This is a spec script and I'm doing a scene where two horse-drawn carts have collided on a narrow street. There is a row between the drivers. So far, it looks like this:
DRIVER A
What in hell are you doing?
DRIVER B
Back up, you blockhead!
DRIVER A
Can't you see the street is too narrow?
DRIVER B
It's your ****ing cart that's too wide! There are rules about carts, you know.
And so on.
So I've only written the first dialogue lines. The row is continuing while other things happen. The main character is knocking on the door of a house right next to the street incident. The door is suddenly thrown open by the house owner who doesn't even notice the main character. He is angry at the ruckus in the street. Where a crowd is gathering to watch, contributing to the noise.
In the doorway stands HOUSEOWNER, an enormously fat man, red-faced and angry. He shouts at the two drivers, shakes his fist, cursing them for disturbing the peace and threatening to have them hanged, drawn and quartered.
The drivers go silent, look at him for a moment, then resume their shouting match.
So here is my question: How much of the actual dialogue do I need to write? Quarrels like this are mostly tedious and predictable. What Houseowner says could be more interesting but his exact words are not really relevant, since we know what he's about. Also, drivers and Houseowner are not having a conversation, they are interrupting each other and relying on volume. All shouting at the same time.
The words might be better left to the shooting script? Right or wrong? How do I convey the fact that they are all just shouting over each other?
DRIVER A
What in hell are you doing?
DRIVER B
Back up, you blockhead!
DRIVER A
Can't you see the street is too narrow?
DRIVER B
It's your ****ing cart that's too wide! There are rules about carts, you know.
And so on.
So I've only written the first dialogue lines. The row is continuing while other things happen. The main character is knocking on the door of a house right next to the street incident. The door is suddenly thrown open by the house owner who doesn't even notice the main character. He is angry at the ruckus in the street. Where a crowd is gathering to watch, contributing to the noise.
In the doorway stands HOUSEOWNER, an enormously fat man, red-faced and angry. He shouts at the two drivers, shakes his fist, cursing them for disturbing the peace and threatening to have them hanged, drawn and quartered.
The drivers go silent, look at him for a moment, then resume their shouting match.
So here is my question: How much of the actual dialogue do I need to write? Quarrels like this are mostly tedious and predictable. What Houseowner says could be more interesting but his exact words are not really relevant, since we know what he's about. Also, drivers and Houseowner are not having a conversation, they are interrupting each other and relying on volume. All shouting at the same time.
The words might be better left to the shooting script? Right or wrong? How do I convey the fact that they are all just shouting over each other?
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