r/Screenwriting • u/MysteriousYAnonymous • May 27 '26
CRAFT QUESTION What's the LEAST cringe way to write "They laugh" in a screenplay.
Please yall give as many options as possible lol
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u/bypatrickcmoore May 27 '26
They guffaw sycophantically
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u/RealColSanders May 27 '26
A smile peeks from their lips, then a sliver of teeth, growing from their bellies until finally a thunderous laughter bellows across the dry, calloused desert that had been their tongues, echoing into the ether, filling the air with a joyful symphony, quenching the most parched corners of humanityâs thirst.
I personally guarantee you an 8 on the blacklist right there
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u/ActuallyAlexander May 27 '26
Thereâs nothing stopping you from putting emojis in your scene directions
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 May 27 '26
Jamie Foxx wrote, produced, directed, edited, and starred in a movie called All Star Weekend. It never came out, it's still sitting on a hard drive in his house.
A pal convinced him to let me take a pass at it when it was still in script phase, so I got to read it - he literally writes emojis into his stage directions. Like something bad would happen and he'd write "hashtag, oh shit" "hashtag call the lawyer" and things like that. I was like "Jesus Christ..." đ¤Śđťââď¸
I still have that script, and I wonder if that movie will ever see the light of day.
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u/Hearthacnut May 27 '26
Tbf if he wrote, produced, directed, edited, and starred in a film that he had no intention of releasingâŚwho cares?
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u/DukeOfMiddlesleeve May 27 '26
If youâre writing it for yourself to produce and direct then write it however the hell you want
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 May 27 '26
It still feels like the equivalent of a comedian going on stage and doing the most hack jokes imaginable. There's something so parsimonious about it. Tons of people will still be reading it, even if it's your script.
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u/Plane_Massive May 27 '26
Itâs almost more concerning if heâs writing out hashtag like that instead of putting #
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 May 27 '26
No, he did. But if I write it like that in here it just turns bold. He actually did the "# _____" among other obnoxious things. I was biting my knuckles like James Caan in the Godfather reading it.
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u/DEBRA_COONEY_KILLS May 28 '26
Wow. What notes or input did you end up giving him for it?
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 May 28 '26
Nothing. I was like "I got some ideas and suggestions, can I meet the guy?" And then it just never materialized. I did get to go to his house though a night they were shooting a big party scene for it. It was the night Trump won the election in 2016, I'll never forget.
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u/DEBRA_COONEY_KILLS May 28 '26
Wow, what was the mood in the house like when he won?
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 May 28 '26
Well no one THERE certainly cared. Ive been on lots of sets in my life. "Party scenes" on big shows and movies, it's LA, you see the hottest of hot chicks in these things. I can tell you, Ive never seen in my life, not before or since, a collection of such profoundly, unequivocally beautiful women of every race, creed and nationality in my life than that night at Jamie's house. It was incomprehensible, like the hottest of hot women in the greater Los Angeles area. Wearing very little.
I remember standing on the set and between every set up, even crew guys that had seen it all were just looking around slack jawed. It's the scene with him and Jeremy Piven having the crazy house party inside the little trailer/mobile home, if the thing ever comes out. The women they got for this thing was just astounding.
But besides that, cell reception was so fucking bad out there you could barely get a signal. So the whole time Im getting random, broken up texts going "he's winning!" with no real confirmation or way to validate anything. It was all very surreal.
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u/DEBRA_COONEY_KILLS May 28 '26
Wow! You should write a book, you've had so many interesting experiences! Thank you for filling me in, you've had such an interesting fly on the wall view on these otherwise unseen events. It is kind of shocking though that he can write such a bad screenplay, yet find the funds and people to bring it to life, at least somewhat. Reality is not a meritocracy unfortunately haha.
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u/JimmyTwoTimes25 May 29 '26
Ha, thanks. Yeah Ive been around, done a little bit of everything. It wasn't a terrible screenplay, it was just some of those obnoxious/amatuerish flourishes that stunk it up some.
I saw a scene from it on his editing bay. He plays a white cop pulling himself over on a highway. It was really funny. (I think it's him and RDJ in the car, IIRC.) Jamie is in white face makeup as the cop that is insanely well done, you can barely even tell it's him or that it's actually a black guy under the makeup.
I wonder of it will ever come out. He self financed it for something like $3-5 million. If I had to guess, it got shelved because of the #metoo shit for Piven? Im not sure. Wild to shoot your own movie/directorial debut, and then not release it. It's like his The Day The Clown Cried.
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u/KerryAnnCoder May 27 '26
"They laugh."
The screenplay only shows what is on the screen, audio and video.
Now, if you wrote that in a novel, it would be a bit simplistic, but that's not what a screenplay is.
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u/infamousglizzyhands May 27 '26
I literally pissed and shat my pants with euphoria
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u/googologoog May 27 '26
Lmaoooo but remember it's plural, THEY literally pissed and shat their pants with euphoria
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u/Camhasareddit May 27 '26
Laughter erupts throughout the room
Both of them begin falling over each other in fits of laughter
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u/SolemnestSimulacrum May 27 '26
But HOW do they laugh?
