How Edgar Wright shoots dialogue

How Edgar Wright shoots dialogue 

As part of our Craft Skills module we were tasked with recreating a dialogue sequence from any film. As big fans of Edgar Wright’s work and in particular the cult-classic “Cornetto Trilogy” our crew decided to recreate a scene from “Hot Fuzz”. As a “shot, reverse shot” scene we thought this would be easy enough, however we were very mistaken and frankly astounded by the variation of shots in this supposedly simple scene.  

This 3-minute scene took three separate shoot days to complete as we tried our hardest to replicate every intricate shot in the scene and eventually go on together to edit the copious amount of takes and shots together into the right order. It was through this that I was able to appreciate the amount of thought that goes into what I’d originally presumed to be a simple scene. Wright uses more than shot-reverse shot as “Over the shoulders” from both sides of the frame are incorporated. Along with this the height of the camera in relation to certain character is an integral part of the shot composition as it is able to give the audience an effect of who is in control as well as the relationship of the characters involved; the camera often looks up to the Chief Inspector as he is respected and in control, however Nicholas Angel is virtually powerless in the scene and this is portrayed by shots from higher up looking down on him. This technique can be seen throughout Hot Fuzz and Wrights wider portfolio and is a useful asset when shooting dialogue to shoot more than just two characters having a conversation but to show their relationship visually.