How do directors film a conversation?

                         Breaking Bad - Gus vs Walter

In this great scene from Breaking Bad the director decided to use a very simple but effective way of filming a conversation consisting of 4-6 camera angels.In the beginning the director decided to start the conversation from a slightly odd and quirky angel, he may have done this in order to give the audience a different perspective, to show the full picture of the location and surrounding. He then switches to a classic 'master shot' which shows both characters from the side facing  each other, they are equally spread out in the shot in order to show the equal power level between the two.The director  will switch back to the scene from time to time to show continuity of the conversation.

The director uses the 180 degree rule throughout the conversation which creates spatial awareness, most conversations are filmed following this rule. The 180 degree rule is where all the cameras are on one side of the scene, there is an invisible line which cuts through the scene and cameras are only on one side of the line. This method creates a clear and understanding conversation , where each character is in there specific position and they do not switch throughout which stops the audience from getting confused.Another general method of filming a conversation is using the rule of thirds this is method shows a more detailed and a more individual  show as it is focus on one character instead of two , the two shots are relatively the same for each character the only difference is the distance of close ups. The closer the show the more intense the conversation gets. In the scene of breaking bad you will notice that as soon as Gus stops being a manager and gets to the point, the camera zooms in on his face to show the intensity and seriousness. The fact that we also see from over the shoulder also gives a sense of idea how the character sees the other person from his perspective
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                                                Godfather

In this scene the director only uses 3 different shots and most of them focus on Vito Corleone as he is the main and most powerful character. The director used head room and nose room to show hes power in this scene. The shot switches back to the end of the room to show the surroundings as Vito stands up which may give a sense of tension and suspense. As Vito walks to the other character the camera follows him which may emphasize importance. When the Vito is talking to the character the director uses a high angle and vise versa.  
      
Why is 180 degree rule important? Why might a director break it?

The 180 degree rule is important because it gives a sense of where characters are in relation to each other which in turn allows to understand the staging of the scene without having to actually see the whole set. It creates spatial awareness The 180 degree rule also makes in much easier for the audience to follow the conversation instead of being distracted. A director might break the rule if he wants to make the scene disoriented or perhaps it might break up the scene into different sections instead of one long conversation. Directors are geniuses of their own master piece and they can make it work for their own personal desire which a normal audience wont understand.