Another Dialogue Question

blackbird · Nov 27, 2006

As a novelist, I've been very much steeped in the idea that dialogue-even when it is intended to convey regionality or other idiosyncracies-should nevertheless be as standard as possible on the page. In other words, it's okay to use the occasional odd phrasing to give a flavor of the dialect, but that one shouldn't resort to funny spellings (such as dropping g's) or weird contractions (s'me) or obscure idioms to get the speaker's inflections across.

This advice makes sense in novels and short stories because too much inflection can confuse readers, or at the very least, severely try their patience. (In fact, there is an excellent thread on this very topic currently in AW's Writer Roundtable forum).

However, I have noticed that in many of the produced screenplays I've read (and I've read many!) that the rules regarding dialect seem much more liberal and relaxed. I have come across dozens of screenplays in which the writer liberally sprinkles the dialogue with dropped g endings, regional contractions, and so forth. (Okay, granted, most of these have NOT been spec scripts, but adaptations or scripts written by well-known writers, but still...) it begs the question-is there indeed a different set of standards for regional dialect in screenplays, and if so, why? I suspect if this is so, it may be because screenplays-unlike novels and short stories-are not intended to be read by the general public, but by producers, directors and actors who would need to know exactly how these characters talk, without having to second-guess. Am I correct in thinking or assuming this? Just curious.

RainbowDragon · Nov 27, 2006

Ya, 's OK in screenwriting - you wanna write it 'xactly as they'll be sayin' it.

Goodwriterguy · Nov 27, 2006

blackbird said:
As a novelist, I've been very much steeped in the idea that dialogue-even when it is intended to convey regionality or other idiosyncracies-should nevertheless be as standard as possible on the page. In other words, it's okay to use the occasional odd phrasing to give a flavor of the dialect, but that one shouldn't resort to funny spellings (such as dropping g's) or weird contractions (s'me) or obscure idioms to get the speaker's inflections across.

This advice makes sense in novels and short stories because too much inflection can confuse readers, or at the very least, severely try their patience. (In fact, there is an excellent thread on this very topic currently in AW's Writer Roundtable forum).

However, I have noticed that in many of the produced screenplays I've read (and I've read many!) that the rules regarding dialect seem much more liberal and relaxed. I have come across dozens of screenplays in which the writer liberally sprinkles the dialogue with dropped g endings, regional contractions, and so forth. (Okay, granted, most of these have NOT been spec scripts, but adaptations or scripts written by well-known writers, but still...) it begs the question-is there indeed a different set of standards for regional dialect in screenplays, and if so, why? I suspect if this is so, it may be because screenplays-unlike novels and short stories-are not intended to be read by the general public, but by producers, directors and actors who would need to know exactly how these characters talk, without having to second-guess. Am I correct in thinking or assuming this? Just curious.

One of Hollywood's enduring myths is that John Wayne would not read a script in which the dialogue wasn't written in the King's English, except in this case it isn't a myth, it's true, he wouldn't.

You are correct in that a screenwriter wants to impart the flavor, as opposed to writing the dialogue out exactly as it would be delivered by an actor. Let the actor do that, that's what they get paid to do. You convey the point the character is making is good readable speech, with the odd idiomatic element or flavor-adding word thrown in, "Ya'll come!"

You can also aid this to one extent or another when you introduce the character,

"This is JOHNNIE ROTTEN, a redneck by birth and by speech. His Arkansan drawl is so thick we have trouble understanding him at times."

Then write Johnnie's dialogue in plain English, with flavor-adding words sprinkled in.

Or, more simply,

"Travis is from Lubbock, Texas, and when he speaks, we know it."

Everything a screenwriter does to "define" a character, speech patterns and habits, behavior, conduct, modus operandi, motivation, personality, attitude, is all grist for the actor's mill, for it is they who ultimately create the character. I think what they want from us is the gist of who a character is and if we give them that they'll take it from there. The last thing an actor wants to see is a character who is defined/described down to his or her underwear, leaving the actor little room in which to be creative.

