Screen Writing Lecture 5

Screenwriting Lecture 5

Exposition and dialogue: Information in a story is not important compared to dramatics. When considering information, remember that less is more. It’s the story that is far more important. Think about how the information is held, like in Shaun of the Dead where it isn’t clear why David hates Shaun until it is revealed at the most dramatic moment possible. The information is not the interesting part it is the drama. Audiences like to get engrossed in the film because of the emotions. Think about how you can entrap their curiosity and how this engages them in the film psychologically. They follow the characters through their troubles, not thinking and keeping facts all of the time. Make sure that when information is released it is done with impotence and momentum. The information isn’t totally useless though, it is important to the characters. The information, whatever it is, has to be relevant. It is also recommended that it is used a source of conflict.

Dialogue: Why do characters talk in films anyway? It makes it more natural for one thing as people talk in real life all of the time don’t they? This makes it more plausible. But let’s remember that actions do speak louder than words, the joker from The Dark Knight. What does he do when we first see him? He makes a pencil disappear into a man’s face. Does that leave a mark on you or what? Dialogue is still action though as it is a way of a character to get what they want. For playwrights, every line has an action attached with sub text stating what the intension is. This is because there is far more dialogue in a play than in a film and it is more important. These reveal the character beneath the façade because what do people do a lot of? Lie. You should therefore think about each line and its meanings. If the lines don’t meet up in their glorious pattern of dramatising information and the like just get rid of it.

Dialogue and clarity of character: So not all characters sound the same on screen or on paper. They have different slang, speed of speaking, language, etc. So when you’re the one writing a play or a script, think of people or characters you already know and let them come out in the characters within the paper. You could use a tape recorder to record some of you friends, or even better would be to get some actor friends of yours, let them improvise around different stereotypes of characters and then use them as research. Read your text out loud to yourself as well, and to your friends to see if the dialogue flows properly.
Erin Brochovich: So she’s a single mum lawyer by the end who works with a maverick lawyer played by Albert Finny. Se takes on a huge case and wins without any training. In real life, this actually happened. So how does this story begin? With “based on a true story”.

Your 1000 word essay: 1000 words are not very much to write about a whole film with. Briefly outline the scope of your thesis to begin with 100 words. Conclude it another 100 words.
• The subheadings:
o Intro: 100 words
o Narrative: 300 words
o Character: 300 words
o Theme: 100 words
o Outro: 100 words.
Narrative: We don’t need to know the storyline, it’s actually just a waste of words. But does the narrative have sub plots, rising action, climax?
Character: Concious desires, unconscious needs, objectives, fears, risks, conflicts, jepedy, point of view, plot, protagonist, secondary characters, decisions, actions, changes, etc. Try and write one sentence on each of those things.

THE END