Come scrivere i dialoghi di una sceneggiatura: sottotesto e parentetiche
Come scrivere i dialoghi di una sceneggiatura con il sottotesto, non con battute didascaliche. Nomi dei personaggi, parentetiche, voci riconoscibili e una vera riscrittura da The Night Ferry.
In questa lezione imparerai
- Come lavorano insieme il nome del personaggio, il dialogo e la parentetica
- Come ScreenWeaver ti suggerisce i personaggi già esistenti e passa da personaggio a dialogo
- Quando una parentetica aiuta, e perché troppe parentetiche fanno danni
- Come scrivere il sottotesto invece di un dialogo didascalico
- Come tagliare le battute, tenerle brevi e dare a ogni personaggio una voce riconoscibile
- Quando usare le transizioni e l'elemento inquadratura
Questa lezione spiega come scrivere i dialoghi di una sceneggiatura, a partire da tre elementi che viaggiano insieme: il nome del personaggio, il dialogo e, a volte, una parentetica. Vedi come ScreenWeaver ti suggerisce i personaggi già esistenti mentre scrivi, ne crea di nuovi al volo e passa da personaggio a dialogo con il tasto Enter.
Poi il mestiere: perché le parentetiche devono essere rare, come funziona il sottotesto quando due personaggi sembrano litigare sull'ora, e come una confessione troppo esplicita di The Night Ferry viene riscritta in un'azione e due parole, Ciao, papà. Impari a dire di meno, a tenere le battute brevi, a leggerle ad alta voce e a dare a ogni personaggio una voce riconoscibile. La lezione si chiude con le transizioni e l'elemento inquadratura, entrambi da usare con parsimonia, e con la regola di un solo nome per personaggio.
Trascrizione completa
Trascrizione della narrazione originale in inglese.
0:04Now the voices. Dialogue in a screenplay is made of three elements that always travel together. The character cue, the dialogue, and sometimes a parenthetical.
0:15Choose character in the toolbar and type the name. Maya. While you type, Screenweaver suggests the characters that already exist. If the name is new, the list offers to create it. Confirm, and Maya is added to your characters. Press Enter, and the editor switches to dialogue on its own.
0:37Type her line. Wait, please. I need to cross tonight. Press Enter at the end of a line of dialogue, and the editor switches back to character, ready for the answer. Elias. No passengers after midnight. Back and forth, like a conversation.
0:56Now the parenthetical. A short note in brackets under the name on how a line is said, or what the character does while saying it. Elias. Sighing. Get in. Don't touch anything. Use them rarely. If every line has a parenthetical, none of them matters. Let the words and the actions carry the tone.
1:19What makes dialogue good? Subtext. People rarely say what they mean. Listen to this exchange. It's two minutes past. That's after midnight. On the surface, they're arguing about the time. Underneath, he's lonely and stubborn, and she's desperate. We understand both without anyone saying it.
1:42Let's rewrite an on -the -nose line. First draft. Maya. I'm your daughter, and I came back because I miss you, and I'm sorry I left. Everything is said, so nothing is felt. The rewrite? Right? She doesn't answer. She sets the compass on the dashboard next to his. Then, only when he says her name, Hi, Dad. Two words do what the long line couldn't, because the audience gets there first.
2:12A good test for any scene. Could the characters say less? Cut every line you can, then put back only the ones the scene can't live without. He'll be surprised how often silence, a look, or an object does the work better.
2:28Keep lines short. Real people speak in fragments. Interrupt each other, and avoid the question. Read every line out loud. If it sounds like a sentence from a book, cut it in half.
2:41And make every character sound different. Elias speaks in short, closed sentences. Long enough. Not tonight. Come on. Maya speaks in questions and half answers. If you cover the names and can still tell who's speaking, your dialogue is working.
3:00Two more elements to use sparingly. Transitions, like fade in, cut to, or fade out, mark the passage between scenes. Modern scripts use very few. A fade in at the start, a fade out at the end. And the shot element, to call out a specific angle, like a close -up on the compass, only when the story depends on it.
3:22One last rule. The same is for places. Write each name exactly the same way, every time. Maya is always Maya. A different spelling creates a different character, and later, a different face on screen.
3:37Your exercise. Write the dialogue of your first scene. Short lines, one parenthetical at most, and at least one exchange with subtext. Next, we'll put it all together. Keyboard only.