Comments on: Dialogue versus exposition

By: Alex Epstein

Alex Epstein — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 00:59:11 +0000

No, no no. It's Moishe the Explainer.

The best way to turn expo into dialog, stat, is to put two characters into an argument. As they argue about the facts, you get the facts out there.

Paul Couvela — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 12:40:04 +0000

Keep the audience in the dark. Seriously. I've seen far too many films where after ten minutes, I know everything and after eleven minutes, I'm bored. I prefer to be airlifted into alien territory without a map and left to figure out for myself just what the hell's going on around here.

Dave — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 23:59:14 +0000

Good point, but I thought his name was Morris the Explainer.

Put the script away for a few weeks, then read only the dialogue. The expositional dialogue will now scream at you to kill it.

Nathan — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 18:02:10 +0000

Make sure that the audience isn't the only one in need of the exposition, i.e., the person being told needs to hear it. Nothing sends up the "Chunky Exposition" flag faster than having Bob tell Dave something that Dave already knows simply so the audience can hear Bob say it. ("As you know, Dave...")