Book description
Since the birth of cinema, film has been lauded as a visual rather than a verbal medium; this sentiment was epitomized by John Ford's assertion in 1964 that, 'When a motion picture is at its best, it is long on action and short on dialogue'. Little serious work has been…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked Overhearing Film Dialogue as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
What I love about this book is how it relates dialogue to all the other aspects of writing for the screen. I found the sections dealing with various approaches to ‘realism’ particularly useful, as I was writing a non-naturalistic script at the time.
The book is academic but also easily readable—an unusual combination! Books on film tend to focus on the visual aspects of the medium, so this is a refreshing change. It shows how central the words are in a script for the screen. I particularly appreciated the chapters on dialogue and genre.
From Rib's list on making you a great writer of dialogue.
If you love Overhearing Film Dialogue...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like Overhearing Film Dialogue?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Overhearing Film Dialogue.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,277
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Overhearing Film Dialogue, you might also like...
The Bridge
The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…
And Then They Were Gone
Of the 918 Americans who died in the shocking murder-suicides of November 18, 1978, in the tiny South American country of Guyana, a third were under eighteen. More than half were in their twenties or younger.
The authors taught in a small high school in San Francisco where Reverend Jim…
