Jay, do you mean run it through a filter during the shoot or in post? If on the set, what kind of filter?

If I did it that way, in post, it might be a problem though if they talked over each other , which I kind of want for this convo, but I might have to have them not do it.

I'm not Jay (nor do I play him on TV...) but I think you'd do this only in post and you'd want the voices on two separate tracks. (Left and Right of a stereo recorder, for instance)

Omar, you'd filter the voice in post. Technically, any time a voice is heard on screen and the person speaking is not present, it's added in post. This is referred to as a "voice over" (V.O.).

Don't allow them to talk over each other. If you do, you're asking for big trouble.

Is there any reason this exchange has to take place on the telephone? It would be far more dramatic and entertaining if the characters were face to face.

[Edit]

In Vegas, go to the "Audio Plug-in" selector and select "Resonant Filter". Then in the drop down window, select "[Sys] Ear Sugar" and you have the sound of the person as though they were on the telephone.

The person on the "other end of the phone" will need to be on a separate track (event) for filtering purposes, or else you filter both sides of the conversation.

Too, I would not recommend having the sides on separate tracks. Only on rare occasions where the sound(s) should be separated spatially would you have them on left and right channels.

I believe the recommendation for separate left & right tracks was so that it would be easy to affect them independantly in post. They would be mixed closer to center for the final result.

Yup, and fairly easy to record if you have to do it live.

I believe the recommendation for separate left & right tracks was so that it would be easy to affect them independantly in post.

Wouldn't having them in separate events do the same thing with less hassle? Then they're on the time line and all ready mixed.

Thanks jay, I think I'm set.

If I could get the other person to talk on the phone I would prefer that because it would be more natural, but it would actually be harder because the other person would have to call and talk from off the set :)

I like the idea of having the other person respond out of the frame responding because I could actually use that audio too. I guess I could trim up the track later in Vegas, but I have to make sure I get ambient room sound to fill in during cuts.

I think both these methods are better than the actor memorizing the convo and having it with his or herself.

Set up the phone call where they actually call each other. Have two cameras and mics shooting each person individually during the call. Then mix the two together using filters for when the other person is not on camera.

Dave T2

> Set up the phone call where they actually call each other. Have two cameras and mics shooting each person individually during the call.
> Then mix the two together using filters for when the other person is not on camera.

Dave, Thats actually the most ideal I think! Unfortunately I wont have two cameras, two mics or two different locations at one time ... lol. I WISH. Either way, with that way, I'm worried about when the camera is on the actor in the frame, unclear noise coming out of the phone earpiece into the mic since they will really be on the phone...Maybe that can be trimmed in editing.

I'm pretty much gonna do it that way but I'll have two setups for each actor since I only have one camera and mic. And I'll still have the respondent actor talk back out of frame, in both setups, to keep it authentic and to have another take of dialogue in case it works out better than their own setup.

Omar, are you showing each actor as they speak their part of the conversation?

If so (it wasn't clear to me originally), then by all means shoot each one separately. The actors HAVE to know/memorize their lines, and sometimes the lines of those they are interacting with. Such is the life of an actor!

You shoot each side of the conversation separately, the same way the "big boys" do it. Then in post you adjust the pace and tone of scene through editing.

> Omar, are you showing each actor as they speak their part of the conversation?
If so (it wasn't clear to me originally),

Yes. Does that throw out at your idea of having the respondent actor still feed lines out of frame during the take of the actor who is in the frame?

I figure it's still a good idea because it'll make it more authentic for the actors and simply give me another take of dialogue from the respondent actor to use during reaction shots of the actor in frame.

It might be tough in editing if I do use such a take though, because then the entire conversation will be on one audio track which I would then have to trim up the track, separating the dialogue to two different tracks, in order to filter the respondent's dialogue, and then synch properly.

Does that throw out at your idea of having the respondent actor still feed lines out of frame during the take of the actor who is in the frame?

No. If you're working with less than quality (trained) actors, then having the other person feed lines to the one on camera is perfectly acceptable. Even the pros do that from time to time.

It might be tough in editing if I do use such a take though, because then the entire conversation will be on one audio track which I would then have to trim up the track, separating the dialogue to two different tracks, in order to filter the respondent's dialogue, and then synch properly.

I have to respectfully disagree. This is what "editing" is all about. The editor "shapes" the performance through selection of angles, timing the cuts, etc.

Too, this is the beauty of Vegas--it allows to do just that! For example, if you cut 5 seconds out of track-A, then add 5 second to track-B. What's so hard about that? Now you have the ability to manipulate each separate track to perfection!