Film audiences as overhearers

This paper attempts to describe the workings of film discourse by focusing on the cognitive processes involved in the comprehension and design of verbal exchanges on screen. Several concepts have been developed to account for various forms of mediated discourse (Burger, 1984; Short, 1981; Clark, 1996); however, these concepts do not explain how the audience co-constructs meaning (Duranti, 1986) and they fail to spell out the mental engagement involved in this co-construction. The approach introduced here accords a central position to the spectator, who acts as an “overhearer” in the sense of Goffman (1976, 1979). The cognitive processes that lead to an understanding of film dialogue are parallel to those happening in the case of overhearers in everyday situations. This also has consequences for the design of film dialogue. Both understanding and design of film dialogue are based on underlying patterns of knowledge, including knowledge about real conversation and film dialogues.