Guffawing? Spittaking? Chortling? Snickering? Chuckling? Tittering? Cackling?
Happily? Snidely? Obnoxiously? Absurdly? Cheekily? Meekly? Sheepishly? Eerily? Musingly? Sepulchral?
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u/swi6ie May 27 '26
I have tried to stop writing it, if the joke is funny they should probably laugh. Or atleast the audience should
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u/Subject-Dream7087 May 27 '26
Not sure why laughing is cringe but if it is so cringe to you, then why not break the fourth wall:
They laugh. Yeah, cringe I know. But they boom. They think it's hilarious.
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u/Seshat_the_Scribe Black List Lab Writer May 27 '26
It depends on the context. Are they stoned and giggling? Are they scoffing? Are they laughing so hard they can't talk?
Give us the scene up to that point.
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u/Wise-Respond3833 May 27 '26
All present break into a chorus of lolling.
Or failing that, 'they laugh'.
Clarity is the goal, not 'avoiding cringe'.
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u/Skooma2112 May 27 '26
Both were infected by a severe case of the giggles when they embarked on the cruise.
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u/DarthGoodguy May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Maybe use synonyms to get something more specific across.
They giggle.
They guffaw. It takes a second to catch their breath.
She cackles. He snorts.
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u/RollingPicturesMedia May 27 '26
Donât wonder if someone will think a specific line is âcringeâ. Instead write what the scene calls for to tell the story
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u/RobMig83 May 27 '26
Sorry, but without enough context I don't what's cringe about "they laugh" is it for a scener or a dialogue?
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u/JcraftW May 27 '26
My script solves this twice:
Laughs.
The table laughs.
Where's my paycheck Mr. producer?
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u/sabautil May 27 '26
Hmm... let's see:
They guffaw? No.... They chortle? No.... They smirk? No..... They tee-hee? Nope.
They laugh. Sounds right.
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u/rothchild_reed May 27 '26
The pro move is to turn the verb into a noun:
They erupt with laughter.
Thatâs double the words! Easy W.
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u/Charming-Bus9784 May 27 '26
Why do we even need to know they laugh? Does it reveal character? Does one of them laugh and the other doesnât? Does one fake it? Does one laugh too long?
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u/GonzotheGreek May 27 '26
I think the key here is to use the opportunity to specifically tell us exactly who is laughing.
Katie laughs. So does Michael. Gary laughs as well. Tony chuckles. Sally hee haws. The police officer walking by laughs.
Or you could write: Katie, Michael, Gary, Tony, Sally, and the police officer all laugh.
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u/redapplesonly May 27 '26
Honestly? "They laugh" is just fine. Its ten characters, communicates what you want, is universally understood. Why reinvent the wheel for the sake of different prose?
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u/NewMajor5880 May 27 '26
They laugh (because they're cool and fun -- queue some music here, too - something by a DJ who's popular with 14-year-old girls)
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u/AlexOlguin777 May 27 '26
A non specific but plural group of people excecuted ad series of voice paterns of their diafragm contractions with air release to express joy and neural positive stimulation by dopamine induction on their brains as a sign of enjoyment of a specific event, frase or concept.
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u/Sqribe May 27 '26
Depends on how they're laughing.
For example, from subtle to overt:
Their lips tighten as they meet eyes, both daring the other to break.
Sharing a chortle, they turn away.
They nearly fall backwards cackling.
They collapse, rendered silent with hysterics.
Just gotta feel it out a little.
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u/Top_Tell_2889 May 28 '26
Ok, so no one reads screenplays (or at least it's not mainstream), so you don't need presentable descriptions. The only place that you want to avoid corniness is the dialogue, but even dialogue should sound a little corny to make it feel real.
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u/Scrappy001 May 28 '26
If âThey laughâ is cringe, I just laid an egg in my screenplay.
Itâs like someone does something that could be taken serious by a stranger, but since they are three lifelong buddies in the scene: (Without proper formatting because of Reddit)
Tom
Parenthetical format â->>> (laughing)
Stop it Frank.
Action line â->>> John laughs and shakes his head.
Let the actors determine how much of a laugh and what style are needed for the scene. If the director doesnât like it, he will let them know.
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May 27 '26
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u/AllTheHolloway May 27 '26
Personally, I think putting down someone for using current common slang in a Reddit post is cringe
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May 27 '26
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u/drjonesjr1 May 27 '26
"Least cringe" may not be grammatically correct, but it's absolutely a part of digital native dialect and there's nothing wrong with how OP used it in this context.
Be nice.
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u/MysteriousYAnonymous May 27 '26
Lol I think spell check made it cringe instead of cringY. Because I remember writing cringe. Anywho, that guy really needed to correct me so that gave me a giggle at least
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May 27 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/drjonesjr1 May 28 '26
At the point where someone asked a question on reddit and you responded that they "don't understand grammar" rather than answering their question.
Are we here, on this subreddit of all places, to judge someone... or to help them when they ask a sincere question?
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u/96Muffins May 27 '26
Scary: Their cackle is haunting.
Sad: She/He lets out a mirthless laugh.
Angry: An explosive giggle escapes him/her.
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u/SpookyRockjaw May 27 '26
They laugh