Using an answering machine

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  • Using an answering machine

    I have a scene where I have Character 1 call Character 2 and an answering machine picks up. I want to show Character 2 to listening to the machine and her reactions while Character 1 speaks. I know I'll use (V.O.) for Character 1, but is it alright to have Character 1's dialog run longer (maybe double) than the standard few lines or do I need to break it up?
    I'm going to have Character 2 turn off the machine and listen a bit before she responds, so the scene is longer than the 30ish seconds you get to leave a message. I writing terms, maybe just over a page and Character 2's reactions will break it up, but I don't want them to detract from what Character 1 is saying.

    I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance.
    kthnxbai

  • #2
    Re: Using an answering machine

    What's an answering machine?

    In all seriousness, is there a way to play that out without one? Most everyone uses voicemail and caller ID.

    What if you had a Character 3? So Character 2 and 3 are talking or something, and Character 1 calls Character 2. Character 2 sees who it is and wants to let it go to VM. However, Character 1, instead of leaving a VM, calls Character 3, and Character 3, despite Character 2's histrionics about not picking up, picks up and starts to have a conversation with Character 1, with Character 2 overhearing part of that conversation, getting incensed (or whatever) and then yanks the phone away from Character 3 so he/she can start yelling (or whatever) at Character 1.

    And if that's not confusing enough...to answer your original question: you don't need to break up any character's lines if you don't want to. Write it all out, see how it plays. If you think it should be broken up, then do so, but there's no rules about it other than if it works or not.

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    • #3
      Re: Using an answering machine

      Originally posted by Richmond Weems View Post
      What's an answering machine?
      Yes. But: Could Apple Be Bringing Live Voicemail Screening to the iPhone? (3/4/14)

      My hunch was that an app to do this already existed, but I did a bit of Googling... and apparently that function cannot be done by an app. At least not now, because of OS restrictions.

      OK, so in a script you'd have to pretend that there already is such an app. And I think people would get it. That is, even if someone is of an age that s/he never used/saw an answering machine, I think s/he would get it - if you set it up correctly. For example, in an earlier scene, show the character using it and another char says, "You can screen your voicemail...?"

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      • #4
        Re: Using an answering machine

        LOL, I hear exactly what you are saying about answering machines, it's there because it's one of the protagonist's quirks. After she stops reacting and starts responding using it makes the scene.

        Thank you. I really appreciate the time you take, even if it's just a minute, to help someone out.
        kthnxbai

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        • #5
          Re: Using an answering machine

          Originally posted by Richmond Weems View Post
          What if you had a Character 3? So Character 2 and 3 are talking or something, and Character 1 calls Character 2. Character 2 sees who it is and wants to let it go to VM. However, Character 1, instead of leaving a VM, calls Character 3, and Character 3, despite Character 2's histrionics about not picking up, picks up and starts to have a conversation with Character 1, with Character 2 overhearing part of that conversation, getting incensed (or whatever) and then yanks the phone away from Character 3 so he/she can start yelling (or whatever) at Character 1.
          I've read a couple of scripts this year that played on people overhearing old-style answering machines, or playing messages, etc ...

          And I've got to say that it felt tropey every time. I only know a couple of people who have landlines anymore, but the only people I've called on a landline in the last three years are my parents. (WHo've finally gotten to the point of usually taking their phones with them when they go places now, so even that's changing).

          I think that even if you set up a character with a bunch of quirks - they had a generally anachronistic relationship with technology - I'd groan slightly when you used the overheard-message trope, and it'd run the risk of feeling like you built the entire character around those quirks for the sake of that moment.

          And if that's not confusing enough...to answer your original question: you don't need to break up any character's lines if you don't want to. Write it all out, see how it plays. If you think it should be broken up, then do so, but there's no rules about it other than if it works or not.
          Agreed with this. That being said, be careful - this is probably a situation where you'd edit down the conversation as much as possible to just get the key points artificially fast. There's less room for "fluff" in dialog when it's not two people in a room acting off each other, IMO.

          Phone calls are often less than great, cinematically. We like to see characters bouncing off each other. There are times when you have no choice, of course, and who knows what's going on in the original poster's script (character who is already dead, a message sent before they died, etc) but in general, I try to get my characters in the same physical space if something meaty is going to happen. More interesting stuff can happen that way.

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          • #6
            Re: Using an answering machine

            Originally posted by Wylietrix View Post
            LOL, I hear exactly what you are saying about answering machines, it's there because it's one of the protagonist's quirks. After she stops reacting and starts responding using it makes the scene.

            Thank you. I really appreciate the time you take, even if it's just a minute, to help someone out.
            De nada.

            BTW, since actual answering machines do still exist, another way to set this up would be for some character to say, earlier, "You still have an answering machine...?" And maybe the reason why is significant. Maybe it still has a message left by someone special. Or maybe because the outgoing message is by an old/lost friend of the main character - and it's an impersonation of some celebrity. In any event, it seems there's reader incredulity about answering machines, so if you have to have that in your story, you should consider some prior setup for it.

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            • #7
              Re: Using an answering machine

              Originally posted by Manchester View Post
              De nada.

              BTW, since actual answering machines do still exist, another way to set this up would be for some character to say, earlier, "You still have an answering machine...?" And maybe the reason why is significant. Maybe it still has a message left by someone special. Or maybe because the outgoing message is by an old/lost friend of the main character - and it's an impersonation of some celebrity. In any event, it seems there's reader incredulity about answering machines, so if you have to have that in your story, you should consider some prior setup for it.
              Or maybe it's a '70s/'80s period piece.

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              • #8
                Re: Using an answering machine

                Originally posted by BurOak View Post
                Or maybe it's a '70s/'80s period piece.
                It isn't.

                Don't worry, the phone thing is the only quirk she has and it really isn't a repetitive thing. That being said, I am open to taking out the quirky phone part, but I need the answering machine for this one scene to work. What do you think about her losing her cell and the only way to get a hold of her is the land line? This way it's a one time deal.



                The writing group I'm in read the first draft and they had no issues with a character having an answering machine. I'm asking the formatting question here, because I met the group in a novel writing class years ago, I switched to screenplays, they still write novels. They give good feedback on the content, but don't know squat about format.

                Thank you all again for the feedback.
                kthnxbai

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                • #9
                  Re: Using an answering machine

                  It's fine for any character's lines to run as long as they need to run without interruption. An entire screenplay with characters speaking in long paragraphs would have difficulty getting read, but almost all screenplays have key moments where a character has a long speech.

                  If the information from character 1 is vital and has an important and visible impact on character 2, then let the drama of the information be your guide and it will tell you when you when, if at all, you need to break it up.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Using an answering machine

                    thanks.
                    kthnxbai

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                    • #11
                      Re: Using an answering machine

                      A recent episode of the Scriptnotes podcast opens with a script which begins with an answer machine message...

                      http://johnaugust.com/2014/the-lost-...page-challenge

                      John and Craig discuss this scene, plus the link includes the 3 pages.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Using an answering machine

                        Cool! Thanks!
                        kthnxbai

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