Is there an equivalent to exposition in film?—@akimoku
In scriptwriting, exposition is described as “Act II stuff,” more than a quarter of the way in. Exposition as backstory in film, often flashback scene (dreams, memories, etc.) In film, it’s sometimes dialogue, but usually action. Someone finds a old news clipping, overhears conversation, etc. True for prose as well?—@AllInky
Screenwriting or playwriting and fiction use the word “exposition” differently. And this is another reason why exposition is so misunderstood.
In fiction, exposition is anything that isn’t part of the actual scene. It doesn’t describe what you can see, it doesn’t give an action or recount dialog, it doesn’t even let you feel what the characters feel. It tells information you can’t get from the scene, information you need to follow the plotline, and hopefully in a way that adds to the atmosphere. It “exposes” or illuminates your story.
In screenplays, exposition is that part of the story that develops the hook into the climax. In fiction we call that development. But screenplays, by their very nature, are all scenes. You can’t get around that. So they don’t need a word specifically for stuff that can’t be cast in scenes. I mean, what would they do with it? Put it down in memos between the screenwriter and director?
In three-act structure: Act I is the hook of your story, ending in a plot point. Act II is the exposition, or development, of your story, ending in another plot point. And Act III is where the doo-doo really hits the fan.
Is there an equivalent to literary exposition in film?
YES.
This is voice-over (VO), where the narrator talks over the scenes, illuminating what the audience sees and hears with backstory, commentary, whatever they see fit to throw in the pot. (Not to be confused with VO in animation, which has to be done for dialog or all the little cartoons lip-sync in silence.)
Screenwriters rarely write VO into their scripts. It weakens the story and draws the audience out of the scenes. Same thing it does in fiction. It also involves either a narrator character or a sound system if you try to use it on the stage. (Shakespeare did it—remember Puck? The ancient Greeks did it—we call that the Greek Chorus.)
You know when you’ll hear VO in movies? When the movie has been adapted from a novel. And why use it then, even though it weakens your movie? Because the novelist was really good with exposition, and their words are simply too beautiful and profound and illuminating to give up.