WorkingwithCinematicTechniquesEnglishIModifiedSB2.15

FilmAnalysis§ Muchlikehowawriterusesstylisticdevicestoachievespecificeffectsin

theirwriting,directorsusecinematictechniquesintheirfilmsforspecificpurposes.

§ Inordertoanalyzeafilmthroughcriticalviewinglikeyoudoatextincriticalreading,youmustunderstandthetoolsthatfilmmakersusetocreatetheirvisualmasterpieces.

§ Followalongonpg.134– 135inyourSpringboardbookaswelookatexamplesofthevariouscinematictechniquesthatdirectorshaveattheirdisposalandalsodiscusswhattheuseofthattechniquerevealsoraddstothepiece.

§ Takeadditionalnotesasneededonthechartprovidedonpg 137tohelpyourememberthevisualsprovidedforeachofthesetechniques.

SHOTSandFRAMING,CAMERAANGLESandCAMERAMOVEMENTS§ AllcomparetohowawriterusesPOINTOFVIEW

§ Shot:asinglepieceoffilmuninterruptedbycuts

§ Ofcourse,differentshottypes,anglesandmovementsachievedifferenteffects

ESTABLISHINGSHOT- Oftenalongshotoraseriesofshotsthatsetsthescene;isusedtoestablishsettingandtoshowtransitionsbetweenlocations

FromtheTVShow“Seinfeld”

LONGSHOT– ashotfromsomedistance.Iffilmingaperson,thefullbodyisshown.Itmayshowtheisolationorvulnerabilityofthecharacter

Fromthemovie“Titanic”

MEDIUMSHOT– themostcommonshot.Thecameraseemstobeamediumdistancefromtheobjectbeingfilmed.Amediumshotshowsthepersonfromthewaistup. Theeffectistogroundthestory.

Fromthemovie“Spiderman2”

CLOSEUP– theimagetakesupatleast80percentoftheframe

Fromthemovie“TheShining”

EXTREMECLOSEUP– theimagebeingshotisapartofawhole,suchasaneyeorahand

TWOSHOT– ascenebetweentwopeopleshotexclusivelyfromananglethatincludesbothcharactersmoreorlessequally.Itisusedinlovesceneswheretheinteractionbetweentwocharactersisimportant.

Fromthemovie“Tangled”

EYELEVEL– ashottakenfromnormalheight;thatis,thecharacter’seyelevel.Ninetytoninety-fivepercentoftheshotsseenareeyelevel,becauseitisthemostnaturalangle.

Fromthemovie“Toys”

HIGHANGLE– thecameraisabovethesubject.Thisusuallyhastheeffectofmakingthesubjectlooksmallerthannormal,givinghimorhertheappearanceofbeingweak,powerlessortrapped.

Fromthemovie“Psycho”

LOWANGLE– thecamerafilmssubjectfrombelow.Thisusuallyhastheeffectofmakingthesubjectlooklargerthannormal,andthereforestrong,powerful,andthreatening.

Fromthemovie“AliceinWonderland”

CAMERAMOVEMENTS§ Pan– astationarycameramovesfromsidetosideonahorizontalaxis

§ Tilt– astationarycameramovesupordownalongaverticalaxis

§ Zoom– astationarycamerawherethelensmovestomakeanobjectseemstomovecloserorfurtherawayfromthecamera.*Withthistechnique,movingintoacharacterisoftenapersonalorrevealingmovement,whilemovingawaydistancesorseparatestheaudiencefromthecharacter.

§ Dolly/Tracking– thecameraisonatrack thatallowsittomovewiththeaction.Thetermalsoreferstoanycameramountedonacar,truck,orhelicopter.

§ Boom/Crane– thecameraisonacrane overtheaction.Thisisusedtocreateoverheadshots.

CAMERAMOVEMENTS

UseofDolly/TrackingandBoom/Cranetoshoot“Transformers”

LIGHTING

§ Comparestohowawriterestablishestoneandmoodintheirwork

§ Lightingcreatessignificantemotionalresponsesfromtheaudiencebasedonwhatpeopleassociatewithlightanddarkness

§ Lightingeffectsclarity,realismandemotion

HIGHKEY– thesceneisfloodedwithlight;creatingabrightandopen-lookingscene

Fromthemovie“Shawshank Redemption”

LOWKEY– thesceneisfloodedwithshadowsanddarkness,creatingsuspenseandsuspicion

Fromthemovie“Insidious”

BottomorSideLighting– directlightingfrombelowortheside,whichoftenmakesthesubjectappeardangerousorevil

Fromthemovie“TheBlairWitchProject”

FrontorBackLighting– softlightingontheactor’sfaceorfrombehindwhichgivestheappearanceofinnocenceorgoodness,orahaloeffect.

Fromthemovie“ThePrincessandtheFrog”

EditingTechniques§ Comparestohowawriterusessyntax

§ Cut– twopiecesoffilmaresplicedtogetherto“cut”toanotherimage

§ Fade– canbetoorfromblackandwhite;impliesthepassingoftimeortheendofascene§ Fade-In– darknesstobrightness

§ Fade-Out– imagegraduallygetsdarker

§ Dissolve– akindoffadeinwhichoneimageisgraduallyreplacedbyanother

§ Wipe– anewimagewipesoffthepreviousimage(quickerthanadissolve)

§ Flashback– cutordissolvetoactionthathappenedinthepast

§ Shot-Reverse-Shot– ashotofonesubject,thenanother,thanbacktothefirst;oftenusedforconversationorreactionshots

§ Cross-Cutting– cutintoactionthatishappeningsimultaneously;createstensionorsuspenseandcreatesaconnectionbetweenscenes

§ Eye-LineMatch– cuttoanobject,thentoaperson;canrevealacharacter’sthoughts

Sound

§ Comparestohowawriterestablishestoneandmoodintheirwork

§ Diegetic– soundthatcanlogicallybeheardbythecharactersinthefilm(dialogue,backgroundnoise,soundofthingsinthescene)

§ Non-Diegetic– soundthatcannotbeheardbythecharactersbutisdesignedfortheaudiencereactiononly(ominousmusicorsounds)

ApplyIt!§ WatchtheguidedviewingoftheclipfromRockyIV.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSMxY6asoE§ CLAPeverytimeyouseethe“cut”!§ Noteexamplesfromthemini-movieofSHOTSandFRAMING,CAMERAANGLES,CAMERAMOVEMENTS,LIGHTING,EDITINGandMUSIC/SOUNDonthechartonpg.137inyourSpringBoard book.Yourteacherwillstopthevideoasneededfordiscussion/note-making.