Photography in Film. The art of Cinematography

FILM PHOTOGRAPHY
FILMMAKING NOTES

Cinematography is the art of manipulating light and shadow, and capturing it as a moving image. We’ll be posting articles and insights – maybe a bit of inspiration too! Whether you’re a pro or have hardly picked up a camera except to point and shoot at a birthday party, we hope you’ll find some useful information below.

CINEMATOGRAPHY – SHOTS AND CAMERA ANGLES

QUESTIONS TO ASK:
-What is the best viewpoint for filming this position of the event?
-How much area should be included in this shot?

SCENE defines the place or setting where the action is laid
SHOT defines a continuous view filmed by one camera without interruption
SEQUENCE A series of scenes or shots complete in itself.

TYPES OF CAMERA ANGLES
OBJECTIVE The audience point of view
SUBJECTIVE The camera acts as the viewers eyes-movement
POINT OF VIEW What the character is seeing

CAMERA ANGLES Are the most important factor in producing illusion of scenic depth. Which angle the object is photographed.

FIVE BASIC ANGLES

EYE LEVEL SHOTS Provide frames or reference. Audiences sees the event as if in the scene. Most scenes in movies are photographed from eye level. 5 to 6 feet off the ground. Capturing the clearest view of an object.-Treating your characters as equals. Discourages viewers at judging them and permits audience to make up their own minds.

BIRDS EYE VIEW Photographing a scene from DIRECTLY OVERHEAD. Hovers from above like all powerful gods. Idea of fate.

HIGH ANGLED SHOTS Camera is tilted downward. Movement is slowed down. A person seems harmless and insignificant photographed from above.-The higher the angle, the more it tends to imply fatality

-Heightens the importance of a subject. Scenes depicting heroism

OBLIQUE ANGLE Lateral tilt of the camera. As though the object is about to fall to one side. POINT OF VIEW SHOTS.
-Suggests tensions, transitions, impending movement
IMAGE THAT SLANTS TO THE RIGHT Acting forceful
IMAGE THAT SLANTS TO THE LEFT Weak, static
ASK YOURSELF
-How much should be included in this shot?
-Where should the camera be positioned to view this particular part of the action?

A shot should be held no longer than required to make its point.

Approach each sequence with a fresh attitude and strive to treat the action in an individual matter.

A definite change in camera angles will assure a smoother flow of images.

Cinematography

“And later I thought, I can’t think how anyone can become a director without learning the craft of cinematography.”
– Nicolas Roeg

SIX BASIC SHOTS

1) Extreme Long Shot Taken at a great distance. Almost always an exterior shot and shows much of the locale. Establishing shots usually
2) Long Shot The distance between the audience and the stage in the live theater
3) Full Shot Barely including the whole body
4) Medium Shot Knees to waste up. Useful for exposition scenes, carrying movement and for dialogue
5) Close-Up Concentrates on a relatively small object. HUMAN FACE
6) Extreme Close-Up Might just show eyes or mouth

CLOSEUPS
-Are among the most powerful storytelling devices available to the filmmaker
-Allows removal of tedious or repetitious action
-Can be used to provide a time lapse
-Bring that dramatic punch

FRAMES
-Area near the top of the frame can suggest ideas dealing with power, authority and aspiration
-Left and right edges of the frame can suggest insignificance

DOMINANT CONTRAST Area that immediately attracts our attention because of a conspicuous and compelling contrast

SUBSIDARY CONTRAST Structured image so that specific images are followed in sequence. Whatever character or object that is most dramatically important will assume dominance.

The HUMAN EYE scans pictures from left to right

HORIZONTAL LINES Move from left to right
VERTICAL LINES Move from top to bottom
DIAGONAL OR OBLIQUE LINES tend to sweep upward
TERRITORIAL SPACE movie images must tell a story in time. A story that involves human beings and their problems.THREE VISUAL PLACES MIDGROUND, FOREGROUND, BACKGROUND

SPACE is one of the principal mediums of communication in film

Dominant characters are almost always given more space to occupy than others are.

