Fairly classic analysis; a direct statement (âMy parents are deadâ or âYou see the remnants of a dragon attackâ) isnât as useful to the story as an insinuation that lets you say multiple things (âThere was no one to watch out for me anymoreâ or âLittle fires continue to gutter and you smell burned meatâ).
I appreciate how he brushed by Interstellarâs bad dialogue, but really, an entire college course could be written about how bad the dialogue is in that movie.
Itâs sort of the verbal equivalent of âshow, donât tell.â You can âshowâ the effects of an incident without explicitly stating it even via dialogue.
I struggle to understand what people find so artful about ânaturalâ dialog. As an autistic person, I tend towards being completely explicit and crudely functional in my daily communications. Basically, I think that natural, everyday spoken communication is often lacking in clarity and precision, and my mind boggles at why people would value and seek to replicate those same qualities.
Not unlike with music, I have an aversion to songs, melodies, and predictable structures. I prefer a unique complex edifice which I would never have guessed on my own. But the same lack of familiarity and common reference points makes the same music sound distressingly non-musical to many. Imitation and shared references can be expressive, but I usually prefer something which would never have âjust happenedâ otherwise, which amounts to jarring artifice.
I see explicit communication as an unreachable ideal, not unlike freedom or safety. There is no final attaining of it, but it is always worth trying. Uncertainty is build into the universe, and our organisms. At least attempts at being specific count as an effort towards truly existing.
Because poorly written (or poorly delivered) dialogue breaks the viewerâs spell and reminds them that theyâre watching a movie. If you want explicit communication in movies, find a copy with subtitles in Lobjan.
Well, artful =! precise. If perfectly unambiguous story communication was what people wanted from movies, they could just read the script and skip all the messy acting, photography, editing and other distractions.
This is a great YouTube channel. Thanks for making me aware of its existence, @frauenfelder.
Direct and clear speech is communication but dull, not in most cases art.
If you donât have to think or process or question motives and headspace youâre just listening to VCR repair instructions or Siri telling you directions.
The âplain speechâ in good movies (outside of maybe mumblecore) is used to illustrate concepts, themes, and aspects of human interaction. It should have a purpose.
I donât know what projects youâre currently involved with, but I think that you should consider making movies. Iâd like to see the results. (Not being snarky, I really think it stands a chance of being an interesting watch.)
Wait. Never mind.
Unfortunately some executives in Hollywood that I have known boast that they only read the dialog. And some demonstrate a strong taste for on the nose dialog when they give writers notes.
As someone with an Autistic sibling, thatâs almost certainly why you struggle to understand it. The lack of clarity and precision that you perceive in ânaturalâ dialogue is the more significant and complex dimension of social interactions that is whatâs not being said, the implications and assumptions that lie behind silence or glibness, and the inability to grasp those unspoken social meanings is a direct marker of autism.
The purpose of ânaturalâ dialogue is not to be unclear or imprecise about its content - itâs to convey the character of the person speaking.
THIS!
Exactly. Communication occurs through affect, tone, references, especially in scenarios where the conversation gets about awkward subjects and the person wishes to deflect discussion.
Conflict drives many movies, and directness would cause less problems, would not project a person into absurd/fascinating situations, or would eliminate the back and forth ambiguity that causes strains of the heart.
Movies tend to enjoy being in a non-obvious spot.
I am curious about if heâs observed any enjoyable examples of dialogue from any audiobook, tv show or movie.
Thereâs not much else to read in a screenplay, is there?
Is it fair to apply this to a young audience movie like Big Hero 6? Kids kinda need heavy-handed exposition. Not that children are dumb, but anything that wasnât obvious went over my head as a kid.
Many of the great âfor kidsâ movies remain enjoyable longer precisely because theyâre already fun at an age when you donât âgetâ every single reference but have extra layers of meaning when you watch again years later.
I think youâre confusing entertainment and art. Many things are entertaining, very few are art. Film is a difficult medium.
you might well cringe at the source, but I was just reading an article on this very subject.
