One of the hardest things in screenwriting is deciding how much information the audience actually needs.
Explain too much, and you risk taking away the discovery. Explain too little, and an important story beat may never land.
How do you decide when to explain something and when to trust the audience to put the pieces together?
Have you ever removed dialogue or exposition and discovered the scene became stronger because of it?
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This is an absolutely fascinating question.
I've actually been learning to do both. My first script, The Silent PFC War, is hard sci-fi, so I had to explain much of the science behind the story. My second script, Contradiction, is much more mysterious, so I rely on double meanings, subtext, and letting the audience think for themselves before gradually uncovering the truth.
I'm still a beginner and learning how to balance both writing styles, but so far, I think it really depends on the idea you want to tell and the genre you're writing.
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Hey, Joshua Powell. It depends on the genre and scene. I've removed dialogue and exposition and discovered it made scenes stronger a lot of times. And I've used different things to make exposition not feel like exposition.
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I trust my audience to get my meaning eventually lol. I'll admit, when I was newer at writing I was terrified of things getting lost in translation so I overexplained and was quite on-the-nose, and I thought the whole idea of a writer leaving things to interpretation was a big cop out, but now that I'm where I am, I realise how liberating it is to be able to do that (properly, of course lol). As such, I like to think that my intended audience is full of geniuses who like that I don't explain everything, because half the magic happens in their mind.
I know my first screenplay that I'm rewriting, God bless it, puts immense trust in the audience, especially kids (it's all-ages and I'm of the belief that kids are absolutely brilliant), so anything less than that is entirely inexcusable, imho.
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A. Trust your guts. B No.
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This question hits home. I've had 30+ industry readers review my pitches — and the #1 lesson: the FILM can trust the audience, but the PITCH cannot. A producer who doesn't know what genre they're buying won't buy. I learned the hard way that ambiguity is a narrative tool for the spectator but an obstacle for the buyer.
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One of my first big, head-spinning revisions was taking 3- page section of dialog with an explanation that the protagonist sought, but I broke up the "talking heads" into a 5-page, dream/memory montage with pared down dialog and majorly amped up visuals. It's definitely stronger, I think, but itself has received criticism.
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I started filmmaking by joining a public access television station. So I realized that it is a good idea to learn by creating shorts. After editing, show a short film to another filmmaker. Watch their face while they watch your video. That is a fast way to learn what works. And more recently I have contacted others in my network here at Stage32. "I am willing to read your screenplay if you read mine." I have received many useful comments in this way.
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When reading scripts it is always refreshing to see when the writer respects the audience’s intelligence. When everything is explained in dialogue the characters lose personality and the lack of subtext makes interactions less engaging.