Intro to cinematography
- 1. FILM TERMINOLOGY some basic terms to learn
- 2. SHOT SIZE Shot sizes relate to the human figure.There are five main sizes used in film Wide Long Mid Close Up Extreme Close Up
- 3. Wide Shot Mid Shot Close Up Extreme Close Up Long Shot
- 4. WIDE SHOT sometimes called an establishing shot as the wide shot helps establish the location and likely atmosphere of that part of the film. the wide shot is often a ‘master shot’ of the scene
- 6. LONG SHOT Shows the full body of the character Often shows how the character relates to the environment, what their place in it is How do the characters fit in the environment of the sequence you have just seen
- 7. MID SHOT Figures in the frame are only seen from the waist up. Provides detail while providing some contextual information. Can often show relationships between characters
- 9. CLOSE UP Contains almost, no background but focuses on the whole of an object or person’s face. Can be used isolate figure from its surroundings. Can be used to show emotion or draw attention to information. Also called a ‘head and shoulders’ shot
- 11. Tight Close Up
- 12. EXTREME CLOSE UP Shows enlarged detail of subject or an object Known as a ‘detail shot’ The ECU is used to highlight a certain part of the frame for emotional or narrative reasons
- 14. POINT OFVIEW SHOT A shot as if through the eyes of a character
- 15. UNDERSTANDING ‘THE LINE’ •When filming a conversation between 2 people, an important rule is not to cross ‘the line’ •‘the line’ is a mental guide for both director and editor as to which side of the subject they are shooting and looking at •think of it as a 180˚ line between the two characters.The camera must stay on one side of it
- 16. Here is an example of the line being observed. Notice how the camera can ‘move’ through the line if necessary to film from another angle. See notes on cross-cutting
- 17. CAMERA MOVEMENT There are FIVE basic camera movements: Pan Tilt Track Crane Roll There is also the camera action of the zoom in and out
- 18. PAN Camera pivots from left to right or right to left either from object to object or following a figure or object. The camera itself is usually on a tripod
- 19. TILT The camera pivots up or down The camera is usually mounted on a tripod
- 20. TRACK The camera moves to track a subject The movement can be backwards, forwards or sideways If the camera runs on tracks, it is a ‘dolly’ shot
- 21. CRANE The camera moves vertically, often on a mechanical arm
- 22. ROLL The camera rotates on its axis, pitching the camera sideways.The setting seems to spin or pitch. Sometimes called a ‘dutch roll’
- 23. MOVEMENTS COMBINED Camera movements are often combined. A steadi-cam can be used to travel where dollies and cranes can’t.
- 24. WIDE ANGLE VS TELEPHOTO SHOTS Wide angle and telephoto refer to whether the camera is zoomed out (wide) or zoomed in (telephoto) By altering the lens length (zooming in or out), a close up of a person can look completely different
- 25. WIDE ANGLE Wide angle = 1. the image looks ‘deep’ - objects in the background look far away 2. DEEP FOCUS - everything in focus in the shot distance far away and in focus distortion of features, ‘bending’ of edges of frame
- 26. TELEPHOTO Telephoto = 1.‘flattening’ of image, so background looks closer SHALLOW FOCUS - only part of the frame in focus distance close up and in focus, while foreground and background out of focus
- 27. CAMERA ANGLES There are 3 main angles Low High ‘Dutched’
- 28. DUCTHED, DUTCH ANGLE, DUTCH TILT CANTED ANGLE A Dutch Angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to one side so that teh shot is composed with vertical lines to the sides of the frame Often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed
- 29. The angle refers to where the CAMERA is LOW angle means the camera is LOW, looking up HIGH angle means the camera is HIGH, looking down A low angle is often used to make the subject look powerful, the high angle makes the subject look weak If the camera is directly above it is an ‘overhead’ or ‘birds-eye’ shot
- 31. Lighting plays a big part in creating mood in a film It is the responsibility of the Director of Photography to light sets Three alternative lighting effects are: Backlighting - subjects lit from behind - aka silhouette Sidelighting - lit from the side - aka chiaroscuro Highlighting - one part of the frame lit to draw attention to it LIGHTING
- 32. BACKLIGHT
- 34. HIGHLIGHT