"- Will somebody please explain what's going on?"
- Exposition.
It's one of the trickiest elements in storytelling.
And necessary evil that every writer must face.
"- It's plot exposition. It has to go somewhere. In any way."
- Today, we'll look at the challenges of delivering exposition
and creative ways you can use it in your own writing.
This is "What is Exposition".
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such as our "4 Endings" series.
And "What Makes a Great Villain".
Now, let's get down to business.
What is exposition?
In the words of the famous screenwriting instructor Robert McKee,
"Exposition means facts -
the information about setting, biography, and characterization
that the audience needs to know to follow and comprehend the events of the story."
For example, explaining the rules of the dream world.
"- You create the world of the dream.
We bring the subject into that dream and they feel it with their subconscious."
- Or how time travel works.
"- This is what makes time travel possible.
- Flux capacitor. - Flux capacitor."
- But how, and when you deliver this information
to the audience is like walking a tightrope.
Too much information and the audience has little reason to pay attention.
Not enough information and they become confused or lost.
Good exposition is delivered without the audience even noticing.
When it feels awkward or unnatural, it can pull
the audience out of their immersive experience.
"- This is Catana. She's got my back.
She cut all you in half with one sword stroke, just like mowing the lawn.
I would advise not getting killed by her.
Her sword traps the souls of its victims."
- Let's continue with some general do's and don'ts of exposition.
One trick to writing exposition is to disguise the information.
As Hitchcock once said, "Exposition is a pill that has to be sugar-coated...
...In other words, you are giving them some information,
but at the time you give it, it must appear to be something else."
For example, when Dr. Strange is introduced to the concept of the multiverse,
we are dazzled with mind-bending spectacle.
"- This universe is only one of an infinite number."
- Rather than deliver this information in a dry monologue
the captivating imagery helps us absorb the exposition.
Another strategy is to visualize the information.
This is best explained by the number one rule in screenwriting.
Show. Don't tell.
If we can see it, there's no need to describe it.
"- Oh, there it is."
- For example, the opening credits for "Watchmen"
delivers key backstory information inside a stylish and dramatic montage.
Instead of dialogue or text, the images tell us everything we need to know.
But this method can backfire if handled unrealistically as Robert McKee notes.
Show, don't tell, doesn't mean that it's all right
to pan the camera down a mantlepiece on a series of photographs
that take Harry and Jack from their university
days to boot camp, to the double wedding,
to open their dry cleaning business.
That's telling. Not showing.
In this example, the photograph seemed more like forced exposition
and not a natural integration of backstory.
David Trottier gives us another approach to delay the information.
"- I am your father. - No!"
- Let your characters keep their secrets as long as they can
often saving up exposition and using it in crucial moments
will make it more exciting and even transform it into a turning point.
"- You know what? I can't even talk to you.
- No, I want to know why a guy like Falcone told you anything.
- Because he is my father."
- For example, in "Saving Private Ryan",
there is constant speculation about Captain Miller's life before the war.
"- Why don't you ask the captain where he's from?
- Yeah, ask the captain. He'll tell you everything you wanna know about him.
- Reiben, where's the captain from?
- You figure that one out, you got yourself a nice prize.
- 300 bucks, last I heard.
- Company's got a pool. 5 bucks gets you in."
- And this is only this moment, 100 minutes into the movie that we learn the truth.
"- Mike, what's the pool on me up to right now?
What's it up to?
What is it, $300? Is that it? 300?
I'm a school teacher.
I teach English composition."
- Instead of a throwaway bit of information in Act 1,
we get a transformative moment in Act 2.
Going a step further,
John Truby offers another tactic to withhold the information entirely.
"- No matches on prints, DNA, dental.
Clothing is custom, no labels.
Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint."
- 'Many writers tried to tell the audience
everything about their hero from the first page.
Instead, try withholding a lot of the information.
The audience will literally come toward your story.'
For example, we never learn what is in the briefcase
that lies at the center of "Pulp Fiction's" interwoven narrative.
"- Open it."
