I love you.
You're really beautiful.
Let's be friends forever.
Isn't the sunshine just lovely?
My, that sure is a nice looking haircut you got there.
I'm just a janitor.
I'm never sad.
My mother says the sweetest things.
Her Facebook picture is pretty.
I'll be back.
I'll have what she's having.
Can these seemingly uninteresting lines of dialogue actually be used effectively and with more meaning? Of course, they can. It all depends on the scene you create.
Here are some examples:
Line: I love you.
Have a romantic couple kiss each other, say the line, then pick up their axes and run through a crowd of flesh eating zombies.
Line: You're really beautiful.
Use this line during a touching first kiss scene between a human being and a ten-eyed, two-assed, green alien from another planet.
Line: Let's be friends forever.
Go for a tearjerker moment and have this line come out either on the battlefield or at the "just about to die" moment in a hospital bed.
Line: Isn't the sunshine just lovely?
No, it's not, because the sun is GMO BOB: the genetically modified firefly with shark teeth! Have GMO Bob bite the head off the character who initially thought the sunshine was lovely.
Line: My, that sure is a nice looking haircut you got there.
I like a prison setting for this one. Have the line come out in a shower scene between two death row inmates, the day before one of them will be executed.
Line: I'm just a janitor.
No character should be who he says he is. Make sure this line is used after he uses his super cool Jackie Chan moves on three baddies and sends them to the morgue.
Line: I'm never sad.
This line can only be interesting if we know the character is actually really sad.
Line: My mother says the sweetest things.
A line Norman Bates might use after sleeping with his dead, naked mother in a prequel to Psycho. (You know Hollywood wants to make another Norman Bates movie, don't you?)
Line: Her Facebook picture is pretty.
Have some creepy stalker character say this line while drinking a glass of milk and massaging his hands with baby oil. Your thriller practically writes itself, doesn't it?
Line: I'll be back.
Watch Arnold in the original Terminator and remember the moment he throws out this great line. Timing is everything with lines.
Line: I'll have what she's having.
I hope you know what classic movie this line is from, especially if you're trying to write a comedy. A great scene, and the famous line was delivered by the director's mother.
So there you have it. Some quick tips on how you can make your very non-fancy lines more fancy and meaningful for your script.
It's all about the scene you write.
Hasta la vista, screenwriters!
You're really beautiful.
Let's be friends forever.
Isn't the sunshine just lovely?
My, that sure is a nice looking haircut you got there.
I'm just a janitor.
I'm never sad.
My mother says the sweetest things.
Her Facebook picture is pretty.
I'll be back.
I'll have what she's having.
Can these seemingly uninteresting lines of dialogue actually be used effectively and with more meaning? Of course, they can. It all depends on the scene you create.
Here are some examples:
Line: I love you.
Have a romantic couple kiss each other, say the line, then pick up their axes and run through a crowd of flesh eating zombies.
Line: You're really beautiful.
Use this line during a touching first kiss scene between a human being and a ten-eyed, two-assed, green alien from another planet.
Line: Let's be friends forever.
Go for a tearjerker moment and have this line come out either on the battlefield or at the "just about to die" moment in a hospital bed.
Line: Isn't the sunshine just lovely?
No, it's not, because the sun is GMO BOB: the genetically modified firefly with shark teeth! Have GMO Bob bite the head off the character who initially thought the sunshine was lovely.
Line: My, that sure is a nice looking haircut you got there.
I like a prison setting for this one. Have the line come out in a shower scene between two death row inmates, the day before one of them will be executed.
Line: I'm just a janitor.
No character should be who he says he is. Make sure this line is used after he uses his super cool Jackie Chan moves on three baddies and sends them to the morgue.
Line: I'm never sad.
This line can only be interesting if we know the character is actually really sad.
Line: My mother says the sweetest things.
A line Norman Bates might use after sleeping with his dead, naked mother in a prequel to Psycho. (You know Hollywood wants to make another Norman Bates movie, don't you?)
Line: Her Facebook picture is pretty.
Have some creepy stalker character say this line while drinking a glass of milk and massaging his hands with baby oil. Your thriller practically writes itself, doesn't it?
Line: I'll be back.
Watch Arnold in the original Terminator and remember the moment he throws out this great line. Timing is everything with lines.
Line: I'll have what she's having.
I hope you know what classic movie this line is from, especially if you're trying to write a comedy. A great scene, and the famous line was delivered by the director's mother.
So there you have it. Some quick tips on how you can make your very non-fancy lines more fancy and meaningful for your script.
It's all about the scene you write.
Hasta la vista, screenwriters!
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