Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that while we filmmakers are focused on grounding our narratives in reality, many times we sort of take dialogue for granted and forget its contribution towards realism. Other times, we’re so hypervigilant about sync sound and clarity that we tend to miss out on capturing the natural essence of the words or their delivery. As a script supervisor, even I'm guilty of the same crime. While filmmakers will always be guilty of trying to organize chaos, Robert Altman is quite the anomaly, especially when it comes to capturing dialogue in his films. Unlike in films, humans in real life do not wait for another human to finish their sentence (or care if a different conversation is in its full swing) before they jump in with their two cents (not unless you’re in a work conference, and even then, I’ve seen chronic interruptors). What we consider the enemy of sound clarity in filmmaking, Altman leveraged to his advantage to heighten realism in his narratives. In this article, we’re examining Altman’s ultimate trick for realism — dual dialogue, and its use in his movie Nashville. What is Dual Dialogue?Normally, for dialogue, it is expected that actors do not talk over each other. Altman flips the technique and encourages dual dialogue, or lines that are delivered at the same time — overlapping. While you hear multiple streams of conversations going on all at once, for example, during a dinner party, the important conversations are adjusted...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Tuesday, 30 September