ABSTRACT
Irony exposes the difference between what someone is saying and what they actually mean, so it's a great way to demonstrate disingenuousness, deception, manipulation and outright lying. But on occasion, due to other factors in the scene or regarding the character, it might not be obvious that sarcasm or irony is being used. Dialog should always lead to deeper understanding of characters and heightened emotional awareness for the audience – without being muddied or diluted with too much exposition. Drama is about emotion, about love, about death, and the characters take it all with a real-life, convincing seriousness. Dramatic dialog tends to be slower, except in scenes of great urgency or emotional outburst. Every scriptwriter develops a particular flow in dialog, and every new project might have a different flow, depending on what the project needs. Comedic dialog must also be specific. Yet, the best comedic dialog also sounds uncontrived, natural and realistic.
