Filming a Phone Call

NickClapper

NickClapper

Hello!

This weekend I am shooting a short film which revolves around a phone call. The majority of the film is that phone call as the protagonist explains his situation to an unsympathetic listener.

My basic question is this:

How do I film this scene? I don't have the audio for the phone call yet and even if I did I wouldn't know what to do with it. Should I have someone reading the lines whilst I'm filming the protagonists reactions? Is this necessary? What if I were just to shoot for the necessary gap of time? If I do have someone reading lines is it easy to replace that sound in post, so that there isn't atmospheric sound breaks or double audio. Or, because I'm using a shotgun mic, should I read the lines whilst recording sound on the mic elsewhere, out of sound range?

I'm curious both to know what I should do and to know what is standard amongst directors.

Thanks!
 
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It's been done in all the ways you mention and others. For lengthy and sophisticated phone conversations, I've even heard of shoots where the actual caller's voice was piped through the phone and recorded at the same time. At the very least, I definitely would have someone reading the lines off camera to cue the on-camera talent. Just make sure they don't overlap each other. If it's a cell phone or working practical phone, you can actually call them so there's no risk of audio contamination on your recording.
 
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2001 Productions said:
It's been done in all the ways you mention and others. For lengthy and sophisticated phone conversations, I've even heard of shoots where the actual caller's voice was piped through the phone and recorded at the same time. At the very least, I definitely would have someone reading the lines off camera to cue the on-camera talent. Just make sure they don't overlap each other. If it's a cell phone or working practical phone, you can actually call them so there's no risk of audio contamination on your recording.
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Excellent point. That seems like a sensible option although I'm not sure who'll read the lines! :D

I'll think of something, thanks for the input. Ideally I'd prefer the actor to be hearing the lines being said to him because it will improve the quality of his reactions and also make it easier to sync the recorded dialogue to specific facial responses. But if it proves too difficult then I know I have the back up.

Muchas gracias.
 
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The best "indie" way to do it is to do it "live" - have the actual phone call taking place. The conversation is real time, the interactions are real; a hopefully more realistic performance.

Use real phones, place the unseen caller in a separate location, make an actual phone call and record the unseen callers end of the conversation at the same time as you shoot the call recipient. You can use an inexpensive (under $100) recorder like the Alesis Palm Track or the Tascam DR-03 to record the unseen caller; you'll be degrading the sound to recreate the "phone sound" in audio post anyway.

If you use a hard-wired phone you could even try something like this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2123175#tabsetBasic ($31)
 
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Hmm... that's a good point and a good recommendation. The trouble is this: I don't have a spare actor for the voice over. I was going to record my lead actor doing the other person's lines as well (he's a voice actor by trade) in order to cut down on having people on set when, really, the film is a one man show.

Now that I think about it I could economise by having the actor who plays The Samurai (for those who've read the script) also doing the VO in another room. I've got a pretty decent podcasting mic which I can hook up to either the computer that I'm typing this on, or a laptop.

Thanks for the recommendations once again!
 
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Alcove's idea is a really good one. If, for whatever reason, you're not able to do that, I would definitely have someone reading the lines. It's difficult to keep the timing right, without someone there to do this.
 
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COMPLETELY DIFFERENT QUESTION, I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO START A NEW THREAD.

*****

The script I'm currently working on has a pivotal scene which is a phone call between the two main characters.

The scene, as I want to write it, entirely takes place at one end of the line. I only want to show that character's side of the phone call. The conversation will be established by his dialogue and by his reactions and body language, and the other end of the conversation will not be heard.

That said, when I am writing it, I'm wondering whether I should write in the dialogue for the other side of the phone call. I should stress that I don't want it to be an 'option' as to whether we'd hear the other end of the conversation- it's important to the emotional core of the film that we only experience once side of the conversation (it's very much a writer choice rather than a director choice)- but I'm wondering whether writing in the unheard dialogue would make it a) Easier to work out suitable response times and proper reactions, and b) Make it easier for the actor to engage with what his character is experiencing.

So what I'm wondering is, firstly, what people make of that strategy, and, secondly, how I'd format that in the script. Thanks in advance for any answers!
 
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Didn't see it when it was first posted.

I'm an audio guy, not a writer, but it would seem to me that the actor would give a better performance (and the timing would be more realistic) if s/he is reacting to real dialog from the other end of the phone instead of pulling his/her reactions out of thin air.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
Didn't see it when it was first posted.

I'm an audio guy, not a writer, but it would seem to me that the actor would give a better performance (and the timing would be more realistic) if s/he is reacting to real dialog from the other end of the phone instead of pulling his/her reactions out of thin air.
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Thanks for your input Alcove, I think I agree that it will be a useful tool for the actors.

I'm now wondering how to format it- should I write the dialogue but like this:

MAN
Hi there, how are you doing?

WOMAN (UNHEARD)
Terrific, thanks for asking.​

?
 
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NickClapper said:
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT QUESTION, I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO START A NEW THREAD.

