When you write something, people constantly say, “Don’t write what people would really say to one another. Write it in subcontext. Don’t allow your characters to say what they really mean.”
Um…
Okay. I’ve got a stack of DVD’s I’ll put against that statement.
And I guarantee 95% of the dialog in all those movies is “on the nose.”
Band of Brothers. “Pour it on ’em! Let ’em have it! I want fire superiority!”
Was that on the nose?
Blackhawk Down. “People say to me, Hoot, why do you do this? you some kind of war junkie? I don’t even answer. They wouldn’t understand. It’s about the guy next to me.”
Was that on the nose?
Jaws. “I don’t need this working hero crap!”
On the nose?
It means what it says.
Look, the “on the nose” thing irritates me. It’s like “Show don’t tell”. That’s often so badly explained people have NO idea what you’re talking about.
If all you wrote is dialog that said other than what you really meant, it’d be passed over in a heartbeat. People wouldn’t get it.
Yes, you need to have scenes where people speak in subtext.
Jaws. “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Did Quint really need a bigger boat? Well, yeah. But Brody was saying, “that’s a massive shark. We’re not up to this. I’m not up to this.” Actually would have made great follow up dialog. But that’s what Brody was really saying.
World War Z: “But all you do is make pancakes.” “Yeah, but I’m really good at it.” Was Gerry really an expert on making pancakes? No. He was a UN investigator used to going into dangerous situations, and the job caused friction between his family. He was talking about being a husband and a father, not about making pancakes. They really didn’t waste 90 seconds of screen time talking about pancakes.
Blackhawk down: “It’s nothin’ Ev… It’s nothin.” Those words Smith said are so exceptionally powerful that I still choke up hearing them. I literally have to skip past that scene every time I watch the movie. Smith is telling Eversman that he can go on living after Smith dies. It’s a huge scene, and it book ends with Ruiz in the hospital telling Captain Steele, “Don’t go back out there without me.” Ruiz knows he’s dying. Steele knows it. They’re both lying to each other. Ruiz realized that the reason Steele was so hard on his men was that Steele couldn’t bear losing any of them – and Ruiz is telling Steele don’t blame yourself. Steele is telling Ruiz in his response, “I’m going to anyway.”
Can you write the entire movie that way?
No. Your movie will be a burdensome stone people can’t get through, full of subtext. Few movies and books can carry that off well.
Aim for 90-95% on the nose. Just make sure that you’ve got some subtext going.
