Shot list for group scene (Burn After Reading)

[tuckertota]

I’m preparing for a shoot that has a scene of six people talking around a table. These scenes seem deceptively simple since they’re almost entirely dialogue, but there’s so many angles and eye-lines you need to account for. I’m curious how a scene like this one from Burn After Reading was prepared and shot. I know the Coens don’t get full coverage of every scene, but I wonder in a case like this if it’s best to get as many angles as possible and assemble it in the edit.

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[Roger Deakins]

I was not on Burn After Reading but from working on many other films with Joel and Ethan I can say that they would have had a clear idea of the shots they wanted. It is rare they shoot a shot they don’t intend to use. They edit their films and know the flow of a scene before they get into the cutting room.

[tuckertota]

Thank you for the reply Roger!

Any tips for how you would prep for a scene similar to this? A group of people talking in a circle or around a table?

[Tyler F]

Not Roger,

But you can use your reference or any movie for that matter which has a scene for people sitting around a table and imagine all of the different eyelines and dialogue you’d account for.

If it’s two people talking to each other then it’s typically a setup and then a reverse setup. You may have variations such as different lens lengths or if a character turns their head to look at something in the hallway.

You can approach it in that same exact way but by adding math to account for each individual. If you don’t have time then you might want to shoot multiple people in a shot and save the ‘important’ dialogue between two main characters as singles to signal significance.

As far as lighting goes, well that depends on TOD, but you could rig up an overhead soft light and light everyone at once so you don’t need to spend time re-positioning lights for each setup.

Hope that helps

[Author]

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