*****

The script I'm currently working on has a pivotal scene which is a phone call between the two main characters.

The scene, as I want to write it, entirely takes place at one end of the line. I only want to show that character's side of the phone call. The conversation will be established by his dialogue and by his reactions and body language, and the other end of the conversation will not be heard.

That said, when I am writing it, I'm wondering whether I should write in the dialogue for the other side of the phone call. I should stress that I don't want it to be an 'option' as to whether we'd hear the other end of the conversation- it's important to the emotional core of the film that we only experience once side of the conversation (it's very much a writer choice rather than a director choice)- but I'm wondering whether writing in the unheard dialogue would make it a) Easier to work out suitable response times and proper reactions, and b) Make it easier for the actor to engage with what his character is experiencing.

So what I'm wondering is, firstly, what people make of that strategy, and, secondly, how I'd format that in the script. Thanks in advance for any answers!
Click to expand...

I have a similar scene in my current script. I only wrote half the conversation. Of course, I wrote in important reactions to what was said on the other line but if you won't actually hear it in the film then it would be misleading to put it in the script and give an inaccurate sense of how the scene will play off.
 
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I've just done something similar - not a phone conversation but someone overhearing, and reacting to, someone speaking on the phone. Although the OS dialogue of the person speaking would was recorded later, we had someone (the producer actually) speak the dialogue when we filmed so that the actor had something to react to.

Make sure you do the scene from more than one angle and shoot cutaways. That's because you'll need to cut the footage to match the eventual audio of the other person talking, so that you can pace both ends of the dialogue properly. To understand what I mean, consider this:

Person 1 (on screen): "speech A"
Person 2 (off screen): "speech B"
Person 1: "speech C"

Now, let's say you shoot this as a single take and have the AD speak Person 2's lines. And the AD takes 5 seconds to speak speech B. But when you record the off-screen actor doing the lines, he/she takes 4 seconds. Now you have a 1 second gap. But because you did a single take, you can't into it. And, like I said, you'll want to cut anyway, to control the pace. Shooting the person on the phone (the whole scene) from at least 2 angles will give you cutting options.
 
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NickClapper said:
I'm wondering whether writing in the unheard dialogue would make it a) Easier to work out suitable response times and proper reactions, and b) Make it easier for the actor to engage with what his character is experiencing.
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If there's only to be one side heard, then only write one side.

If your actor is good enough, then he'll be able to pull it off perfectly - I've seen incredible actors have phone conversations, only to hang up and I realise they were talking to nobody the whole time!

You, as the Director, can help the actor engage in what they're going through. It's perfectly fine for you to tell him what is being said on the other end, but I probably wouldn't write it in. Then again, I'm no writer so what do I know? ;) I just shoot the thing!
 
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When a character engaged in dialog with another character can be heard, but not seen on screen, use: O.S. or OS (Off Screen) "I'm putting coffee on, shall I make enough for two?"

And V.O. or VO for a character speaking to the audience or reciting inner dialog, like the ubiquitous film noir voice "It was a dark and stormy night... as dark as her long hair curling over my pillow and stormy like her temper."

Or at least that's how I've come across it in industry screenplays and formatting "rules."

Good luck with the shoot. :D
 
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I seem to have confused everyone as to what question I was actually asking!

Thanks for the responses, although most have addressed my original, years old question, rather than the new one ;)

jax_rox said:
If there's only to be one side heard, then only write one side.

If your actor is good enough, then he'll be able to pull it off perfectly - I've seen incredible actors have phone conversations, only to hang up and I realise they were talking to nobody the whole time!

You, as the Director, can help the actor engage in what they're going through. It's perfectly fine for you to tell him what is being said on the other end, but I probably wouldn't write it in. Then again, I'm no writer so what do I know? ;) I just shoot the thing!
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This is what I'm leaning towards now.

I'm feeling like it'll be apparent what's being said at the end of the line, without having to write it in. And I don't want to be too prescriptive- I'd like there to be room for interpretation, that's part of the point/importance of not hearing the dialogue in the first place.

Thanks guys!
 
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Taxi Driver has a pretty famous one-sided phone call.

In the original screenplay by Paul Schrader we only hear one or two lines of dialogue. The rest of the time we watch him on the phone while hearing voiceover of him describing the phone call and telling us that after that call she never picked up the phone again.

Here is the original text of the screenplay:

INT. BUILDING - DAY

Travis speaks intensely into a wall pay phone.

TRAVIS (V.O.)
I tried to call her several times.

We hear Travis' Voice on the phone.

TRAVIS
(smoking a cigarette)
you feeling better? You said you
didn't feel so good...

TRAVIS (V.O.)
But after the first call, she would
no longer come to the phone.

Travis holds the receiver in his hand. The other party has
hung up.
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My guess is that DeNiro did such a great job improvising the rest of the call, ( in order to give Scorcese enough footage to work with,) that they decided to axe the voiceover and just go with the whole call. But others may have more information. Perhaps a last minute rewrite?

Here is the filmed scene.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bukPGph2ec
 
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