In Praise of Great Exposition

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Exposition in film and TV has a bad reputation but it’s really just another tool in the writer's toolbox, and the quality of exposition can range from bad to great. This video examines some examples of truly great exposition.
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[@ThomasFlight]

Hey folks, I recorded this video before it was announced so I didn't have time to include it in th ad-read but you can now give Nebula as a gift: gift.nebula.tv/thomasflight

[@PuffyNavel]

what's the difference between your patreon and nebula?

[@Moustafa11]

I thoroughly enjoy your videos, as for Nebula, I tried it for a year when it first started. one thing keeping me from re-subscribing is lack of 4K/UHD support (at least that I can tell on my Apple TV app). I ended up watching many of your videos and other KZbin creators on KZbin instead because it was a noticeable improvement in video quality over Nebula app.

[@bkimatab]

😅😅😅😊

[@ronniedeshe5253]

No one views exposition as a bad thing - bad exposition is bad, good exposition is good. Usually in film, exposition doesn't include dialogue - I think you're incorrectly explaining what "exposition" actually is from the get go.

[@akashmadhavan711]

1:13 what is the movie ? Isn't that Taher Rahim? Madame web eh?

[@kidJK96]

I think the only genre of film where I love “forced” exposition is heist films. Oceans introducing each member to showcase their skills, give me MORE

[@chiragjampala1929]

Yesssss the bests scenes r those exposition montages with a funky song playing and snappy edits

[@mkeyjumps]

"you son of a bitch. I'm in"

[@Skyfalcon12345]

Well, wait a minute. Ocean's is definitely an outlier in basically every cinematic metric. The script is insanely tight, and I hesitate thinking whether any scene in that movie is wasted. Every exposition-related scene is SO much "show don't tell" that it's just burned in my mind as the perfect example. To wit, half the dialogue is veiled references to things you have absolutely no idea what they are, but through context and body language alone can be deciphered. That's incredible scriptwriting and acting

[@chiragjampala1929]

@@Skyfalcon12345 so true looking back my favourite part of oceans 11 is them just talking about shit they’ve done which we have NO idea about. The scene where they discuss the team members needed with all the code names 🤌🤌🤌

[@becauseofobi-wan3543]

You son of a bitch, I'm in😎👉

[@robertmalone9511]

I think the spirit of "show don't tell" becomes clearer when you realize the rule applies not just to visual media, but also to novels, where we can't literally "see" anything that happens. Everything is "told" to us in some sense, but within that we can still make the distinction. "Show don't tell" really means something closer to "Don't state, demonstrate."

[@cube2fox]

That's true! Still, "show don't tell" is arguably more important in movies and TV than in novels. I don't know why, but the very same exposition that is boring in a movie can be perfectly fine in a book. Compare, for example, Lord of the Rings with its movie adaptation. The books contain a lot of background exposition while the movies cut most of that out in favor of fast pacing. I think it also applies to episodic TV shows that aren't so constrained by time.

[@robertmalone9511]

@@cube2fox It's true you can get away with longer digressions from the plot in novels--but honestly I'm inclined to argue the rule if anything applies even MORE to novels, since efficiency isn't as much of a concern. You can afford time to show in detail what in a film you can't give more than a line or two. But that's almost just a semantic difference from what you're saying. The tricky thing is that in a novel, if you put ENOUGH detail into an exposition dump, it essentially ceases to be exposition and just becomes a flashback. A character talking for twenty minutes straight in a TV show might be bad writing, but in a novel it's just a new narrator.

[@cube2fox]

@@robertmalone9511 Interesting point. In novels, long exposition becomes narration, and narration becomes flashback/action etc. Basically the text disappears in favor of what the text describes. That may seem as if "show don't tell" is satisfied automatically, but novels should still leave enough things to the reader to infer for themselves, just like movies, in which not all works succeed. I guess that's what you meant with "don't state, demonstrate". Still, I wonder why narrators are often so awkward in movies. They don't disappear like they do in books. Many movies specifically add sidekick characters which ask the main character "stupid questions" in order to avoid a narrator or inner monologue.

[@sneggron]

Yes, obviously

[@Orinslayer]

trust me if youve ever read bad fanfiction you'll know why this is a golden rule.

[@lw8882]

The first example from breaking bad is great for other reasons, too. Their son enters the room on crutches while they're both sitting, so despite being physically disabled has the dominant posture in the shot. The shot reaction shot is not showing his parents together, and they have varying reactions, implying they're split on the issue and how to handle it. Then when he treats the mother rudely it's not immediately reprimanded, showing both that this kind of talk is normal in their household, and they're even split on how to raise their son. Then when they're talking about the finances later, he's drinking in the kitchen and she's sitting on the counter ages away from him, creating distance and putting them both in different light, implying that they're not even on the same page as to the severity of or solution to their financial problems, and showing that it's putting a strain on the relationship not just by the way they talk and what they choose to avoid talking about. Exposition through dialogue is great, but incorporating it into framing, blocking, lighting and direction is so much harder.

[@deansbian5607]

breaking bad has incredible exposition all throughout

[@t221000]

Absolutely 💯 Breaking bad is the best show imo

[@swagmundfreud666]

Yeah and the other thing is they despite all this, despite how well they established how Walt and Skylar are never on the same page about anything and their relationship has been starting to crack since well before the show started, I really got a sense by episode 4 or so that they really did love eachother (at least at the start). One of my favorite pieces of exposition in the show is when Walt is telling Hank and Marie how he met Skylar and it causes Skylar to start crying, since this was right after Skylar learnt Walt has cancer. Through that exposition, we actually learn some big things about Walt: first we learn that Walt had rizz when he still had dreams and could be a genuine person, second we learn that he used to work at Los Alamos, which of course is one of the biggest and most legendary research centers in the US, showing how overqualified Walt truly is for his current job, and thirdly we learn how much Walt kinda doesn't care about the emotional consequences his actions have on Skylar.

[@noedits1222]

well said

[@alguiencualquiera6217]

@@swagmundfreud666 Aint no way you just used the word "rizz" while talking about the brilliant exposition in a scene from Breaking Bad

[@julietv61]

one of my favorite examples of exposition in television is in the better call saul pilot when we see jimmy and kim’s first official interaction in the parking lot. how it starts with jimmy kicking the trash can in the elevator lobby and the camera slowly panning out to reveal kim standing there, not reacting, even though she can definitely hear him. then the way he walks up to her, takes the cigarette right out of her mouth, takes a drag, and then places it back into her mouth with her still barely reacting to the whole thing just so perfectly tells the audience that there is/was something more intimate between them; she knows him well. what makes it even better is the only two lines of dialogue in the whole scene being him saying to her regarding what he had just done in the hhm office “couldn’t you just-“ and her replying “you know i can’t” indicating this is not the first time he has done something like this, and that she would do this for him if she could. and it wraps up perfectly with her picking up the trash can he had knocked over, showing that she is always cleaning up his messes. it would’ve been easy for them to have jimmy make some comment about his past with kim to chuck or something but that would not be nearly as interesting. god i love that show

[@katerockpool3725]

I just re-watched this episode (starting the whole series again with my children). My 14 year old said "But who is she?" and I said, "well we don't know yet, but what did you notice about their body language?" It's all there in the performances.

[@julietv61]

@@katerockpool3725 exactly! and they do a fantastic job

[@HyveMindsGames]

exactly the example I was thinking of! That scene is so perfect. Two lines, 7 words, and we instantly understand so much about their relationship.

[@PeterMoore66]

BCS is the GOAT

[@Niosus]

That whole just was just so great. The ending for the main story line is already spoiled. Saul lives, and becomes a shady lawyer. Boo hoo, he's never truly in danger. Yet every moment is still gripping. Like Breaking Bad, it's really a story about the journey, not the destination. Not "what" happens, but "how" it happens. Combined with great actors, it's just a pleasure to experience.

[@ChildOfDarkDefiance]

To be fair, in English people did address each other by title or familial relationship a lot more than they do now, & it is still very common in other languages, such as Korean. That example is set in Tudor England. It could be argued that people greeting each other like that is also creating a feel for the setting as well as being exposition.

[@sashatheelf]

Yeah but in Korean ''older brother/sister'' ''younger brother/sister'' also just means a friend who is older or younger than you, so it doesn't necessarily deliver the information needed to denote a familial relationship.

[@ChildOfDarkDefiance]

@sashatheelf well yeah, it's not exactly the same.

