• Low status: characterized by subordination or deference to others
• High status: characterized by superiority, primacy, or dominance over others
If you listen, you can hear these status roles reflected in the way people talk:
VERY LOW STATUS: If you're not using it, could you please pass that pen?
LOW STATUS: Please pass the pen.
HIGH STATUS: Give me the pen.
VERY HIGH STATUS: Pen. Now.
And:
VERY LOW STATUS: How are you feeling? Are you thirsty? Should I get you a drink?
LOW STATUS: If you're thirsty, let me get you a drink.
HIGH STATUS: You look thirsty. I'm getting you a drink.
VERY HIGH STATUS: You're thirsty. Go get something to drink.
Status is an incredibly powerful tool in the writing of dialogue. It influences not only how people speak, but also how they interact with each other. It adjusts itself from line to line and moment to moment. Most important, there is something about status that is instinctive. You do not need to explain status interactions to an audience. High status and low status cues are hard wired into our brains. Millions of years of evolution have designed us to instantly recognize when someone is asserting dominance, when someone is challenging dominance, and when someone is being subordinate. These social cues allowed our animal ancestors to lay claim to food, recognize threats, and share in resources. As humans evolved, as we developed language, tools, civilization, and culture, this primal understanding has taken on many complicated layers. But the underlying forces of dominance and subordination, of primacy and deference, still influence our speech and behavior.
This entire section of the book will be devoted to status and the myriad ways that it plays out in human interaction and dialogue. For this lesson, let's just focus on crafting lines that reflect different status levels.
LESSON 4: SCRIPT ANALYSIS EXERCISE
Neil Simon's dialogue tends to have very clear and simple status interactions. Have the group review three different dialogue scenes from Neil Simon plays or screenplays. (See the Appendix for a list of suggestions.) Choose scenes that contain only two characters and are two to three pages in length.
Individually or as a group, go through each scene line by line. Identify the status role that the speaker is taking in each line. Make a note next to each line:
• VL = very low status
• L = low status
• H = high status
• VH = very high status
For Discussion:
1. Did you notice a trend for any of the characters? Which characters had a tendency to play high status? Which characters had a tendency to play low status?
2. Did characters ever break their status trend? If so, when? Why?
3. How did the characters’ status tactics affect your impression of their personalities?
4. How did the characters’ status interactions affect your understanding of their relationship?
LESSON 4: BEGINNER EXERCISE
For each of the activities below, write a line or two of dialogue that reflects how the very low status, the low status, the high status, and the very high status player would accomplish this activity:
• Ordering a cup of coffee, with sugar, in a restaurant
• Asking someone out on a date
• Talking a cop out of a speeding ticket
• Asking someone to pay back a debt
For Discussion:
1. Randomly read the lines out loud to the group. Have the group guess which status role the speaker was taking.
2. What in the line made the group select that status role?
3. If the status role that the group guessed is different than the status role that the writer intended, discuss what it was in the writing that caused the discrepancy.
4. Compare and contrast the very low status lines with each other. How are they similar? How are they different?
5. Compare and contrast the low status lines with each other. How are they similar? How are they different?
6. Compare and contrast the high status lines with each other. How are they similar? How are they different?
7. Compare and contrast the very high status lines with each other. How are they similar? How are they different?
LESSON 4: INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED EXERCISE
Rather than just four levels of status (very low, low, high, and very high), imagine that there are ten. They exist on a spectrum from the very, very, very, very low to the very, very, very, very high.
Starting with the very, very, very, very low, write a line of dialogue in which a character asks someone out on a date. Rewrite the line nine more times. With each rewrite, raise the status of the speaker one notch along the spectrum. Your final line should have the speaker taking on a very, very, very, very high status role.
For Discussion:
1. In random order, read each writer's lines out loud to the group. Have the group try to place the lines on the status spectrum. Can the group organize the lines from one to ten?
2. If the group has trouble placing any of the lines on the spectrum, discuss what it is about the line that makes it difficult to place.
