{"id":1576,"date":"2008-11-04T20:29:18","date_gmt":"2008-11-04T20:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=1576"},"modified":"2008-11-04T20:29:18","modified_gmt":"2008-11-04T20:29:18","slug":"unspoken-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/unspoken-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Subtext – Unspoken Communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Body

The subtext of a scene is the underlying emotion that changes or alters the meaning of the words spoken or the actions taken.\u00a0 Or it is what is \u201cunder the skin of a character.\u201d\u00a0 Or it is what is under the surface of what a character says or does.\u00a0 Subtext is what is left unsaid, or what is actively concealed or what is not right out in the open.\u00a0 It is the part of the scene the audience must \u201cfill in.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example: A mom finishes preparing dinner. A plate with chocolates sits on a nearby kitchen counter.\u00a0 As her very young son heads directly toward the chocolate, she says, \u201cTommy come here.\u201d Why does his mom call to Tommy?<\/p>\n

If you say \u201cbecause she doesn\u2019t want him to eat the chocolate before dinner,\u201d you have understood the subtext in this simple scene. The dialog never directly says his mom doesn\u2019t want him to eat the chocolate. You inferred that from the juxtaposition of the description of the scene and the dialogue.<\/p>\n

Is that subtext? Mom is really telling Tommy to \u201ccome here.\u201d\u00a0 There is no hidden or concealed meaning in her words. Subtext does not necessarily need to be \u201chidden\u201d in the sense that the characters have some secret or unspoken agenda.\u00a0 Mom really does want Tommy to come here.\u00a0 Subtext is the additional meaning we infer from the words spoken.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s say the mom says, \u201cTommy come here.\u00a0 You know you can\u2019t eat sweets before dinner.\u00a0 It is very bad for you.\u00a0 Come here and eat a nice nutritious meal first.\u00a0 You can have the chocolates later for dessert.\u201d<\/p>\n

This version of the scene adds much more information.\u00a0 It spells out exactly what is going on in much more detail than we need to understand the scene. It doesn\u2019t allow the audience to fill in any spaces themselves.\u00a0 The scene is less interesting and is \u201ctoo talky.\u201d\u00a0 In writing, less is always more.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t allow the audience to be engaged in creating the scene they become bored.\u00a0 Think of a time when someone gave you more information than you needed to understand something\u2014It felt dull and repetitious. Trust your audience to fill in the meaning of the scene.<\/p>\n

The text is what is on the page.\u00a0 It is narrative description, action and dialogue.\u00a0 Subtext is what is not on the page.\u00a0 Subtext is the emotional meaning of the scene.\u00a0 People don\u2019t say all they mean in a conversation.\u00a0 Sometimes, they don\u2019t say what they mean at all.<\/p>\n

In real life, we rarely speak exactly what is on our minds.\u00a0 We rarely ask for what we actually need.\u00a0 We rarely confront emotional issues head on.\u00a0 We talk around things and expect others infer what we mean or to fill in the gaps.\u00a0 Research has shown as much as 70% of communication is unspoken. Is that the case in your scripts?\u00a0 Or do your characters speak their minds too directly to be realistic or engaging?<\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0 In real life, an argument about \u201ctaking out the garbage\u201d is rarely about emptying out the kitchen wastebasket and carrying the contents to the outside bin.<\/p>\n

In life, such an argument is probably about who is responsible for what, who respects (or doesn\u2019t respect) whom, who is shirking households responsibilities and who is doing an unfair share, who is not paying enough attention to the home or the relationship or who is rebelling against another\u2019s order or control.\u00a0 The scene appears to be about one thing but it is really about another.<\/p>\n

Does every conversation have to have subtext?\u00a0 Is any communication direct?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t \u201cno\u201d sometime just mean \u201cno\u201d?\u00a0 Ask yourself what is the person actually refusing?\u00a0 Let\u2019s say a woman offers a man a box of chocolates and the man says \u201cno.\u201d\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 What are the surrounding circumstances?\u00a0\u00a0 What emotional exchange is really taking place?\u00a0 What does the character\u2019s \u201cno\u201d mean?<\/p>\n

Is he on a diet?\u00a0 Is he trying to maintain his discipline and refusing to give into temptation? Does she know this and is subtly trying to sabotage him?\u00a0 Or does she think he is fine as he is and he should just enjoy the treat offered?\u00a0 Or is he furious because he told her he is severely allergic to chocolate and he thinks she is being insensitive or cruel?\u00a0 Or does he think she is offering this box of chocolates with a hidden agenda or that she is trying obligate him in some way? If set up properly, all that emotional information is processed in connection with the simple word \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

We call this additional information \u201csubtext\u201d because the real communication isn\u2019t on the surface of what is said.\u00a0 The real communication is just underneath the actual verbal exchange.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say two lovers are having a romantic Valentines Day dinner.\u00a0 One lover gives the other a beautiful box of chocolate and says, \u201cI love you.\u201d\u00a0 That is a very boring scene.\u00a0 Everything is spelled out and right on the surface.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s say the audience knows one lover is actually married to someone else (and the other lover doesn\u2019t know this).\u00a0 Or let\u2019s say the audience knows the box of chocolate is poisoned and one lover is actually plotting the murder of the other lover.\u00a0 Now the simple scene is much more interesting.<\/p>\n

What if the lovers really do love each other?\u00a0 If this is the case they should express their love in a way that allows their feelings to be communicated through subtext. The lovers should be talking about something else but really saying \u201cI love you.\u201d They might discuss or compare wines and really be talking about the nature of their love for each other.<\/p>\n

Actors do a much better job of communicating their emotions if they aren\u2019t saddled with \u201con the nose\u201d dialogue.\u00a0 Dialogue is \u201con the nose\u201d if it communicates exactly what is on the surface and nothing more. Remember that real people always infer much more than what is actually spoken.<\/p>\n

It feels more real and is more emotionally engaging if the audience is allowed to make the emotional connections between what a character says and what a character actually means or feels. Trust your actors and trust your audience to fill in the gaps.\u00a0 It will vastly improve your writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The subtext of a scene is the underlying emotion that changes or alters the meaning of the words spoken or the actions taken. Or it is what is \u201cunder the skin of a character.\u201d Or it is what is under the surface of what a character says or does. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,78],"tags":[25,26,653,27,28,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,654,41,42],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-random-thoughts-pop-culture-political-movie-television-blog","category-writing-tips-tricks-advice-help-script-screenplay-screenwriting-blog","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-communication","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-film","tag-films","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-subtext","tag-tv","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image Size 500x500":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",500,375,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Hutzler","author_link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"The subtext of a scene is the underlying emotion that changes or alters the meaning of the words spoken or the actions taken. Or it is what is \u201cunder the skin of a character.\u201d Or it is what is under the surface of what a character says or does.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}