Original subtitles

- An actor's responsibility is to bring

the text of a script to life.

And another great way to do that

is to look between the lines written

to the dialogue's subtext.

Subtext is defined as any content

which is not announced explicitly by the characters

or the author, but it's implicit

or becomes something understood

by the observer of the production.

So basically, text is the dialogue that is written.

Subtext is what's going on in the character's mind,

it's their inner dialogue.

It's not what you say, but how you say it.

The reason subtext is so important is that drama

is created from the conflict of thought versus action.

Subtext, seeing their inner dialogue,

what they're really thinking,

creates a conflict internally

with what they're doing externally

and conflict is very useful.

You want to take time to work out with your actors

what's really happening in a scene

over and above their dialogue.

Take a few minutes to look up the balcony scene

from Woody Allen's movie, Annie Hall.

You can find it on YouTube at the URL listed.

Diane Keaton in Woody Allen's inner dialogue

is shown at the bottom of the screen

while they are delivering their actual dialogue.

And while the content is a little dated,

it's a wonderful literal example

of what subtext can mean for an actor's performance.