[@dunkie5863]

not the same at all, people call those older than them hyung/unnie, they don't need to be related at all. plus this video is about english language media so?

[@louyou6614]

to be fair sometimes i go brother how are you but i talk in dialectal arabic

[@ff7hero]

My American sister and I literally do the thing at th3 beginning of this video too fwiw.

[@datacentre81]

Another factor is just how interested is the audience in getting the information delivered by the exposition? Like, in the Matrix, there's a scene where Morpheus just tells Neo what's going on in the real world. It's an extended minutes long sequence of pure exposition, delivered mostly through dialogue of one character talking. But it works, mostly because it's information that the audience has been teased with for the whole first act. They care a lot about getting all this revealed, so their tolerance for an extended exposition dump is as high as it can be. I think similar exposition dumps usually don't work because the viewer doesn't care enough about what's being revealed. The movie hasn't invested the time to make them care.

[@JeantheSecond-ip7qm]

Also, Neo doesn’t know the information, so it makes sense that Morpheus is telling him. It’s such a simple thing, but filmmakers still often don’t account for why a character is saying the exposition.

[@shar3859]

Makes sense!! You can also see this in Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, where Lupin and Sirius finally explain everything that's going on to the trio. Despite being a REALLY long info dump, the explanation is intriuging because you're hearing all this for the first time. Whereas upon rereads, you can notice how long it really is because you already know the information.

[@TheVanishedMan1]

This is also why I think a lot of people misunderstand the architect scene from the sequel. People complain about it being confusing exposition but like... that's the point? The character doing the talking is a machine that considers humanity to be a resource; he's dumbing down his language the bare minimum required to be able to communicate in some sense with Neo. This is a conscious choice, and the only reason it works is because we (and Neo) are finally getting answers to questions we've had for 1.5 movies. It's also just nice to see someone in these movies regard Neo as something other than Computer-Jesus.

[@ThomasFlight]

This is a great point. I'd also in that case the ideas contained within the exposition (especially in 1999) were just pretty novel and interesting on their own. This is part of what makes Inception's exposition partially forgivable (although there are some rough patches) because most of what they're explaining is actually kind of interesting. If the exposition is just menial details about the characters it's not nearly as interesting as information that is interesting to the audience on it's own.

[@deek0146]

@@shar3859 Also its implied that Ron is dying of his injuries so it adds an element of suspense to the scene.

[@philllllllll]

"Do you remember that time when you..." with a LOOOOOT more detail than would be necessary in a normal conversation.

[@zzoldd]

I HATE WHEN THEY DO THAT SOO MUCH. That in my book is breaking the fourth wall. (The watcher doesnt know so lets remind them) type shi

[@soulbitten]

It’s only accurate when your boyfriend has ADHD and a terrible memory 😂

[@PhilospherStoned]

“remember when” is the lowest form of conversation

[@scobeymeister1]

if they're mocking someone it could feel natural, tbf. my bf and i say "do you remember when..." all the time but we exaggerate what happened to make fun of each other, like at least weekly. if i were writing it into a scene it would be to establish a playful tone. i think most any dialogue like that can work so long as you can make it feel natural to the characters and show something else about them or their relationship.

[@yomommashaus]

Then there's anime doing so much exposition, you become more confused lol: "Ahh. I can see he knows the ancient art of ShoeKicking because of the way he lifted his leg. And if he's willing to show me he knows this then it means my father is already dead, because about 5 days ago I received that message about a mysterious shoekicker while I was eating noodles. It made me stop eating them, which has never happened before. Therefore...."

[@RedheadDevito]

Oh my god I spend so much time thinking about bad exposition, thank you for this. “Diana, we’ve been married for seven years, I think I know what kind of cake you want for your fortieth birthday party. My name’s Steve by the way.”

[@ThomasFlight]

"Don't forget to pick up our son Danny from middle school on your way home from work."

[@RedheadDevito]

@@ThomasFlightI think a great example of visual exposition is in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The camera pans over Eddie’s desk and SO much information can be gathered there. I’ve always enjoyed the process of writing, but it’s the economic use of exposition that I consider to be the hardest puzzle to solve.

[@davidbjacobs3598]

@@ThomasFlight Okay, but now I'm interested, because they've been married seven years but their son is in middle school. What's going on there? Is one a step-parent? Did they have Danny then break up then get back together? Did they just remain unmarried until he was six? I want to know.

[@RedheadDevito]

@@davidbjacobs3598 Danny’s adopted. Diana and Steve decided that they would rather adopt than have a child of their own. Steve went through the foster system when he was young and vowed he would one day save a kid from having to go through that. They were planning on adopting more but just the one is quite the handful, and despite Diana’s mother’s passive aggressive remarks about “having at least one real kid”, they’re content with their family of three.

[@CharlesMonroe-fr4vx]

This makes me want to write an 80s style meta b movie. Just absolutely shit exposition and the characters look at the screen after every sentence of exposition 😂

[@user-hf6vy8xc4i]

Life of Pi does the “storyteller” trope really well too. It has a writer seek out Pi Patel, the main character of the novel and have him tell his story to the author. It even uses it in the ending as a plot point when it comes to asking the audience if they believe it to be based on fact or fiction

[@EricCoomerMusic]

Every time I watch Back to the Future, I’m reminded of how good the screenplay is from the opening credits. It’s a masterclass in exposition. All without dialogue.

[@lianabejan64]

My favourite "exposition" is in the original Blade Runner when Deckard goes to the burlesque dance club and there's a boa snake in the changing rooms. He asks the dancer "is this real?" and she responds with "if that were real do you think i would work in a place like this?" to this day it blows my mind. that bit of dialogue tells you about the state of the fauna on earth and the economy and her social status ahhhh

[@davidw.2791]

I mean the movie has been showing that ever since we see LA raining like it’s London 😂❤ (Edited for typos)

[@oldoddjobs]

Woah dude blade runner like blows my mind woah I'm braindead

[@lianabejan64]

@@davidw.2791 🤣🤣🤣🤣 never realised that ahahaaaa

[@mushkbaar]

Wait I'm guessing it works with the visual context of the scene, but seeing it written out and having not seen the movie, I just assumed she was saying "ain't no way I'd work in a place with a live boa"

[@Laurel_Ellenstreet]

Heston's reaction to the berry preserves carelessly left out on a counter in "Soylent Green."

[@trinaq]

One aspect of forced exposition is the phrase "As You Know", which tends to be clunky. If the character apparently already knows the vital information, then why are you telling them? It's purely for the audience's benefit.

[@austinwinston684]

"as you know, your father, Darth Vader, and I were great friends..."

[@ThomasFlight]

"Your father, the king."

[@Chandler_Goodrich]

I think “as you know” has its place, depending how your characters talk. Like using it as a recap, then follow it up with new information as a twist. Kind of like this: Character 1: As you know, he was hit by a car, then ran from the scene, behind the building, then came back a minute later, right? Character 2: (annoyed) why are you telling me this? Character 1: Well, according to cctv, 3 men were waiting for him behind the building. Someone else went back to the scene in his place. Look. Character 2: (looking at cctv) …he was abducted…

[@wakeupmrkim]

"....but you already know that, don't you?"

[@wintermute5974]

'As you know' is the sort of thing that a real person would only ever say because they think the other person probably doesn't know or has forgotten, but they're hedging against being wrong/being passive aggressive about it.

[@z-beeblebrox]

You know a movie is about to have the siblings kill each other if it starts out with one of them joyously saying “BROTHER!”

[@davidw.2791]

That being said, OP is at risk of being wrong about the opening assertion cuz just because Nowadays Westeners don’t go “SISTER!” “BROTHER!” doesn’t automatically mean they weren’t like that in e.g. the Tutor Era. Don’t just use the Current Day sentiments to deem “Nobody talks like that” because plenty of people do it this very day, if outside the Anglosphere.

[@beth12svist]

@@davidw.2791 Good point. Reminds me of the scene in The Horse and His Boy (yes, that's book exposition) where Edmund and Susan do call each other that (though not as the opening line of conversation), and since it's all old-time-y speak, it doesn't seem forced at all, it's just part of their elevated royal manner of speaking.

[@Mojomango333]

@@davidw.2791 had this exact thought seeing the clip placed at the beginning of the video.