3. After placing all the lines, have a member of the group read them out loud in sequence.
4. Have the group member read them out loud again. This time, the group member should read the same sequence, but try to invert the status role of each line using his voice and manner. For example: Try to read the very, very, very, very high status line in a very, very, very, very low status way. Read the very low status line in a very high status way.
5. What tricks of voice and manner did the speaker use to try to shift the status of the line?
6. Were those tricks successful? Is it possible to make a low status line read as high status simply by changing your tone or manner? Is it possible to make a high status line read as low status simply by changing your tone or manner?
7. What is the effect of hearing a low status line read in a high status way? What is the effect of hearing a high status line read in a low status way?
8. If it is possible for an actor to invert the status of a line using his voice and manner, then how might an actor or director evaluate a line to decide which status level is appropriate?
LESSON 4: SOLO EXERCISE
1. Write the numbers one through ten on slips of paper and put them in a hat. These numbers represent levels on a spectrum of status. Number one is very, very, very, very low status. Number ten is very, very, very, very high status. Number five is halfway between.
2. Select a character from one of your scripts, scenes, or exercises. Draw a number out of the hat. Write a line of dialogue in which your character takes on that status level.
3. Draw another number out of the hat. Rewrite the same line of dialogue to take on the new status level.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have drawn all the numbers out of the hat.
5. Repeat this exercise regularly as an ongoing writer's workout.
1: No one enjoys being equal.
—David Mamet (The Power Outage)
LESSON FIVE:
Give and Take
K
eith Johnstone notes that status does not exist in a vacuum. An individual's status is always defined relative to the people around him. The low status player must always keep himself lower than the people around him. The high status player must always keep herself higher than the people around her. In human interaction and in human conversation, high status and low status aren't fixed marks; they are moving targets. This means that, as dialogue moves, every individual adjusts his status to move along with it.
How do characters do this? Consider the following line:
PERSON A: I baked some chocolate chip cookies.
In response to this line, the low status person must place himself lower than the person who just spoke. He does this by either lowering his own status:
LOW STATUS: God, I can't bake anything
. My cookies are always a disaster.
Or raising the status of the other person:
LOW STATUS: Mmmmmm. You know I am a slave to your chocolate chip cookies!
In response to the same line, the high status person must place herself higher than the person who just spoke. She does this by either raising her own status:
HIGH STATUS: Cookies! I make mine with walnuts. People love them. I sold fourteen dozen at the school bake sale.
Or lowering the status of the other person:
HIGH STATUS: Finally, you baked something that you didn't burn!
Line by line, characters have the power to give and take status. When characters engage in this dance, when they adjust their status levels moment to moment, it brings the dialogue to life. It creates a dynamic backdrop for a scene. It puts the characters on a constantly shifting playing field. As a dialogue writer, you should practice this give and take between characters. Learn to pass status back and forth expertly and deftly.
LESSON 5: SCRIPT ANALYSIS EXERCISE
Have the group attend the same play or watch the same film. (See the Appendix for a list of suggestions.) Get a copy of the script. Have each member of the group review the script on his own and find an example of a two-line exchange of dialogue in which:
1. A character attempts to lower his status beneath that of the person who just spoke.
2. A character attempts to raise another character's status.
3. A character attempts to raise his own status above that of the person who just spoke.
4. A character attempts to lower another character's status.
Print out the dialogue exchanges and share them with the group.
For Discussion:
1. Read the dialogue exchanges randomly out loud to the class. Have the group try to guess which status goal above (1, 2, 3, or 4) the group member was trying to illustrate.
2. Was there any disagreement in the opinions? If so, what in the writing led to the disagreement?
3. After all the lines have been read, compare and contrast the tactics that different characters used to lower their status beneath that of the person who just spoke. How were they similar? How were they different?
4. After all the lines have been read, compare and contrast the tactics that different characters used to raise another character's status. How were they similar? How were they different?