You can define, adjust and redefine human relationships by exploiting spatial conventions

ACTOR CAN BE PHOTOGRAPHED IN FIVE BASIC POSITIONS
1) Full Front Facing the camera
2) Quarter turn
3) PROFILE looking off frame, left to right
4) Three quarter turn
5) Back to Camera

FULL FRONT Most intimate, vulnerabilities exposed-Audience agrees to become their chosen confidante.

QUARTER TURN Involves a high degree of intimacy but with less emotional involvements

PROFILE More remote.
-Character lost in their own thoughts.

THREE QUARTER TURN More anonymous. Rejecting audiences

BACK TO CAMERA Characters alienation from the world. Sense of concealment, mystery.

TIGHTLY FRAMED SHOTS Confined

LOOSLY FRAMED SHOTS Freedom

PROXEMIC PATTERNS Climax, noise level and the degree of light all tend to alter the space between individuals

1) INTIMATE Eighteen inches away. Distance of LOVE, COMFORT, TENDERNESS between individuals

2) PERSONAL Eighteen inches to about four feet away. Reserved for friends and acquaintances

3) SOCIAL Four feet to about twelve feet away. Business and casual social gatherings

4) PUBLIC – Twelve to about twenty feet away.

ANALYSIS OF ANY GIVEN SHOT – TWELVE ELEMENTS

1) SHOT AND CAMERA PROXEMICS
-What type of shot is it? How far away from the action is the camera?

2) ANGLE
-Are we looking up or down on the subject, or is the camera neutral?

3) LENS and/or FILTER
-How do these distort or comment on the photographed materials?
4) LIGHTING STYLE
-High or low key lighting? High contrast? Some combination of these?

5) DOMINANT
-Where is our eye attracted first?

6) SUBSIDIARIES
-Where does our eye travel after taking in the dominant?

7) COMPOSITION
-How is the two-dimensional space segmented and organized? What is the underlying design?

8) FORM
-Open or closed? Does the image suggest a window that arbitrarily isolates a fragment of the scene? How are the visual elements carefully arranged and held in balance?

9) FRAMING
-Tight or loose? Do the characters have room to move around in, or can they move freely?

10) DEPTH
-On how many planes is the image composed? What do we see in the background?

11) STAGING PROBLEMS
-Which way do the characters look from the camera?

12) CHARACTER PROXEMICS
-How much space is there between the characters?

MOVEMENT IS NOT SIMPLY A MATTER OF WHAT HAPPENS, BUT HOW THINGS HAPPEN.

The OBSERVER has to be the CAMERA and it needs to know where it�s going.

THE VALUE OF A SHOT ALWAYS DEPENDS ON A NARRATIVE.

” You make the movie through the cinematography – it sounds quite a simple idea, but it was like a huge revelation to me.”
– Nicolas Roeg

THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSPECTIVE

-Finding the right points of the sequence and getting to tell the best narrative story

AESTHETIC DISTANCE Phrase used to describe the degree to which a work or art manipulates the viewer

FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW Sees events through the eyes of the character

THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW Presents action as seen by an ideal observer

OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW Having to know what the character is thinking. Requires a type of narration, voice-over or graphics

PAN SHOT, Used to:
-Include space greater than can be viewed through a fixed frame-Follow action as it moves
-Connect two or more points of interest graphically
-Connect of imply a logical connection between two or more subjects

“Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities… much more so than music or language.
– Conrad Hall

CRANE SHOT
-Inherently majestic and holds our interest regardless of the subject because of the sheer physical pleasure of the move
-Permits us to feel the dimensions of the world by penetrating space, further endorsing its reality through the illusion of depth
-Eats up time on the set
-Careful planning and preparation is vital

TRACKING SHOT
-Used to follow a subject or explore space
-A dolly moves towards a subjects face can be used to emphasize a character’s moment of realization. A dolly always tends to isolate the subject as well

TRIPOD SHOTS
-Usually is used only in stable and relatively predictable shooting situations
-Makes very controlled transitions from subject to subject possible
-Makes very controlled image transitions possible
-Makes stable close-ups possible at the telephoto end of the zoom lens
-Conveys the cool, assured view

HANDHELD SHOTS
-Can react to events, much as we do in life
-Implies a spontaneous event driven quest
-Conveys a subjective, even vulnerable point of view

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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 10-20 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto on the last Thursday of every single month. Go to http://www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.