[@scifigeek14]

Big thor and loki vibes lol

[@spaghetto9836]

​@davidw.2791I'd still disagree a bit. I think no matter the country or time period, there are formal & informal terms for familial bonds. Other languages have their own versions of "bro", "sis", "mommy/daddy", "granny/grandpa", pet terms for uncles & aunts, etc. I feel like modern writers put their preconceptions of older English as formal into their characters' dialogues, when they probably saw each other's English as normally as we see our own. If the characters aren't upper-class, I'd like to see them swear at each other, stutter, have weird humour, etc... as we've done for millennia. In fact, it's nice to see upper-class characters doing that in casual situations. I think it's not just the words, but the whole formal vibe around sibling characters that feels fake no matter the era. My fave examples surrounding this topic are Roman/Greek potty jokes, 1950's actors swearing in bloopers, or scathing insults in "ancient" languages like Hebrew.

[@jacobtallen]

my favourite piece of exposition in anything is in Shaun of the Dead when they flip through all the TV channels

[@tyrionstrongjaw7729]

Seeing someone bring up "Before Sunrise" makes me so happy. It's such a great example of natural dialogue!! I adore that movie.

[@jessif.]

I literally put my hands over my heart when that clip showed up.

[@AliceHope78]

I saw it first when it originally came out. I fell in love with it desperately and still do, so many years later. It's such a beautiful movie, at least on my opinion. It stays with me

[@Artistix119]

I turned it off after they talk to the gypsy lady?? I can’t remember-was just so bored and his character was kinda creepy 😅

[@QuantumHistorian]

I can't believe that the opening of _Lord of the Rings_ doesn't get a mention here. It's a couple of minutes of pure exposition, before any characters are introduced, takes place outside of any scene, is a monologue aimed solely at the audience, and even starts in a made-up language. It breaks every rule. And yet it's absolutely amazing. Sometimes, the trick might just be to have great exposition to tell, and not be shy about it; poorly disguised exposition might be the worse sort.

[@rueski]

I might be wrong but I think I’ve seen him do an exposition video mainly on the lotr intro alone haha

[@oyuyuy]

I don't think you were listening very closely. There are no bad forms of exposition, just poor execution and poor selection. When you've already got a 3 hour movie and need to dump a lot of information it isn't just acceptable to use a monologue, it might even be optimal.

[@julesjma]

We all know this, as Thomas does also. The LOTR could and has had its own videos regarding every moment.

[@killitwithfire5377]

To be fair, that also mainly works for people who like Lord of the rings in general. My parents tried watching them and didn't enjoy it and my dad to this day keeps making fun of the first 10 minutes being just exposition. Sure, it's done well but it also works because the story in general repels everyone who doesn't want to spend hours learning about middle earth.

[@Mike-s6s9t]

@@oyuyuyYou sound like you enjoy the smell of your own shit.

[@stevecarter8810]

The walter junior water heater scene (5:17) also shows a lot in the tone and reactions. There's no money AND Walter is ashamed in front of his son AND Skyler stresses about holding the family together. Breaking bad is great at moving multiple playing pieces with each event.

[@TheMarkoSeke]

It's also very realistic dialogue, and will hit close to home for anyone that has been in financial struggles with their family.

[@richardgrimes5723]

Your video made me realize something about the exposition in "Arrival". When you watch Dr. Banks watch television news, the exposition is no longer about aliens arriving. The most amazing thing in the history of the world JUST happened - and she's watching it alone in a dark house. She doesn't even rush to be with her mother. in one minute, we understand just how profoundly alone Dr. Banks is - and she never utters a word.

[@michaelcorbett4236]

It adds contrast to what comes later in that through learning the heptapods language she can truly never be alone again.

[@TristanCleveland]

That scene wasn't just good - it made me fall in love with the movie. It gave me such a sense of wonder.

[@beanmeupscotty]

I think it better demonstrates that she is alone, but not lonely. My impression was that contrasting her reaction to others demonstrated that something was off about her because of how relatively unbothered/unsuprised she was. Same could be said about a lot of her other memories that were progressively revealed. It connects to how she was gifted with having a cyclic personal timeline-nothing could surprise her since she already experienced it, even if it was at a point in her life where she had yet to realize what was happening. Similarly, she may be alone after the people she loved left her, and alone in how she experienced the world, but the lack of linearity made it so she was not truly lonely.

[@innocentfba]

@@beanmeupscottythis is amazing. Thank you. Arrival is one of my favorite movies and this just opened up my eyes!

[@Uruz2012]

She's watching the news for details about what happened so the writer's can do exposition for the audience. Not everything is significant.

[@drchaos2000]

the first 15 minutes of lord of the rings are pure exposition... like non stop, you get told and shown and all it does is give you info after info to explain the world... and omfg is it awesome

[@octavio2895]

Micheal Corleone helping the nervous guard of the hospital light a cigarette on The Godfather is a brilliant piece of exposition so subtle most people miss. Another one is when Chigurh looks at the soles of his shoes at the end of No Country for Old Men.

[@rikkTV]

the only "hello, brother" i accept is Buster from Arrested Development

[@merry_christmas]

The "hello brother"-hate on the internet is always so funny because I've been calling my brother that for eternity 😅

[@christiangomez6239]

It also has the best moment of 'turning on the news to see the subject being talked about' where they have to sit through unrelated stories and commercial breaks. "Now imagine the impact if that had come on just as I turned on the television!"

[@anthonyfossi]

Annyong

[@BimpytheWimpyShrimpy]

@@anthonyfossi Hello Annyong

[@matthewhamilton2913]

Azula

[@Raymando]

My face lit up when 12 Angry Men came on screen OMG I was literally thinking about that film the entire time when this video was going on. How it can introduce 12 characters, and not only have it not be overwhelming, but develop all of them as their person, reveal things about their history and personality - ALL the while having the main conflict build. What a masterpiece.

[@tajcee]

One of the many reasons why I love 12 Angry Men as much as I do

[@planta-genista]

Liturally liturally

[@АлексейЗакорко-ж5д]

You should also check "12" (2007 film), great remake

[@calebbrandd]

Thomas giving exposition on exposition is the meta I need to start off my week.

[@polyclot1976]

its too monday in the morning for my THC-addled brain to be kicking around the idea of potential meta-loops

[@SuperRobertoClemente]

Great critique of the wildly overrated 3 Body Problem, which was precisely as paper-thin as those final seasons of GoT.

[@gusandthetv]

And it was all an elaborate setup for a Nebula ad.

[@hwelsh201]

That’s Mr. Flight to you.

[@line4169]

Or you can edit video like dunkey which is great example of showing but not telling also while saying a lot through editing alone

[@WordyGirl90]

Another great moment of the exposition infodump comes from my all-time favorite film, Casablanca. The movie opens with a disembodied, authoritative voiceover explaining the refugee situation in World War 2. Interestingly, we don’t get this kind of omniscient, independent narrator played straight anymore; it shows up in comedies sometimes (see Arrested Development), or the narrator is one of the characters. The Casablanca exposition pairs visuals and riding dramatic tension through music and intonation to make this information seem important. This background helps us understand later plot points, such as the importance of a flight to Lisbon. Then (if I recall correctly) the film proper opens with the radio broadcast about the stealing of letters of transit. It’s brief, punchy, and sets up the vital MacGuffin for the plot. Then, the film switches over to extremely show-don’t-tell mode, and stays there most of the time. We watch interactions of multiple groups of refugees in the streets of Casablanca, and we FEEL their emotional states, the threats they live under, and what they’re hoping to achieve. Casablanca is just a masterclass of everything.

[@nahumgale9738]

The fact that Dave Bautista also puts on glasses tells us early that even though he's a replicant, replicants age and deteriorate like human beings, foreshadowing Harrison Ford appearing later and still potentially being a replicant, but also showing the humanity inside a replicant that this world ignores.

[@HungL0W]

And here I thought he wore fake spectacles for style

[@BritneyLaZonga]

@@HungL0W and stylish they are

[@iamwill_s_t]

I thought he had them as PPE for the ass whoopin' on Joe.

[@rsfilmdiscussionchannel4168]

Damn, that’s great observation

[@eyespy3001]

That always came across to me as a disguise he used to appear more human and hide the fact that he was a replicant.

[@jerrysstories711]

I once wrote a short about a man seeing his fiancé for the first time since leaving for medical school. A guy in a critique group told me, "Now, a basic principle in writing is, show don't tell. So maybe instead of TELLING us that he went to medical, you could have a flashback SHOWING him being in medical school." This is why you need to find a competent critique group.

