Dialogue between 2 or more people

Question

I'm a film editing student and I was wondering whether it is a common practice to always aim the boom microphone back and forth between the two (or more) people when their lines come up, even if a close up of one actor is being recorded.

I sometimes combine different takes to form a sentence that 1 actor has said and I also use parts from takes where another actor is prioritized.

Let me clarify further: If we are hearing a sentence by actor A and I take a part of the sentence from a clip with close up of actor A and a part of the sentence from a clip with close up of actor B, could it be a problem to adjust the tone and volume in a way that is sounds as if the whole sentence was recorded in 1 take?

So far no sound designer has told me that what I've edited was not optimal soundwise and in almost all of the short films that I've edited, they were also using lavalier microphones on both of the actors (or more) even in their close-ups.

But as I wish to improve my editing, I'm wondering whether I should always form sentences of actor A from takes in which actor A was prioritized (his close-ups) or is it OK, to also use takes with sound of actor A's dialogue from another actor's close up (for example actor B) if those takes are better in terms of acting?

Even if lavalier microphones are not used, is it common for boom operator to record the sound of both actors (if there are 2) rather than focus merely on 1 actor at a time, even if close-ups of each actors are recorded?

Best regards,

John

Answer 1

It depends entirely on the performance that you're getting from set and the overall sound that you can achieve in the edit.

Often, dialogue editing involves syllable, word and phrase replacement from off-camera dialogue - either sync, wild or ADR - you just have to use what you can to create the performance you want to hear.

It's absolutely fine to take dialogue from a reverse shot if the dialogue is clean and performed better. Just watch out for lip-synch - tools such as Revoice Pro can assist with retain lip-sync with an on-camera master shot.