How To Film A Conversation

Conversation and being able to shoot one is very important in a film. Using a variety of shots within a conversation allows the viewers to stay engaged with the film, see things from the characters point of view and view their surroundings. It's usually during conversations when the audience learn more about the characters and more is revealed about the plot. The majority of films is conversation as it tends to slowly answer all the audiences questions they initially had at the beginning. Here is a short clip from Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging which I will by using for reference of how to shoot a conversation. 




There are 5 main rules to shooting a conversation:

• Shot variety
• Pick ups (ECU; cutaways; birds eye)
• Master Shot
• Continuity Editing
• Shot/reverse shot

Shot Variety
During a conversation in a film, the most common shots used are medium shots, over the shoulders and master shot. These shots in particular are good to shoot a conversation because it allows the viewers to become more familiar with the characters. This is because it focuses more on their face and less on the setting around them. Some films break the conventional ways of filming a conversation and tend to add to the usual shots used. Here are a few examples of these used in the clip:

1) The first shot used is a low angled master shot. It allows enough background space to allow the viewer to recognise and come to terms with their surrounding. In this scene, Georgia and Robbie are at the seaside. It is made obvious that they are in an informal, unprofessional settings. This makes it clear to the audience that they are probably going to have a casual conversation rather than a formal conversation about something like work. It also shows that there is little distance between them so its less likely that they are a couple and possibly just friends.

2) There are also many 2 mid shots in this scene. This allows the viewers to see the person who's talking as well as the response to the person who's listening. In this example, we see Robbie telling Georgia that he wrote a song for her, and her instant reaction, which is a smile. In this scene, this shot is used repeatedly back-and-forth from Robbie's side to Georgia's side, allowing us to get a better view of each of them.

3) Here is the wide shot used. In this shot, we see Georgia and Robbie getting more intimate, holding each others hands, though there is still that slight distance. The shot allows us to see them from a different angle as well us emphasising the fact that they are now standing.

4) Soon after there is a over the shoulder shot of Georgia.This shows that Georgia and Robbie are now even closer, from Robbie's Point of view. It allows us to see a higher level of detail on Georgia or Robbie's face. This shot is also used back and forth from Robbie's shoulder to Georgia's shoulder and so forth. This shot makes the conversation seem more personal and intense. There's a constant reminder that another person's in the conversation. 

3) Close up's are always good shots to show emotion on someone's face, in this case, Georgia's. As the camera is so close, it is clear that Georgia seems flattered, about to giggle. This shot is good in a conversation as it tends to show a lot of emotion that the audience needs to become familiar with.


4) In this scene, especially towards the end, there are quite a few long shots. In a conversation, this shot is more useful when the topic of conversation isn't too intense and is more for the audience to familiarise themselves more with the characters surroundings. Here we see Georgia and Robbie head-to-toe, standing on a sea side.

5) The final shot used begins as an extreme long shot. As Robbie and Georgia walk towards the camera it converts into a long shot, to a wide shot, to a 2-mid shot, then a close up. Due to the character movement, there is a wide variation of shots enclosed to end this scene. A brief extreme long shot could be useful in a conversation to further show the characters surroundings or distance if they're really far apart.



For a conversation, I think the most important and useful shots are master shots, 2-mid shots, close up's and over the shoulder shots. However shot variety is also useful in a conversation for al the reasons mentioned above.

Pick-Ups
Pick-Ups are shots of the mise-en-scene (e.g. props), like a knife. Most of the time, these are edited into the scene after it has been shot. It can be used in a conversation if the characters are talking about a shooting or crime, there might be a pick-up of a gun or knife. In this scene of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, a slight pick-up is when Georgia joins Robbie to sit down and when Robbie pulls Georgia's hair out. On both occasions, the conversation had stopped for a while but the pick-up was used to show what was happening and what they're doing. These are normally used when there is a stop or pause to the conversation, allowing the scene to flow. Pick-ups also help the audience understand what is going on in the conversation. An example in this clip is from the pick-ups we can see that Robbie and Georgia are about to kiss as Robbie puts his hands through her hair and what the result of that is. This simply shows additional information that adds to the conversation.

Continuity Editing This is a really important aspect of every part in a film, including a conversation. It's used to make each part of the scene flow in a more fluent manor. There are quite a few examples in the Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging clip used above. The first 20 seconds of the clip is an example. It shows where Georgia is coming from, then a panning shot is used following her showing the viewer’s where she's going (from the back), a short clip of Robbie, then Georgia again approaching him (from the front). The use of continuity editing allows us to see this happen in a 3 different shots. Together, the shots show where she is coming from, where she is going and how she gets there, allowing the viewers to see her complete journey, linking everything together. This structures the scene, making it more fluent.

Shot/Reverse Shot An example of a shot/reverse shot is if there is a shot of a person’s face, then a shot of their viewpoint/what they're looking at, then back to a shot of their face. This is mainly used to draw attention to the character and what they're seeing, often in a conversation. It is used in this clip of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging as there is many points when we are repeatedly switching from shots of Georgia, to shots of Ronnie and back again. The effect of this shot is that it makes the conversation more intimate and personal as all we constantly see are shots of the characters and what they see, allowing the audience to form a relationship with them.