Assignment Goal:
Writing organic, believable dialogue can be one of the most difficult tasks for a writer to master. The goal of this assignment is to help us become better dialogue writers by becoming better listeners. Listening is research!
Instructions:
1. Choose an environment that’s accessible to you, to which you haven’t been exposed at all. Perhaps it’s a small town diner where the local women’s club gathers, a clothing store in China Town, your local Laundromat, a dive bar, an exchange or Veteran’s club meeting, or a courthouse. It should be a place you don't normally go.
Don’t put yourself in harm’s way, but do take yourself somewhere new. Plan to spend at least an hour there.
2. Listen for interesting and/or specific ways people are speaking. Do they speak differently than you? Is there a specific jargon or shorthand they use? How are different people in the same environment speaking uniquely from one another? Is there an age factor? Gender factor? Doctor/patient difference?
3. Observe conversations. From these, record interesting lines you overhear into your writer’s notebook. These can be one-liners or exchanges of a few lines between two or more people. Be sure to include where you were, what time of day it was, and note general descriptions of the people speaking. You want to have at least five one-liners or separate conversation exchanges to choose from.
Note: These can, but in no way have to be funny. Sometimes it’s what’s said that’s interesting, sometimes it’s the context.
4. Pick FIVE one-liners or verbal exchanges (ie: separate conversations) from what you’ve gathered and type them into Final Draft: include a slugline, brief line of description and the dialogue spoken for each of the five conversation exchanges or one-liners you've observed. Remember proper screenplay script formatting and to CAPITALIZE characters the first time we see them. If you need a review, please review this brief guide.
I've also attached a good example of the found dialogue assignment as an asset for you.
Note: These do not have to be complete scenes, just enough to establish the setting, people speaking and what’s being spoken. However, if you’d like to work on your scene crafting skills and write these as full scenes, knock yourself out. (Just remember, a full scene has a beginning, middle and end.)
BE SURE TO ZIP YOUR FINAL DRAFT DOCUMENT BEFORE UPLOADING.
Response Due:
• Submit your assignment by Sunday (11:59 PM EST).
• Follow the guidelines as outlined in the Assignment One Rubric.
Academic Integrity:
Please review the Academic Integrity section of the course Syllabus and ensure that your assignment does not plagiarize or violate any academic integrity principles of Full Sail University before submitting it. Violation of this policy can have severe consequences.
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