PA:  If you catch your characters speaking their feelings out-loud or telling the truth a lot, there’s a chance they’re going “on the nose” a.k.a. telling when they should be showing.  It sounds cynical, but adults actually get by in life by repressing their feelings and telling little lies.  If a character in your movie bumped into someone she disliked on the street, for example, she wouldn’t say, “I dislike you.  Go away!”   She’d grit her teeth and say, “Great to see you.”

PM:  Would you advise writing in depth “character biographies” to fully flesh out characters?

PA:  Not really.  As a writer, knowing who your character is before you hit page one is important.  But, the more you spend precious writing time going over the past, the more you mire yourself in back story.  Think about what a character does within your screenplay.  What habits do they engage in?  What rules do they follow?  What choices do they make?  It’s so much more important to see who a character is now then it is to dwell on who they were.

PM:  How should writers avoid “preachy” dialogue?

PM:  Cut the speech and get the message across through the choices the characters make.  No one likes to be lectured to.

PM:  In a similar vein, how can writers avoid dull “talking head “characters?

PA:  In my class I’ll be showing writers how to turn scenes into a verbal game.  When you do this, dialogue stops being mindless chat and starts becoming a play for power.  Much more interesting to read ... and to watch.

PM: What are some of your favorite dialogue and character moments from this year’s movies?

PA:  DOUBT:  The moment when Father Flynn purposely sits at Sister Aloysius’s desk.  With this simple action he claims the power.   

THE DARK KNIGHT:  The Joker’s manipulation of his listener when he asks “Wanna know how I got these scars?”  He changes his story every time.

SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE: “Everyone knows that, even five year olds,” has a different meaning when Jamal speaks it versus when the Constable speaks it.  What the men “know” is dependent on their experience.

FROZEN RIVER:  Ray’s opening conversation with her son T.J. beginning with “we’re out of Capt’n Crunch” tells us everything we need to know about where this family is in life.

FROST/ NIXON: Nixon’s repeated attempts to throw Frost off seconds before the interview by asking him inappropriate questions.

PILAR ALESSANDRA is the director of the popular writing program On the Page. Her screenwriting podcasts - with guests from within the industry - regularly appear in the film and TV top 100. She’s worked as Senior Story Analyst for DreamWorks and Radar pictures and has trained writers and story analysts at ABC/Disney, Nickelodeon and MTV. She teaches at numerous writing conferences around the country including The Great American Pitchfest & Screenwriting Conference since the very beginning. Students and clients have sold to Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Brothers and Sony and have won prestigious competitions such as the Open Door Competition, Fade-In Competition and Nicholl Fellowship. "On the Page: the DVD," a collection of Pilar's ten-minute writing tools, is available on Amazon.
 

PJ McIlvaine is a produced screenwriter  whose unforgettable characters leap off the page like Superman over tall buildings and who utter only the wittiest and pithiest bon mots.  She can be reached at pmcilvaine@aol.com .