[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: What is on-the-nose-dialogue?
Author/Speaker/Artist/Screenwriter John Vorhaus: On-the-nose dialogue is dialogue that’s too direct and straightforward. It doesn’t give the audience anything interesting to think about. Often we can find on-the-nose dialogue where the character is saying exactly what he means with no space in between the text (what he’s saying) and the subtext (what he means). If I’m in love with you and I say I’m in love with you, that dialogue is directly on-the-nose dialogue. I’m telling you exactly what I mean. For the audience watching, unless it’s a very special moment, that’s probably not a very interesting moment because nothing is being challenged. Everything’s a little bit too easy.
If I say to you Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me? and everybody understands I’m really saying I love you, then I’ve taken dialogue that’s on-the-nose and moved it off-the-nose. I’ve given an inference or a suggestion of what I mean without stating what I mean directly. As a point of interest, I can tell you two different ways to say this phrase in other languages?
Film Courage: Oh please, yes.
John: In Spanish it’s demasiado obvia, too obvious, they don’t have a metaphor for it. But in Russian it is the beautiful slishkom mnogo lba that means too much forehead which is their way of saying on-the-nose. Often the difference between okay writing and great writing can be found in the distance between what is being said and what is being felt. Dialogue that’s on-the-nose is generally not satisfying because it doesn’t give the audience anything to work with or think about.
Film Courage: The subtext of…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
John Vorhaus is best known for his comedy-writing classic, The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You’re Not. He has taught and trained writers in 37 countries on five continents at last count, and created TV shows of his own in Nicaragua, Romania and elsewhere. His writing credits include dozens of teleplays and screenplays, plus seven novels and some two dozen works of non-fiction. His latest book is the little book of STANDUP. Vorhaus is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Writers Guild of America. He lives in Southern California and secretly controls the world from JohnVorhaus.com.
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
Check out Film Courage on Patreon!
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
