emotions

[aceinc1]

how do I write scenes that make the script emotional and not over-the-top?

 

[H.Z.]

I always try to focus on strong visual images and/or sound design choices and try to minimize dialogue.

For some (totally cliched) examples:
- A mother combs her daughter's hair to convey love.
- A repetitive sound such as a dripping faucet conveys anxiety/paranoia.
- An EWS of a figure on a white snow-field to convey grief.

Again, those are total cliche's but i think that the general key is to find something which can provide a strong emotional statement without the character's having to say too much about it...

 

[Padnar]

Sometimes I find it difficult to say a character is angry .
what subtext can be used .
I sometime say He is pacing .Any other suggestions
padma

 

[Tinalera]

I would suggest keeping dialogue short, particularly in an argument with anger. I've watched some movies where the character went on a two minute monologue that essentially that basically summed up the movie to that point to explain why she was upset.

A glance, a nicely timed close up, or even for something like dispair, go for a wide shot, sitting on a bed, using only abmvient sounds.....with emotions, sometimes less really is more.

 

[Padnar]

I would suggest keeping dialogue short, particularly in an argument with anger. I've watched some movies where the character went on a two minute monologue that essentially that basically summed up the movie to that point to explain why she was upset.

A glance, a nicely timed close up, or even for something like dispair, go for a wide shot, sitting on a bed, using only abmvient sounds.....with emotions, sometimes less really is more.

Thanks for the suggestion
padma

 

[aceinc1]

folks,

I am sorry, I wasn't clear.

I want to write the emotion scene.

like, the character is angry.

Jack, angry, gives a stern look.

will this do?

and what about thos realizes shots,

Jack, realizes he's been had, a bit disappointed, not too emotionally exprerssive from face but slowly a smile as the realization dawns on him.

will this do?

regards,
ace.inc1

 

[barnaclelapse]

Anything about keeping dialog short is definitely good advice. It's just a question of trusting yourself as a writer to convey what you're after and even trusting your characters to give you an idea of what to do.

 

[milkandcookie]

I think the biggest rule to follow is "Show, don't tell."

So, feel free to describe what you feel is necessary. Obviously, getting the actors to do something is the actors' and director's job, on set - in other words, no need to direct the director. But, if there is a feeling you need to convey, explain what should happen that would make the audience feel/know what you want them to.

 

[Uranium City]

Screenplays meant for other people to shoot should typically only contain things that can be filmed. You can't film "angry" but you can film a character doing something that would leave an audience to understand he is angry (flashing a glare, smashing a window with his bloody fist, etc).

Screenplays you write for you to make yourself can be written any way...if you write that he is angry, then you as the director will know that you need to somehow make the character indicate "angry" when you shoot.

 

[Padnar]

Screenplays meant for other people to shoot should typically only contain things that can be filmed. You can't film "angry" but you can film a character doing something that would leave an audience to understand he is angry (flashing a glare, smashing a window with his bloody fist, etc).

Screenplays you write for you to make yourself can be written any way...if you write that he is angry, then you as the director will know that you need to somehow make the character indicate "angry" when you shoot.

This is what I want . I am slowly trying to understand sub-text , now i would like any book which deals with all these things . I have written three scripts , so formatting is not much of an issue. I have issue in dialogue. I write nose dialogues . I am improving but still if there is any book pl write
padma

 

[citychik]

There's a reason for the old saying, "actions speak louder than words." In drama, the characters' inner lives are conveyed through their actions. In a script you need to show what the audience will see on screen. What would someone do if they were unsure of themselves? Perhaps make a move to do something and then stop in their tracks, look around, scratch their head. What if broken-hearted? Maybe they'd be banging their head on a wall, curled up in bed at midday with tears flowing and tissues nearby, or gorging on chocolate ice cream. What if angry? Maybe they would stomp up the stairs, storm out of a room, clench their fists, tighten their jaw, destroy someone else's property, scream, throw something. The kind of personality you want them to have will suggest to you the actions they would take -- and visa versa.

 

[Padnar]

There's a reason for the old saying, "actions speak louder than words." In drama, the characters' inner lives are conveyed through their actions. In a script you need to show what the audience will see on screen. What would someone do if they were unsure of themselves? Perhaps make a move to do something and then stop in their tracks, look around, scratch their head. What if broken-hearted? Maybe they'd be banging their head on a wall, curled up in bed at midday with tears flowing and tissues nearby, or gorging on chocolate ice cream. What if angry? Maybe they would stomp up the stairs, storm out of a room, clench their fists, tighten their jaw, destroy someone else's property, scream, throw something. The kind of personality you want them to have will suggest to you the actions they would take -- and visa versa.

Thanks for the tip and I saved them
padma

 

[VPTurner]

Recommended reading: Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias. It will help teach you how to generate the desired emotions in the reader similar to how the finished film could generate emotional responses in the audience.

And, yes, don't write "he's clearly angry". Show that he's pissed through his actions and dialogue. Show him sucking air through clenched teeth. Show the whites of his knuckles on clenched fists, blood flushed skin on his balding head or earlobes. Show him staring hard through narrowed eyes, or take it to the extreme with a gutteral war cry followed by hurtling objects and/or furniture, etc.

 

[wcmartell]

Have the situation in the scene be emotional, rather than the characters.

Frank Capra said what is important isn't that the character cries, it's that the *audience* cries.

I believe that often if the character *does* cry it makes the scene less emotional. The character does the crying for the audience, so the audience doesn't have to. But when a character is struggling *not to cry* - holding in their emotions and "being brave", the audience will do the crying. (same with laughing or anything else - if a character on screen laughs at a joke, the audience will probably *not* laugh at the joke.)

Create situations that are emotional.

- Bill

 

[Padnar]

Yeah I can understand .
padma