Screenwriting : Telling it Without Dialogue by Maurice Vaughan

Behavior over exposition. A character's small actions what they do when no one's watching reveal more than dialogue ever could. In horror I use unsettling environmental details; in comedy, a physical tell that contradicts the words.

Exactly, Joseph Biro. I use a character's clothes, objects, the weather, etc. to tell the reader things without dialogue sometimes.

Maurice Vaughan Thoughtful question, I follow the "Pesum Padam" movie Logic. Classics always aid

One thing I like is showing what a character chooses not to do. They see a missed call and turn the phone facedown, stop outside a door but never knock, or start to throw something away and quietly keep it instead. The audience understands there’s history or conflict before anyone explains it.

Hi, Harish Harish Chidambaram. Can you explain that some more?

That's a great idea, Jaspreet Kaur! You're right. The audience understands there’s history or conflict before anyone explains it, and showing what a character chooses not to do instead of using dialogue saves space in a script.

I like writing characters with no dialogue so they mime everything. It's fun and challenging.

Sound effects.

You're right, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. It's fun and challenging. I wrote a mime character. I wrote his action, then wrote his dialogue in action lines in quotation marks.

That's interesting, Terri Morgan. What's one of the sound effects you've written?

In the quiet moments where characters are alone perhaps... what a character does when no one else is around can be quite revealing

That's a great way to tell without dialogue, Rachel White! Writers can use the quiet moments where characters are alone for the characters to reflect on things, finally show their emotions, come up with their next step, etc.

Music

I like to use tiny details in the background or in my characters' hobbies to reveal more about the story

Music is a great idea, Michael Alan Elliott! I'm not sure if I've ever used it to tell the reader things. Thanks for the idea.

Hi, Meriem Bouziani. Those are great ideas! I've put details in the background and used character hobbies to tell readers things. I come up with the hobbies in the outline. Do you do that or figure out the hobbies when you write a script?

Ah, that's so good! Maurice Vaughan

For this second script, I planned most of the background details in advance, but the details about the characters' hobbies came naturally while I was writing.

That's great, @Meriem. Hobbies aren't a huge thing in my experience writing scripts (it can be though). I make a small paragraph of hobbies for each character when I outline, and I can figure out more about the hobbies when I write the script if I need to.

One way I tell the reader something without dialogue is by showing what the character pays attention to. What a person notices, protects, ignores, or sacrifices reveals what has authority in their life. A character doesn't have to say what they value — their choices under pressure will show it.

Drop kicking a small cute dog off a bridge? Jack Black

Those are great ways to tell things without a character talking, Ezekiel Coal! "A character doesn't have to say what they value — their choices under pressure will show it." You're right. Like a character stopping to jump into the river to save the small cute dog while getting chased by bad guys. What movie is that from, David Taylor?

Maurice Vaughan Let's change it up a bit. Imagine an image: a glass full of water. Then a hand drops small stones into it, one by one. The stones sink to the bottom of the glass, while water spills over the top. The glass is you. The water is energy. The stones are unkind words. I call it "wasted energy."

How could you show that in dialogue?

For me, sometimes a small action line works better: a tiny step forward or back, a kiss on the forehead, a small smile at the corner of a mouth, a raised eyebrow. Often these either reinforce the dialogue — or speak in its place.

Don't tell, just show. :D

- the setting where a character is in "their normal."

- how other characters behave around this character

Such as in Whiplash (2014). The band room door opens and immediately the students stand up to attention as Fletcher walks in.

A gesture that repeats and changes meaning.

In my feature, a man leaves a cup of coffee on a woman's desk every

morning. She never drinks it. It reads as a small office habit for

most of the film. Late on, we learn he'd been waiting seventeen years

for her — and every one of those cups is suddenly a sentence he never

said out loud.

The other one I use: what a character refuses to name. My lead adopts

a shelter dog and won't give it a name for the entire script. Nobody

comments on it. When she finally says a name in the last scene, that's

the whole arc, and not one line of dialogue explained it.

Something they wear or, even better, a scar.

You're right, Szabina Györei. Sometimes a small action line works better, and it gives the reader a chance to connect the dots. Sometimes I'll write dialogue, then realize it's better to use action. Sometimes a speech -- or scene -- can be summed up in an action.

Those are great ideas, Michael Dzurak! "how other characters behave around this character." I figure that out in the outline, but it's usually a sentence or so for each character. Do you figure that out in the outline, and do you just write a sentence, a few sentences, etc for each character?

I like those ideas, Mohsen Assenjee! I like how your ideas aren't just ways to tell the reader things without dialogue. They're tied into a payoff and arc.

I like that, Jack Vincent! I've used clothes and scars to tell the reader things. Writers can put scratches on something like a car to show the character was in an accident or something happened. And "worn" can tell the reader a character uses a book or object a lot.

Maurice, I'm big on facial expressions...people's jaws drop, characters grit their teeth, folks grimace.

I am an ardent admirer of the art of non-verbal communication and I make it a point to include it in my writing. Sometimes, it's a facial expression, sometimes it's a gesture, but at some point in every one of my stories there is at least one significant moment of non-verbal communication.

