Blog Post #7

What makes dialogue interesting to me is for it to be meaningful. When I watch a movie, show, or documentary I want the dialogue to move the story forward. Additionally, I like when dialogue reveals important information about the story or about characters. I know the dialogue of a story is great when I am glued to the story and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. On the other hand, I know the dialogue of a story is bad when I am not interested and the dialogue is mostly useless exchanges and not significant to the story. I’ve always thought that writing dialogue is difficult because it’s hard to come up with something that keeps the audience engaged. Also, great acting can make dialogue even better.

A scene is captivating when there is great acting along with intensity and the feeling of unknown. I enjoy watching and reading stories that are not predictable and have unexpected plot twists. There are certain movies that I can watch over and over again without getting tired of them, not just because I personally enjoy them, but because of the amount of detail that is included. For instance, the movie “Get Out” is a great example of a film that I can repeatedly rewatch. Every time I watch “Get Out”, I notice something I didn’t see the previous time I watched it. There are many hidden details that cannot be caught after watching the film one time. “Get Out” is an example of a movie that has great acting with meaningful dialogue and many captivating scenes.

I learned a lot about creating good dialogue and staging a scene today. Apart from having a script, the acting can make or break the dialogue. Good dialogue can turn into great dialogue with great acting and staging. When staging a scene, everything is important. The lighting, location, costumes, movement and gestures, sound effects, camera angles, and even props are important when staging a scene.

My short story progress has not advanced. I have submitted a summary of what I plan to write about but I have not started on my rough draft yet. I plan to work on it soon and I hope I can create an engaging detailed story that has a message and purpose. A challenge I am facing is developing the characters and making sure the dialogue advances the story and does not include useless exchanges.