How to Write a script - Dialogue and Structure

Dialogue 

The need to speak - contemporary screenwriters often justify dialogue as the only means of telling the story but this argument neglects the history of the moving image. The beginning of moving image was expressed through mise-en-scene ad through action. Audiences recognised and understood the actions of characters and were able to interpret the story from these. Thus becoming confident in structure, visual storytelling and characterisation. Characters did not need to be heard in order to express what they needed to express.

The dialogue has two roles in a screenplay: the character function (offering insight into characters, backgrounds, thoughts, emotions an behaviour) and the story function (offering exposition, explanation or telling of the story).

Bad writing forgoes character development in favour of excessive exposition, good writing is able to deliver both without over compromising one another too much and great writing switches between the two seamlessly and its almost impossible to identify which role is beings serviced by a particular piece of dialogue.

Every page of dialogue should present the reader with new information that moves the story forward. This could be character information or it could be story information, either way the story should not remain static. If at the end of the page of dialogue the story has not moved forward, then that page of dialogue is not functioning as it should and is not supporting the rest of the screenplay.

Conflict: is story, conflict0resolution is a motivator for moving a story forward
Subtext: dialogue presented is actually illustrative not only of the situation the characters are discussing but of situations from the backstory and also illustrative of character relationships (both past and future)
Energy: good dialogue is energised, there is a need to deliver expositional dialogue and this can deplete the energy
Realism: gives the listeners a sense of real world speech without actually including all the redundancies, stumbles and cut-offs that permeate everyday conversations. Each line designed to push the plot forward and highlight characterisation. It simultaneously reflects the dialogue heard in our everyday lives
Actions: don't tell, show! On the nose dialogue = dialogue that is obvous, dialogue that telegraphs the action.
Reflection on character: dialogue is a method of delineating character, by the way it is said and the language employed to say it

How to make dialogue work: 

1. keep it short and simple 
2. no lengthy speeches 
3. attack expositional, character or moral dialogue to action in order for it to seem less 'visible' and less obvious 
4. individualise speech (each character should have his own distinctive voice) 
5. avoid writing in colourful dialect  
6. avoid on the nose-dialogue 
7. consider the rhythm of speech - speeding up, slowing down, pausing etc. 
8. allow reaction and thinking time 
9. use reaction shots instead of dialogue - characters to nod, shocked, wet themselves in terror is preferred dialogue as a response to a situation. 

Writing the story 

Plot is the ordering or positioning of the elements (or narrative), the mixing up in order to create dramatic tension, to promote a viewpoint or to show authorial ingenuity. Plot is the way the story is told from opening to ending and through all the many choices in between. 

Complication is the placing of obstacles in the way of the protagonists goal. A character should be set in conflict with another character, with themselves or with a situation, and this conflict should be developed through a series of complications. 

Resolution recognises the need for the obstacles in the way of the protagonist to be overcome so that they can progress towards their goal. In order to satisfy audience expectation most screenwriters set out to resolve conflicts at the end of the screenplay. 

level of tension and suspense rises towards the climax and then falls off sharply as the conflict is resolved. Cathartic moment = the identification and involvement provokes emotion and release that spills over into real life, provoking a similar emotional release.

Three phrase model of plotting: 

1. Beginning/set up phase: sets the scene and gives the audience a familiarity with the characters and the situations

2. Middle/ the development phase: the protagonist and antagonist struggle as the protagonist struggle as the protagonist is faced with decisions, obstacles and self-doubt 

3. End/ Conclusion phase: where all of the plot lines are resolved and where the goal of the protagonist is achieved

Question to ask yourself: 

What is my story really about? 

What do i want to say? 

What is the story's big hook? 

What makes it cinematic (televisual)? 

Why is it way better than anything else I've seen?

Would I pay to see it? 

Character questions: 

complication 

setup 

who is my lead character? 

what do they want? 

how can i show what they want? 

What do they need to learn about the world or themselves in order to get what they want?

How can I demonstrate visually what they need? 

Conflict questions: 

who opposes them? 

how do they attack the lead character and expose their weaknesses? 

why is the lead character resistant to change, reluctant to confront their weaknesses? 

how does the level of conflict increase? 

what makes the conflict personal?

does the conflict become obsessive and force even friends to start deserting the lead character?

how is the lead character finally forced to confront their weakness and contemplate internal change?

Resolution questions: 

why does the lead character come back for one last attempt to defeat their opponent? 

do they still want what they did at the beginning, or are they beginning to understand that they will never win unless they change their goal or their attitude to life?  

what moral choices that they have to make in their final struggle will finally externalise their inner struggle between what they want and what they need? 

How does the lead character close the divide between what they want and what they need in the climax and resolution of the movie? 

For television a screenplay will be divided up into a number of acts (4-6) with each act ending in a crisis for the protagonist to overcome. 

Backstory: this sets the scene and lends reality to a diegetic world 

Inciting Incident: action, event or piece of dialogue that provokes change in the protagonists circumstances 

Plot points: turn the narrative in a different direction 

setbacks: if a characters momentum towards resolutions was straightforward, it would be a boring journey 

Actions and reactions: plot points are designed to provoke actions to address the change of direction in the narrative 

Three act Structure 

Act one: A set up and a complication 

- introduces the characters and locates them within their normal world 

- there is also an inciting incident that provokes or initiates a change in the protagonists situation 

Act two: obstacles, setbacks and a crisis

- protagonist goes on a journey with obstacles and setbacks 

- will face mid-point crisis of self-revelation where the course of action to resolve the complication and conflict becomes clear 

Act three: solution (a final confrontation and then, resolution) 

- restarts the protagonists journey to resolution 

- resolving the storylines that have been introduced earlier and producing closure 

Or 

Stage 1 - the set up 

Stage 2 - the new situation 

Stage 3 - Progress 

Stage 4 - Complications and higher stakes 

Stage 5 - the final push 

Stage 6 - the aftermath 

Step Outline 

Point of scene

Character goal 

Conflict 

Twist 

Ending 

Openings and Endings: introduce the protagonist, setting the style and pace, introduce the theme of the story, resolving external conflict and resolving internal conflict.