Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

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  • #16
    Re: Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

    An elegant way to do this, which most people would immediately understand, is as follows.

    Code:
                        EMPLOYEE
            You can take this crummy job and 
            go [noparse][BLEEP][/noparse] yourself.
    
                        BOSS
            Yeah, well your work was pure [noparse][BLEEP][/noparse]
            and you can [noparse][BLEEP][/noparse] yourself, too, and 
            the horse that you rode in on.
    Brackets are rarely used, but they are useful at times.

    "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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    • #17
      Re: Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

      Originally posted by Terri View Post
      In the dialogue, how would I indicate a BLEEP in place of an actual expletive?
      Respectfully submit that you use the curse word as an extension of your character's character for your spec script. Whether or not to leave it that way will not be up to you, but will be the decision of those who own your work.

      Of course, there's also what is known as "Unnecessary Censorship."
      “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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      • #18
        Re: Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

        Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
        Respectfully submit that you use the curse word as an extension of your character's character for your spec script. Whether or not to leave it that way will not be up to you, but will be the decision of those who own your work.
        Normally I would agree but I think ComicBent is correct in this instance because it is a device which is part of the story construct, i.e. the writer actually wants to have an actual 'beep' there and not a discretionary one determined by rating/audience/network etc. The only other thing the writer should do is indicate what the bleeped word is so that the actor's lip movements match the word being bleeped. Cameron's method would also work; I'd understand either way.
        "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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        • #19
          Re: Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

          As you point out, the reason Comic Bent's method won't work is that the actors won't know what to say when filming. Put the word in dialogue, indicate that they're bleeped in stage direction or on title page #2.

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          • #20
            Re: Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

            couldn't one just insert the cuss word(s) later on? I mean if it's inferred rather easily what word it is:

            "get the **** off my lawn!"

            The f-word is censored by DDP but odds are you still knew it was the f-word.

            I'm sure I'm wrong, and would take your advice over mine in a heart beat, but using the 'bleep' in the dl instead of the actual word seems to help deliver a more visual read, at least to me it does. But I also understand that the actor would need to know what word to say once the script gets into the production stage, so why the **** not just put it in there to begin with.

            Anyway, that was an honest question.

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            • #21
              Re: Formatting Q: How to bleep out expletives in dialogue?

              Originally posted by TigerFang View Post
              Respectfully submit that you use the curse word as an extension of your character's character for your spec script. Whether or not to leave it that way will not be up to you, but will be the decision of those who own your work.
              I'm pretty sure I mentioned in the OP... this is a spoof of a real TV show, which does bleep out curse words. I want the movie to look/feel like you're really watching this show. THUS the bleeps.

              In any other script, I simply write out the curse words. This spoof is a special circumstance.

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