Technique - POV 2 and 3 way dialogue shots at DVinfo.net

Alex Dunn · July 15th, 2003, 08:18 AM

I'm looking for some advice or pointers on making my dialogue scenes flow more naturally. Are there any formulas that indicate when to cut to the speaker/listener?

And most importantly, what's the most popular way to edit the audio track? Obviously both voices get recorded on both POV shots, but which do you use? Are sync problems common or is it just me?

Tor Salomonsen · July 15th, 2003, 09:52 AM

From what I can see on television and in the cinema, directors go to great lenghts to set up scenes so that the actors' faces both are turned towards the camera. That way they don't have to cut so often in order to show the one who's talking.
On separate takes you will have sync problems if you use sound from one take with images from another. I would think you'd use them as they were shot unless there's something wrong.

Alex Knappenberger · July 15th, 2003, 10:17 AM

When you shoot, for one, shoot from the same position, with the actors on either side of the camera, or however you want to do it, but as long as it's like this.

When you edit, overlap the audio and video. One thing that I see *ALL THE TIME* that makes no/low budget DV movies look crappy is how they edit their dialog scenes, more times then not, the editor cuts everytime on everyline. DONT DO THAT, let the other dialog overlap the video with kind of a continuous shot of the other actor, so when shooting, dont "CUT!" right after they say their line, let the camera roll on them with some sort of reaction... get mah point? :D

Alex Dunn · July 15th, 2003, 11:21 AM

Alex,

That's what I was thinking, but how long of an overlap on the audio? A couple of seconds or fractions of a second? Should the audio crossfade at a point when nothing is spoken?

I really want to do this right.

Tor Salomonsen · July 15th, 2003, 11:44 AM

Yes, crossfade when nothing is spoken. Do not create gaps between the sound bits. The crossfad do not have to be more than a split second, but if the background noise has changed, a longer crossfade may help to cover the change.

Philip Boyer · July 15th, 2003, 11:58 AM

A couple of Bogart films, The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon (I know there are a lot of others, but I recently watched these two again.), have a lot of one-on-one dialog scenes that you could get some ideas from. One thing to keep in mind is that rarely are the two people just talking. They're doing something. (That's why there are a lot of smokers and drinkers in movies.)

July 15th, 2003, 08:18 AM	#1
Alex Dunn Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 202	Technique - POV 2 and 3 way dialogue shots I'm looking for some advice or pointers on making my dialogue scenes flow more naturally. Are there any formulas that indicate when to cut to the speaker/listener? And most importantly, what's the most popular way to edit the audio track? Obviously both voices get recorded on both POV shots, but which do you use? Are sync problems common or is it just me?

July 15th, 2003, 11:58 AM	#6
Philip Boyer Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Carrollton, Texas Posts: 141	A couple of Bogart films, The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon (I know there are a lot of others, but I recently watched these two again.), have a lot of one-on-one dialog scenes that you could get some ideas from. One thing to keep in mind is that rarely are the two people just talking. They're doing something. (That's why there are a lot of smokers and drinkers in movies.) __________________ Philip Boyer

July 15th, 2003, 09:52 AM	#2
Tor Salomonsen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stavanger, Norway Posts: 265	From what I can see on television and in the cinema, directors go to great lenghts to set up scenes so that the actors' faces both are turned towards the camera. That way they don't have to cut so often in order to show the one who's talking. On separate takes you will have sync problems if you use sound from one take with images from another. I would think you'd use them as they were shot unless there's something wrong.

July 15th, 2003, 10:17 AM	#3
Alex Knappenberger High School Student Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Canton, Ohio, USA Posts: 609	When you shoot, for one, shoot from the same position, with the actors on either side of the camera, or however you want to do it, but as long as it's like this. When you edit, overlap the audio and video. One thing that I see ALL THE TIME that makes no/low budget DV movies look crappy is how they edit their dialog scenes, more times then not, the editor cuts everytime on everyline. DONT DO THAT, let the other dialog overlap the video with kind of a continuous shot of the other actor, so when shooting, dont "CUT!" right after they say their line, let the camera roll on them with some sort of reaction... get mah point? :D

July 15th, 2003, 11:21 AM	#4
Alex Dunn Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 202	Alex, That's what I was thinking, but how long of an overlap on the audio? A couple of seconds or fractions of a second? Should the audio crossfade at a point when nothing is spoken? I really want to do this right.

July 15th, 2003, 11:44 AM	#5
Tor Salomonsen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Stavanger, Norway Posts: 265	Yes, crossfade when nothing is spoken. Do not create gaps between the sound bits. The crossfad do not have to be more than a split second, but if the background noise has changed, a longer crossfade may help to cover the change.