КОМЕНТАРІ •

  • @AlbertoLagunasP
    @AlbertoLagunasP 4 роки тому +120

    "Why is that character saying this?"
    "Every line of dialogue is a strategy for that character to get what they want."
    "Nobody says anything unless they want something."

    • @decap6000
      @decap6000 4 роки тому +3

      Alberto Lagunas Pérez true in life too

    • @BasicShapes
      @BasicShapes 3 роки тому +1

      Love it.

  • @andraeelite4638
    @andraeelite4638 4 роки тому +57

    In a first draft, I typically write a scene with boring dialogue and all and continue writing until i figure out the "theme of the scene" and motivation for each character. I enjoy starting a scene not knowing what my characters are going to say or "really" want until its done. Once I achieve this I continue on knowing i will clean it up later in revision.

    • @KaneGruber
      @KaneGruber 3 роки тому +2

      That’s a damn good idea.

    • @thuglifebear5256
      @thuglifebear5256 3 роки тому +2

      I feel like this is the perfect way to make sure there aren't any obvious plot holes or character inconsistencies. (Especially in screenwriting)
      "Oh, this car chase feels like all those GTA games I've secretly been playing my whole life."
      Once the beats are down and the throwaway patch-up lines are in there, _then_ you can go in and replace obvious lines with actions and subtleties.

  • @student702
    @student702 6 років тому +137

    "Have the characters say what THEY would say, not what YOU would say. Nobody speaks unless they want something."

    • @markothwriter
      @markothwriter 5 років тому +4

      How much have you been around women? Women talk constantly -- not always about something they want. They just blurt out their thoughts. Some low-testosterone men are the same. Not every person is a man of few words who choses their words carefully.

    • @Lily-has-wings
      @Lily-has-wings 4 роки тому +6

      @@markothwriter I am a woman and I do not talk constantly. I am rather quiet. Maybe it was the way I was brought up; to sit there and look pretty. To be seen and not heard. In your view....I guess I'm a rare bird.

    • @lonestarr1490
      @lonestarr1490 4 роки тому +3

      @@Lily-has-wings I think we're free to not care about his view.

    • @Lily-has-wings
      @Lily-has-wings 4 роки тому +1

      @@lonestarr1490 Agreed. .👍

    • @docsavage8640
      @docsavage8640 4 роки тому

      @@markothwriter and it's because they want something

  • @pjirasek83
    @pjirasek83 6 років тому +85

    I generally have a 3 sentence rule with dialogue. There are exceptions but they're used rarely. Typically no one ever speaks for more than three sentences in real conversation without being interrupted in some way. You go past that and it starts to become a speech instead of a dialogue.

    • @wolfgangbuck841
      @wolfgangbuck841 5 років тому +3

      Paul Jirasek
      Thank You! Super point that is so true!👍👍

    • @Leon-zu1wp
      @Leon-zu1wp 5 років тому +14

      I disagree. Dialogue isn't supposed to be realistic, it's supposed to be in the story. It's the same with monologue. Just like singing in a musical the character must sing because dialogue can't get their message across anymore. Exactly like when a character monologues they do it because dialogue can't get their message across anymore.

    • @wolfgangbuck841
      @wolfgangbuck841 5 років тому +2

      Person
      What? There is realistic dialogue.
      It is called for in "Realistic" stories.

    • @wolfgangbuck841
      @wolfgangbuck841 5 років тому +6

      Person
      It all depends on what the writer is going for.

    • @Leon-zu1wp
      @Leon-zu1wp 5 років тому +1

      @@wolfgangbuck841 She/He is saying people rarely monologue. Monologue is an aspect of the story just the same as dialogue is.

