Walter Murch, Editor of Cold Mountain, English Patient
As an editor you only see what is on the screen, not what was going on at the time
of shooting, and that's how it's going to look to the audience. I make it a point not to go on the set, not to see the actors
out of costume, not to see anything other than the images that come to me from location...
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Overlapping Dialogue
The easiest way to spot a new director or an inexperienced actor is to spot whether overlapping
dialogue is happening in the scenes. (Please visualize me raising my hand as I have been guilty
of allowing this in the past.)
Once an experienced crew member came up to me and said, "You have to stop this overlapping
dialogue. This is just not done on professional movie sets." I was new at directing. I didn't understand. I told them I could
fix the problem in editing. They looked at me with skepticism. I ignored them, and paid a big price.
Days later... in the editing room... I banged my head repeatedly as I struggled to correct
the problem. Unfortunately I had to take less impressive takes of the actor only because those had no overlapping
dialogue.
Later, I showed the final footage to people, and they said, "Oh pretty good." They had no idea how
many hours/days it took to edit what should have been a simple scene. I can only imagine how much better the scene would
have been had I been able to use the actor's best takes (had they not had overlapping dialogue).
With every new project I take on, I work with new actors who must understand why overlapping dialogue
is EVIL!
Please look at these pictures. Read the notes inside the pictures. Compare and contrast the
blue/red lines from Example 1, Example 2 and Example 3.
Example 1 is perfect. It is clean audio. Look at the gaps between the voices...they
are beautiful! An editor's dream!
EXAMPLE 1 is great. The message to Actors is not that you should give
a directorLONG, noticable, unnatural pauses. Just a pause before speaking. Don't rush your lines.
And don't step on the preceding actor's lines.
Let them finish. Pause. Speak your line.
Your performance will be a thousand times better. Silence and Pauses are not
EVIL!
Again, this is acceptable dialogue, albeit, not IDEAL. There is a slight slight
gap between the different voices (dialogue), and a good editor can make the cuts by ZOOMING IN to find the gaps. This is acceptable,
but not ideal.
THIS IS AN EDITOR'S WORST NIGHTMARE! Compare the male/female voices here to those
in Example 1!!!
So...please take pauses. There is nothing wrong with them. Also...do not be afraid of silence. Silence means reflection.
There's nothing wrong with showing reflection in your scene. Actually it's the sign of a true PRO!
When it comes to overlapping dialogue, this is what I hear from actors:
I don't want to look like I don't know my lines. That's why I charge right in!
This is not a good justification. First, rushing in may lead to unintelligible dialogue which the audience
will not understand. At the very least, the audience will not understand the last words of the preceding actor because you
stepped on their lines. This will hurt your performance, their performance and the scene.
But I'm in an emotionally charged scene....I want to speak...
Still, take the pause.
But I see overlapping dialogue in movies and television.
The editor stacks the voices. An editor can take two voices, stack them and magically create overlapping dialogue.
It is not the norm to record overlapping dialogue unless it's for a stylistic reason.
Rules are made to be broken.
True. Overlapping dialogue is allowed in Reality TV Shows, Talk shows (like Jerry Springer) and in movies/television
shows for specific, stylistic reasons.
Woody Allen is one of those rare directors who will allow overlapping dialogue. HOWEVER, Woody Allen is known for letting
the actors improvise their scenes. Remember -- this is not the norm.
The editor is the only one who should ever be in control of whether the lines are overlapping.
