Quoted from FrankM There's been some great advice here so far, and just about any of these options would work if a script is consistent with it. A harder problem would be making unitelligible "English" because the POV character is an alien.

I don't see how that will fly with an audience. To hear gobbledegook throughout and learn it was actually English the whole time would make people wonder why it wasn't just English the whole time.

Quoted from ReneC I don't see how that will fly with an audience. To hear gobbledegook throughout and learn it was actually English the whole time would make people wonder why it wasn't just English the whole time.

I think you're right. I've only seen one real example of this, a Twilight Zone episode where no one spoke at all until the end.

It might be able to work if the humans and aliens operate at significantly differentg speeds. You can even switch back and forth between POVs and keep the incomprehensibility going for an extended period.

Hmm, just weighing in, sorta...

I'm a bit/lot confused at what we'll be seeing and hearing on screen. Do the Aliens speak/understand English, or not?
If it were me I'd look for examples in produced scripts. That's always my go-to.

Out of interest I looked at Close Encounters and Arrival - both are downloadable. Of course communication in both was done musically and pictorialy respectively, so my comments are probably redundant.

8 Aliens thrust together against their will. One of the first big problems they have, communication - they all speak different languages...I don't want the audience to know what they are saying either ( What exactly is an audience going to see then?
Wow, that's a task and a half.

FYI:
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/s.....ce-aliens-ncna889061

Matt, is this straight drama or comedy?

Quoted from LC Hmm, just weighing in, sorta... I'm a bit/lot confused at what we'll be seeing and hearing on screen. Do the Aliens speak/understand English, or not? If it were me I'd look for examples in produced scripts. That's always my go-to. Out of interest, I looked at Close Encounters and Arrival - both are downloadable. Of course, communication in both was done musically and pictorially respectively, so my comments are probably redundant. 8 Aliens thrust together against their will. One of the first big problems they have, communication - they all speak different languages...I don't want the audience to know what they are saying either ( What exactly is an audience going to see then? Wow, that's a task and a half. FYI: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/s.....ce-aliens-ncna889061 Matt, is this straight drama or comedy?

Basically, imagine you woke up in a room with 7 other people from different nations and the room was going to imminently implode. You would try to communicate with each other, and probably quickly learn than spoken language is not working - you would also try to escape the room.
The language itself is not important, what is important is that they cannot understand each other, they do not know each other, but they somehow need to work together to get a hold of the situation they are in.

The action heavily drives the narrative forward, none of the characters can understand each other vocally. The only character the audience can understand is the only Human. They can and do try rudimentary communication like hand gestures and facial expressions.

They are in peril for pretty much the entire pilot, so they are each trying to survive - They also each react differently to their situation (scared, angry, oddly calm)

I did originally have them be able to understand each other, with no explanation as to how - and thought "I'm missing the obvious here, if they cannot communicate but they need each other help, it immediately ups the ante"

Later on, another "being" arrives who has been studying intelligent species for centuries and provides them with the ability to communicate (I was conscious of the fact that an audience would eventually become annoyed if the characters couldn't communicate for too long)
that may seem like a cop-out, but there is a narrative explanation for this "being" which is slowly revealed through the season.

Once I have enough of the pilot written I'll pop it into the WIP section to see if how I am doing it is working or not.

EDIT: it's a Sci-fi action drama not comedy

If these folks basically wake up in each other's presence without explanation, one of the natural reactions would be to blame/fear at least one of the others. One may look like a predator or demon from another's world.

As for giving them communications, you could go full Expanse and have them work out a rudimentary creole among themselves. You could be a little nicer to your audience and include subtitles.

Quoted from FrankM If these folks basically wake up in each other's presence without explanation, one of the natural reactions would be to blame/fear at least one of the others. One may look like a predator or demon from another's world.

Indeed, although they can remember the moment they were taken and who took them (I can't stand that amnesia crap in tv shows)

I like that demon idea though, thank you - as the season goes on and the plot unfolds, we discover links between them and their seemingly random kidnapping is no longer looking random. The cogs are turning on that Demon idea.....

Quoted from FrankM You could be a little nicer to your audience and include subtitles.

To subtitle or not to subtitle, that is the question

Quoted from Matthew Taylor To subtitle or not to subtitle, that is the question

I would not subtitle at all at first... only what someone other than the speaker can understand. If they've settled on waving the hands means "no" then it might warrant a subtitle.

It depends on how much work you expect the audience to do (and whether they're likely to binge-watch or catch the occasional episode). In a late episode of The Expanse, when Commander Ashford said "Heah me, Beltahlouder" I actually understood him