Get all our FREE resources when you join 60,000 filmmakers on our mailing list! All Rights Reserved. The characters also need this explanation. Tackle the trickiest areas of screenwriting with our exclusive eBooks. In The Matrix, some direct explaining is needed to explain the concept of The Matrix. Examining the types of writing we come across in our daily lives shows us that almost all of them are incomplete without exposition. If you’re writing a story about mind-blowing adventure and wonder, there’s nothing to say you must include these elements from the first page. The exposition here is keeping the academia updated on what you have learned so far. A group of soldiers sing together in a choir. This exposition works well because it sits so comfortably within the context. This is a very functional way of introducing such a dynamic character. The opening chapters continue to detail the arrival of immigrants to the Salinas Valley and the hard time they have farming it. Not a remarkable house by any means – it was about thirty years old, squattish, squarish, made of brick, and had four windows set in the front of a size and proportion which more or less exactly failed to please the eye. The farmer brings with him a herd of his sheep. The scene makes it so the character needs to be direct and clear to those he’s speaking to. Join Now Novel and brainstorm your best ideas. The word comes from the Latin language, and its literal meaning is “a showing forth.” Exposition is crucial to any story, for without it nothing makes sense. Within the scene, Rick Flag introduces Katana to the squad, where he proceeds to lay out all her capabilities and powers in 15 seconds. The fiction books, articles, and magazines that people read in their everyday lives essentially rely on exposition to connect the readers to the main story by giving them the background information. Morpheus then gives Neo a dynamic tour of the Matrix as a concept. In season 1, episode 3 of HBO’s The Wire, there is a scene in which three drug dealers play chess. Thanks for signing up, now please check all your email folders incl junk mail! Take Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Richard III, and you will see how exceptionally well he used the art of expository writing. Weak exposition is transparent in its attempt to tell the audience information. Writing the exposition of a story – the narration introducing key scenarios, themes, characters or settings – takes skill. How to Write a Great Biopic: Pitfalls Screenwriters Should Avoid, 15 Examples of Bad Writing in Really GOOD Movies and Shows, Home – Industrial Scripts®, Script Coverage Experts, 10 Great Sites to Download Movie Scripts From, Scriptwriting 101: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a TV or Movie Script, Character Driven – The Official Blog of Industrial Scripts, How to Write A Script: The Definitive Guide, Read 1,000+ Industrial Scripts Reviews by Clients, Screenplay Definition: The Ultimate Guide, Screenwriting 101 – Your Ultimate 10-Minute Guide, 11 Ways to Spot a Shady Script Consultant, Script Editor: A Clear Definition for Film & TV, 20 Must Know Hollywood Literary Management Companies. We are so busy being wowed by Sherlock’s talent for reading people that we don’t notice the key components of Watson’s backstory being revealed. It ascertains two basic themes of the play: racism, and that appearance is not always the same as reality. As he does so, he explains dynamics of power within Westeros and his plans to subvert them. Great Exposition #1 – The Godfather In one of the first few scenes of The Godfather , Michael Corleone outlines the nature of his father’s business. It therefore makes sense that he should explain their characteristics to the audience. THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE THE WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE, published in 2016, is a mystery, thriller, & suspense novel by Michael Connelly. Furthermore, the movie’s final twist of Tyler being a figment of The Narrator’s imagination, also justifies this direct narration. This scene has become iconic to fans of The Wire. The rope around her waist. Moreover, exposition is widely used for academic purposes in schools, colleges, and universities. He lies unmoving, listening to the tide coming in, wave after wave sloshing over the various barricades, wish-wash, wish-wash, the rhythm of a heartbeat. It’s a brilliant piece of metaphor and exposition in writing. Yet it tells us plenty of character background: We know Jerome’s father is likely an academic (the .edu in his e-mail address). Your email address will not be published. Sherlock demonstrates his instinctive investigative skills, which tell of Watson’s backstory. It therefore doesn’t feel jarring to have such direct explanation. Zadie Smith begins her 2005 novel On Beauty thus: One may as well begin with Jerome’s e-mails to his father: To: [email protected] All of your examples are from the opening pages of books. Exposition is introducing your reader to your story. Copyright © 2020 Literary