Film: Film Techniques and Shot Essay

Submitted By qwertyu343
Words: 951
Pages: 4

Film
Film techniques: camera shots, extreme long shot, long shot, full shot, mid shot, close up,
Camera angles: birds eye angle, high angle, eye level angle, low angle
Camera movement: crane shot, tracking shot, Evangelion shot (close up and zooms out)
Lighting- shaping meaning in films, creates atmosphere, creates mood, suits character in frames, light or dark and shadowy
Tone, style, theme
Script- describes action/dialogue, story line, plot
Ideas- culture
Attitudes, values, beliefs
Effects
Castings
Setting- Time and place
Classification- violence, drugs, sex
Meaning
Body language
Inferences- how do you pick up on meaning
Levels of meaning Image is a building block of all film making
The shot positions the subject
Long shots gives a sense of time and place (something in the distance, focus the eyes of the viewer)
Close up or head shots- Object is 80% of the screen- interment, intrusive, revealing, shows emotion on the face
Medium shots- natural doesn’t call attention to itself- neural shot, common and naturalistic- relating the character to the time and place
Out of focus slightly- mood of uncertainty-mysterious
Colour and light to bring focus- attention to one thing
Full on light or half the face- half the face shows something unknown about that character
Deep focus- all objects are in focus- viewer can chose which object they what to view
Low angle- character looks more powerful, commanding. Bigger than the environment he/she is in
High angle- character looks small, weak, vulnerable and insignificant. Less powerful
Eye level- neutral shot
Facial expression between changes, lighting in the right and left, shadows, movement
Dutch angle- used to indicate tension, danger and uncertainty- how does the camera produce this?
Tilt-
Zoom- shrinks or grows, directs the audience to an object or detail which the director feels important
Pan
Tracking or dolly shots- brings audience in the action moving with the camera
Low key- creates mood of suspicion, mystery and danger- darkness, shadows and patches of bright key light
High key- makes character or situations seem to be without misunderstanding or threat- lighting distinguished by brightness, openness and lack of shadow and contrast
Neutral- lighting is even and balanced throughout the shot
Bottom/side lighting- indicates character that may be evil or conflicted
Front- no shadows appear- indicates innocents and openness
Diegetic- sound which can be logically heard by the character within the film environment- background noise, traffic, dialogue, etc. mood is created
Non-diegetic- sound which cannot be logically heard by the character within the film environment- musical scores, voice-over narration, etc.
Internal diegetic only one character can hear- internal monologue, supernatural voices, etc.
Editing- Methods by which a director moves from one shot to another
Fade- image onscreen fades to black for period of time, to be slowly replaced by another image- often indicates the passage of period of time or end of segment
Dissolve- the image onscreen slowly fades, but not to black- instead fades to another image which slowly fades in at the same time- often makes a connection between two object or character that the view
Crosscut or parallel editing- images showing clips of separate places, quickly transition from one to other and back again – creates suspense, linage between characters, themes, or plots.
Flashbacks/flash forwards- convention designed to give viewer important information about past events – conventions include verbal cues
Eyeline match- three or more shots- a shot of a character. A shot of what the character sees, and a shot of the character’s reaction- develops characterisation, build tension, revelation, etc.
Rhythm and duration- length more than 2o or 30 secs- can create a calmer, more peaceful environment
Mise-en-scence- theatrical term