Here is a subject near and dear to my heart. I realized that after hundreds of posts and thinking I had covered just about everything, I never covered Walk and Talks. I love them. It's a way to knock out three pages of dialogue in one shot ( unless they want tighter coverage). I did a movie last year, Saturday Night, where the first shot of the movie was a seven minute walk and talk on a Peewee with a Matrix head and we covered seven pages in about ten hours. I love them almost as much as I love stand ups and sit downs. There are a few things to know however. Rule one, no matter what machine you choose to do it on,use a monitor. For years I have preached about becoming overly dependent on monitors. I stand by that. However, in this case they are a valuable tool and I've come to believe that they are really helpful for this particular shot. Before they were widely available, I did what most dolly grips did and locked into a space between the actor's feet and the front of the dolly and held it. And I was pretty good at it. For the last few years though, I have really relied on a monitor to help me hold a frame size. Now, I didn't use one for the shot on Saturday Night. The operator, Matt Moriarity, and I decided to use a combination of dead reckoning and headsets to basically talk our way through the shot. But it was a very unique shot that required a little more finesse than a standard walk and talk. But in general, for a rickshaw or dolly down a hallway, I use a monitor. The technique is simple. Pick a size, base a reference on the bottom frameline (belt buckle, first shirt button, knees) whichever you choose. And hold it. Be warned: these moves are almost always faster than you think they will be. Don't be too proud to ask for help.
Good luck and don't hit any of the extras.
The Captain.
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