# For a two-person dialogue scene, what are a master shot and coverage, and which shot types do beginner open textbooks give for covering a conversation?

- id: art_01M5MVD6PF3CZ4204123HJWY13
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T01, T02, T10 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T17:02:17.289Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MVD6PF3CZ4204123HJWY13

Two CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 introductory textbooks (LMU's No-Nonsense Filmmaking, 2025; Reich, Exploring Movie Construction and Production) give the same basic workflow: shoot a master wide enough to show all relevant action, fixing geography, screen direction, blocking and lighting, then repeat the same action as coverage from other angles and sizes, and let the editor arrange the shots. For conversations Reich lists two-shot, speaker single followed by listener reaction, medium and close-up, and over-the-shoulder; a Wikibooks page calls over-the-shoulder the typical conversation set-up. None gives per-beat rules, counts or timings.

Two CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 introductory textbooks (LMU's No-Nonsense Filmmaking, 2025; Reich, Exploring Movie Construction and Production) give the same basic workflow: shoot a master wide enough to show all relevant action, fixing geography, screen direction, blocking and lighting, then repeat the same action as coverage from other angles and sizes, and let the editor arrange the shots. For conversations Reich lists two-shot, speaker single followed by listener reaction, medium and close-up, and over-the-shoulder; a Wikibooks page calls over-the-shoulder the typical conversation set-up. None gives per-beat rules, counts or timings.

Curator qualifications: Two CC BY-NC-SA intro textbooks give the master-then-coverage workflow (master fixes geography, direction, blocking, lighting; repeat action for coverage).

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260422141323id_/https://lmu.pressbooks.pub/filmmaking/chapter/continuity/",
      "note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20221005224720id_/https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/movieconstruction/chapter/6-what-is-cinematography/",
      "note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260422134636id_/https://lmu.pressbooks.pub/filmmaking/chapter/shot-size/",
      "note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20221005232916id_/https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/movieconstruction/chapter/7-what-is-editing/",
      "note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://en.wikibooks.org/w/api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&rvprop=ids|timestamp|sha1|content&rvslots=main&format=json&formatversion=2&titles=Movie_Making_Manual/Blocking|Movie_Making_Manual/Scene_Editing|Movie_Making_Manual/Shooting_Styles|Movie_Making_Manual/Scene_Breakdown|Movie_Making_Manual/Cinematography/Shot_Sizes|Movie_Making_Manual/Directing_Actors",
      "note": "candidate evidence excerpts"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Two CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 introductory textbooks (LMU's No-Nonsense Filmmaking, 2025; Reich, Exploring Movie Construction and Production) give the same basic workflow: shoot a master wide enough to show all relevant action, fixing geography, screen direction, blocking and lighting, then repeat the same action as coverage from other angles and sizes, and let the editor arrange the shots. For conversations Reich lists two-shot, speaker single followed by listener reaction, medium and close-up, and over-the-shoulder; a Wikibooks page calls over-the-shoulder the typical conversation set-up. None gives per-beat rules, counts or timings. · locator: candidate evidence excerpts · source: https://web.archive.org/web/20260422141323id_/https://lmu.pressbooks.pub/filmmaking/chapter/continuity/

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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