I'm writing a pirate story that takes place in 1702 Spain. Therefore, I'm using a bit of Spanish dialog. I'm going to get help from my Spanish teacher etc, but I was wondering how much dialog should be Spanish. For example, should it just be common phrases, or terms of endearment, or would it work to have whole conversations in Spanish, but with subT?

~kez

None, unless the character is actually speaking English and throwing in the odd 'amigo' or 'si' because, like Poirot, he forgets the English for 'yes'.

Your script will first be read by a 'reader' who a) might not speak 18th century Spanish and b) won't be able to see the subtitles. So what you do is:

             JOSÉ
         (in Spanish)
      Hello. How are you?


and let the script consultant worry about the translation/subtitles/doing it in English anyway, while you sip a Mai Tai on the beach in the Seychelles and enjoy your six-figure advance.

I agree. What I do is have my character say certain words or phrases in their native language. Ex: My character, who speaks Icelandic says "Godin Daginn!" instead of "Good day!" But, yet again, only you can measure whether or not you think your script has enough Spanish or not. :)

Talking of 6-figure advances for newbies, have a look at this http://www.hollywood.com/news/Leonardo_Dicaprio_Ridley_Scott_Reteam_for_...

If you've ever seen Firefly (and if you haven't, you should), you know that they occasionally intersperse Chinese dialogue with English dialogue, without subtitles. Sometimes it's just an adjective or two, in which case you don't need to know what the Chinese means because the inflection and context let you know without subtitles. Sometimes it's an entire sentence, but still, it doesn't detract from the scene.

What always bugs me about films is when a foreign speaker is in a scene with a bunch of English speakers (or vice versa, with or without a translator), and the foreign speaker seems to know exactly what's going on even though they don't speak English. What makes this worse is when the translator relates certain parts of the conversation, but the foreign speaker is seemingly perfectly able to fill in the gaps on their own. I realize this is to cut down on excess dialogue and time, but it still bothers me.

I echo the comments above; I'd write it in English but then write "in Spanish" in subtitles. The director/editor/etc. can decide the best way to present it on screen. If you're really worried about it, add a note to your script so the director will know what you want done with the foreign languages.

I think if this is to be performed in English, it's okay to leave what the characters say in English, and just adding an occasional sí or señor will be fine. Think about (or watch at least one) movies you've seen that were set in other parts of the world, but with English dialogue. That might help you out.

Looking at films won't help you see how the script was written, though.

If you were a script reader, which would you read, and which would you bin?:


          GZNTRGBR
     Hfwarg grgrtylurkfutter?

Zentrigber greets Jumpyoff in Klingon, Jumpyoff responds warmly, also in Klingon


same goes for any other language the reader probably won't understand

Thanks so much! This helps a lot. :)
~kez

NaNoWriMo 2007: The Song of the Bard, The Blade of the Healer: finished

I read the script for a couple of the Star Wars movies, and this is how I formatted my script based on what I saw:

RED ARMY MAN #2

(Subtitled)

你這個小鬼啊！　　快點！(You little brat! Hurry up!)

I'm not sure if that's the official way to do it, but it works for me!

"There is no greater mistake than that of always being right."

Yes, conversations in Foreign with English subtitles are common and acceptable.

Script Frenzy 2008: The Cross Dressing Detective
NaNoWriMo 2007 winner: Hell and Highwater
Occasional Trainer's Diary

Write in English, forget the translation. The point of the spec script is to get the idea across to a reader. If you see another language (other than the odd word) in a script with a translation, it's a shooting script so no-one has to translate - i.e. the English speakers can follow what is happening, and the foreign language speakers have the words in front of them.

Even if that wasn't so, for a first draft (which by definition all screnzy scripts are) and even if you are completely bilingual, don't waste time translating stuff which is going to get edited later anyway, get on with the story.

IMNSHO :-)