In this short interview clip from Film Courage, author/writer/instructor Matthew Kalil speaks on improving dialogue in a screenplay With The 3 Wells. His website breaks them down as such:
EXTERNAL SOURCES WELLAll the movies we’ve seen and books we’ve read. Our mind’s cache of media such as TV series, YouTube clips, and Facebook posts. A reservoir of other people’s ideas.
IMAGINATION WELL
Laid in fantastically porous soil. Once we access it, the ideas come shooting out like a fountain. “Divine inspiration.” The flash of lightning from above.
MEMORY WELL
Our personal memories and experiences: People we’ve met, experiences we’ve had, places we’ve been to, and complex emotions we’ve felt. It is the sum total of our life experience.
Would you categorize dialogue within these 3 brackets? Any additional suggestions as to how to improve dialogue in a screenplay?
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A balanced intuitive combo. of all three would get my vote. Which should make it ring real, not forced or contrived, and also not so super stylized or cooly aloof that viewers remain confused. Annunicated, clear, loud enough, and not hyper sped-up would also great. LOL - Since, imho, there are few things worse than paying money to watch a film and not knowing what the heck people are saying because they're mumbling, speeding, or talking jive - but not in a hip way. There's a reason actors and speakers do vocal chord and tongue warm-ups. Editors who sweeten up audio in post often work miracles, but they can only do so much. Sorry if the second half sounded a little ranty. Can you tell I do some editing and audio -fixing for a living? :)
“The Three Wells of Screenwriting” a brilliant book with an original and powerful take on creativity, and the author Matthew Kalil is an incredible individual. I’m fortunate enough to have had him as my writing mentor for the thesis semester of my MFA in Screenwriting at the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts at Maharishi International University.
AND the book is actually on sale at Amazon!
https://smile.amazon.com/Three-Wells-Screenwriting-Discover-Inspiration/...