  • @futurestoryteller
    @futurestoryteller 5 років тому +9

    I don't have problems writing dialogue. Most of the time my greatest inspiration for writing is hearing two characters talking in my head. It does help me to remember the points he makes in this video though, for instances where exposition is necessary. I can't not cringe when someone says "big brother" or "little sister" just to convey that biological connection to the audience, but as a writer, when forced to establish your world you're worried about saving time and you lean in to these crutches, and forget that if you were watching you'd roll your eyes. And that's a very simple thing.
    I think I'm going to put to death the idea of exposition except in scenes where it logically follows. Nobody "needs" to hear that two characters are siblings unless the plot demands it, in that case it's likely to be said anyway. It's like how novel writers won't usually describe a character all at once, you get pieces over time. You can do that with "exposition."

  • @CallMeChato
    @CallMeChato 5 років тому +40

    Dialogue has to advance character or the plot, preferably both.

  • @producerbeatabuza
    @producerbeatabuza 7 років тому +43

    This was very helpful. Feels like I won't have too many problems working on my next script.

  • @judichristopher4604
    @judichristopher4604 4 роки тому +2

    WOW... This is an excellent video!!! Fantastic.
    Thank you so much for sharing this!!!

    • @filmcourage
      @filmcourage 4 роки тому +1

      Our pleasure! Glad you found this one Judi!

  • @faibabernard
    @faibabernard 3 роки тому +1

    Dialogue is the pillar in my script!!!
    What betters my dialogue?? Understanding the goal of the scene with the story as a backdrop - then commot yourself to the artwork in spirit and let Good speak through you... Very enjoyable,
    And when afterwards reading as an audience, you May, (May) be surprised at the staunch panache your work turns out to possess

  • @Kendrone
    @Kendrone 5 років тому +6

    This would help a lot! I'm working on a script for a short film i'm doing for my film club at school. I've got until June to finish it. Wish me luck!

  • @alternativeschool7057
    @alternativeschool7057 4 роки тому +2

    There’s so much to learn from these comments!

  • @FrancisXLord
    @FrancisXLord 6 років тому +3

    So I'm sitting there pondering a scene that has become a seven minute dialogue scene packed with just about every bit of exposition the characters need for the whole film, wondering if the scene is too long, too expositionary, and how I can break the exposition up throughout the story, when I visit UA-cam and it suggests this video. Now I'm really suspicious that UA-cam is hooked into my brain and knows my thoughts at every moment. Subscribed!

    • @alonjoseph478
      @alonjoseph478 6 років тому +2

      FX Lord you know what i do sometimes... Speak it out yourself, play the scene. Youll see real fast how much can go. I think thats the difference between good scripts and scripts that pop off the page.

    • @FrancisXLord
      @FrancisXLord 6 років тому +1

      Alon Joseph The scene in question did have a lot of dialogue in it, most of it though was necessary dialogue. There was too much happening in the scene which was eventually resolved when I cut a subplot from the script that turned out to be bogging the story down and an unnecessary detour from the main throughline.
      I go one further than you, I get actors I know to read the dialogue aloud so I can hear it.

  • @alexmilan4496
    @alexmilan4496 3 роки тому +1

    what a well spoken beauty

  • @nikolay.pavlov
    @nikolay.pavlov 3 роки тому +2

    This man is really good.

  • @sherlyrizki6433
    @sherlyrizki6433 7 років тому +34

    All of my dialogues always sounds cheesy all the way when i meant to do characterisation on it. I think i need to get more reference

    • @saintmaster22
      @saintmaster22 7 років тому +24

      try reading them outloud. enacting the scene outloud helps to hear the dialogue. cause in your head it has no pauses, no real cadence. the delivery is different

    • @Nautilus1972
      @Nautilus1972 6 років тому +1

      No, it's simpler than that Sherly, You're not a writer. You're trying to be a writer.

    • @thereseember2800
      @thereseember2800 6 років тому +2

      sherly ardiansyah: Maybe write a story about cheese, so that it matches any cheesy dialogue?

    • @wolfgangbuck841
      @wolfgangbuck841 5 років тому

      Yeah, well, get that newish Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Tambor, Helena Bono Carter movie based on the real life court battle between HBCarter's character, her lawyers HS and JT's characters against some hospitals, doctor's and their lawyer's and listen to some of that BS and I think it went up for some award. Smh. It was as bad and predictable as Saved By The Bell.