They have a job to do and we should leave them room in which to do it.

Cheers!

whistlelock · Nov 27, 2006

Do what you gotta do to bring out the flavor of a character. If that means dropping the G's, then do it.

But don't over do it.

Celia Cyanide · Nov 27, 2006

As an actor, I find dialog that is written phonetically to be distracting, and not at all helpful. I would rather just have them explain what accent they want. Just my two cents.

Lindo · Dec 8, 2006

But you can't really just "explain" an accent. Southern speech or ghetto speech is just plain different way of talking.
I just had a reader tell me that there was too much "dialect" in a musical about some pretty countrified southern grits (he also thought it was bad to have songs in the musical, but that's a whole nother story).
So there is apparently some reaction against odd spellings. I would drop the G's. I'd sure as hell say ya'll. I wouldn't go completely Uncle Remus on their ass.

But thing is, what the next guy might like, the guy after him might hate.

tourdeforce · Dec 8, 2006

As whistlelock stated, you do what you have to do to make it work.

Write it lock you hear it but no so oddly that it will be a distraction to the reader.

Finding that balance of what works best is the art of writing.

Bmwhtly · Dec 8, 2006

I find dialogue (or any text for that matter) written to portray the accent distracting.

I would state what the accent is.

Jock McSock
(In a broad Glasgow Accent)

But, don't force it into the Queens English. If they say y'all, put y'all. but, personally, I wouldn't feel the need to put in all the dropped g's and things that are pronunciation rather than language.
But that may just be me.

odocoileus · Dec 8, 2006

My approach: a touch here and there to give the flavor, but otherwise, standard broadcast American.

You can't tell who will ultimately be cast for the role. No guarantee that they will be able to do that particular accent, or that the director will want that particular accent.

Accents are always a touchy issue, as you pointed out in the OP. In both theatre and media, it's tough to get regional accents right. Non Southerners, for example, think there is one Southern accent, when in fact there are several, with lowland and highland variations, as well as clear class distinctions.

blackbird · Dec 8, 2006

I appreciate all the advice. I was worrying that I may have been overdoing it, particularly with one character in my script. Out of curiosity, I looked up the Cold Mountain screenplay to see how the dialogue was written for Renee Zellewegger's character Ruby (who, as we all know, is probably one of the more well-known sem-literate speaking characters in recent memory). Her dialogue is written in fairly standard English, with only the occasional word choice or syntax arrangement to give an idea of her speech. (Example: Am I hard to hear? Cause you keep repeating everything). But all of the little idiosyncracies that Renee Zellewegger added to her dialect are noticeably absent. I think Minghella was assuming that some things would just be understood: We know that Ruby is a backwoods, semi-literate Appalachain mountain girl, and we all have a pretty good idea of how such a character would talk. No need to hammer home the obvious.

My character isn't exactly a bumpkin, but he's a young half-Indian boy who's been raised by his white redneck mechanic father in southern Tennessee. Like most teenagers in my neck of the woods, he tends to truncate his speech ("I don't know" always sounds like "I dunno") and because he's also mentally ill and much of his emotions flatlined, his speech is usually delivered in a very flat kind of monotone. What I want, of course, is to be able to get this across in the script without sounding like I'm trying to direct the film, but it's hard sometimes because when you can hear a character's voice so clearly in your own head, it's human nature to want to make sure everyone else hears it that way, too. I figure, based on published screenplays I've read, I can probably get away with a few "I dunno"'s and other small things, but I'm going to clean up some of the longer passages where I've got too many dropped g's and that kind of thing. I think I can safely use the Ruby dialogue as a model, which means that for my character, I can get his voice across with his word choices and how he uses language, rather than simply emulating the language itself.