[@michaelegan3522]

Yeah people sometimes take "show don't tell" to an extreme. It would be kinda ridiculous to write a full flashback scene just to get the point across that the character had been in medical school. It's perfectly fine to include background details without having to show the character's whole life experience up to that point

[@tuamigoyvecinolevi]

I think it could've been better if you just showed a diploma, simple yet effective

[@erich6073]

Man, I had a Screenwriting 101 professor who gave me this kind of useless advice all the time. All of her critiques (such as telling me to take the talking animals out of a screenplay that was meant to be a fairy tale) just distracted me from what was ACTUALLY wrong with my work, like fuzzy character motivation and bad structure. The result was inevitably a second draft that was objectively worse and more confused than the first draft because I was trying to fulfill her arbitrary demands instead of shaping the story I was trying to tell into a more refined version of itself. (Come to think of it, I had multiple professors like this. Another one told me that my idea--not even a screenplay or a treatment, just a logline--about a man feeling increasingly distant from his wife was "boring" and that I could make it better by adding a werewolf into it. Keep in mind these were films we had to fund pretty much ourselves with minimal resources from the school itself.)

[@OnionChoppingNinja]

@@erich6073 With people teaching and giving sh**y advice like that it's no bloody miracle most modern media sucks these days.

[@staringgasmask]

​@@erich6073honestly adding a random rabid werewolf on a drama is a great way to turn it into an absurdist comedy if done early enough

[@Jake_the_Bioengineer]

That exposition scene from Three Body Problem is so unforgivable to me because the book has such a brilliant cinematic scene that explains how the accelerators are going against all of physics. The POV character is talking to a physicist friend of his who is drunk. The drunk friend is at a pool table and does an experiment. He knocks a ball into a pocket. Then he makes his friend move the whole pool table around the room three times to repeat the experiment in different parts of the room. By the end he's out of breath and barely finished his metaphor: the pool tables give the same result no matter the location of the table, but the accelerators are all giving different results. And as soon as he explains it, he passed out. End scene.

[@teneleven5132]

That wouldve been lovely to see i the show, alas

[@TheMattyNation]

The writing on the Three Body Problem is terrible. The character dialogue is so cringe I about gave up on it. It only gets by on the brilliance of ideas in the source material

[@emporioalnino4670]

​@@TheMattyNation Yeah it's a shame considering the books are good

[@santhoshsridhar5887]

@@teneleven5132 The Tencent show does scenes like those justice. Like Wang Miao investigating the countdown and the cosmic background radiation in a scientific manner, or Ding Yi explaining how the laws of physics are broken through the table example. Though it is NOT necessarily better than the Netflix show, because of how repetitive and stretched out is. Still, it's highs are higher than the Netflix show and I'd suggest giving it a watch if you REALLY like the book. It's free on KZbin.

[@TheMoMoBigGC]

Thank god i saw it was d&d adapting a book series so i just went to read them instead

[@boopsbucket]

Oh my god, that exact scene in Three-Body Problem drove me INSANE for this reason

[@kraxen-f8f]

it made me quit after ep1

[@unadulterated]

that show is so bad lol, just completely inept on every level

[@martynabieniok9669]

​@@unadulteratedthe best thing about the show existing is that it got me into reading the trilogy

[@Casey-x3p]

​@@martynabieniok9669 yeah the book is really good and actually had some worldbuilding

[@notme222]

I don't know why it stuck with me, but _Frasier_ was always very good at it: Roz: Your brother called. He'll meet you at . Frasier: Oh good. Niles and I got reservations at this prestigious new restaurant. Roz: Episodic sitcoms had to redo a little exposition every time because you always had new viewers, and when they could do it quickly and smoothly it's a useful skill.

[@mikeminer1947]

My favorite writing hack: When a character does something unbelievable, have them say, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

[@GabrielsLogic]

😂😂

[@GabrielsLogic]

And when they tell a character what happened, they say "you're not gonna believe this"

[@mikeminer1947]

@@GabrielsLogic Perfect!

[@SFTaYZa]

Awesome whedon dialogue bro

[@maegor-targaryen]

‘You seeing this?’ ‘Yep, that just happened.’

[@bonjouremily]

my favourite FAVOURITE instance of exposition / infodumping is the opening to Hot Fuzz, where we get fed bullet-fast background info on nicolas angel telling us how proficient and overly-seriously he takes job as a cop. any other movie would have taken the show-don't-tell rule literally and decided to show us the protag at a crime scene and solving the case quickly, while the other cops roll their eyes and whisper among themselves about how stick-in-the-mud the protag is. that technically works, but it also 1) takes a lot of time 2) has been overdone to hell and back. by going the complete opposite route of just telling us everything right away, Hot Fuzz can get to the main story as quickly as possible WHILE STILL being able to give us ridiculous extra info (such as angel being a biking expert) that doesn't really matter to the story but tells us a lot about who angel is as a person. it also fits the overall vibe of the movie, a fast-paced over-the-top comedy. also, the crafty part of this infodump is that it doesn't tell you everything--it tells you JUST ENOUGH to get the story started. it doesn't tell you that angel's coworkers are jealous of him and dislike him and want him out of their precinct; they show this to us later on. it doesn't tell you angel takes his job so seriously that he has no friends and has trouble keeping his girlfriend; this is revealed when he has an argument with her later. and one last bit that makes this infodumping work: it's a voiceover that makes sense within the context of the movie itself. it's not just the protagonist telling the audience his own backstory; it's his sergeant reading through angel's profile before meeting with him. does it break the "show don't tell" advice? yes. but does it work? is it entertaining? does it give you the right amount of information without feeling forced and awkward? yes, and i think that matters more!

[@lorrrdy]

Yes!!! I love hot fuzz and this info dumping scene is perfect, pure Edgar Wright magic!

[@Waverider781]

Hot Fuzz legit might be my favorite screenplay; not a single word wasted the entire way through and every little detail is in fact a joke whose punchline gets delivered later on in the movie. I feel like comedies, by nature, have their own rule wrt exposition where as long you can get a laugh out of it, you can get away with a good amount of telling over showing. Roger Rabbit has a great and I guess kind of recursive example of this with the scene in the speakeasy: "No, not at any time. Only when it was funny."

[@cameronjosephvideos5942]

I mean think about it. Angel is married to the job, he's obsessed with it, his character being introduced with what is essentially his resume is perfect and the fact that they're able to pack quite a few jokes and gags into it ensures it's fun enough to grab the audiences attention and not so long as to overstay its welcome. There's also something about Martin Freeman's delivery that just makes it work.

[@beth12svist]

@@Waverider781 Oh, excellent point about comedies! I got reminded of the Czech film Kulový blesk (Ball Lightning), which is about a crazy flat-swapping scheme, and spends about ten minutes at the beginning of the film expositioning about it... but since it's interspersed with character introductions and all their various idiosyncracies and off-topic questions et cetera, which is all very much what its humour is about, you don't really realise it takes _that_ long just to explain what the rest of the film will be about plot-wise.

[@mistertadakichi]

Goddamn do I love this movie

[@MyoticTesseract]

look at that subtle off-white room lighting. the tasteful script writing. oh my god. it even has a nebula ad read.

[@dielaughing73]

Let's see Paul Allen's exposition

[@yomommashaus]

🤣🤣

[@ian-online]

😭

[@semioldguy]

"Nobody really talks like this." -someone who clearly has never hung out with me and sister

[@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396]

I knew a family that called the one girl “sis” so you knew she was the sister of the group.

[@karterjack4941]

He just gets it , when I’m thinking about plot lines and personality quirks for writing especially when talking about exposition, I know Thomas is going to explain it and analyze it perfectly . Love it Thankyou

[@OKaysional]

one of the most wonderful expansions on "show don't tell" i ever read was a slight shift into "describe don't explain" because with "show" people will assume u mean 'use less dialogue' or something similar. which is not the answer in every case. "desribe don't exaplin" is a great way to remind people to focus more on presenting the exposition without it feeling like a lesson to the audience, which i think a lot of clunky dialogue comes from. u want to describe to create an experience for an audience, not lecture to them

[@TristanCleveland]

In another comment someone said "Demonstrate, don't tell." I think that gets at what you mean?

[@EGRJ]

I've seen a lot of clunky, pacing-killing descriptions too. Enough to make me immediately give up on stories.

[@billyalarie929]

Does somebody watch Shaelin Bishop?