    • @wolfgangbuck841
      @wolfgangbuck841 5 років тому +1

      Therese Ember
      U should write for a comedian and everybody would give him $hit so U wouldn't get hit with it. 👍👍

  • @sunlightpictures8367
    @sunlightpictures8367 2 роки тому

    Some great advice.

  • @drewdowdeyshow
    @drewdowdeyshow 4 роки тому +2

    I like his point about contrasting dialog and I’m gonna remember that but if we’re talking about a two characters from southie Boston who grew up in the same neighborhood than it would be weird if they didn’t speak the same lingo.

  • @teacherrosemarie6663
    @teacherrosemarie6663 4 роки тому

    Very informative. Thank you! ❤

  • @snuffpappy
    @snuffpappy 4 роки тому +2

    I noticed that David Mamet's dialog is very similar across his characters. HEIST for example. Everyone is very slick and sleek and stylish in how they react to and respond to each other. There's an equal measure of street smartness or sly-sophistication with all of them with playful expressions being often used. Constant verbal chess games. I find it works as it's very stylish and "filmic". It draws you in. But he's a masterful writer. I think the rest of us better stick to different character - different speaking style. :)

    • @docsavage8640
      @docsavage8640 4 роки тому

      Oftentimes it breaks a scene for me because everyone speaks the same way and it's not believable. The Spanish Prisoner was like that sometimes.

  • @florafani274
    @florafani274 2 роки тому

    Very nice!!

  • @josephvanwyk2088
    @josephvanwyk2088 5 років тому +15

    2 ways of dialogue:
    SPEAKING INFORMATION vs SPEAKING RESULT. When you speak result, you install subtext without effort
    Sloppy dialogue = is when your character says information. "Are you really this unfit?" (we can see the character is fat or sweating).... vs dialogue that prompts results, we do this naturally day to day, we speak expecting results. Instead let the character say "Should I run slower?" or "Those pancakes are never a good idea" and, even better, rather have the character stare at the other's fat tummy. The second line prompts a result reaction as oppose to the 1st one's information.

  • @LeafarMind
    @LeafarMind 6 років тому

    Excellent!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the content.

  • @viralbuthow000
    @viralbuthow000 Рік тому

    excellent

  • @jacobwood76
    @jacobwood76 6 років тому +2

    Incredibly helpful :)

  • @pb4595
    @pb4595 3 роки тому +2

    (orange is the opposite of blue, not yellow)

  • @docsavage8640
    @docsavage8640 4 роки тому

    Great video.

  • @gemmini8389
    @gemmini8389 Рік тому +1

    I talk to myself a lot and imagine an entirely different character talking back at me. A male or female or beast figure or friend someone I know.
    Dialogue and imagination for me work together. I can imagine how you’d react if I slapped you in the face and what you’d say depending on what kind of person you are and what you internalize. If you’ve been feeling like a push over lately, you might retaliate. If you’ve had it up to here you might hit me back. Some forms of depressive trauma might make you retreat or flee. What you’d say to me I can only imagine

  • @whitzala
    @whitzala 3 роки тому +1

    This!

  • @RossenBial
    @RossenBial 4 роки тому

    Really nice ☝🏼👍🏻🎸

  • @fernandorosales599
    @fernandorosales599 7 років тому

    This is helpful since I knoe what I can do to my script

    • @seanramsdell4172
      @seanramsdell4172 7 років тому +1

      Know

    • @fernandorosales599
      @fernandorosales599 7 років тому

      Sean Ramsdell Thanks. My phone giving me weird auto word options when I wanted to say "know"

  • @sudhaunshusp
    @sudhaunshusp 3 роки тому +2

    Hi, I am writing screen plays on 3 different genres. I am extremely poor in writing dialogues. I can not write a dialogue beyond a minimum conversation of what is necessary in that scenario. My entire focus is on the story and the camera movement which I visualise while writing the screenplay.
    Please let me know if my lack of ability to write impressive dialogues would be a problem in eventually determining the quality of my screenplay ?
    Will my screen play be rejected because of that ?

