Shooting a phone conversation from one perspective

[Chamber005]

So I'm going to be shooting a phone conversation (a lengthy one) shown from a single character's perspective. Obviously I'm going to be doing some inserts and potentially some montauge stuff during the conversation, but I was wondering about the principles of jump cut and crossing the line and how they pertain to a single character scene.

Ill be shooting a lot of it on a steady to keep some life in the scene, but how do you guys feel about say, a medium shot of the actor and then cutting right into a close shot? Obviously I wouldn't cross the line in that cut, but because I'll be moving the cam within the shot I can segue to center the image and then move it from left to right, etc.

Would the school of thought be to allow a single jump cut (say from medium to close), but then utilize an insert or "montague" sequence before coming back to the actor with a new angle -- at which time I could do maybe one more jump cut?

I'm thinking about renting Cast Away to see how they handled using a single actor in all of their scenes (though, if I remember correctly, Wilson was treated as another actor by the director).

Let me know what you guys are thinking --

 

[clang]

Yes, it can be very difficult to stop such scenes being visually dull. But if the character is the only one onscreen and is in a continuous conversation, you can pretty much go crazy with cuts, especially if you visually cut partway through a spoke line, i.e. the audio is continuous even though the visuals cut midsentence - it will still be obvious to the audience that they're watching/hearing the same conversation.

Certainly, plenty of cutaway shots (actor fidgeting, fiddling with phone cord, being distracted by passers by, etc) will be useful to help hide anything awkward in the edit.

Keep an eye on continuity - if the actor's scratching his chin when you cut, he'd better still be scratching his chin in the new shot. You may be able to use the phone to help with this, having someone on the other end of the phone saying timing hints.

 

[Gohanto]

I'd suggest watching "Phone Booth" with the sound off.

As for visual style, I think the kind of material dictates how to choose what "conventions" to follow more than making any visual decisions based on rules. Even the 180 rule can be trumped by story needs sometimes.

 

[clang]

Yup, "Phone Booth" is the only movie I've ever seen that showed one person on the phone for such a long time (most of the movie!). It's worth seeing, not bad at all (certainly not visually boring) and I recall the making-of documentary showing some of the camera setups, e.g. a 360 degree dolly track.

 

[Finnegan]

e.g. a 360 degree dolly track.

Camera movement is key here. Just because you're filming the same subject doesn't mean you can't utilize multiple angles and different camera movements. But even slight movement of the camera can make what is otherwise a pretty standard shot into something a little more interesting to look at.

 

[Chamber005]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I think one of the things Phone Booth did so well was to POV its main actor, you know? I still think Cast Away will more accurately depict what it is I'm looking for (since Phone Booth has multiple character interactions; the main character just happens to be glued to the booth). But I'll check them both out (again) and see what I can garner. I'll post what it looks like near the end of the month and let your guys know.

Thanks!