Technical

Cinematography

Cinematography is using a camera to shoot film. More specifically, it is motion picture photography that records light and images whether it be digitally or otherwise. Some of the most common ways to shoot film (known as camera shots) are; long shots, close ups, aerial shots, tracking shots, low/high angle shots and middle (mid) shots. A long shot is when the camera is positioned far from the subject. It is used to show disconnect and establishing locations or scenes. An example of a film using a long shot is The Dark Knight during the scene of a truck flipping over. The camera is positioned far with the truck flip in the centre of the frame. A close up is a shot used to show some type of connection between the audience and character (personal identity). An example is in Trainspotting, A close up is shown to convey the pleasure of the narrator high on heroin. It creates a relationship between the audience and character. An aerial shot is film footage taken from an aircraft, helicopter or drone. They are often used to showcase the action on screen at a wider, larger scale. An example of an aerial shot is in Skyfall during the train and bike chase in the opening. A drone is used to showcase the damage a digger does to the train. A tracking shot is one that either moves the camera backwards or forwards from the subject. It is used to show the route or journey of the subject, or lack thereof. An example of a tracking shot is the opening scene in The Neon Demon where the camera tracks backwards from the still main character. Mise En Scene is a term used to discuss the framing design to express or communicate something to the audience. An example is in Twilight with two people in a biology lab set up in a way where the male looks angelic and like a saviour to the girl. The biology lab suggests that they are animals (such as wolves in the film) and biological love. In Psycho, the man talks to a lady called Ms Crane and the owl in the background suggests the man is praying on the lady which is apparent when he kills her later on. Proxemics is where we place objects, actors in the frame. An example is Tarantino Reservoir Dogs which places characters and objects at place distances from the camera. Another example is Me Earl and the Dying Girl which places characters and people in certain spaces to convey something such as in Me and Earl, the dad  is placed in between the mother and son.

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

Lighting

Lighting in film can communicate to the audience in quite a few ways such as conveying the setting of a scene, tone of the film or indirectly, the mood or feelings of the characters. Different types of lighting include background lighting, which provides separation between the subject and the background using four point lighting set up which is the same as three except with the background light. Another type of light is, low key lighting which tends to be used in film noir or horror genre. It is lighting that aims to heighten the sense of alienation for the audience watching it. High key lighting is what was often used in classic films in the 1950s onwards. An example is in the 1960 film Psycho where the male character stands in the foreground of a owl shadow which foreshadows his bird/animal like personality when he kills Ms Crane in the shower. Hard light is when lighting is used to cast shadows with ‘harder’/more vivid edges using a technique called chiaroscuro which emphasises shadows or edges. Soft lighting is the opposite and creates shadowless light and is part of fill lighting which is used to reduce the contrast of a scene. An example of hard lighting is in The Birds from Alfred Hitchcock. Hard lighting is used throughout that film as well as the film Psycho. An example of soft lighting is in the film Her in a close up shot of a man smiling in the distance.

​

​

 

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

 

Sound

Sound in film is commonly split into diegetic and non diegetic, ambient/non ambient, sound bridges and foley. Sound in film/TV plays a large part in setting a scene, tone, or mood for the characters and audience. The volume of sound contributes as well such as if a low, soft sound is playing, the audience can see the scene is sombre whereas if the sound is loud and energetic, it is usually for an action scene such as those in the Mission Impossible franchise. Diegetic sound is sound that both the characters and the audience can hear. This includes character voices, cars passing, dogs barking and music devices in the film. Non diegetic sound that is heard from outside the narrative so the character’s don’t know about it such as the narrator's voice, film score, sound effects for dramatic purposes and atmosphere. Noticeable examples of sound in film include the hand tapping of the leather gimp man in Pulp Fiction just before a black man is raped. This sound creates intensity and uncertainty for what is about to occur in the following scene. Another similar sound with the same effect is the tapping in the TV show Doctor Who in regards to the Time Lord drum beat. (On the video 3:03 is for the drum sound).

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

​

 

Editing

Editing is when you organise film footage, written material or sound design into a coherent whole to communicate information. What is involved in editing include, cuts, time, space/transitions, manipulation, genre and effects such as CGI. Different types of cuts can include jump cuts, which is when the shot suddenly ‘jumps’ to the subject which you notice more, a clean cut, which is one that smoothly cuts between shots that typical audience members don’t notice. An example of a jump cut is in the film Stay where the scene jumps to an almost identical shot except the camera is slightly closer. Stay also has an example of transitions which is when the scene changes from one subject to another. The most common one is fade in or out. In Stay it happens with the background/setting. Manipulation is when editing is done purposely to a scene to make the audience feel a certain way whether it be palette, sound, the angle (though angle’s is more for cinematography) and the time of shot. An example of manipulation is in the horror film genre, most notably, the film A Nightmare on Elm Street during a scene with a girl running outside her house and the killer chasing her. The sound, tone, lighting and cuts manipulate to the audience that the scene is unsettling. CGI/effects are used in editing to generate what cannot be done easily on camera. It is always done during the editing process though during the filming process green screens, blue screens, motion capture costume and wires can be used to make CGI editing easier. An example of CGI in film editing is Avengers: Infinity War or any mother big budget blockbuster like Transformers. These films use CGI and green/blue screen to assist them in creating environment such as space or fantasy creatures.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

​

​

​

Scripting

A script is what the film crew and actors use to help actors and film crew with understanding how a scene comes to life on the screen. There are five stages to a script. Name, action, parenthetical, dialogue and slugline, The name is the name of the main character in that particular scene. It is usually capitalised to show who is speaking in the scene. The parenthetical is the words in brackets under the name to show how a character is talking such as “(sternly)”. The dialogue is what the characters actually say. This is under the name and action. The slug lines purpose is to showcase where the scene is set whether it be interior or exterior along with the location and time for day. For example, “EXT, INNER NEW YORK CITY, DAY”. The action is what the character is doing non verbally. This goes under the slugline. An example is “Brett is in his mid 20’s and athletically built. He is waiting for a car”. Below is an example of a script which has been labelled to show where all this fits on paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Building a scene/story

Building a scene or story is how a narrative in film or television is constructed and brought to life. There are some key elements to this. These elements are; pacing, showing vs telling, mood, conflict, moving forward and the ending. Pacing is how quickly or slowly the narrative or scene is progressing. It could be a slow build such as films like 2001: A Space Odyssey which has a very slow pace or a quick build such as films like Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End). All these film’s dive straight into their action/plot to keep the audience engaged until the final frame. Showing vs telling is when a scene or story either shows you the information you need to know via visuals, or tells it to you via a character explaining everything, known as exposition. Moving the story forward is story progression. How this plays out always depends on the previous scene. For example, in The Inbetweeners Movie, there are several scenes which follow this story progression; Characters fall out, go their separate ways, learn they don’t much like being separated, meet in a pub, apologise and this progresses the story to them rekindling as friends again. Mood in this sense is how the characters feel in a particular moment rather than lighting or sound mood for the audience. Mood builds a scene or story because how a character reacts to something can change the outcome of that scene. The ending of a scene or story is the closure of the film/TV show. It provides a completion to what you have just watched as a narrative. Sometimes, an ending can be open or closed which means it can either be open to interpretation or set in stone with what it means.