Step outline guide book
- 1. Step Outline / Storyboarding Guide Book This booklet will inform you of the different shot types, camera movements and editing transitions you must be familiar with if you are to successfully complete the storyboarding sequence of your coursework. Shot Types & Camera Movements Pan Shots A ‘Pan’ refers to the horizontal rotation of a camera from a stationary position. A ‘Pan’ replicates the movement of the human head from side to side (similar to that of someone shaking their head ‘No’) Tracking Shots The camera is mounted on a track and is pushed along to follow the subject. The camera itself does not move, it is simply being pushed a long a pre‐determined route capturing whatever passes in front of it. Tilt Shot The camera itself is tilted up or down, replicating the movement of the human head when nodding ‘YES’. Hand Held Shots Hand held shots denote a certain sense of realism and can be used to make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position 1
- 2. Low Angle Shot A low angle shot placed the camera below eye level, looking up at the character / subject. This shot has the effect of making characters / subjects appear more dominant and powerful within the scene. We are literally looking up at them as they fill the frame. High Angle Shot A high angle shot places the camera below eye level, down on the character / subject. This shot has the effect of making the character / subject appear weak and vulnerable. The audience are positioned above the character / subject and are literally looking down upon them. Establishing Shot Each time a film / music video cuts to a new location, an establishing shot can be used to inform the audience of where they are. Eye Level A fairly neutral shot; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that the actors' heads are on a level with the camera. The camera will be placed approximately five to six feet from the ground. Bird’s Eye View This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. This shot puts the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant‐like, part of a wider scheme of things. Hitchcock (and his admirers, like Brian de Palma) is fond of this style of shot. 2
- 3. Canted Angle / Oblique Angle / Tilted Frame If the level of the camera is ‘canted’ the image on screen will appear rotated in some way. This is an effect that is generally achieved through a hand held camera manoeuvre. It can be used to give the audience a sense of the unconventional or unusual. This shot type can be used to suggest Point of View shots (POV) representing what the characters see. Editing ‘CUT’ When a film editor begins piecing together a film, they must decide on how each shot is to be connected. A ‘CUT’ is the most basic and most common form of transition. A cut is an instant change from one shot to another. Cuts often go unnoticed by the viewer, allowing filmmakers to change camera position and shot type without distracting the audience with the ‘mechanics of the editing’. This is also known as an ‘Invisible Edit’ This scene begins with Tom Cruises’ character Ray standing outside his home. As Ray notices the sudden change in weather, he begins moving towards his back garden. The scene ‘cuts’ instantaneously to a shot of Ray running through an alley beside his home. As Ray runs past the camera the scene ‘cuts’ to a low angle shot of Ray looking up at the storm clouds. By cutting between the different camera angles we follow Ray from his starting point, through an alley and to a final position in the garden. The use of cuts creates a continual passage of time and allows the audience to follow Ray’s journey without being distracted by the mechanics of editing. 3
- 5. Establishing shots should only last a few seconds. Once the audience understands the setting and location, a cut is made. The 180 Degree Rule The 180˚ rule is a basic guideline in film editing that states that two characters should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. E.g. The 180 ˚ Rule The man in Orange (John) is on the left hand side of the image. The man in Blue (Mark) is on the right hand side of the image. As this scene progresses, John should always be shown on the left hand side of the image, and Mark always shown on the right hand side. If the scene cuts to a shot where John is on the right and Mark is on the right, audiences will be disorientated and the flow of the scene is broken. SHOT / REVERSE / SHOT This is one of the most common techniques in editing. It is used to portray conversations between people who may not appear on the screen at the same time. One character is shown on screen looking at another character (usually off‐screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are seen facing the opposite direction we assume they are looking at one another. Shot/Reverse/Shot is a feature of the continuity editing style which deemphasises the transition between shots so that the audience perceive one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically and logically. It is essential that the ‘eye‐line’ matches are consistent throughout a shot/reverse/shot sequence. If not the audience will not believe the two characters are communicating and attention will be drawn to the mechanics of editing. 5
- 6. EYE LINE MATCH Conversations, and for that matter any interaction between characters, will usually require an eye‐line match in order to maintain continuity between edits. A characters gaze should be directed at the object or person that they are looking at. If the gaze is not, then the continuity of the scene is broken and the audience again begins to question to mechanics of the editing. MATCH ON ACTION Two shots can be connected by the replication of an action (character puts drink down in an American bar, and cuts to a drink being picked up in another bar) or a cut which splices two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement, making it seem to continue uninterrupted. GRAPHIC MATCH 6