Cinematography Flashcards
(9 cards)
What is cinematography?
The process of capturing moving images on film or a digital device
What’s the purpose of cinematography for film?
It’s needed in capturing a film’s visuality. It helps w/ the aesthetic and style of film, and it’s largely driven by the needs and themes of the story by every choice the director of Photography makes (the lighting, lenses, exposure, focus, camera sequences)
What are the 4 broad categories the ‘setup’, ‘shot’, and ‘take’ decisions fall into?
- Film stock, lighting, and lenses:
-This aspect really influences the finished look of film; sharpness of detail, range of light/shadow, quality of color
-You can which era a certain film was made in just by the film stock used
-Colors itself triggers associations; some film stock brings out more colors than others
-Slow film stock (needs more lighting during filming) produces more detailed and nuanced image; older films used faster stock which needed less lighting, but resulted in the production of graininess; digital photography rules of today have changed
Lenses - range from 18mm-300mm; 18mm is for a full shot (lens is shorter), 300mm is for a close-up (lens is longer) - Framing
- Speed and length of shot
- Special effects
What factors control shot selection?
- Function: what we want the audience to see
-Importance: the importance that it has to the story in that moment
-Emotion: the elicit of emotional response
-Theme or concept: has to imply a thematic idea or concept
-Formal: has to be a graphically compelling/engaging image
What are all the standard shots in relation to capturing a human body?
- Extreme long shot (ELS): camera captures mainly the location in frame (like an establishing shot); person is very far away
- Long shot (LS): camera is closer, full body of person is visible but still very far away
- Full shot (FS): camera is close enough to mainly focus on person; their full body from head to toe is within frame
-Medium full shot (MFS): camera still focused on person, except a little more than half of legs are cut off from frame; within frame is full torso w/ start of legs showing
-Medium shot (MS): legs are cut off completely from frame; within frame is torso and up
-Medium close up(MCU): half of torso is cut off; chest and up are within frame
-Close up(CU) : shot is mainly focused on neck and head
-Extreme close up(ECU): zoom in of only facial features within frame
What are some other alternative shots?
Establishing shot - shows an important location/building; usually where characters are currently in the story or where they’re going
Wide shot - show the vastness of a location and character’s relationship to location
High angle/bird’s eye view shot - captures subject(s) from up above; mostly used to make subject appear smaller, weaker, and more vulnerable, showing a sense of power imbalance
Low angle/worm’s eye view shot - opposite of high angle; makes subject appear more powerful and dominant
Over the shoulder - usually used when dialogue is exchanged between characters; used to create a sense of connection, intimacy and understanding between the characters (makes the audience feel apart of it)
Perspective/POV shot - puts the audience in the shoes of the character so we can understand the character’s motives and wants
What are the ways in which the camera moves?
- Pan - camera rotates left or right on a horizontal axis from a fixed position (on tripod) (similar to turning head left or right)
-Swish pan - camera moves fast from left to right or right to left; used when a scene is changing to another scene and it looks like a blur
-Tilt - camera moves up or down on a vertical axis from a fixed position (like nodding head up and down)
-Dolly - camera physically moves away or toward subject usually on a track or wheeled platform
-Tracking - camera follows subject as they move, either from behind, in front, or beside; usually used interchangeably w/ dolly but this one highlights following action more
-Trucking - similar to dolly, but camera moves horizontally (left or right) on a track to follow a subject or reveal a scene
-Zoom - change in length of the lens to magnify or shrink image
Crane shot - camera moves up or down through space; usually attached to a crane or jib
Handheld - camera is held in operator’s hands, resulting in a shakier, gritty, and more realistic feel
-Steadicam - stabilizing mount used for smooth camera movement while operator walks or moves; used for super fluid motion w/ out hand-held shaking
-Orbit - camera moves around subject creating a dynamic 360 degrees perspective
-Camera roll - camera rotates around lens axis, causing it tilt diagonally or completely roll over from dramatic effect
What’s the difference between an open and closed frame?
Open frame - Feels like scene extend beyond frame; subjects can go out of frame without us feeling like we’re missing anything (like same thing would occur if not filmed)
Closed frame - more constructed and limiting; everything presented in frame is specifically planned to be shown and necessary (anything off frame doesn’t matter in the moment); gives a sense of completeness and stability
What is the 180 degree rule?
It refers to the line of action between characters in a scene; in order to create a sense of order and to further storytelling, each character must stay on the same side of line they start w/
-the rule can be broken by one or characters crossing the line in some way or another; usually done to further the storytelling of chaos in a scene, to power dynamics, or just represent a shift in the relationship between characters
