The Screenwriter's Path

7Dialogue

Would you believe there are people out there who actually believe that the actors make up their own dialogue? And when you look at film history, that’s pretty much what actors did in the days of silent film because what they did say wasn’t being recorded and someone else would write the actual storyboards like “Oh, John, tell me it isn’t so” or other memorable bits of cinematic dialogue. So in many ways, the first film dialogue was improvised on the set between the actors based on a situation they were given by the director. Kind of nice, actually, for the actors—no lines to memorize! And my guess? The improvised lines on set by those silent film stars were probably much more compelling and real than what ended up on cards in the film. ...