Film 210: Week 6

Communication Elements

This lesson covers:

Phone calls
Inserts
Computer screens
Text messages and speakers/intercoms

A Dialogue Refresher

It is composed of four main parts:

Character Cues - written in ALL CAPS and centred on the page.
O.S. and V.O. - If a character is off-screen but in the scene, use (O.S.); if they aren’t, use (V.O.).
Parentheticals (also called wrylies): These are located below the character cue and tell how a line is delivered (sarcastically, angrily, etc.). You are discouraged not to use these unless necessary. Like transitions and camera shots, they are directions that the cast and crew will ignore.
Dialogue. Treat it like action and keep it short. Be sure to write clearly, not like a comic book (i.e. WHAAAAAAAT!?!) or with forced accents.

Please notice how every scene leads with a narrative description, setting up the locations and characters within a scene before leading into the dialogue.

Telephone Conversation

A unique case for dialogue is telephone conversations. There are multiple approaches—all listed in The Screenwriter’s Bible—but here is a simple example of introducing one.

Introduce each character in their location before connecting them with the phone call.

Please note: Some writing programs bold text, while others don’t Don’t worry if yours doesn’t.

You will return to the scene at the end of the conversation, so use a SLUGLINE.

For example:

Example of the end of a phone conversation.

Speakers or Intercoms

V.O. indicates characters speaking through speakers, televisions, or a telephone. Another solution may be to use a parenthetical below the name indicating where the sound is coming from (i.e. from the intercom).