Chapter 6 - Cinematography

● ● ● ● ● ● ● Chapter 6 - Cinematography Cinematography - the process of capturing moving images on film or a digital storage device ○ Comes from movement, light, writing An intracate language that can, & does, contribute tp a movie’s overall meaning as the story, miseenscene, and acting do To make an informed analysis of a movie, we need to evaluate presisely how the cinematographer has harnessed the many aspects of her craft to express story, mood, meaning Every aspect of a movie’s pre production leads to the most vital step: representing the mise en scene on film or video Cinematographer and director - the most important relationship Three key terms used in shooting a movie are shot, take, setup ○ Shot - a building block of cinema. Shot is one of the most common words you’ll find in film studies ■ An unbroken span of action captured by an uninterrupted run of the camera - time is edited by the author ■ Shot is a discrete unit that lasts until it is replaced by another shot by means of a cut or other transition ■ Shot can refer to a specific arrangement of elements to be captured in a particular composition from a predetermined camera position ■ Shot may be taken a few times ○ Take - each time that planned shot is captured - “take 2” ○ Setup - one camera position and everything associated with it The cinematographer’s responsibilities for each shot and setup fall into 4 categories ■ In carrying out these responsibilities, the DP relies on the assistance of the camera crew, which is divided into one group of technicians concerned with the camera and another concerned with electricity and lighting. The camera group consists of the camera operator, who controls the camera during the shot, and the assistant camerapersons. The first ac oversees everything with camera and lenses, the 2nd ac prepares the slate that is used to identify each shot and take as the camera rolls… when the film is being used, the loader feed the stock into magazines that are then loaded onto the camera ■ Electricity and lighting - gaffer ■ First hand electrician - best boy ■ All around handy men - grips ○ 1) chromatographic properties of the shot (film stock, lighting, lenses) ■ Includes the recording medium, lighting, lenses ■ The cinematographer is responsible for choosing a recording medium for the movie that serves the director's vision ■ Movies have been shot on film stock - a sheet that the movie is recorded on ● Available in several standard formats - 8mm (pop), 35mm (pro) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ Most are digitally now Higher resolution - more detailed, sharper Speed - exposure to light, how sensitive it is to light Crystals are digital pictures, stored in the form of codec Black and white - people have come to associate b&w photo with a stronger sense of unidealized realism that is provided by color film stock Tonality - the range of tones from pure white to darkest black Additive color systems - add color to b&w films ○ Included tinting and toning Three- color subtractive color system - color results from the physical action of different light waves on our eyes and optical nervous system - we process colors in different wavelengths ○ Red,green,blue has been removed - cyan, magenta, yellow stay Technicolor movies were complicated,producers were reluctant to shoot in color Multilayered color film stock less expensive Hollywood used color fim strategically, along with the widescreen aspect ratio to lure people away from tvs Color temperature- any light source will emit various light wavelengths that register as different colors in a graded spectrum Today, all motion picture production is done digitally… use color grading, the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture with specialized software Natural and artificial light ○ Natural - daylight A camera lens is a piece of curved, polished glass ○ “Eye” of the camera ○ Focal lenses - in the distance ○ Short focal lense - wide angle and stretches. It makes the subjects on the screen appear farther and further apart than they actually are ○ Long focal length lens - compresses the image, makes distant subjects look closer ○ Middle focal length - normal, day to day ○ Zoom lens ○ Prime lense - fixed focal lengths ○ Depth of the field - distance in front of camera ○ Rack focus - a change of the point of focus from one subject to another 2) framing of the shot (proximity to the camera, depth, camera angle and height, scale, camera movement) ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Framing is the process by which the cinematographer or camera operator uses the boundaries and dimensions of the moving image to determine what we see on the screen ● Involves composition (the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and objects within the space of each shot ● Frame - boundaries of the movie ● Aspect radio - the relationship between the frames 2 dimensions is known as aspect ratio ○ Most movies are the same ● 1950s - widescreen became popular - the graduate Implied proximity to the camera ● Most aspects of cinematic language draw upon the way people instinctively process and react to visual information in their everyday lives ● Implied proximity - refers to the distance between the camera and the subject on screen ○ The reason behind some of the most common terms for shots used in movies (close proximity - close up) ○ Extreme long shot - a great distance away, wide view ○ Long shot- background and subject is same size ○ Medium long shot - one or more characters from the knees up - often used with physical action ○ Medium shot - waist up - our human experience ○ Medium close up - middle of chest to the top of head. We see face, gestures, posture ○ Close up - face fills the frame ○ Extreme close up - part of the subjects face very close Because the image of the movie is 2d and seems flat, one of the most compelling challenges is giving the illusion of depth ● Use foreground,,, ● Deep focus cinematography - keep all grounds into focus Camera angle - the level and height of the camera in relation to the subject being photographed ● Eye level- filmed in the same level of the character in scene ○ The way we see - normal ● High angle - camera above eye level - look down on someone ● Low angle - camera positioned about eye level, aims up at the subject. - i look up to her ● Dutch-angle - crooked, shows chaos ● Birds eye - elevated view Moving the camera gives depth Pan shot - pivots horizontally - looks from size to side Tilt shot - pivots vertically - looks up and down ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ○ Dolly shot - follows character, camera moves on a track ● In - forward out - backwards Zoom Crane shot - camera mounted on an elevated arm Handheld camera - shaky, unsettling Steadicam - harness worn by the operator to hive smoothness Framing - process by which the cinematographer uses the borders of the moving image to determine what we don't see onscreen Viewfinder - the little window you look into or through when taking a pic Moving frame makes us aware of offscreen space Open and closed framing ● Open - designed to depict a world where characters move freely within an open recognizable environment ● Closed - other forces had robbed character the ability to move and act freely Pov - whose viewpoint the image on-screen represents - is implied by the framing of a shot ● Omniscient - shows us what the camera/narrator sees ● Single character - when framing and editing shows us what a single character is seeing ● Group - see what many characters see ● ~can change viewpoints~ ○ Show diff perspectives gives separation from each 3) speed and length of the shot ■ The speed of the movement on screen depends on frame rate; that is, the number of still images the camera captures per second ■ Standard - 24 frames per shot ■ Slow motion is achieved by filming at a higher frame rate (48) ■ Fast motion - achieved by filming at lower rates (12) ■ Length of shot ● Determined by the kind of story being told, the dramatic demands of particular scenes within that story, and the approach to cinematic language the director and his creative collaborators bring to the story ● Long take - shot that lasts significantly longer than a conventional shot ○ Those that exploit the mobile frame ○ Th0se that hold the viewer in a state of relative stasis ○ Encounters what they are encountering ● Mobile framing - uses a moving camera and blocking to present multiple viewpoints, compositions, and actions within a single unified shot ● ○ Sequence shot - enables filmmakers to present a unifies pattern of events within a single period of time in one shot 4) special effects ■ General term reserved for technology used to create images that would be too dangerous, too expensive, or impossible to achieve traditionally ■ Illusions ■ Mechanical effects - created and photographed on set ● Prosthetics, imaginary creatures ■ Optical effects - created by manipulating the image and or film negative ‘in camera’ ● ‘Stop’ and replace a dummy - cut off a head ■ Visual effects- created and integrated using computers in post production ■ Motion capture - specific visual effect in which a live action subject wears a body suit fitted with reflective markers that enables a computer to record each movement as digital images