5. After all the lines have been read, compare and contrast the tactics that different characters used to raise their own status above the person who just spoke. How were they similar? How were they different?
6. After all the lines have been read, compare and contrast the tactics that different characters used to lower another character's status. How were they similar? How were they different?
LESSON 5: BEGINNER EXERCISE
For each of the lines of dialogue below, write a response from:
1. A character attempting to lower his status beneath that of the speaker.
2. A character attempting to raise the speaker's status.
3. A character attempting to raise his status above that of the speaker.
4. A character attempting to lower the speaker's status.
Starting lines:
• It's cold outside.
• Could I borrow your car?
• My play is going to Broadway!
• I love your shoes.
• I'm sorry about the mess.
Write each exchange in dialogue form. Here's an example.
PERSON A: It's cold outside.
PERSON B (fluffng her fur coat): Not when you're wearing a mink.
When you've finished the exercise, you should have twenty different dialogue exchanges (four different responses to five different opening lines). Write each exchange out on an index card.
For Discussion:
1. Collect the index cards and put them in a hat. Draw an index card randomly. Have two group members act out the dialogue exchange on the card.
2. Identify the writer of the dialogue exchange. Have the group try to guess which status goal (1, 2, 3 or 4) the writer was trying to achieve.
3. Was there any discrepancy between what the group guessed and what the writer intended? If so, try to identify what in the writing led to this discrepancy.
4. After you've reviewed at least ten different dialogue exchanges, make a list of which lines created the biggest status gaps between the first speaker and the second. What was the effect or impression created by those large status gaps?
5. Make a list of which lines created the smallest status gaps between the first speaker and the second. What was the effect or impression created by those small status gaps?
LESSON 5: INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED EXERCISE
1. Pick one of the starting lines of dialogue below:
• It's cold outside.
• Could I borrow your car?
• My play is going to Broadway!
• I love your shoes.
• I'm sorry about the mess.
2. In response to each starting line of dialogue, write ten different responses from a low status person attempting to lower his status beneath that of the speaker. Start by having the low status person place his status only slightly lower. With each rewrite of the line, expand the status gap. By the tenth rewrite of the line, the low status person should be placing himself ten times lower than the speaker.
3. In response to the same starting line of dialogue, write ten different responses from a low status person attempting to raise the speaker's status. Start by having the low status person raise the speaker's status only slightly higher. With each rewrite of the line, expand the status gap. By the tenth rewrite of the line, the low status person should be raising the speaker's status ten times higher than the speaker.
4. In response to the same starting line of dialogue, write ten different responses from a high status person attempting to raise his status above that of the speaker. Start by having the high status person raise his own status only slightly higher than the speaker. With each rewrite of the line, expand the status gap. By the tenth rewrite of the line, the high status person should be placing himself ten times higher than the speaker.
5. In response to the same starting line of dialogue, write ten different responses from a high status person attempting to lower the speaker's status. Start by having the high status person lower the speaker's status only slightly. With each rewrite of the line, expand the status gap. By the tenth rewrite of the line, the high status person should be lowering the speaker's status by a factor of ten.
For Discussion:
1. Have each writer read one of her sets of ten lines out loud. She should read these lines in random order.
2. Have the group guess which set of ten lines from the exercise assignment (2, 3, 4, or 5) the writer was attempting to create.
3. Have the group organize the lines along a spectrum spanning the smallest status gap to the largest status gap.
4. What is the difference between large status gaps and small status gaps? Do they have a different effect on the audience? Do they give you different impressions of a character?
LESSON 5: SOLO EXERCISE
1. Write the numbers one through ten on slips of paper and put them in a hat. In this drill, the numbers will represent increments of status.
2. Write an opening line of dialogue for Character A.
3. Pick one of the following four options for the responding character (Character B):
• The low status person attempting to lower his status beneath that of the speaker.
• The low status person attempting to raise the speaker's status.
• The high status person attempting to raise his status above that of the speaker.
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