    • @sudhaunshusp
      @sudhaunshusp 3 роки тому

      @@BigDaddyJinx thanks a lot for your valuable guidance and time. You have explained in detail on my question. I will work on your suggestion. 👍

  • @VideoMenu
    @VideoMenu 7 років тому +1

    Writers most prone to abusing exposition (out of time necessity) are soap writers. From mid 2004 to late 2005 I watched Days of Our Lives and Passions. Passions was the WORST. Characters would leave a room and stand in hallway by themselves and talk out their thoughts and lay out their plans and introduce questions. But in my experience all soaps have their characters interact with each other and expose the story through dialog.
    ps. I watch British soaps Coronation Street and Eastenders (though I'm far behind in EE). They do about 5 half-hour episodes every week and the better writing because of time is stark. They also don't spin their wheels with multi-episode same conversations & same scenarios. Once on Passions, they were in the same Thanksgiving party for weeks and then suddenly it was Christmas. ... Don't ask why I watched that. It was a dark time. ;P

    • @blacktee31
      @blacktee31 6 років тому +1

      Really? I watched AMC and now currently my mother is only into General Hospital, I think those stories are actually interesting but I dont pay close enough attention to spot things like that. Do you watch soaps to step outside your element and improve your writing ability or is Soap Operas simply something you write the most? Like its your field?

  • @hello2jello4mellow34
    @hello2jello4mellow34 7 років тому

    Perfecto!

  • @IndieFilms4U
    @IndieFilms4U 3 роки тому

    There is emotional attachment to dialogue. If you can not attach the two, then your dialogue will not create an emotional response. Think of a painting. When you view a painting from a great artist, you see both the emotion and language of what the artist want you to experience. In other words the painter want to create an emotional response from the viewer. This is also true with writing dialogue, go for the emotional attachment of the characters to the story.

  • @nickegofficial
    @nickegofficial 6 років тому +8

    He uses his hands quite a bit when he speaks haha.

  • @georgeg6036
    @georgeg6036 5 років тому

    Karl teaches a great class on Writers Store and his book (link provided above) are amazing.

  • @WhitbyStuff
    @WhitbyStuff 6 років тому +11

    Which screenplays has Karl written? I can't seem to find any.

    • @matthewpettipas8233
      @matthewpettipas8233 5 років тому +1

      He's a script doctor and consultant I believe, don't know if he is also a writer.

    • @TooleyPeter
      @TooleyPeter 5 років тому +11

      Matt Whitby - People who can't do it become teachers.

    • @JosephSchneider26
      @JosephSchneider26 5 років тому +1

      @@TooleyPeter Except he's right...

    • @TooleyPeter
      @TooleyPeter 5 років тому +4

      @@JosephSchneider26 It's also right that there are a lot of screenwriting 'experts' on UA-cam with no produced credits. Seems reasonable that before giving how-to advice someone should have at least completed a screenplay people actually wanted to make.

    • @mikeyounis80
      @mikeyounis80 4 роки тому +5

      @@TooleyPeter I'm not sure if that's necessarily true. Does someone have to have played professional football in order to become a good coach for a professional football team? Sometimes people just make good teachers and coaches.

  • @cjpreach
    @cjpreach 5 років тому +4

    What do I do to write dialogue? I picture a real person in my mind who would speak the way my character speaks. Essentially, I use a real person as a model for my character's speech patterns, accent, tone, etc.

  • @JerdGuillaumeSam
    @JerdGuillaumeSam 7 років тому +4

    Did anybody here observe the dialogue in "The Counselor"? I thought that film was excellent.

    • @Nautilus1972
      @Nautilus1972 6 років тому

      Reuben Blades' scene about the crossroads, and decisions being already made ... amazing.

    • @shill1444
      @shill1444 6 років тому

      Jerd Guillaume-Sam - you wanna see and hear good dialogue? Watch The Newsroom. Shit had me on the edge of my seat every episode.

