This Is NOT How People Talk

Dialogue writing in film is far from a science. From Pulp Fiction and Tarantino to The Social Network, films have a writing style that is sometimes instantly recognizable. Sometimes, movie characters don’t talk the way we think they should, that might be ok.

#Nerdstalgic #PulpFiction #Tarantino

[Nerdstalgic]

What is the best movie you've seen recently? Looking for recommendations.

Also, I made a passing comment about Jennifer’s body here and vampires, obviously a film about possession, but she essentially behaves like a vampire in the film. Hence the comment lol doesn’t have much to do with the video but wanted to clarify for anyone that hasn’t already seen the film.

[whoisgliese]

Non naturalistic dialogs aren't what the characters would say, they are what the characters wish they had said when they replay the conversation in their heads while showering

[psychicjellyfish]

I feel like naturalistic dialogue is severely under appreciated. It just makes characters easier to listen to.

[Rose-hhmk]

I always found a big difference between film dialogue and how normal people talk is that in movies, they speak full, eloquent monologues. In real life, you would probably stumble your words, pause to think of what to say, and get interrupted by someone.

[izz]

I think an unnaturalistic dialogue is like a text between two people. We wait the other person to finish saying their words, we think a little before we text so that we have a better choice of words and expressing our thoughts. There is no stutter, pause or repeating in a text. Its the way we imagine a conversation with someone in our heads. Simply flawless

[shananvarsha]

You can't talk about realistic dialogue without talking about The Room.

[BonazaiGirl]

Why doesn’t anyone mention the masterful dialogue in The Room?

“Oh, hi Mark.”

[headkingdom]

Its all about perspective- the more people I meet and interact with in life, the more i realize that even the most outlandish-seeming characters and dialogue can definitely be found in real life. Its one of the things that makes meeting new people unique

[StrugglerIndeed]

The fact that this video used the OST from Arrival, a movie about interpreting an alien language while discussing film dialogue and natural language, just reinforces how wonderful this channel is.

[Not_Soundwave]

The most realistic dialogue pacing I've seen so far is in Uncut Gems. That constant overlapping over others and the repetition of sentences is _exactly_ how people talk -and it stressed me the hell out-

[SilvrDragon]

Tarantino writes language as if the characters are actually listening to eachother. Not unrealistic, but rare.

[teegee]

When I was a young kid I was super shy and awkward. Since I wasn’t very social I would frame how I interacted with people based off movie dialogue…that made it so much worse lmao.

[Tser]

I think "naturalistic dialogue" in films generally leaves out several aspects of actual natural language. It's rare for writers to include lots of "pause fillers" like um and er, which are derided in public speaking but an important cue in communication between people in real life. "Huh?" or "what?" are only used if a character is meant to be self-centered or rude, when really there are lots of reasons people need someone to repeat what they said. They also leave out the slow pace of many conversations, and particularly the awkward pauses.

When dialogue *does* include these things, I've noticed, instead of feeling realistic and natural, in film it comes across as surreal.

[SnakPak]

"Nobody talks like Jules" I knew a guy who talked exactly like Jules. Exactly. Even unironically misquoting bible verses to excuse violence.

[LaundryFaerie]

Ideal language is what I've often referred to as "people don't talk this way in real life, but when you hear it, you kind of wish they would."

[angiegray]

The dialogue and non-linear storyline are what made Pulp Fiction so good and iconic.

[serene-illusion]

I think Smiling Friends is one of the examples of naturalistic dialogue in a comedic setting done right.

The way characters often overlap their dialogue in the most mundane conversations, how their eyes and faces dart everywhere when they're listening to someone else talking, and all the self-interruptuons mid sentence. "you know like obvi- yeah...you know?"

I think it's brilliant.

[Drakonus_]

Me not being a native English speaker: Wait, it sounds normal though.

[communismwithgiggles]

"Nobody talks like this."
Yoda: "Human, I am not. On you, the joke is."

[rizkiagustian]

It's pretty difficult to write a structured narrative with truly realistic dialogue. A lot of times, conversations don't have real clear intent. They just happen. Even when there is clear intent, the words that need to be said are often not said and when they are, their generally not poetic nor are they attention-grabbing. Real life drama takes very long to unfold and navigate through and most times people aren't even sure what the source of the drama was. Even I'm finding it difficult in my attempt to put words together to explain how messy real life conversations and drama is.

For example, you could just simply drift away from old friends not due to a big event or a big fight, but you just simply care less and less about them or you quietly realize that you never really valued their friendship or something. Or maybe a big fight does happen but it's normal to just not see each other again some time and then act like nothing happened when you meet each other again. I've known people like this. No dramatic talks about making up and setting aside differences. In a movie, this would be jarring and may confuse the audience.

Basically, real life is messy. In order to tell an effective story, most of the time, a structured narrative is required. So real life needs to be heightened just a little.