Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

    Hey guys.
    Just curious as to how i would write trembling or stuttering in a script.
    Would it be

    JOHN (Stuttering)
    I guess so

    or

    JOHN
    (Stuttering)
    I guess so

    I am using Movie Magic 4 and if i click enter after i type the name in it takes me to the dialougue line so i am thinking its the same as where the (os) and (vo) goes.

    Any help would be great.
    Cheers

  • #2
    Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

    Have you tried:

    JOHN
    I g-g-guess s-so.


    Just a thought, as reading 'stuttering' stops you and makes you think about it, while just doing it may flow better.

    I've seen it done both ways.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

      And I really wouldn't do it:

      John (stuttering)

      only:

      John
      (stuttering)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

        how do i do that in movie magic ?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

          Originally posted by projectaero View Post
          how do i do that in movie magic ?
          I have Movie Magic.

          Do what? The dashes?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

            for it to be
            John
            (Stuttering)

            You have to do it manually i think theres no Auto way to make it go underneath the name is there?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

              Use the 'P' way over on the right, just under the 'D'.

              You'll get ( ) under the character name, a bit over to the left. Add the word you want.

              It leaves an extra space after, that I go in and delete to make it look clean.

              It'll look like this:

              ................JOHN
              ......(stuttering)
              I guess so.

              I'd still t-t-try it the other way, first. Just don't over-do the dashes.

              I can't imagine that John Cleese used (stuttering) every time Ken said anything in 'A Fish Called Wanda'. If you use the dashes in the dialogue like I did, it's obvious John is stuttering and it flows better.

              Just a thought.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

                Below is a scene from one of my screenplays, which has a stammering character. It won Austin and has gotten a lot of reads and I never heard a bad word mentioned about the style of this scene. But, it's just one way to approach it. Whatever feels right and gives your reader the sense they're watching the movie. For me, this worked.


                INT. CAR DEALERSHIP - DAY
                The salesman opens the car door for Peter to climb out.

                CAR SALESMAN
                You want to talk price? I think I can make you a very good deal.

                Peter stammers nervously as he tries to get the words out.

                PETER
                Um...I...um...I...I...I....

                CAR SALESMAN
                Yes?

                PETER
                There's some... some... some... prob... prob... prob...

                CAR SALESMAN
                Problems? Something concerns you?

                Peter nods with appreciation. His speech impediment is a major obstacle to closing the deal.

                CAR SALESMAN (CONT'D)
                What is it?

                PETER
                Num... num... num...

                CAR SALESMAN
                Number one, yes. Problem number one.

                Peter kicks a tire.

                PETER
                Pri... pri... pri.. pri...

                CAR SALESMAN
                Price. Price is a problem?

                Peter wipes his brow and smiles with embarrassment.

                CAR SALESMAN (CONT'D)
                Well, we can talk about that. Who ever paid a sticker price for a car before, right? I mean we can go down five percent right off the bat.

                PETER
                Te... te...

                CAR SALESMAN
                Yes, even ten. You're right. Sure. We usually do that anyway. That should put you right in the ballpark then. We just want to get you behind the wheel.
                (beat)
                Anything else concern you?

                The salesman holds his breath, hoping for some relief. He looks around the showroom. All the other salesmen are gone.

                PETER
                Mi...Mi...

                CAR SALESMAN
                My suit...what?

                Peter shakes his head.

                PETER
                Mi... Mi... Mileage.

                CAR SALESMAN
                Mileage? Oh, mileage.

                Peter nods yes appreciatively.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

                  I would have mentioned earlier Peter has a speech imprediment as part of his character bio in his introduction and get it out of the way. Then when he does speak we accept the fact that he stammers..

                  But yes, your formatting is fine..

                  If you join the periods then this works well.. If you leave a space bewteen periods this signifies a "pause" so best to keep the words joined by periods and use the three period followed by a space for a "pause" and I reckon readers would understand which is which..

                  Good point to bring up..

                  Good job..

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

                    Actually, Peter is pretending to have a speech impediment to rattle the salesman to get a better deal on the car. So, if I mentioned he had a speech impediment up front, it would be false...and if I said he was faking, it would spoil the surprise later on in the scene. But that's all neither here nor there. Whether we use - or ... I think it all works. But by mentioning his speech impediment up front, and never again, the reader may forget. I'm just a fan of making characters read the way they talk. This includes foreign accents and mispronounciations too. I like to write it the way the ear would hear it. I think it's the most filmic way.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

                      Originally posted by RGF View Post
                      Actually, Peter is pretending to have a speech impediment to rattle the salesman to get a better deal on the car. So, if I mentioned he had a speech impediment up front, it would be false...and if I said he was faking, it would spoil the surprise later on in the scene. But that's all neither here nor there. Whether we use - or ... I think it all works. But by mentioning his speech impediment up front, and never again, the reader may forget. I'm just a fan of making characters read the way they talk. This includes foreign accents and mispronounciations too. I like to write it the way the ear would hear it. I think it's the most filmic way.
                      I agree.

                      Just saying once that he has a stutter would most likely be forgotten, even if it didn't spoil the surprise. Stutters are never just thrown in for no reason. They always have a purpose and should be sounded out in the readers head, not just announced.

                      Also, I'm in the market for a new car. Does the stuttering work?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Voice Tone ie Stuttering, Trembling How To ?

                        It works...but don't give up plan B ... excessive cleavage.

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X