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Reading the Moving Image - Week Two Lecture Notes (Cinematography…
Reading the Moving Image - Week Two Lecture Notes
Cinematography
Literally - 'writing in movement'
180 Degree Rule
The camera will stay on
one side of the line of action
in a scene
So that characters do not appear to change from one side of the screen to another
Can be
subverted
to great effect
Disorientation
Unease
Attentiveness
Composition
Relationships between placement of subjects in frame to create meaning
Rule of Thirds
Split the screen into ninths with a grid
Have the horizon on one of the two horizontal lines
Central, salient images should be placed on one of the other grid lines, or in the centre
Linear features should flow from section to section
Depth of Field
The
area in which elements are captured in sharp focus
Connected to focus but not to be confused with it
Establishes what’s important, and the character’s
relationship
with their environment
Also emphasises the space of the diegesis
Aesthetic Elements
Duration of Shot
Distance
Camera Movement
Track/Truck/Dolly
Creates a feeling of
participation
, or ‘
equal status
’
Can give a
sense of scale
or magnificence to a space
Moves through the space
Crane
Tilt (Up/Down)
Zoom
Changes the lens’ focal length to
change the size of the subject within the shot
Creates a feeling of
empowerment
, or disenfranchisement
Dolly Zoom
Creates a feeling of
disorientation
or shock
Zip Pan (Rapid Panning)
Steady Cam
Creates a feeling of
disembodiment
(the camera is not part of the scene)
Steadies the movement of a handheld camera
Hydraulic system mounted on camera man
Pan (Left or Right)
Sobchack
(1987) – ‘camera movements in general
fortify our sense of actuality,
our sense of a space that can be inhabited, that is, three dimensional’
Framing
Long Shot
#
Medium Shot
Establishes
Relationships
Wide Shot
Scope
Public
Context
Forces you (Especially if held for a long time) to
examine the landscape
Close Up
Establishes intimacy with character
Gives the audience a sense of the
reality of the performers face
, and
reminds the audience of the presence of the camera
The affinity between the camera and the actor allows for an ‘internal’ style of acting
‘
The Passion of Joan of Arc
’ (1928) by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Almost exclusively made of close ups
The words could be read on the lips of the actors (first silent film to do this)
Balasz
- a ‘documentary of the soul’
The ‘
Kuleshov Experiment
’
Lev Kuleshov
- all stages of film production are meaningless without the edit
Took a single close up and placed it after a series of different evocative images
Demonstrated that
without the meaning given to a shot by the preceding images, it has no meaning itself
Sergei Eisenstein
and the
Russian Formalists
- close ups inherently had no meaning, and were
predominantly conditioned by the shots that precede and follow them
Extra Wide Shot
Social
Philosophical
Metaphysical
Extreme Close Up
A more extreme version of the close up
Provides a strong psychological insight
A view to alternate realities
Establishing Shot
Traditionally a long shot
More recently directors have been using
close ups
as the establishing shot, in order to
create a sense of disorientation
Establishes
the diegesis
Camera Angles
Establishes relationships of power
Traditionally at eye level
Examples
POV Shot
Connects us to the character
'
Vertigo
' by Albert Hitchcock (1958)
Demonstrates that a POV shot can be used to shot a characters
emotional
view of something, rather than their physical one
Scenes become deeply personal
Over the Shoulder
Establishes the
relationship
between two characters
Places us in their conversation
Dutch/Canted Angle
Canted Camera
Used to create a feeling of
unease
, or that something isn't right
Aerial Shot
Shot from a drone or helicopter
Used to
establish a scene
, or to make something feel small
Birds Eye Shot
Shot from directly above
Creates a feeling of
belittlement
Tatami/Pillow Shot
Camera is situated at tatami pillow level, and is therefore
slightly looking up at the subject
An
intimate shot
, and is heavily involved in exploring
family relationships
Comments on traditional culture (particularly in Japan) being lost, or for comparing generations
Pioneered by Yasujirō Ozu
Deep Focus
On screen for a long period of time, so that the viewer can process the information in it
Great depth of field
Orson Welles, ‘
Citizen Kane
’ (1941)
Wide angle lenses and small lens apertures are used to render in
sharp focus both near and far
features
Technical Elements
Film Stock
Lighting
Lenses
Camera
Line
The bottom of an image is more important than the top
We read from left to right
Horizontals are given more weight than verticals
Leading Lines
Give
direction
to the eye
Gives the sense that the character knows where they are going, or are being led
Circles = Wholeness, inclusivity, completion, coming back to where you started, etc.
Diagonals = dynamism
Mise-en-Scene
Part of the storytelling
Elements
Setting
Metaphor
Expressive functions
Realistic settings = believable world
Props
Cultural Icons/Symbols
Metaphor
Staging
Actor's Performance
Costumes and Makeup
Establishes character
Narrative markers
Lighting
Natural
Set Lighting
Directional
Hard or Soft
Shadows
Metaphorical
Concerned with setting, composition, lighting, etc.
Effect
Establishes genre
Sets the scene
Place
Culture
Time
Sets the mood
Contributes to the story
Establishes themes
Creates visual, narrative and thematic complexity
Introduction to Genre
Codes of Genre
Determine what symbols are used and their meaning
Eg. The virgin surviving a horror slasher
Other Codes (performance, body language, music, sound, etc. )
Connected to Genre
Determine how a film is constructed
Noir Introduction
Descended From:
German Expressionism
Use of mise-en-scene
French Poetic Realism
The everyday man is illuminated and glorified in his environment
No idealisation
Reflected lights used to light the scene
Mirrors
Windows
Water
Etc.
Narrative Forms and Tropes
Corruption
Labyrinthine Cities
Dark melodramas in which men lust over blonde women
Based on the the dime ‘Pulp fiction’ novels
Smoke
Deception
Literally - 'Dark Film'
Cinematography
Cast shadows
Such as Venetian blinds
Gives a sense of deception and entrapment
Half-lit Faces
Deception and Mystery
Double Framing
Use of lighting and chiaroscuro
Sense that something is there we haven’t yet seen
Character Archetypes
Doomed nihilistic heroes
Who often inarticulately express their existential crises
The Femme Fetale
White costumes whilst they’re innocent, then wearing black once they’ve seduced and betrayed the protagonist
Smoking cigarettes - Rebellious