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Boom operater placement question

Hey guys, so I have two quick question maybe someone can help me out since i am crunched for time and don't have enough to experiment .

I know how to shoot a basic scene with dialogue. Now For example if two people are talking, you shoot the scene all the way through with the camera focused on one person, then you cut and change camera angles and shoot the scene again but this time the camera is focused on the other person while they say their lines.

Question 1.My question is, do I keep the boom mic above both of them or just keep it closer to the person who is being filmed at the current moment?

Question #2 I have plenty of phone conversations in this flick, Now I know there are a number of ways to go about doing this but the way I am going to do it is to switch scenes every time the other person talks on the phone. In order to shoot this the actor will say his lines while someone off camera reads the lines of the other person. I am concerned that the audio of the person out of frame is going to get mixed in the take, is there a way to edit it out? Any other idea's for phone conversations would be appreciated

I mean when ever I watch a movie making documentary I usually always see/hear the director saying stuff to the actors while they are filming how do they edit that out?
 
Question #2 I have plenty of phone conversations in this flick, Now I know there are a number of ways to go about doing this but the way I am going to do it is to switch scenes every time the other person talks on the phone. In order to shoot this the actor will say his lines while someone off camera reads the lines of the other person. I am concerned that the audio of the person out of frame is going to get mixed in the take, is there a way to edit it out? Any other idea's for phone conversations would be appreciated

Oh no, you're not allowed to edit it out... Sorry, it's a crime against humanity ;)... Just don't overlap the lines if you're doing it that way. That way you leave room to edit.

I mean when ever I watch a movie making documentary I usually always see/hear the director saying stuff to the actors while they are filming how do they edit that out?

The dialogue gets recorded later (ADR) or the sound is taken from another take.

The other questions I'll leave for an audio specialist to explain your options.
 
Question 1. do I keep the boom mic above both of them or just keep it closer to the person who is being filmed at the current moment?

If you are putting a boomed mic above the actors you are doing it wrong. What should be happening is the boomed mic should be slightly in front of the actors. The angle/aiming point of the mic should change in accordance with whichever actor is speaking. You always bend every effort to capturing every line of dialog as clearly and as cleanly as possible.

When I am editing dialog the directors almost never step on the dialog, they only interrupt when there is a problem. However, I am always editing out directors instructions between lines of dialog - look left, move more slowly, etc. This is why it is so important to capture room-tone/ambient background so there is some clean audio as a replacement wherever the directors gives instructions or there are other audio issues.

Question #2 I have plenty of phone conversations in this flick, Now I know there are a number of ways to go about doing this but the way I am going to do it is to switch scenes every time the other person talks on the phone. In order to shoot this the actor will say his lines while someone off camera reads the lines of the other person. I am concerned that the audio of the person out of frame is going to get mixed in the take, is there a way to edit it out? Any other idea's for phone conversations would be appreciated.

If only one person is seen on-screen the actors (or prompters) should not step on lines of dialog, and if at all possible even when multiple actors are seen; you can always overlap the dialog when editing.

It is not unusual for both actors to be speaking their lines during a phone conversation. The dialog of the actor off-screen is recorded with a separate mic and processed during audio post for the "phone sound." It is preferable that this actor should not be in the same room, and having the conversation take place on the phone; at least this is preferable for low/now/mini/micro budget productions because this real-time interaction sounds much more natural.
 
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Keeping them separate allows the editor to overlap them in post... whereas you can't undo it if the actors speak over oneanother. So the goal on set is to have the actors make a small pause between their lines of dialog, then the editor makes it feel more natural. When it's supposed to happen per the script, make sure the actor being cut off has a full line to say so they have the next words in their head when you instruct them to be cut off (or just have them say the whole line, and cut it in the edit).

From a lighting stand point, put the boom operator along the same vector as the camera so there is less of a possibility of boom shadows (I'm being followed by a boom shadow, boom shadow, boom shadow). In a two shot, mic between the two actors straight down... this will act as reference audio for the other takes.

When you turn the camera on the actors individually, then boom the same actor the camera is pointed toward. You'll move the boom less and have less of an opportunity to introduce handling noise (real big problem for amateurs). Run through the full scene with the camera pointed at each actor - this will allow you to use the nice closely miked audio to edit with.

It's the Hollywood wrong way to do it... but if you have no budget and limited experience - this is the fastest way to get useable results on your indie set with budget equipment.
 
If you are putting a boomed mic above the actors you are doing it wrong. What should be happening is the boomed mic should be slightly in front of the actors. The angle/aiming point of the mic should change in accordance with whichever actor is speaking. You always bend every effort to capturing every line of dialog as clearly and as cleanly as possible.

When I am editing dialog the directors almost never step on the dialog, they only interrupt when there is a problem. However, I am always editing out directors instructions between lines of dialog - look left, move more slowly, etc. This is why it is so important to capture room-tone/ambient background so there is some clean audio as a replacement wherever the directors gives instructions or there are other audio issues.



If only one person is seen on-screen the actors (or prompters) should not step on lines of dialog, and if at all possible even when multiple actors are seen; you can always overlap the dialog when editing.

It is not unusual for both actors to be speaking their lines during a phone conversation. The dialog of the actor off-screen is recorded with a separate mic and processed during audio post for the "phone sound." It is preferable that this actor should not be in the same room, and having the conversation take place on the phone; at least this is preferable for low/now/mini/micro budget productions because this real-time interaction sounds much more natural.

You're serious ? I thought "phone on set = BIG FUCKIN NO" because of the interferences it causes with the mics. How would you be able to capture clean audio with someone actually phoning someone else ?
 
You're serious ? I thought "phone on set = BIG FUCKIN NO" because of the interferences it causes with the mics. How would you be able to capture clean audio with someone actually phoning someone else ?

I guess this is an example of generational differences. When I think of "the phone" I think of a hard-wired land-line, which does not create interference. If I mean a cell phone I will say a cell phone, which is another issue entirely.

Telephone.jpg
 
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For me work is directly below my living room (the basement). Currently, if I drive more than 20 miles a week it's an event. I have a cell phone but almost never use it - I'm never more than 20 feet away from my land line.

BTW, there was a point in my life I drove 500 to 1k miles a week. I would have loved to have had a cell phone back then, but at the time you had to be quite wealthy to afford a cellular "brick."

Motorola_Cellular-One_Cell-Phone-1.jpg
80s-brick-cell-phone.jpg
 
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