Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Slang in a spec script?

Twitter question from @A_Marra:

Curious. What's ur feelings when reading a script with real heavy ghetto slang? Does that make u stop reading a script?

You mean stuff like this?

"Aw, man. Tru 'dat. Nigga' be trippin! Tha' muthafucka is craza!"

Done here and there just to give an urban flavor is fine, but when something like this dominates every last line of dialogue?

It annoys the hell out of me. But let's not stop at ghetto slang. I once read a script set in Scotland where the writer felt the need to phonetically write the accent into every character's dialogue. The same goes for excessive Southern accents - especially when set in Civil War era stories.

Don't overdo it on the dialects, folks. If you write that the character has a heavy accent, it's not necessary to make sure every last syllable you write contains the accent. Remember that you're writing this to be read and you don't want to make that harder by cluttering up the page with what looks like guttural sounds unless you say them outloud.

4 comments:

  1. I think that happens mostly with people who don't know the accent very well, so instead of using words and certain local saying and stuff, they tend to overdo the spelling. As a Southerner, it annoys me too. Southerners are not all redneck idiots.

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  2. Thank you for answering my question. I was given a script that contained heavy slang in everything. The characters dialog, action, and general information. I couldn't tolerate it after reading the first 10 page and wanted to hear/read a professionals opinion on it. Thank you again.

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  3. Just came across your blog. Are you still updating?
    Thanks
    LD

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  4. I'm new to script writing. Could you give me any thoughts on the use of flashback and how it should be dealt with technically speaking? In other words, how do I introduce the scene?
    Thanks
    LD

    ReplyDelete