Hi all,
Been reading a lot of threads in this great forum and joined today 
I am currently trying to write my first script (a comedy) and just wanted to get your advice on dialogue and the way some people talk, an example being...
MUM
Get outta bet ya lazy sod, ya gonna be late for work again.
or
MUM
Get out of bed you lazy sod, you're going to be late for work again.
Should I write it as the character would say it or the proper way?
Sorry if it is a stupid question 
I'm not an expert Father, there are far more qualified people on these forums than me but I would say write as the character would say it.
Right exactly how you want to hear it in the view of Sootyj.
Wot Griff said, innit.
What Leevil said.
Quote: Ted Crilly @ January 2 2009, 3:55 PM GMTHi all,
Been reading a lot of threads in this great forum and joined today
I am currently trying to write my first scrip(a comedy) and just wanted to get your advice on dialogue and the way some people talk, an example being...MUM
Get outta bet ya lazy sod, ya gonna be late for work again.or
MUM
Get out of bed you lazy sod, you're going to be late for work again.Should I write it as the character would say it or the proper way?
Sorry if it is a stupid question
This is a really good question.
I think if you have a good character description at the beginning - and a good script with the right rhythm, the actor should be able to add anything that is needed without any prompting from the script in that way. And any script reader will keep in mind the character while reading.
But that doesn't preclude ever writing it in. Maybe do it with a light touch to remind the person reading it every now and then and when it's really needed for a comedy moment?
But it's your call whether it's worth doing or seems silly or too overbearingly prescriptive for the actor who might bring in something you haven't thought of which works equally well. It might be worth getting hold of a few published scripts of well-known comedies and see how it's been done there.
Griff is right. If you want to give a character an accent, do not try to reproduce it phonetically, which is pointless as the actor can do that, instead use idioms and expressions associated with that accent (though try to avoid obvious cliche).
Damn if Griff is right, as I suspect he is.
I am going to have to rewrite my scripts radically.
Buttocks!
Quote: Griff @ January 3 2009, 12:28 AM GMTMaybe "go and read some real scripts" is a good way to approach questions like this. (Goldnutmeg was right, it is a good question.)
Trainspotting is a film with a lot of dialect.
I found the script here:
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/trainspotting.shtml
There's some dialect words explicitly written in - they say "pished" for example - but it's not full of "cannae" and "didnae" and suchlike. They even write 'you' instead of the 'ye' you might expect in Scottish dialogue. (Unlike the original novel, which I would think is very heavy on dialect?)
Very good example....I am a huge fan of Irvine Welsh(writer of Trainspotting and other brilliant books) and he uses a lot of scottish accent in his books and although its hard at first(for me anyway lol)to grasp, it really makes the stories work
Yeah and there was a really great ep of Holby City called 'Choose Life'
Quote: Griff @ January 3 2009, 12:57 AM GMTThe key point with Trainspotting is that although the novel DOES use heavy dialect, the screenplay DOESN'T.
yep very true
Yeah and there was a really great ep of Holby City called 'Choose Life'
