Words in Action

The book concentrates on the importance of dialogue for the artistic and spectacular accomplishment of a screenplay. The author examines film dialogue in three chapters, elaborating first, on the essence of conflict in dialogue, second, on its multiple levels of meaning and interaction, and finally on how dialogue astutely relays information.

Words in Action dedicates to the subject of film dialogue a comprehensive exploration. The book analyzes a wide series of examples, perfectly chosen in contemporary American mainstream cinema from Gladiator to The Devil Wears Prada, from Schindler's List to A Beautiful Mind, from Collateral to The Dark Knight and, in some cases, also in prime time TV drama ER, The West Wing, House M.D., John Adams. In a screenplay, the secrets of well written dialogue are hidden in the construction of the scene, where every word should stem from the theme of the story. At the light of this basic assumption, the book explores how Hollywood screenwriters create verbal duels assigning characters different frames of values and making the hero win by «reframing» what is at stake in the scene. The author elaborates on how Oscar winner authors such as Paul Haggis, Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian create subtext. Finally, the book highlights the screenwriting techniques to cover exposition, an issue which gives the author also the opportunity to concentrate on the differences between dialogues in movies and in TV drama.

Autorentext

Paolo Braga is Assistant Professor in Semiotics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, where he teaches Screenwriting. He has published extensively on the topics of the construction of empathy with character and of U.S. television series. The rhetorical dimension of storytelling is his general research area.

Zusammenfassung
"The success of Braga's book is its ability to deliver strong screenwriting practice, whilst also taking a rigorous approach to techniques of dialogue in screenplays using narrative theories and numerous industrial script examples. In doing so, it represents a most welcome shift away from the paucity of serious scholarly practice in many (or most) screenwriting manuals towards studies that deliver serious screenwriting technique with well-researched examples from successful screenwriters working in the contemporary film and television industries." (Jamie Sherry, New Review of Film and Television Studies, Vol.14, No.3, 2016)

Inhalt

Contents: Dialogue and conflict Dialogue and subtext Dialogue and exposition Dialogue and revealing metaphors.