Devices. An informational video provides some nifty exposition in Jurassic Park. We provide outstanding support to driven filmmakers. This involves a mechanical part of the plot explained during a depiction of sex. This opening sequence serves as a capsule of American capitalism – a self made man getting rich off a discovery of oil. There are no ‘rules’ other than to be interesting. They sit down before they take their tour of Jurassic Park and are shown a cheesy video explaining how the science works. With eight seasons of Game of Thrones, it’s almost inevitable that there will be some bad exposition examples along with some good exposition examples. These descriptions serve as a useful explanation of the hierarchy of the criminal organisation we have just started to follow. The novel opens with setting exposition, creating a mundane impression of the protagonist Arthur Dent’s ordinary life: The house stood on a slight rise just on the edge of the village. In most cases, a narrative or script loses its essence if not accompanied by an exposition. Exposition is primarily information about the plot, a character’s backstory or the setting/context. Subject: Hey, Dad – basically I’m just going to keep on keeping on with these mails – I’m no longer expecting you to reply, but I’m still hoping you will, if that makes sense. During a town hall meeting in which plans for a new reservoir are being laid out, a farmer interrupts proceedings. With the help of a single passage, the author of the story has given us an overview of the bear family, their residence, and information that sets the story in motion. - Contact Us - Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions, Definition and Examples of Literary Terms. She can cut all you in half with one sword stroke just like mowing the lawn. You have to see it for yourself’. The importance of exposition in literature, as well as in our practical lives, cannot be ignored. What is THE industry-standard screenplay font? Example: The U.S. flag consists of thirteen alternating stripes of red and blue, representing the 13 original states. Introducing curious, intriguing details about characters early is one way to start building your story immediately. Evident in Watson’s reaction, this proves to be scarily accurate. J.K. Rowling does similar by beginning her fantasy series Harry Potter with Harry’s fairly ordinary life with his aunt and uncle. Whilst there is brief dialogue explaining the facts, we don’t need dialogue to tells us of the conditions. An example of exposition can be info on character's background to help the audience understand further motivations and choices in our narrative. The audience realizes that Iago is persistently trying to convince Roderigo to be his accomplice in destroying Othello. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer – and what trees and seasons smelled like – how people looked and walked and smelled even. The tone and mood of the exposition of a story will depend to some extent on genre. They are all trapped by the roles they’re expected to play. One morning, after they made their porridge, Daddy Bear said, ‘Let’s go for walk in the woods until it cools.’ Mama Bear and Baby Bear liked the idea, so off they went. Kay presses Michael as to ‘how’ his father did this. By setting the rules of the Matrix as being too complicated to tell just through dialogue, the movie has to explain it in a visually imaginative way. It highlights that he is this way because of the devastating loss of his wife. ‘Different this time’ implies continuing action – the story starts at the middle of a climactic moment. Despite the impressive visuals, the scene feels static. Exposition is a literary device used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters, or other elements of a work to the audience or readers. The sheep provide a funny, bizarre distraction whilst the farmer yells at the government representatives – ‘You steal water from the valley!’. We’re going to look at some great exposition examples, with a few weak exposition examples thrown in for context. The montage sets up why Carl is lonely and disillusioned in his old age. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the centre until it falls at last into Monterey Bay. This naturalistic explanation gives both Kay and the audience insight into the Godfather’s power. Again!’ I would advise not getting killed by her. Here, two examples from Othello have been taken to elaborate the point. However, Morpheus quickly tells Neo – ‘No one can be told what the Matrix is. In this, D’Angelo provides a tragic reflection on the boy’s lives. The ‘No one can be told…’ line is directly employing the ‘show don’t tell’ rule. “Once upon a time, there were three bears. It therefore makes sense that he would so directly seek to explain Tyler to an audience. The crawling text on the screen at the beginning of each movie in the series gives the audience every piece of information they need to understand the upcoming events in the film.
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