  • @ArabKatib
    @ArabKatib 7 років тому +1

    Excellent! :^)
    Thank you! :o)

  • @Theraiman616
    @Theraiman616 7 років тому

    thanks

  • @thereseember2800
    @thereseember2800 6 років тому +1

    If you write dialog between two doctors, you can add in the scene a patient overhearing them who then asks a nurse to please translate what the doctors meant. Stay true to how doctors speak in real life. Don’t dumb it down. Using this technique is what happens in real life and also won’t be offending an audience who shares that level of scholarly education.

  • @KingStar-lu9oi
    @KingStar-lu9oi 3 роки тому

    Does anyone know of any free screenwriting classes that teaches on formatting for free? And any and every good suggestion is greatly appreciated. Anything that'll help me become a serious writer. Please and thank you!

  • @Jacob-ir6zi
    @Jacob-ir6zi 4 роки тому

    I've looked this guy up but I haven't found any screenplays by him or at least any that have been turned into a completed film

    • @kasane1337
      @kasane1337 4 роки тому +1

      Well, he *did* try to convince the interviewer that he was *not* a killer...

    • @kasane1337
      @kasane1337 4 роки тому +1

      @@Jacob-ir6zi I get that, I was just attempting to make a joke.

  • @roger8654
    @roger8654 7 років тому +13

    Nolan is guilty of being objective with his exposition.

    • @viviano07-j9o
      @viviano07-j9o 5 років тому +7

      The first thing I thought of was Nolan lol. In Inception, he'd repeatedly use Tom Hardy and Hewitt as his 'exposition dialogue dump'.

    • @superkamipopo9828
      @superkamipopo9828 3 роки тому +1

      His defense for this was his "high concept" writing demanded it.

  • @blacktee31
    @blacktee31 6 років тому +1

    So how do you solve that problem? If the character is saying something because you want that to be said and not because the situation or conversation calls for it to be said? That is to say I don't know how to replace the sloppy dialogue with something that makes more sense.

    • @cineturon
      @cineturon 6 років тому

      Exposition through non-dialogue element?

    • @MiguelCruz-oz7km
      @MiguelCruz-oz7km 6 років тому +3

      Here's how you solve the problem. First, if you're not doing it, you need to think about your story big picture/bird's eye view from beginning to end before you start getting into the dialogue. Here's why this is a requirement: Each and every scene in your story should either
      1. Be about your character trying to solve a problem for which there is a penalty for failure or
      2. Get an answer to a question that neither s/he nor the audience already knows the answer to in order to
      3. See #1.
      Your script at all times needs to be engaging our sense of concern for another human being or arousing our curiosity. Therefore any information we the audience needs to know needs to be discovered through one of these two modes. You need to structure your scenes so that the audience invests in an outcome at every point.
      The basic rule for how your scenes should connect to one another is that if the words "and then" go between them, you've got a problem. Your scenes should be connected with either "therefore" or "but".Example:
      1. Hero is late for work, but he has a flat tire
      THEREFORE
      2. He tries to put on the spare
      BUT
      It's been stolen
      THEREFORE
      He goes to the next door neighbor for help
      BUT
      The neighbor refuses to help
      THEREFORE
      and so on.
      Remember in school when you had to identify the three sentence types: imperative, interrogatory, and declarative? You probably should only have a declarative sentence preceded by an imperative or interrogatory sentence. No character should be giving up information unless they are asked or commanded to give it. And when they do they should state the answers simply and to the point without a lot of excessive verbiage or detour. And even then they should be putting up some amount of resistance to giving up the information.

    • @hankhippopopalous5826
      @hankhippopopalous5826 2 роки тому

      Show us what you want us to know,don't tell us.

    • @blacktee31
      @blacktee31 2 роки тому

      @@hankhippopopalous5826 Yes but for me the question is how do u "show" because at the end of the day I still have to find words to describe the situation in a way that feels natural with words. Sometimes that is a bit of a daunting challenge because the instinct is to "tell"

    • @blacktee31
      @blacktee31 2 роки тому

      @@MiguelCruz-oz7km Idk how I didn't come across with this response before but this definitely makes sense of it. Maybe using this "therefore" and "but" as an exercise will improve how I approach each scene. Thank u very much that was very helpful.