Goodwriterguy · Dec 8, 2006

blackbird said:
I appreciate all the advice. I was worrying that I may have been overdoing it, particularly with one character in my script. Out of curiosity, I looked up the Cold Mountain screenplay to see how the dialogue was written for Renee Zellewegger's character Ruby (who, as we all know, is probably one of the more well-known sem-literate speaking characters in recent memory). Her dialogue is written in fairly standard English, with only the occasional word choice or syntax arrangement to give an idea of her speech. (Example: Am I hard to hear? Cause you keep repeating everything). But all of the little idiosyncracies that Renee Zellewegger added to her dialect are noticeably absent. I think Minghella was assuming that some things would just be understood: We know that Ruby is a backwoods, semi-literate Appalachain mountain girl, and we all have a pretty good idea of how such a character would talk. No need to hammer home the obvious.

My character isn't exactly a bumpkin, but he's a young half-Indian boy who's been raised by his white redneck mechanic father in southern Tennessee. Like most teenagers in my neck of the woods, he tends to truncate his speech ("I don't know" always sounds like "I dunno") and because he's also mentally ill and much of his emotions flatlined, his speech is usually delivered in a very flat kind of monotone. What I want, of course, is to be able to get this across in the script without sounding like I'm trying to direct the film, but it's hard sometimes because when you can hear a character's voice so clearly in your own head, it's human nature to want to make sure everyone else hears it that way, too. I figure, based on published screenplays I've read, I can probably get away with a few "I dunno"'s and other small things, but I'm going to clean up some of the longer passages where I've got too many dropped g's and that kind of thing. I think I can safely use the Ruby dialogue as a model, which means that for my character, I can get his voice across with his word choices and how he uses language, rather than simply emulating the language itself.

You may have taken the long way round but you have arrived at the right place with this and, having thoroughly explored the deal, you can now proceed with confidence.

Don't forget too that you have some opportunity to describe this character in their introduction, including perhaps some information about their manner of speaking.

Keep writing!

fedorable1 · Dec 8, 2006

Something I prefer to do is cater the grammer to the accent, but keep the words ledgible. For example, say you have a character who says:

"I don't like this. Perhaps you and your friends should leave this place."

Now, if he were Russian, you could simply write it:

"I am not liking this. Perhaps you and your comrades should be leaving this place."

What you should NOT do is drown the dialogue with heavy phonetics:

"I am note liking dis. Pare-haps you 'n your coem-rads should be leaving dis place."

That slows down the reader's eyes, draws needless attention to the text, and looks very amateurish.

maestrowork · Dec 8, 2006

As an actor, I hate when they do that. "How ya doin'..." It's very distracting and also hard to read. Let the actor do his thing. If you have an Irish character and he has an accent or he speaks a dialect, let him do it. The dialogue can clue him in with the exact words he should be saying, the tone of voice, the speech pattern, etc. but don't tell the actor how to pronounce "How are you doing." All you have to type is:

CHEKOV
(strong Russian accent)
I am not liking this.
Perhaps you and your
comrades should be leaving
this place.

Trust the actor to do their job.

scripter1 · Dec 8, 2006

Yep,

leave most of it up to the actor.

Drop some hints, simple explantations about voice or speech and then throw in a few characteristic words and then.....don't worry about it.

I'd like to take this a slightly different direction though.
When we speak we do more then show our Nationality and region.
We reveal our character, our beliefs, our inteligence, our values, and our feelings about others.

SO, dialog needs to contain elements of those as well, relevant to the script of course.

There is HOW it is said, and then there is WHAT is said.

Goodwriterguy · Dec 8, 2006

scripter1 said:
leave most of it up to the actor.

Drop some hints, simple explantations about voice or speech and then throw in a few characteristic words and then.....don't worry about it.

I'd like to take this a slightly different direction though.
When we speak we do more then show our Nationality and region.
We reveal our character, our beliefs, our inteligence, our values, and our feelings about others.

SO, dialog needs to contain elements of those as well, relevant to the script of course.

There is HOW it is said, and then there is WHAT is said.

Indeed. The old "form" and "content" equation.

Now, I'm currently writing a Western, which is a period piece set in the Indian Territories of what would become, in 1907, the State of Oklahoma, between 1875 and 1900, a true story actually. But talk about speech! Whoa!

maestrowork · Dec 8, 2006

Watch Deadwood. Wonderful dialogue.

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