[@OKaysional]

@@billyalarie929 oooh no but i will b checking them out thank u! i saw it originally a few yrs ago in a very long blog post that i wouldnt know where to start tracking down so have no clue of the OP

[@OKaysional]

@@nonono9194 another great way to expand it, yes. simple and easy to follow

[@Nurolight]

Honestly, I think unless its absolutely necessary, there is no need to firmly establish characters relationships with each other. You can infer from peoples interactions that they're likely siblings, or past lovers. Having that aire of mystery about it just adds to the intrigue.

[@davidbjacobs3598]

Tell that to the Luke & Leia shippers.

[@thisisfyne]

Agreed. A great example that comes to mind would be Matt and Elektra in the Daredevil series. While it's not the greatest show ever, I absolutely loved how the complexity of their relationship was immediately implied, yet obvious. Without any exposition whatsoever, from the very first scenes you understand that it's a long-lasting, problematic, heart-breaking situation just by the way they talk to each other. People understand relationships; show one on screen and we'll get it.

[@youllbemytourniquet]

I agree! I noticed when I was first watching Better Call Saul that they didn't explain the nature of Jimmy and Kim's relationship. I remember being unsure if they were friends or lovers.

[@stevecarter8810]

​@@youllbemytourniquetyeah, they just had them share a cigarette in her smoke break. Ok. They are intimate, but maybe only office intimate, smoke break is a thing, and they don't mind sharing body fluids...

[@lonestarr1490]

And sometimes it's completely obvious but the writers still decide to spell it out. Like, there's an adult woman next to a boy on a funeral, both looking kinda sad. Yeah, how could anyone guess who's funeral that ought to be. Of course we need the one guy patting the boy on the shoulder and telling him, "I'm so sorry for your father".

[@ajames3062]

For me, one of the greatest exposition scenes in movie history is in the first pirates of the Caribbean. It's really random but the scene between Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightley on the Black Pearl where he explains his curse and the medallion and finishes by biting the Apple and telling her she better start believing in ghost stories cuz she's in the one. The camera, the acting, the script, the set, this scene lives rent free in my mind as one of the greatest exposition scenes of all time despite it telling more than showing.

[@Kitth3n]

Black pearl has a lot of expositions and to me its an example doing it well!

[@HBarnill]

Jack Sparrow's entrance tells you everything you need to know about him without a single word.

[@0sm1um76]

​@@HBarnillYeah the movie also has a ton of excellent examples of the opposite kind of exposition. Will Turner also has excellent introductory scenes which get further built upon in subsequent scenes(as Will and his background is a central thing other character are trying to uncover).

[@yomommashaus]

@@HBarnill J Depp was such a great cast for Pirates man.. He has to be one of the best at versatility imo.

[@kylinajordan]

I think this exposition works because we had the scene with the beginning of the movie being a dream/flashback that establishes the black pearl in relevance to the main characters (Will and Elizabeth's past) as well as establishing the myth/lore of this particular pirate ship. The jail scene also further establishes rhe lore of the ship and it's crew into a campfire ghost story. In a sense, all the demonstrating show scenes already happened, so we have the mystery with pieces of the puzzle and it gets the audience captivated with a child like intrigue so when we get to the pirate ship scene we are desperate for information, desperate for clarification as to what's real or not real about this ghost story. Thus, why the exposition is necessary but also very satisfying when the myths/the stories are confirmed to be true. Such great story structure with scenes that at first may seem unnecessary but prove to be for the set up of the big reveal/twist about the Black Pearl.

[@Pixiemaniac]

I think a great example of exposition is used in the Malayalam movie mayanadhi . It's about an aspiring actress and her ex boyfriend (who is also a convict on the run ) meeting up 1 yr after their breakup (or more like him ghosting her ) . It isn't a conventional movie that is compartmentalised into different acts . In fact the whole movie begins with the 2 main leads meeting unexpectedly after their breakup, we as a audience isn't given a unnecessary narration as to what has happened , instead we pick it up from their conversation , their is little to no acknowledgement of the audience , in fact it feels like 2 ppl having a conversation and we are prying on them . And throughout the film we know little about the male lead apart from that he is her ex boyfriend and that he is on the run . We only get to know more of him from a conversation the female lead has with a friend of hers . And that was such a breath of fresh air to witness. For once the audience has to listen to the conversations to actually understand the story rather than everything thrown on their faces .

[@SilvLocs]

The idea that Roman could have ever been manipulated into thinking HE’D actually get to inherit it all is crazy and always told me what I needed to

[@NatesFilmTutorials]

“Somehow Palpatine returned”

[@MyoticTesseract]

unintentionally the funniest bit of exposition i've ever seen

[@TonyBlue87]

A great example of neither showing *nor* telling.

[@ZZubZZero]

seriously worst writing of the 21st century.

[@TheSuperUltraGiraffe]

The beginning of rise of skywalker is one of the most insane examples of forced exposition i have ever experienced

[@claytonwatson1862]

​@@TonyBlue87I mean tbf that's not really when the movie is giving that exposition, right in the opening scene you see Snoke clones and Palpatine basically said he was revived by using the dark side of the force. You can say that THAT is vague/lazy exposition but the "somehow palpatine returned" line isn't really relevant.

[@Funnymanphilly]

This is one of the main reasons I love Denis Villeneueve's films. In a good example, Alejandro's character in Sicario was originally supposed to have a lot more dialogue, with scenes of him expositing his whole backstory to Kate, but Villeneuve and del Toro decided it would be much more interesting to illustrate and slowly reveal this through his actions and snippets of speech, and adds so much intrigue and mystery to his character.

[@mariaiacobescu9047]

interesting. i always thought this was the way Taylor Sheridan wrote it, since he has said he hates (unnecessary?) exposition

[@mariaiacobescu9047]

i absolutely browsed for a comment mentioning Sicario ❤

[@handcoversbruise1410]

One of my fav exposition is when Mike in Better Call Saul tell story about his son. It was so heartbreakingly written and Jonathan Banks's delivery is top notch

[@TonViper]

The problem with ending a video by segueing into an ad-read is that it ends up feeling like the video never ended properly. That is why I prefer midroll ads on KZbin to the ones at the end.

[@thekingscrown8931]

I circumvented this by just clicking off when I felt the video reached it's "ending" and thus, never saw the ad.

[@bananasinfrench]

I prefer it to interrupting the thing I'm actually interested in. Why would you ask to make the ads more intrusive and annoying to skip lol

[@TonViper]

@@bananasinfrench I watch on PC, skipping an ad requires one click of the mouse.

[@Acorn905]

I honestly really like it when character introduces someone to the other characters and its something they do often. If A is very social and wants B to get along sharing details about the other characters would make sense beacause they want everyone to know eachother as quick as eachother

I don't know about you guys, but whenever I have a conversation with my siblings, I always say "I'm your brother" at least once. Just to be sure everyone's on the same page.

[@andrewfitzpatrick9799]

I second that, stranger.

[@patricksullivan6988]

I appreciate you clarifying that show don't tell can be about subtext - that the "showing" can still be with words rather than images. In my search for a similarly concise or pithy expression, I refer to this corollary as "Say; don't explain."

[@Pebphiz]

Perhaps "convey, don't explain"?

[@Duothimir]

Loomis's speech about Michael Myers in the original Halloween, where he's giving his driver an exposition dump about Michael and their time together not just for the audience, but also to explain to the driver why he's so urgent when nobody else takes the threat seriously. Donald Pleasance's performance helps a lot, as he's able to convey just how badly shaken he is from his experiences with the young Michael, and how much he truly believes there's nothing but pure evil in there.

[@emperorchopchop7726]

Primer is my favorite example of invisible exposition. The characters never sound like they're speaking for the benefit of the audience. You're there as a fly on the wall, listening to the characters talk to each other and if you pay close enough attention, you can start to piece together what they're doing...just in time to understand the reveal when the character understands it.

[@plr2473]

primer is super confusing the first watch through. It makes sense for a bit, but then it steps up into overdrive. Yes it all makes logical sense, but you really have to be paying attention, or have to read up on the movie

[@emperorchopchop7726]

@@plr2473 I'ver never felt bad about not understanding every scene in Primer, I don't think it's required, and I suspect that it would take away from the experience. IMO the point of the last 30 minutes can be summed up as 'when you screw with time travel, things are gonna get FUBAR.' and that message is clear-as-day even if you can't figure out exactly which Adam is which. It's like Donnie Darko...there's a director's cut that 'explains' things, but the clarity detracts from the story rather than adding to it.

[@RunaroundAtNight]

I had to rewatch Primer and then google what was going on before I understood it. But I still don't think I fully understand it.

