Movie Terms Wiki Storytelling

Dialogue

Spoken interaction between characters drives plot, reveals psychology, and shapes pacing.


Classical Roots

Dialogue owes debts to stage tradition; early screenwriters transcribed theatrical cadence until sound recording evolved. Screwball comedies like His Girl Friday accelerated banter to exploit newly reliable microphones.

Functions in Screenwriting

  • Exposition — delivering plot efficiently.
  • Characterisation — idiolects signal class, region, or worldview.
  • Subtext — what’s unsaid often matters more, as David Mamet’s works show.

Directorial Approaches

Robert Altman embraces overlapping dialogue to mimic chaos; Aaron Sorkin’s walk-and-talk scripts turn corridors into rhetorical racetracks. In contrast, minimalist auteurs like Kelly Reichardt prioritise silence, making each spoken line seismic.


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