue, think like a screenwriter. Every minute of screen time, every word counts. Don’t add fluff. 

You don’t want readers to skim your conversations because nothing’s happening. If it doesn’t move the plot forward, cut it, cut it, cut it.

Here’s something else that doesn’t belong in your conversations: director commentary. 

Sure, people buy DVDs with bonus footage, but I don’t know many people who actually watch the version with the director chatting the whole time—explaining, telling what he wanted from the scene, making himself sound generally witty. (Peter Jackson doesn’t count. Of course you watch those.)

Seriously, though. Audiences want the end product. They want to be entertained. They want the scene to play out in their mind. And they don’t want to think for one second about the writer behind the scenes—at least the first time.

Here are a few dialogue tips to help you accomplish that.

1. Use the word “said.” Avoid sounding like a thesaurus with your dialogue tags.  No one wants to be wowed with your synonym skills. Statistics show that readers actually skip over the word “said” in their reading. It doesn’t even register. All they see is dialogue (which is what you want). 

If your characters are replying, interrupting, cajoling, remarking, and muttering? There’s no way people can miss that. 

     “Are you kidding me?” Jen queried. “Just tell me we can undo it,” she complained. “What will it take?” 

     “We’ll do what we have to do,” Will countered.

     “We better,” she sniped. “If we lose this account because you dropped the ball—”

     “Relax,” he challenged. “Your attitude isn’t going to help us win them over.”

It can get annoying after a while, right? 

vancouver
2. Use action beats about 50% of the time. An action beat is exactly that—a moment filled by the character’s action. When it’s right next to the dialogue, it’s clear who’s just spoken. Often, an action beat can do more to convey the emotion than an explanation, with no “said” involved. Isn’t that same excerpt better like this?
“Are you kidding me?” Jen snapped her head to the side. She swallowed, then turned back and locked gazes with Will. “Just tell me we can undo it. What will it take?”

 3. If the characters are taking turns nicely, don’t tag every give and take. Sometimes, it’s obvious. 

     Will stood a little taller. “We’ll do what we have to do.”

     “We better. If we lose this account because you dropped the ball—”

     “Relax. Your attitude isn’t going to help us win them over.”

     Jen rolled her neck and closed her eyes. After a few deep breaths, her shoulders relaxed an inch. She met his gaze once more. “I’ll smile, and you dig us out of this hole you got us in.”

Make sense? A little goes a long way.
Thanks to McBeth and Vancouver Film School for the images.