[@anarchisttutor7423]

I love that movie!

[@matthewstarkie4254]

My problem with Primer is that the characters never once sound like real people throughout the entire movie. I get that some of that is purposeful because they are repeating lines from previous iterations (even when that doesn't make sense), but a lot of it just seems like bad acting.

[@jp3813]

Iconic exposition character: Doctor Emmett Brown in Back to the Future Iconic exposition scene: USS Indianapolis speech in Jaws Iconic exposition film: Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men

[@Laurel_Ellenstreet]

Favorite recent TV example of a delayed payoff exposition. "The Last of Us" Pilot. Ellie passing the time in Tess and Joel's apartment ***SPOILER*** Flips open the music book. Notices that a "Bill and Frank" have a code involving what decade a song comes from. Ellie pretends to have heard an 80s song on the radio while Joel was napping, his reaction confirms that "80s" means trouble. (And shows something of their personalities.) The 1987 Depeche Mode song "Never Let Me Down Again" closes the episode - but it's not soundtrack. It's on the radio in the now-empty apartment. At the end of the next episode alert viewers know that Tess's desperate idea to get Ellie to Bill and Frank probably won't work. At the end of the third episode Joel shows Ellie the "dead man's switch" Bill had, starting the 80s playlist after a certain period of inattention. Ellie is like I-toldya-so. And we remember the pilot had ended with Joel, Tess, and Ellie missing what was essentially Bill and Frank's death notice.

[@Authoity4576]

surprised fleabag wasn't mentioned, i feel like that show is the prime example of good exposition dumping

[@j.elizabeth4621]

Season 2 is in my top three favorite things ever on film. Absolutely incredible.

[@hangedups2608]

NOT AT ALL

[@t221000]

I binge watched that show and I agree ☝️

[@TOAOM123]

​@@Pedro_Larroza I legitimately wish i could value that show as much as you I couldnt disagree more but im happy you enjoy it

[@austincook5475]

God no

[@heavensgate566]

Exposition, when done perfectly, is capable of delivering the most emotional scene in the film. My favourite example is in How To Train Your Dragon 2 when Valka says the line "..but a mother never forgets". That line was so smooth and gut wrenching.

[@IllusionSector]

One of *my* favorite examples of brilliant exposition is the control room scene in Pixar's *Wall·E* where the captain furiously argues but fails to persuade Auto (Axiom's HAL-esque AI auto-pilot) to fly the ship back to Earth. He then looks at the portraits of all the captains that preceded him for generations, notices Auto ominously in the background behind every one of them in the photo, and realizes that the auto-pilot is the one really in charge of the ship, not the captain.

[@EGRJ]

I'd argue that part of the line is not exposition. It's implication. Just like "No, you were only a babe." She doesn't just say she last saw him as a kid, or that she's his mom.

[@rphntw1n]

Not really exposition imo. Just a really good piece of dialogue.

[@tristanmike]

My sister and I talk *exactly* like this. Don't know why or how it started, but we call each other "sister" and "brother" exclusively. I've even started doing with my parents, calling them "mother" and "father" (ie. Good night father) and frankly, it feels great.

[@courtykat]

My sister and I sometimes do that as well. She'll even just call her spouse "husband" sometimes, and I probably would too lol.

[@letha_letha]

I do this with my husband and friends, too. It started off as a joking thing, but it stuck and now my siblings all refer to each other by relationship.

[@tristanmike]

@@letha_letha Thanks for adding your story. Much appreciated. :)

[@jacquesdaniels2435]

Asian countries have it better since they have honorifics. They won't have problem using it in a dialogue and it won't be awkward or weird.

[@alexaustin6961]

I think that a character saying something (like the Walt jr) scene can still count as "show" rather than "tell". I think that this is because dialogue has many benefits that simple visualizations do not and vice versa. Having Walt Jr say that to his family shows to us the dynamic of his family, and how Walt and Skyler react to it. We get WAY more out of that scene than just showing a lack of hot water. As a rule of thumb, with exceptions of course, it seems that "show don't tell" is very effective for world building where dialogue-based exposition is really good for dynamics of characters. As humans, we are excellently attuned to reading the emotions of others, especially in conversation. Exposition built through dialogue, done correctly, is one of the most beautiful elements of a movie and is a joy to watch.

[@lulupain18]

I know that it is a different media, but Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events books have great exposition. I can't put it into words, but I savored every bit of information about the characters and the world.

[@RhythmsCompany.2]

I love Lemony Snicket. Great writer, terrible firefighter.

[@kirknelson407]

I love Interstellar, but I don't think anyone who is orbiting a black hole needs the paper hole punch demonstration.

[@kadirarslan972]

An example of exposition that always got under my skin is from Candyman (2021) where one character (from the recently urbanised area) explains to the protagonist (an artist documenting the urbanisation of the same area) what gentrification is. Both clearly know that the other understands the concept but they shoehorn it in very heavy handedly and undermine the audience as a result.

[@bartman999]

Strongly agree. Gentrification should have been the subtext of the movie, instead they stop the narrative dead to have characters discuss gentrification for five minutes.

[@brianaguilar8283]

@@bartman999reminds me of the scene from Little Women where Florence Pugh delivers a melodramatic monologue about the struggles of being a woman in her time period

[@Advent3546]

One of my favorite exposition drops I've ever seen is that beautiful scene in Eddie Valiant's office in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The staging of the props and photographs, Alan Silvestri's wonderful score, Bob Hoskins' humane performance, and each seamless movement of the camera tell you everything about Eddie's grief and who he is as a character without a single word spoken. It has always been the gold standard of exposition to me since I was a kid

[@davidw.2791]

Shades of the camera exposition in Doc Brown’s garage-home, eh? Hint hint nudge nudge ❤

[@jmwild1]

Better Call Saul's pilot is excellent at "show don't tell", and I would argue the whole series excels at it.

[@t221000]

The whole show does it so well there are a lot of things I missed because it’s so subtle

[@t221000]

The whole show does it so well there are a lot of things I missed because it’s so subtle

[@mochaest1994]

this! you beat me to it

[@gutsoverfear1234]

Im so happy severance got props here, its a masterpiece

[@aerynharris7688]

i find it cool that every episode of Black Mirror successfully sets up a new universe, every single episode

[@bestfedoracontentonyoutube7485]

heavy voice over enjoyer here, and one thing i love about it is how it can set the tone so well, for example Galadriel in lotr and Travis Bickle from taxis drivers opening monologue set the tone perfectly. extra shoutout to adaptation (2002) for being one of my other favorite uses of voice over.

[@yomommashaus]

Don Cheadle in the beginning of Crash was pretty good too. That whole movie had tons of good scenes actually. Like the 2 black guys lamenting at how they are being subtly treated like criminals in the mostly white area and then they ironically contradict themselves by joking "because we got guns" and go and rob some white people lmao. I love that you can't pinpoint which race or gender or religion is getting picked on because it's such a mess of humanity showing the best and worst of each character, leaving you with the understanding that we're all messed up but still have the ability to choose good and to see the good in others.

[@susanrobertson984]

I was running the LOTR exposition through my head as I listened to this video.

[@arrowrandoman]

At a writing convention I went to earlier this year, an author called Matthew Bockholt gave a presentation on another approach to the "Show, Don't Tell" concept he called, "Write What You Can't Say." There was a lot to it, but basically, taking the time to present an idea rather than reporting facts, to give an audience questions to fill in themselves rather than always give the answer right away. I think that's the kind of worldbuilding or scene-setting I enjoy most as a reader or audience member. He also suggested making the first draft without worrying about the specifics of how the exposition looks so it can be whittled into a more intriguing form later.

[@N0bodyn01]

0:07 me and my sister DEFINITELY talk like this.... but to your credit, we probably do it because it is awkward, and inspired from awkward media.

[@N0bodyn01]

@@gleefuluv That’s a profound perspective. I am glad to finally understand the root cause of my sister and I greeting each other in formal terminology is not simply an inside joke, between siblings(as we always perceived it to be). But in truth, was caused by the psychological damage of consuming the media of such uncivilized imbeciles. Thank you dear friend. I will strive to be more like you, and consume a higher grade of media, so that I no longer call my sister, sister. Thank you, you wise, noble, and mysterious messenger of truth.

