Chapter 5: Cinematography Flashcards
(32 cards)
Definition of cinematography
Writing in movement… tech aspects of images
Tonality
Considering how light registers on film
Contrast
Comparitive difference between darkest and lightest areas
What is this?
* Helps guide us to important parts of frame
* Even with black and white, can still notice differences
Contrast
Exposure
How much light passes through lens regulation
Tinting
dark areas are black while lighter are the same
Toning
Dye added during positive print
Ramping
Increasing frames per second (i.e. Die Hard’s fireball)
Time-lapse cinematography
e.g. sunset in seconds
Focal length
distance from the center of the lens to the point where light rays converge on focus
short-focal-length lens
- 35mm example
- wide field of view
- exaggerates depth
middle-focal-length lens
normally used… avoid perspective distortion
long-focal-length
depth and volume are reduced… person moving towards camera takes longer
depth of field
range of distances within which objects can be photographed in sharp focus
Citizen Kane legacy
shorter focal length… deep focus
Aspect ratio
ratio of frame width to height
How to create widescreen image
mask it (hard matte)
difference between cinematography and mise-en-scene
- mis-en-scene is what’s arranged onscreen PRIOR to filming
- cinematogrphy: capturing and framing of what’s on screen
basic unit = the shot
uninterrupted view that runs continously across a series of film frames
types of distances
- extreme long shot- background is visible
- long shot
- medium long shot- knee up
- medium shot- mid section up
- close up- face up (usually)
- extreme close up- get details of face (usually)
canted or dutch angle
some sort of imbalance (“The Artist”uses this)
on-and-off screen space
Number of sides that are side of what we see (up, down, behind, above, etc.)
…space that is implied but not visible to us
Depth of field
different areas of focus create different perspective or meanings
Focal lengths
normal: 35-50 mm (little distortion, reproduce depth relationships)
wide: <35 mm (deep focus and field of vision… exaggerated perspective… background is smaller)
telephoto: >50 mm (narrow slice of focus… compressed perspective)
