Show Don't Talk

As a service to the young filmmakers who submit films to the YoungCuts Film Festival, we will be featuring weekly filmmaking tips from YoungCuts Alumni, Partners and Friends.

It may just be personal preference, but one of my biggest pet peeves when sitting in the audience is having the filmmakers do all the thinking for you, giving you no chance to become invested with their story. How do they do this? By filling every little second of their film with dialogue.

Different story formats overuse dialogue differently. TV shows bombard their audience to try and keep them from turning the channel. The writer of a short film may try to cram as much “story” into 10 minutes as possible. Writers of feature films may feel the need 'to fill out those 90-110 pages.’

Dialogue is the Quickest Way to Fill a Page, Not the Best Way

Dialogue is the quickest way to fill up a page, but if that’s the reason you’re using it, a re-evaluation of story and approach might go a long way.

I come from a visual background, spending a majority of my education studying art history and practicing illustration, so I have an appreciation for films with fewer words. People have stronger ties to visuals than words; atmosphere can go a long way. Words we associate just with communication; pictures we associate with just about anything.

Entice Your Audience

More often than not, the problem lies with filmmakers not leaving it up to chance for the audience to jump from one plot point to another. Imagine trying to walk across the street as a kid, only to have 50 people stop you all at once, then force you to look both ways! If you talk your audience through the entire plot, at the end of the actual film, they walk away with little investment. You want to entice your audience and let them wrap themselves up within your created world of story all on their own.

Leave more up to atmosphere. Use a beat within your scene to let a moment have impact, or for an action to actually have meaning, before it’s glossed over with another string of dialogue. Two characters staring each other down, after one accuses the other, is more powerful then having the accused spit out a response right away. If your audience is constantly being pushed through the story without a moment to breath or time to process where each character stands, your audience will feel like mistakes are being made and covered up with the distraction of words.

Less is More

Not to say that dialogue should be completely eliminated, just used with the right amount of moderation. I applaud those moments when a film allows us to make the connections we need in order to become invested within the world of story. Sometimes, allowing your audience to reach their own conclusions is the strongest thing you can do as a filmmaker!

Aaron Robson is a filmmaker from Toronto. His film Raising Bigfoot was in our Top 150 International Short Films for 2012. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aarontherobson

This post is based on one originally presented by Film Army.

Agree with Aaron? Disagree? Have your own filmmaker tips, best practices or mistakes to avoid that you would like to share? Get in touch! E-Mail the YoungCuts Film Festival Director, Michael Ryan: Mike@YoungCuts.com