Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter 10
Cutting Dialogue
In this chapter,
you'll be editing two dialogue scenes from the movie
Pranks.
(One of the scenes you worked on
in Chapter 9 had dialogue, but the coverage employed in that example wasn't representative of the usual dialogue
scene.) You'll regularly come across dialogue scenes when working on narrative-based movies and, depending on
the scene and the number of characters involved, they'll typically be covered in a very similar way. A dialogue
scene between two characters, for instance, usually will be covered with a two-shot on both characters, a closer
single on each, and perhaps a pair of over-the-shoulder shots. Of course, every scene is unique and won't neces-
sarily follow this pattern, but this kind of coverage is standard for the type of shots filmed for most dialogue
scenes.
Dialogue Scene One
This first dialogue scene takes place after Katie realizes that there is something strange going on in her new
room. Toys that she had previously tidied away inside a toy trunk have mysteriously reappeared where she found
them. Katie is convinced that there is another presence in the house and aims to find out who it is. The main func-
tion of this scene is to articulate Katie's objective in the story, by posing it as a question. Who is playing tricks on
Katie and how will she deal with this? This is what Katie (and hopefully, the audience) wants to find out by the
end of the movie.
With her goal now in place, Katie's first course of action is to raise her concerns with her new foster mother, but
she faces her first obstacle when Joyce doesn't take her seriously. Instead, the scene begins with Joyce dismissing
Katie's suspicions by explaining away the strange events and leaving Katie to deal with the situation herself.
During the scene, we also get to learn a little more about Katie through her conversation with Joyce. When asked
whether she minds being the only child in the house, Katie simply shrugs. She also spurns Joyce's offer to play
with her if she gets lonely. Clearly Katie doesn't seem to play nice with others and this scene continues to estab-
lish her attitude, which is paid off at the end of the story when Katie sees the error of her ways through her inter-
actions with Jason.
Joyce's objective is also important to the scene. As Katie's new foster mother, she undoubtedly wants to develop
a bond with Katie and be seen by her as a parental figure that Katie can depend on. This is clearly demonstrated
through all the offers of help that Joyce has been making in the story so far. As both characters seem to have op-
posing attitudes, watching them deal with the strange events in the house brings some extra conflict to the story.
Now that we know what the scene is about, let's look at the footage that we have to work with.
Evaluating the footage