- By eliminating the exposition,
the open-ended mystery is more interesting than any potential answer.
"- What is it?"
- When writing exposition keep these four principles in mind.
Now let's look at some specific methods of how to deliver exposition.
Using narration or titles is the most obvious
and direct delivery of exposition.
On-screen text can be a simple way to establish a time and place.
Or it can lay out the essential backstory.
Or both.
Narration especially in the opening scene
has an identical function but can feel more organic to the storytelling.
It also has the benefit of supplementing the
visuals with extra information or backstory.
After its iconic opening shot, "Apocalypse Now"
introduces us to its protagonist through narration.
"- Saigon.
Shit."
- From the narrator's first two words, we understand
where he is, both physically and mentally.
Willard goes on to explain his backstory
and the existential limbo he finds himself in.
"- I hardly said a word to my wife until I said yes to a divorce.
When I was here, I wanted to be there.
When I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle."
- Now, let's look at one of the most common forms of exposition.
We've all heard exposition in dialogue.
"- Hello, Austin. I'm basil exposition with British intelligence."
A character explains key information to another character,
which also happens to be key information for the audience.
"- Once we kidnap the princess, we can force her father, King Roland,
to give us the combination to the air shield,
thereby destroying Planet Druidia and saving Planet Spaceball.
- Everybody got that?"
- Because of its subject matter,
"The Big Short" has to wade through lots of expositions
and instead of injecting it all into casual dialogue
co-writer and director Adam McKay decided to break the fourth wall
and deliver it directly to the audience.
"- And you'll see that now a character is talking to the camera.
And this was a choice we made that occasionally
we will break the fourth wall in this movie.
There's a lot of information.
It's a new culture that you're going into Wall Streets.
And we wanted to kind of let people know where they were
and to make sure they could keep up with the information.
"- Say that again.
- Collateralized debt obligations.
It's important to understand because it's what allowed a housing crisis
to become a nationwide economic disaster."
- Like dialogue song lyrics are another way to be
a little more subtle in delivering information.
In "Encanto", this early musical number's
sole purpose is to introduce the family members,
their special gifts and allude to future plot points
surrounding the mysterious Uncle Bruno.
And by putting it in a song,
the writers have deliciously sugarcoated the pill.
But dialogue and lyrics aren't the only subtle way to deliver information.
Often filmmakers will deliver exposition through their worlds media,
whether it be a newspaper, news program.
"- The attackers can be stopped by removing the head or destroying the brain.
I'll repeat that by removing the head or destroying the brain."
- Or something else entirely.
"- You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan.
This is our most desperate hour."
- Director Steven Spielberg makes expert use of media exposition in "Jurassic Park".
The film's ideas are complex and need explaining.
How exactly are dinosaurs being brought back to life?
Enter Mr. DNA.
"- A DNA strand like me is a blueprint for building a living thing."
- The exposition is cleverly disguised in a tour video
that explains everything the characters and audience need to know.
"- We use the complete DNA of a frog to fill in holes and complete the code.
And now we can make a baby dinosaur."
- Media can deliver exposition in a way that is engrossing and entertaining.
Let's look at a method of delivering exposition that is far more subtle.
Sometimes a filmmaker can provide exposition simply through what is shown in the frame
through the mise-en-scene including props or set dressing.
Consider the information we're given in the opening moments of "Signs".
In this shot, we see a picture of a priest, his wife, and their children.
But it gets really interesting when we cut to this shot.
The priest is alone in bed.
A question is born.
What happened to his wife?
Then a couple of shots later, we see this.
The outline of a cross that no longer hangs on the wall.
The priest has lost his faith.
But we're not sure why?
But we're now intrigued by these questions
and therefore interested when the answers come later.
This is how information can be delivered through production design
without a single word of dialogue, text, or media,
but leaves us wanting to learn more.
Exposition is unavoidable in storytelling. But there's no need to dread it.
It can be doled out creatively and compellingly throughout a film.
What are the most creative ways to deliver exposition you've seen in the film?
Let us know in the comments.
And that concludes our exposition on exposition.
See you next time.