Script Analysis: “Spencer” — Part 5: Dialogue

A week-long analysis of the British royalty biopic drama script and movie. Download. Read. Discuss.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Dialogue.

My working principle is this: Dialogue equals conversation with purpose. What monologues, sides, or exchanges in Spencer stood out for their purposefulness with regard to the overall story?

Written by Steven Knight.

Plot summary: Diana Spencer, struggling with mental-health problems during her Christmas holidays with the Royal Family at their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, decides to end her decade-long marriage to Prince Charles.

Major kudos to Caroline Gray for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go here.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read the Character discussion, go here.

For Part 4, to read the Themes discussion go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Spencer.