Dialogue Editing

178 IMAGE, DEPTH, AND PERSPECTIVE
between the two, listening. However, there are questions of perspective that
must be asked. Cut to a wide shot and we may or may not change the sound
to match the change in picture perspective. On a very close shot, we may or
may not accentuate this physical closeness with a bit more volume. Even if
we cut to a long shot—a point of view that would in the real world certainly
affect our sound perception—we may stick with a close-up sound. Or we may
completely muffl e the dialogue to refl ect the frustration of trying to eavesdrop
from across the yard. These are choices about sound perspective.
Simply put, perspective in sound refl ects decisions we make concerning our
relationship with the screen action as well as the relationships—physical and
emotional—between the characters within the scene. In the conversation
scene from the last paragraph, we kept the same perspective when cutting
from one close-up to the other, and hence kept the same volume, EQ, and
reverb for the two characters regardless of who was on screen.
This wasn’t only because they were seated relatively close together but also
because they were communicating with each other, carrying on a conversation,
so there was some sort of emotional contact. There was no reason to
honor the “fact” that during a cutaway to the nonspeaking character there
would logically be a sense of sound separation. Respecting reality—pulling
back the dialogue a bit as we cut to the listener’s face—would emotionally
separate the two. However, when we cut to a wider shot, we must decide what
we’re trying to accomplish.
Are we, the viewers, being shut out? If so, a strong perspective cut that
reminds us of our outsider status would make a point. If, on the other hand,
we keep the scene steady, ignoring the change in picture perspective, we keep
the focus on the conversation rather than on the physical world. It’s as though
the conversation transcends changes in our viewpoint.
Perspective to Achieve Emotional Separation
I recently edited the dialogue on a fi lm about a mother coming to terms with
her adult son’s impending death. The fi lm deals with a mother and son struggling
with the pains and mistakes of their past. Much of the fi lm takes place
in the son’s bedroom, so there’s not a lot of action. At the beginning of the
fi lm, the two characters don’t know how to connect, since they’d never learned
how to talk to each other. During these early scenes, Mom aimlessly cleans
Son’s room as they talk at each other.
Since there’s no real chemistry between the two at this point in the fi lm, I
forced a bit of perspective on all off-camera dialogue. As we watched Mom