  • @Teerapatkongrat
    @Teerapatkongrat Рік тому

    My tip is sometime the characters just don't want to say a word.

  • @mavicmaestroproductionsdro9520

    What does the character want and why does he say it

  • @Stritex1
    @Stritex1 4 роки тому +1

    You need a connection with each character so they will sound different

    • @slopcrusher3482
      @slopcrusher3482 3 роки тому +2

      This is why world building is so important. You should know your character’s story up to the beginning of the screenplay, otherwise you won’t have a connection, all your characters will be the same, and your dialogue will be bland

  • @milestrombley1466
    @milestrombley1466 7 років тому +17

    If it is unnecessary, cut it out.

    • @owenlewis7928
      @owenlewis7928 5 років тому +5

      Thats a bit extreme

    • @wolfgangbuck841
      @wolfgangbuck841 5 років тому

      Totally agree! Everything you write for the character has consequences. So in cutting down to the basic points get across, leave all the other stuff(which is prolly $hit anyways) out. Work smart, Not hard. I like it bro!
      👍👍

    • @futurestoryteller
      @futurestoryteller 5 років тому +3

      This is a popular claim across the board. If you cut out everything but what was necessary to tell your story most screenplays would be thirty minutes long. Or a movie could just be footage of the writer passionately reading an outline to the audience. Even songs that tell stories aren't as long as they need to be to get the point across, they're as long as they need to be to get the _tone_ across.

    • @StayFractalesque
      @StayFractalesque 3 роки тому

      but, the sound of my voice.. 😭

  • @romyperry9057
    @romyperry9057 3 роки тому

    What book is he talking about? Can someone tell me?

    • @filmcourage
      @filmcourage 3 роки тому

      We believe he is referencing his book "Writing For Emotional Impact..." link in the description.

  • @giministwin1975
    @giministwin1975 3 роки тому

    I’m struggling with physically showing who’s talking on paper.

  • @rrogers2370
    @rrogers2370 7 років тому +10

    slangy.

  • @sandrascott8649
    @sandrascott8649 6 років тому +3

    He's like me: I speak constantly with my hands. I crack my family up! When they make fun of me, I just tell them that's the creator in me. 😊

    • @CharroArgentino
      @CharroArgentino 5 років тому

      A lot of people do that, in fact most people do that when they're explaining things.

  • @mavicmaestroproductionsdro9520

    Exposition matches the character matches the objectives
    nobody says anything until you want some thing
    characters dump exposition are boring
    What does he character want why does he say it
    Sorkin dialogue always sound the same

  • @leonreaper90
    @leonreaper90 7 років тому +12

    I'm guessing when dialogue is too simplistic it becomes boring for audiences aswell correct?

    • @TheRealOtakuEdits
      @TheRealOtakuEdits 7 років тому +10

      Leon Reaper Everything depends on context I would guess.

    • @3v3ry1P1zDanc
      @3v3ry1P1zDanc 7 років тому +2

      Leon Reaper as long as there's a purpose behind it, and the audience knows it, it'll be interesting.

    • @7sN1412
      @7sN1412 7 років тому +1

      What i have gathered is that dialogue depends on : The type of the Characters - Context - Realism between the speakers

    • @nicholasntaganda3768
      @nicholasntaganda3768 7 років тому +3

      It can work if there is subtext or purpose to the dialogue or if you're writing a character that is very simplistic or uneducated

    • @afonsolucas2219
      @afonsolucas2219 7 років тому

      What if it is Tarantino dialogue?

  • @nancy4366
    @nancy4366 4 роки тому

    Why people don't hear what you want to say. > 1. You distract your learner too much with your moving hands when you talk.

  • @sheepeatinggrass
    @sheepeatinggrass 7 років тому

    Great advice.