In multiple stories for example featuring a character who is a queen, there is a scene where the queen quietly dismisses a servant with a flick of her wrist.

This was actually significant to the resolution of an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation where Picard was able to communicate to his officers with a glance his desire for the alien scientists that had abducted him to be imprisoned on the bridge.

Maurice Vaughan For each character in an outline, I write a quick sentence or blurb how they relate to other key characters.

Using footage that represents a character’s thoughts, either with cutting or overlays.

I was watching Sunrise (1927) recently, and it’s remarkably modern for a silent film. A character imagines drowning his wife, and images of waves overlay his own face. He imagines going to the city, and the sky becomes busy city streets.

The film tells the audience so much without dialogue. The performances do so much storytelling too. For anyone who hasn’t dipped into silent films, Sunrise is a great place to start.

I'm big on facial expressions too, Jim Boston. And my characters smile, frown, etc. a lot, so I find ways to make action lines like "He smiles" and "She frowns" unique and impactful.

Facial expressions and gestures can say a lot, Jason Howell. "but at some point in every one of my stories there is at least one significant moment of non-verbal communication." Thanks for sharing that. It gave me an idea. Come up with one moment(s) like that in the outline.

Cool, Michael Dzurak. Sometimes I don't figure out in the outline how my protagonist and characters behave around each other, but I make a mental note.

Great idea, Mike Boas! I haven't seen Sunrise or a lot of silent films. I did see one where they used note cards on the screen, but the action mainly told the story.

“Note cards” are usually called intertitles in silent films, and Sunrise has very few of them. There are actually some that are quite expressive and even animated.

Silents in general use titles less than most people expect. Not every bit of talking is spelled out to the audience. Because the acting is more important than the words! It’s something that more screenwriters should be aware of in film. It’s a visual medium. Action and performance resonate with an audience more than the words characters say.

Thanks for the info, Mike Boas. You're right. It’s a visual medium. I remember hearing a story a while back about a writer who wrote a long speech or something for their script and someone (maybe a producer) told them to just use one word or an action.

They might not be called note cards. Maybe title cards?

When reading scripts it is always good to see non-verbal communication, both between characters and to the audience. It’s a great way to show what someone is thinking, but not necessarily wanting anyone else to know. It really elevates a script when this is used well.

Hey, Ewan Dunbar. "It’s a great way to show what someone is thinking, but not necessarily wanting anyone else to know." You're right. I'm not sure if I've done that in scripts. Thanks for the idea.

I'm glad you said "both between characters and to the audience." I've used non-verbal communication to tell characters and the audience things. Using non-verbal communication to tell the audience things can create dramatic irony.

Too many people actually overthink the entire issue.

Sometimes telling the reader something in dialogue is more impactful, @Michael Alan Elliott, especially when a really skilled actor delivers the line. And sometimes it's a better choice for the story.

Great topic Maurice Vaughan If only I had visuals... I do lots of non-verbal things in the stories. This character smiles just a little then frowns. That character lowers her head and looks up with a grin. But I can't do non-verbal for an audio drama. If it's not audible, it's not there.

One of the sound effects I used is a three-tone chime (ding-ding-ding). It's the same as a message alert signal in some train stations. I used it to signal a communications link is being activated (like a phone ringing). Another of the sound effects I used is 'scary music' - an ominous tone that lets the audience know 'this is bad.' I used the noise of wood being smashed and a metal chair being knocked over in the fight scene. That was fun. I also use music to lead the audience into and out of the scenes.

Watched an older film, "Riding in Cars with Boys" the other day, and was really impressed by some of the unspoken scenes that happened. Especially the end, when the main character says "He blames me for everything wrong in his life" and with no words spoken both her and her father each have a moment of realization silently while driving.

I will have to track down the screenplay to see how that scene was written. I admire the confidence in the audience that they will understand there is something happening in that moment, rather than just seeing two people in a car.

Thanks, Terri Morgan. Those are great ways to tell without talking. You're right about audio dramas. I remember listening to some.

Using a sound effect to let the audience know something is happening is a great idea! Writers can do that in screenplays too. Maybe use the sound effect throughout a screenplay or audio drama when something happens again and again. Or maybe tie it into a character arc.

Hi, Adam Delmonico. Sometimes writers think readers will understand a silent moment like that or an action that's supposed to tell them something, but they don't understand them. That's one reason feedback helps.

I think small physical actions can sometimes say more than dialogue. A character hesitating, changing direction, avoiding someone's eyes, or quietly holding another character back can communicate fear or tension without explaining it.

I especially like it when the audience understands what the character feels before the character says anything.

You're right, @Qadir. Have you ever used billboards, news articles, etc. to tell the reader things?

Not yet, but I like the idea. I can see how a billboard, newspaper article, or even a small background detail could reveal information naturally without having a character explain it in dialogue.

Yeah, Qadir Shafiyev. Billboards, news articles, signs, posters, flyers, etc.