Coursework Research: Dialogue

What is dialogue?
Dialogue is a written or verbal conversation between two or more people, as a feature of a book, play or film.

Is dialogue necessary in the opening two minutes of a feature film?
Personally, I don't think that dialogue is 100% necessary within the opening sequence of a film; but this is not to say it cannot add to it if it is included and used correctly. Typically speaking, openings with dialogue reveal more information to the audience about the plot and characters as it puts across directly the characters emotions or can immediately define what is going on. This is effective because it allows the audience to develop a connection quickly with  a character or the plot, giving them an incentive to keep watching as they can begin to invest in certain characters and become interested with where the story will go. However, film openings without dialogue can resonate and have an impact on the audience as they can create a sense of ambiguity that sparks an interest to keep on watching. It also forces the audience to focus on different parts of the mis-en-scene if there is no dialogue to draw their attention; so aspects of a characters personality can be revealed through the things they have on their desk for example, rather than being directly shown through speech.

Examples of dialogue being and not being used in film openings of the following genres:

Comedy :

Comedy film openings would generally be expected to use dialogue as that is the easiest way to deliver humour; however some forms without, e.g mr bean, can also be just as effective.

Without dialogue: Airplane

Positives: The opening is very simplistic as it just includes one theme tune and that is it. This is effective because it is a well known theme (jaws) and put into the comic situation of an airplane wing makes it have a comedic effect. If there was any dialogue it could draw away from this parody and ruin the intended humour.

Negatives:
The disadvantage of only using this theme and no dialogue, is that unless the person had heard of/seen jaws then the joke will be lost on them . This reliance on the parody could mean that people don't get the joke and therefore are more likely to turn the film off as it wouldn't be funny to them .

With dialogue: The Hangover

Positives: The advantage of using dialogue here is that it introduces the audience immediately into the plot line of the film : a wedding at risk due to a bachelor party. This then sets the entire rest of the film up as the audience know what to expect, so they can pay more attention to the humour as they have a clear concept of the plot from the first scenes.

Negatives: The dialogue in this opening has a serious tone, which is unusual as it is a comedy. This could give the audience the wrong impression on what to expect in terms of the tone of the film.

Horror

Horror film openings usually are more effective without dialogue, as typically they rely on ambiguity to cause suspense and dialogue can ruin this effect. Furthermore, the use of a good eerie soundtrack can be very useful within this genre and using dialogue can too detract from this having as large an impact on the audience.

Without dialogue: 

The Woman in Black 

Positives:
This creates a sense of suspense and fear as the lack of dialogue forces the audience to take in the childrens' expressions and read the characters that way. The theme is spooky and sets up the genre perfectly as it makes the reader aware that this isn't going to be a happy film. The fact that it is just soundtrack adds to the impact of the actions of the children as it creates a sense of ambiguity to as why they are doing it; and the unknown is what installs  fear thus suiting the genre perfectly.

Negatives:
Personally I don't think that there are any issues with this opening not having dialogue as I think dialogue would have just detracted from the atmosphere that the music creates.

With dialogue:

The Conjuring

Positives:
The dialogue in this film opening reveals the backstory to the film, making the audience already begin to feel a bit unsteady as they are presented with the dark past of the doll. It gives them an insight into what the plot may involve and also the sinister tone of the feel; creating a nervous atmosphere.

Negatives:
The downside of using dialogue in this film is the fact that  it could be seen as revealing too much information too quickly, especially as the genre is horror. Usually horror films feed of the unknown and the dialogue in this lets a lot of the backstory be revealed very quickly, and once this is done it is very hard to maintain the element of surprise as the audience can already begin to speculate what is going to happen. This can then lead to the events of the film being cliche and detract from fear that the audience have the potential to feel.

Action

Action film openings can vary on whether or not they use dialogue or not as it can be equally effective either way ; without dialogue can be an action packed beginning and introduce the plot just as well through the actual movement in the scenes, but with dialogue can introduce characters and plot to make the audience want to continue watching.

Without dialogue: Casino royale

Positives:
The positives of not using dialogue is that it doesn't overload the audience in the first minutes, it introduces them to the genre through the titles without there being any dialogue to detract from that. It also forces the audience to focus on the different transitions which give parts of the character and plot away; introducing the genre in a more subtle style than typically action does.

Negatives:

The downside of not using any dialogue at all in this opening is that personally I find it becomes a bit boring, the music isn't enough to capture and keep the attention of the audience. It doesn't reveal much about the character or plot, so it doesn't give the audience much to go on by or give them any real insight into what the film may contain, which makes it difficult to make them want to watch on. 

Drama

Dialogue again can vary in the openings of drama films as it is such a broad genre, so depending on the content the relevance of dialogue will change. It can be more important in this genre though, as dialogue is a good tool to introduce characters and drama films usually rely very heavily on their characters as a way to keep the audience captivated. 

Without dialogue: Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind

Positives:
The effect of no dialogue here is that the opening remains simple, yet meaningful. The character is introduced to us via narration which allows the audience to have a more intimate connection because it feels like they are being spoken directly to, whereas with dialogue it could depersonalise or over complicate the information we are being given. This connection with a character is crucial within drama films thus the choice of narration here is very effective.

Negatives:
I do not think that dialogue would add to this opening at all, thus personally I cannot see any negatives with its absence.

With dialogue : Social network

Positives: 
This opening has a large amount of dialogue, which works because it instantly gives the audience an insight into the characters; Mark Zuckerberg is a very intelligent human being who appears to talk at least double the speed of a normal human. This works as it draws the audience in to see where this character will be going.

Negatives:
The downside of using such a dialogue filled opening is that it could be seen as a bit difficult to follow; as the character talks so quickly it is tricky to keep track of what he says and thus the audience may miss crucial parts of the characters personality.

Romance:

Dialogue is quite important to romance film openings as it is when the two characters involved are usually introduced to the audience and/or each other. This is usually best depicted with dialogue, however sometimes a good soundtrack can give a similar effect.

Without dialogue: Dear John

Positives:

This opening uses narration, which brings the audience closer with the character and adds more emotion to the opening than perhaps it would have if it used dialogue, as it is like the characters thoughts being directly projected to the audience. This adds a sense of intimacy that sets the scene for the rest of the film. 

Negatives:

Some could interpret this narration as a bit cringe worthy, and thus less effective than a dialogue between two characters would have been. However I feel that this format of a letter suits the genre and sets the tone well so this is a minor criticism. 

With dialogue:

Ps I love you

Positives:

The dialogue in this shows the audience the dynamics of the couples relationship from the start, making them want to follow and find out the result, as well as introducing them to the different characters and the different aspects of their personality. 

Negatives:

It throws the audience straight into the dialogue of an argument, which could be misleading as characters can be perceived differently in an argument compared to normal dialogue. Furthermore the audience is more likely to concentrate on the content of the dialogue rather than focusing on getting to grips with the different characters, so to doesn't really set them up for the rest of the film. 

What issues could I face by using dialogue in my coursework?

I think that the main issue with using dialogue is making sure that the sound quality is good, especially if the opening was set outside or somewhere where there is lots of background noise as this would then detract from the overall image of the opening. Furthermore, I would have to make sure that if I do use any dialogue that it is all relevant, as it is quite easy just to include ramblings that don't actually add anything to the overall scene, and could over complicate a plot. 

What issues could I face by not using dialogue in my coursework?

The main challenge would be portraying the characters and plot clearly without dialogue, as it is quite easy for some of the ideas to be lost when there is no dialogue being used and then the audience could become confused. Also, dialogue is a good way of keeping an audience's attention, so if I choose not to use I would have to think of other ways to keep their focus.