5 Tips On Writing Better Dialogue - Kenneth Castillo

In this Film Courage video interview, Filmmaker Kenneth Castillo shares 5 Tips On Writing Better Dialogue.

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#writing #screenwriting #screenplay

[camronchlarson]

I loved what he said about truly knowing your character's individual relationships with each other. I talk to my wife VERY differently than my coworkers. I talk to my sister VERY differently than I talk with my mom. If I like someone, I say a lot; if I dislike them, I say very little.

[NIKONGUY]

I’m amazed at the conversations my characters have with me and each other. I took a copywriting class that taught us to start broadly and then cut until the main idea was still there but as succinct as possible. I use that every time I write.

[drecolizo]

My favorite thing he said was about not giving away your plot in the dialogue. In the most recent screenplay I wrote, I told the story of 2 side characters relationship with each other without having them speak to each other more than once or even talking about the other. I can't wait to see how it turns out once it's shot and cut together.

[justanameonyourscreen]

When the characters earn their own voice in the story...I find these are the scripts I keep going back to and writing on...

[TheFeelButton]

Yes! Sometimes they even talk about me behind my back. I try to keep my friendly characters close and my unfriendly characters even closer! Cheers Film Courage!!

[MythicUniverse.]

God I love listening to a writer that knows what he’s talking about 🤙🏻

[JoJo-xpwr]

My biggest weakness is dialogue, so thank you for this one, really!

[Thisiscinemalist]

Let's just acknowledge the skill and talent Karen here has.. I mean the questions she asks are so perfect and so on point.. she gets the perfect answers from the interviewee.. like anticipating what the audiences would like to listen to and ask questions accordingly - trust me, it's a difficult job. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Awesome video! :-)

Thanks a lot!

[filmcourage]

Do your characters talk with each other?

[zachsmith]

I always hear industry pros say cut the dialog and to show more with less. Then I remember the movie "Glenn Gary/Glenn Ross". The dialog made the movie. I guess there are always exceptions.

[faibabernard]

Ooohh they do Talk to eachother... All the damn time.🙄
Sometimes even tell you - "hey, cancel that! I wont way that"... Very fun when you understand the characters well

[EWHITEFLIX]

As Titanic still makes a "boatload" of money

[HKasian]

I might have to disagree on Kenneth's advice. Dialogue in itself has to serve either one of two things, character development or plot development. Not everybody is Tarantino and Sorkins and can make 10 pages of dialogue enticing. Everyone always says "Tarantino did it, so it must be okay." Not everyone can write with the depth they do so always, always, trim the fat, and do it before production. Have your actors rehearse or read through cause you don't want to spend half a day on set filming dialogue you're gonna cut anyways, that's irresponsible filmmaking and a waste of money.

2. Exposition in dialogue is not always bad. I've heard the saying "don't spoon feed your audience information, they're not as dumb as you think." and it's true, but sometimes, it's necessary to just get the point across. Some audience members just don't know what the hell is going on and need a refresher on what the character's stakes are. Case in point: Inception, more than once they reiterate the characters' stakes as they go deeper and deeper into the dreams, and it's often necessary cause it all gets lost in what seems like an Act 3 that's half the movie. So do use exposition but do it smart and seldom.

[lonewolfgamingplus]

I need some tips on writing a thriller horror dialogue where I kinda of want to surprise the audience and give them some good characters. With themes of war, chaos and such themes like that. I want to make it with minimal dialogue which sacrifice for visual storytelling.

[ScribblebytesWorldwide]

I think there's good dialogue and then there's good dialogue in a good structure. Some filmmakers are great at good dialogue but the film goes nowhere (which can be enjoyable still), and then others can marry the two. I like how he mentioned silent film (I must check out his work) because I feel that builds great discipline in structure. Another weird reference is William Hayes. I think his contribution to great dialogue is never acknowledged. (I won't explain why...That's called subtext 😂😂😂)

[gonzaloleon-gelpi]

Dialogue in which each person says more than a few words at a time is generally not realistic.

[taylorcohea]

I disagree, great actors can't save awful dialogue. An example is Star Wars Episode 1, 2, and 3. They all had great actors with the exception of Hayden Christensen.

[Lance_A]

Who is this guy what is his name and what script did he write what is he known for and what ethnicity is he