[@johnathandoe6034]

Now I need to know what he said, because this is the most based reply ever... Either way, I also do this all the time with my siblings, usually as a joke though... It's usually followed up with one of us saying "I hate you"

[@francescoalexgiacalone878]

@@N0bodyn01oh god you Made him delete his comment with this reply

[@davidw.2791]

It may be awkward in the Anglosphere but millions of people elsewhere do it.

[@Greenballoffire]

Ahaha😂 That's nice 😊

[@FogsterBell]

Have you seen Paris, Texas? The majority of the film is the aftershock of some event happend in the character's past and the last 10 minutes is just telling what happened in that past. And OMG is it suspenseful and dramatic

[@elvie2230]

A show I think does this really well is The Bear It starts off telling bits of the exposition about his brothers passing through other characters in natural dialogue which makes us curious and then at the end we get a big monologue from the main character at group therapy. All the information is given to us not only about the situation but how it has been affecting the main character throughout the season. So we all collectively get satisfaction from hearing him finally open up.

[@lh790_]

Some of the best use of inworld-media exposition has to be the TV montage from Shaun of the Dead.

[@Eamonshort1]

That scene is genius

[@GorgeDawes]

It works because we the audience are learning things at the same time as the characters in the scene. Oh, and it’s also brilliantly edited and extremely funny, so, you know, there’s that.

[@jmckendry84]

​@@GorgeDawesI'd say that we're not really learning something at the same time as the characters. We already know it's a zombie movie. We know there's going to be a zombie outbreak. We know all the little clues we've already seen are hints it's about to happen. But the characters don't know any of this, it's just a normal day to them.

[@Free-g8r]

Starship Troopers for me

[@YourBlackLocal]

Exposition works when it’s in service of an argument. People naturally exposit when trying to convince others. “I wanted to be a gangster.” Works because the movie is Henry’s argument for why he loved the life, literally ending on him explaining how bad life is without it.

[@KZ-tt9me]

Hiding exposition in an argument, playful or not, is one of my favourite tricks. The tv show Leverage did it a lot. It gives the characters a reason to be talking to each other (even about something they already know), can run the gamut from hilarious to gutting, and how people communicate/react in arguments tells you a TON about the individuals and their relationships. You don't need your characters to tell the audience that they're siblings or ex-lovers or best friends if the audience watches them argue. As he said, having multiple layers of information is really key in making it feel organic.

[@BabyScreenwriter]

Can we take a moment to appreciate the way Thomas' editing is unlike any video essayist on KZbin? He never bounces from movie to movie. Instead, he slows it down, treating each movie like a case study in the topic he's covering.

[@emfuji]

8:57 12 angry men still hold up

[@grrvaes]

What a great video. I don't know much about the technical aspect of cinema but yeah, been watching tv/movies since forever and nowadays I catch those moments all the time and it's cool to know that there's a term for it. Also, the point you made about "we don't like it because we only catch the bad ones" is totally true after seeing some of the examples you brought. Subscribed!

[@transrightsdinosaur]

Thanks for bringing up 12 Angry Men!! What an absolute writing masterclass of a movie. I need to rewatch it, it's been a year or two.

[@SimonTaylorcomedian]

When a character asks "why are you doing this?", all I hear "explain your motivation to the audience."

[@chriskaprys]

I like it when the exposition actually has an effect on the scene/characters. One shining example is Aliens, when Ripley is in the briefing meeting: she's finding out first-hand what happened to her colleagues, while also trying to impress upon the committee how lethal this creature is, while we also get to see how dismissive said committee can be (the foreshadowing itself is its own reason to be pissed off on Ripley's behalf) ... the marriage of the situation + writing + Sigourney Weaver's pitch-perfect acting manages to pump a dense amount of backstory + setup into one scene, and justifies Ripley's emotions/behaviour throughout - her anger, defiance, caution, distrust, grief, survivor/mother/badass-ness - all in one scene, in one room. It's exposition very well executed, charged with cause-and-effect that both belongs in this sci-fi otherworld and is very tangible and easy to sympathise with as an audience. Also, Black Mirror, especially the first two seasons. Masterclass in exposition, how it moves the short story along one choice, meaningful reveal at a time.

[@bellaharris9789]

The City of Brass trilogy is literature, not cinema, but its exposition is the best I’ve ever seen. You read the first book and it feels like a whole, complex, and complete story, but once you read the rest of the series you realize the first book was literally entirely exposition. It blew my mind. The series also does the dual perspective thing, which I enjoy, but while in most books with this type of writing, the separate characters meet each other within 5-10 chapters, if not right off the bat, in City of Brass they don’t even know the other exists until about 200 pages in. And even then, it takes another 50 for them to actually get to know each other, and by the end of the first book the romance (even the inkling of it) hasn’t even started yet. The story is driven by the plot and character development, not by the romance, which is so refreshing.

[@OwlPhoenix]

I love the subtle clickbait of the thumbnail. So intelligent. I thought I would be watching a well articulated and researched video on how "everything is so dark nowdays". But I got a well articulated and researched piece on cinematography. Amazing.

[@cinnamon9390]

I was extremely into the lack of exposition in M Night Shyamalan's Glass, I saw it without knowing it was the third movie in a series. I was fascinated with how little the movie actually needed to tell me about these characters

[@sailor_gaia]

When I think of an example of "master class in great exposition," I always think of the 1999 version of "The Mummy." Goofy action movie/blockbuster that it is, I consistently find cinematic appreciation for the way they tell the story. We not only get appropriately used (and not over-used) narration/voice overs, every bit of spoken exposition is lovingly baked into conversations that entertain as much as they inform. For example, one of the biggest pet-peeves I have in cinema is when a sibling is introduced the words "brother or a sister" (bro or sis, even) is forced into the conversation to explain the relationship, which usually never happens again in the film and tends to *feel* very much like blatant exposition. In contrast, in "The Mummy," Evelyn's brother is first introduced as with a *character- appropriate,* semi-sarcastic quip, "my dear, sweet, baby sister." It flows naturally and and sets the mood for character, which is my point. The film is full of moments like that: all pertinent details, from lore, mythos and credentials, are either shown or given in dialogue that feels natural to the characters and the situation, even when it's way over-the-top. It is just so...""chef's kiss" and I am glad to see the film given more appreciation in recent years.

[@shannoncarolinedias6999]

Oh ma god! Thank you!

[@moqueca_moqueca]

I sincery love this movie so bad.

[@marksonofnel55]

My favourite expository voiceover, at least off the top of my head right now, is Taxi Driver, because it gives you the view of Travis Bickle's fairly insane mind parallel to the more objective view of the camera, making it not just useful to speed up exposition, but something you could not get as well otherwise. Those kind of unique insights are probably the greatest advantage books have over films, where internal monologue is so easy.

[@yomommashaus]

"internal monologue is so easy" - anime has entered the chat

[@TheoHiggins]

I can't explain it very eloquently, but recently I really liked the exposition in the anime Heavenly Delusion. The way it opens with these two people whose relationship is unclear but slowly fills in by how they interact was done really well. And when it does come time for a big exposition-y reveal about one of the characters they wait until 3 entire episodes in. The latest possible moment thing you mention made that reveal much more impactful for the audience now that we've spent a bit of time with this character. If it was episode 1 we the audience would think "ok cool" because we don't know this person. But by episode 3 we've spent enough time that this reveal both changes our understanding of who this character is, but also recontextualises some details the audience might've picked up before but dismissed. And the show is filled with storytelling beats being hit perfectly like that. As with any story that include sci-fi secret facility subplot I'm wary of how the story will continue, but from the 12 episodes we have now I'm very optimistic about this production. They're doing REALLY well.

[@Kenkenny82]

Personnaly, I love the introduction of 10 Cloverfield lane. There is almost no dialogue in the first minutes, and yet you learn everything you need to know about the main character.

[@ladyreverie7027]

One of the best examples of a voiceover clever exposition is the one at the start of Trainspotting. "Choose life". The sardonic way he describes a sober life in a way that makes it sound boring and soul crushing and part of a system he doesn't want to be part of. "Choose a fixed rate mortgage". The way it's contrasted with the chase scene. The way it echoes drug recovery language before it even reveals at the end that he's a heroin addict. Amazing.

[@skullsaintdead]

100%. I had a graffiti battle with some other girl in the women's toilets at Curtin Uni (Perth, WA) in 2009-10 with that line. "Choose not to choose life". She crosses out -"Choose not to"- And I come back, couple weeks later, pretty impressed but also irritated, so I write it again: "Choose NOT to choose life!" She crosses it out again! -"Choose NOT to"- I'm thinking, girl, ain't you ever experienced that rush of endorphins? Never had chronic pain? Never had period pain? It went on a few times more. As far as I know, I got the last line. Guess she got that electric tin opener!

