Overlapping dialog

S

scottfs

OK, I was pressed into service at the end of a shoot on one short, with a whole new cast coming in to use the bar as a location.

This script (which I had never seen) featured a lot of back-and-forth dialog between the actors sitting at a bar. I operated the boom and the Zoom recorder.

I had my shotgun mic on the boom. I know to twist the mic to aim at the talent's mouth when they are speaking. However, this dialog featured (almost totally) interrupting, talking over, and generally fussing around, stepping on the other's dialog.

I couldn't point the mic accurately. I ended up raising the shotgun a bit and positioning it between the actors. The sound is OK but not the best. (At least I got the girl to not turn 180 degrees and talk into empty space...)

Is that the best technique? The only other mic I had was another short shotgun. Would a hypercardoid mic have been a better solution?
 
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I have never been a good boom op - but I have worked with
and spoken to several. What the usually do as ask for additional
takes. That way they can get good, clean tracks from "actor one"
on a few takes and good, clean tracks from "actor two" on other
takes. This is then noted by the scripty in the notes and noted
on the audio reports. I have even done takes when the actors
do not talk over each other so I have more audio choices in the
editing.

When an actor needs to turn 180 degrees away and still be heard
an additional few takes will be requested so the boom op can catch
the lines from the sweet spot. As a director of very low budget
movies I have found this saves me time and money in post because
I have the clean tracks I need and I don't have to schedule any
ADR days.

There have been a couple of times when I have particularly intense
scene with three or four actors all arguing and taking over each other
and I wanted to use one shot rather than several angles. I those
cases the recordist has suggested lavs for each actor.
 
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directorik covered it pretty well. This is a case when copious dialog coverage is needed over and above shot coverage.

If/when you have a budget you would use two booms - one for each actor - and lavs; each would be on its own audio track.

In addition to the suggestions directorik gave us I would also ask for wild lines.


One thing - a great boom op has the script memorized as well as, if not better than, the talent. The ability to anticipate who is speaking next and how they are going to move is one of the many things that make a great boom-op.
 
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Ah yes...

Wild lines.

Especially for those of us who just can't afford to do any
ADR wild lines have saved my ass many times. It was my
fourth feature where I had a recordist and boom op who
insisted we get wild lines. I was resistant at first - it took
time, precious time! But after using those two for an
additional five movies I always that the time.
 
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For example:

I have a shot where the actor says, “This is not going to happen!”
and throws a book onto a table on the word “not”. I need the entire
line “clean” - no sound of the book hitting the table during the
line. And I need the sound of the book hitting the table.

One reason is for distribution - you are going to have to provide
a music and effects (M&E) track for any foreign language dub. If
the sound of the book hitting the table is on the dialogue track
it will be taken out for the dub.

So on set I will record wild tracks - the line and the book
hitting the table. In many big movies this will be handled in
post. This is a classic example of ADR. But on a no budget film I
don’t want to have to bring the actor back to record the line.
Even getting the exact sound of the book in that room can be
difficult for us no budget types so having the actual book hit the
actual table in the exact same room is a life saver.

I do this when there is a "walk and talk", when people are talking
as they open a door, when they are sitting in a car...
 
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Thanks, excellent ideas. I couldn't get additional takes since everyone was working at about 8:00 am, after a full night (starting at 2:00 am after the bar closed), and everyone was tired. The director just wanted to get things over with.

What you mention is excellent advice and I think it's something to bring up in pre-production meetings. That is, if I know there is a lot of overlapping dialogue and snappy retorts.

Thanks.


directorik said:
I have never been a good boom op - but I have worked with
and spoken to several. What the usually do as ask for additional
takes. That way they can get good, clean tracks from "actor one"
on a few takes and good, clean tracks from "actor two" on other
takes. This is then noted by the scripty in the notes and noted
on the audio reports. I have even done takes when the actors
do not talk over each other so I have more audio choices in the
editing.

When an actor needs to turn 180 degrees away and still be heard
an additional few takes will be requested so the boom op can catch
the lines from the sweet spot. As a director of very low budget
movies I have found this saves me time and money in post because
I have the clean tracks I need and I don't have to schedule any
ADR days.

There have been a couple of times when I have particularly intense
scene with three or four actors all arguing and taking over each other
and I wanted to use one shot rather than several angles. I those
cases the recordist has suggested lavs for each actor.
Click to expand...
 
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I know they sort of mention it in that docu about editing. Plus the HCW course specifically recommends filming that way. But if you're filming OTS, make sure you get some single shots to fudge over if you make a major timing change.
 
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brianluce said:
How effective is it to record the scene WITHOUT the actors stepping on each other and then dice it up in the edit to create that effect of truncated or overlapping lines?
Click to expand...

Despite the fact that it was the cause of an audio re-sync (I hate doing resyncs!) I worked on a project where I recommended to the director that a scene be cut very tight with overlapping dialog. I recut the scene in iMovie (yeah, I know...) and had almost every line interrupting the next by a lot. (I used quite a bit of dialog from unused takes.) It turned a mildly interesting scene into a very intense confrontation. The biggest thing that a director must do is keep the energy level up when filming individual lines so the intensity is there to be edited.
 
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