[@davidw.2791]

@@skullsaintdeadWhy do you lump endorphins together with the pains

[@skullsaintdead]

@@davidw.2791 Cause if you're born with the right amnt of endorphins, or if your body produces the right amount, you prob won't have to use opiates (at least not for most minor injuries, nor would you need them to feel normal ie with no pain, and defo not long term, like I have to for severe chronic pain; i was born with a lower level of pain that was triggered, in 2020, by a worldwide shortage of a period-pain specific birth control pill; now im housebound & mostly bedbound).

[@davidw.2791]

@@skullsaintdead Ah ok, for a while I was confused thinking Endorphins CAUSE pain because of the way I read your question “Do you feel Endorphins? Do you feel deliberating chronic pain?”

[@skullsaintdead]

@@davidw.2791 Lol yeah, no worries! Can defo see how you'd interpret that.

[@bonglesnodkins329]

One of the movies that makes great use of overt exposition is "The Terminator" (1984). Indeed, you can make a case that around half of the plot of The Terminator is conveyed to us through exposition. Why is the terminator here? Who sent it? Why is Reese here? Who sent him? Why is Sarah Connor being targeted? Why is she important? All of this is told to us explicitly by the character of Kyle Reese, in three key scenes. None of the exposition scenes are boring: one takes place during a car chase (and the lull in that car chase, hiding in a parking lot), one is a police interrogation, and the final one, a moment of calm at the start of the third act, transitions nicely into a "future flashback". All three are organic, and none of them feel clunky or forced. Also, importantly, we as an audience want to gain a better understanding of what's going on, and only Reese can really give us the answers we want. If you were going to explain the plot of The Terminator to somebody who had never seen the film, at least half of what you tell them is likely to be a precis of Reese's exposition dialog. The true Big Bad of the movie - Skynet - is never really seen in the film at all. It's an entity whose existence you know about purely through the anecdotes told to Sarah (and Silberman) by Reese.

[@JayzVeez]

Yeh nice one man. Terminator was peak action movie cinema. Its has all of the bombastic action you'd expect, Arnie as an absolutely badass villain and great storytelling. There's nice world building with Sarah's waitress job and how much it sucks. She's established as a likeable slightly ditzy suburb girl who is kind of a bit lost in life and bit of a wallflower at the same time which sets the crazy contrast with what she transforms into in the sequel. It spends just the right amount of time with Reese so he doesn't feel like a throwaway character just there as a plot device to keep the story moving. The pacing is great. It shows us how far action movies have fallen since. So many of the best action movies in the 80s and 90s had well written stories. The action was the icing on the cake. While today its all about the action while the story takes a back-seat. This is why most modern action movies suck and why the John Wick and Bourne movies stand out as the better types of modern action because they heavily incorporate an interesting story and world building.

[@crazyralph6386]

Cameron was smart enough to include exposition while the protagonists were constantly being hunted, making it palpable not boring.

[@rphntw1n]

Good point.

[@chelseymoore1786]

When you said, "Exposition is always going to be more interesting to the audience when we understand why this information is important to the characters", I immediately thought of the finale of "Chernobyl" in which Legasov explains the nuclear meltdown at Dyatlov & Co.'s trial-we need to know, it's what the whole series is building up to, how this awful catastrophe occurred, but it's also important for the in-world "audience" (those present at the trial) because they must make a legal determination based on their understanding of the events. It's also important for Legasov to communicate the information because in doing so he's able to expose the government's negligence. AHHH, SO GOOD! Great video 😃

[@theknight27]

The commentary on how well Succession delivers its exposition in Episode 1 is excellent.

[@cicreate5761]

As someone who never plans on writing a screenplay, I found this SO fascinating!! You just got a new fan :))

[@MarianaSilva-ul5fy]

As someone Who plans on doing that, same

[@AndrewHimself]

I think a brilliant bit of exposition/world-building is the opening scene of Children Of Men.

[@vickdinvick5485]

children of men is a masterpiece

[@davidw.2791]

@@vickdinvick5485Alfonso Cuaron and Rian Johnson are the same kind of brilliant: Their own projects and IP picks, sure; making something in the middle of a series, questionable. You won’t even believe Prisoner Of Azkaban was done by the same guy, in terms of screenplay & its execution re: Exposition et al. How COULD you change the book’s point that “Sirius Black was magically the ONLY person who knew the secret” to “he was ONE OF the few who knew”?? 🙃 Among many other things.

[@WaveSamu]

great video! for me personally, Children of Men by Alfonso Cuaron is the manifestation of "show, don't tell" I love this movie so much for example in the first scene, they made use of the "TV broadcast exposition" while also introducing us to the main character to a certain extent AND having a dramatic (and by the way well shot) scene that reveals how instable the country is, in which the story takes place

[@ImmaculateOtter]

A fantastic example of voiceover is in The Batman. The whole introductory monologue is a journal entry. It gives crucial information about the setting and the psyche of the protagonist. Plus it’s stinkin cool.

[@HeadbutKneecap]

I like to use exposition with what I call the “two at a time” rule. Yeah, sure we’re getting some exposition, but you’re also getting some more information through the subtext of why it’s said, or, something is happening at the same time within the scene that shows another aspect. If you can do all three at once. That’s good storytelling.

[@ulmerbrothers2076]

I actually love the humorous way Singing in the Rain does its opening exposition. Don tells the reporter the story of his rise to fame and what we see on screen is such a funny contrast.

[@JonathanWymer]

Okay, YES. 12 Angry Men! One of my favorites of all time and just rewatched a few days ago. It's incredible in its subtle yet strong exposition through a dialogue-driven, singular location movie. I think all of the examples you used for displaying great feats of exposition done well treat the audience with respect and have them engage with the story rather than sit back and be told everything. Great video, Thomas!!

[@evanward4303]

Glad to see you used Severance as an example. Really looking forward to season 2. Everyone should see it!

[@tbird-z1r]

It's so, so boring. And from reviews (at least from those not taken in by the blatant pretentiousness of the show) it seems it doesn't get better.

[@TonyTapay]

I think it's worth noting the power of NO exposition which can introduce confusion and enhanced curiosity by the viewer. A prime example of this, in my mind, was The Wire. There were many scenes where it felt like the viewer had been dropped into the middle of a conversation. This could be confusing, but it only raised the stakes and forces the viewer to pay attention. Eventually the viewer catches on and pieces things together. This work done by the audience has value and I wish it was done more often.

[@ethanfleisherrenunderground]

Right? That show was a different level. The lack of context and exposition gave it a kind of gritty realism I don't think anything has duplicated since

[@youareabsolutelyright7345]

I feel like when someone understands “show don’t tell” well enough, they can tell to show.

[@somedudeintheinterweb8665]

Explicit as opposed to implicit is, I think the heart of the matter that showing vs telling is trying to tell

[@seba777100]

Something that always bothers me is that, when a character in a scene turns the TV on, the news presenter is ALWAYS just about to start a new sentence talking about exactly what the audience needs to hear. You never catch them half-way through a sentence, which is statistically what of course would happen 8 out of 10 times.

[@xingcat]

I think Memento has a great twist on this, in that a character has to tell himself what he doesn't know, because he can't retain information for any length of time.

[@santiagobauza4257]

I immediately thought of the Severance pilot when I saw this video pop up in my feed. Creating a situation in which the exposition comes so naturally, which works two-fold (to introduce Helly's innie into this world and to help Mark getting used to his new tasks), is one of the most brilliant ways around it that I've seen, while keeping the audience gripped on just how this world works.

[@tbird-z1r]

How could anyone even get through that pilot. So boring, over-rated and pretentious.

[@catabat49654]

On the same note of “12 Angry Men,” reading/watching plays is a fantastic way of learning how to do well done exposition dialogue. The modern play is usually written to have broad appeal production-wise so it can be produced in a large number of theaters with varying budgets, but that also means you can’t rely on a set or directorial choices to tell the whole story. Some pieces of info are vital for the audience to know, so the characters HAVE to say them in some way or another. A Raisin in the Sun (and its film adaptation) is another great example of the characters using dialogue to establish certain story beats (like the Younger’s financial troubles, Walter’s desires that lead to his errors in judgment, Beneatha’s attitudes about education and Afrocentricism, etc) that couldn’t be shown on a stage.