shooting methodsFigurg21orevous page Te Loy eee ead cinematography “ WHATIS CINEMATIC? [ee euy to think of filmmaking ss not mach more shan “Wl put {fe Ser onthe sec and roll the camera" Obviously there mich estinveled buries important so andentand hat even al you TOR ord what stm fot ofthe camer, you are sell making def Sitdecktone about how the audience going vo prev he sene “This che cri point, alimatly,fimmaking i about what he alec" om cock ene na on clay cs he lon but abo emouonaly Perape jos as important, at the end of GD ene ae they ol asKing themsles, “Tavonder what happens rent’ Incther words ate ty sl inerested inthe sony? [AQuestion of Perception Fie of al we have to recognize chat how we perceive the world in eli indamemtally dierent fom how we peeve the world Suiuoureyesam cus il only presets the lision of he ly "Whar do we mean when we ay something is cneati? Most of the time, people use the word to man data novel or play is fsi-paced Sd faa: Here, we tse na diferent ways in hs scion we ine eter fo pean al che techniques and methods of lamang that we use toad lees f meaning the content ‘Conten means the things wear evading —the ses the ators, she Slog. the pops, and so on. In the hese, there is nothing terweat the eye and ens of the audlence and whats happening {lo of thee Inf, we ave many methods of aes the petcepcon of ha reality. How iferentfom Theoter Inthe early days of cinema, many practitioners were thes people. When they fst saw the movie camera they conceived 3a Eecol to exond her avdovees they jst pot he camera where the Jadienee would be and used tt ron performance. The upshot i this Ua the tore performance viewed fom singe poin Sf ve whch show ateaengoer espa, Asa seul in ary flinch camera didnot move thee were ho close-ups, no shin. potatoe, and so forth in other words, pracally none retool and technique of cincina swe know them now Th short, thes eaty films depend almost endely on their content, uu theater docs batty ck the mediny and personal expe Jignce of alive thee performance The history of cinemacan easy [waded the introduction and adton of various techniques hd methods cat we ellscnemate® —in other words, the concep ‘yet we refered inthe previous caper: he ame the ns, {keane color cextare movenen,cxublahng, and ptm view. Te tk chapes we wl deal pemanly with the fame and another Haponan fool eicing, While editing i not the cinematographers Joby is eal to umiertand thatthe job of the cinematographer ‘eect working on the esto provide the editor wih Footage atache orshe cane crestvely and ecciey Visual Subtext and Visual Metaphor So cinematography has many purposes, some of them far beyond hesimple ac of photographing™ the action. Infact, if you ae a flmmaker who onfy wants the camera co record “reality,” you are ingame of he mo pore dy Smaart de vote Many ef these methods ae all abovt adding rsa usext to your ienes In addition to visual subtext, nal metaphor can bea jpowerfil tool swellFigure 22. To conmey the see of Baits nerscncs soos ur ied ih era come sees penn ‘hroughout mont Say Konstructing Reality ond Putting lt ack Together Say we havea spl snc: two peopl ting at a ble ae tnd having coffee We do s wide shoot of cous, but we alo close-ups of thet characters, aight shot ofthe coffee cups se shot ofthe clock on she wall periape a shot ofthe waite 3¢ pots, and soon. Think of ths way’ every dime we doa shot ie aking alice, piece ofthat scene — we are dividing up the Eenc into small parts; 6 wea fancy term, we are dcnstrcing Swe have ken the “ral elit” (the actors, the set, he prop, the log) and broken up ito plete shots chat ae “in he an.” Bow con the cn peg ack roger, Ti fig. The magic is dat we ean resemble this reality ins any way “ee choose We can nove things around in sme and n physi rea Boo to cach other: changing the pace, the tone, the wood even the frets, We create anew realty whieh ean bea fay accurate epre- entation of what tally happened or can be very diferent inthe Brewer perception THE FRAME Setting the fame isa teres of choices tha decide what the viewer Bel st and not see The fst of thee decisions i where o place the Tenerain elation othe scene, After tha, there are choles concern ing the field of vison and movement, lof which work together Infnence how the audience wil peresive the shot: bth in outright content snd in emotoral uderctrent and sabrexc tothe clon and the dialog staticFrame ‘Asati ames a prosenio, Theacton of the scene is presente as 2 soge show: we sea thied person obuerer Theresa proscenium Sellberween uy and che action, This ie especially tre i everything The about the mei also normal — hat lve, aoa ous 0 fpovemens, and so on, This doesnot mean” however, chat sale frame snot witboot vl, lean bea useful ool a ears ts own teegeg and implications of POV and worldview Th Stanley Kubrick’ film Bary Lydon, che fixed, well-compose, : balanced flames retlet the sate, hiertchiel society of the me {Figure 22). Bveryone bash plac, every social interaction i ov trned by welldetined cules The actors move within dis Fame stthou bing abl ater Ie i sefecton of the wold they ie : tay and wee srongly imple see of der and tranguliy, als cartes an overpowering ack of ability: bosh socal ahd pst shooting methods 5Figure 2.3. the perspec! app PabesSiain rete Greenaway te Braughtmans Contract = the fu Seine eo a selecting ewe fal and defining ames cemematography 16 ‘al, The world is static the characters ey to find their place in it. Each sen i played out completly withis cis fixed frame: without rovement, cuts, or changes in perspective. This use of the fame Conveys a wealth of information independent of the sript or the sttlon® of the characters Ie adds layers of meaning. A similar ase of ‘he seate Frame isthe Swedish fn Songs fom the Second Foor (Figure 234) which aso plays out every scene, with one exception, as a Single long take within a completely immobile frame. im Jarmuseh tue the same technique in his second film, Stronger Than Paradise. _Jarmusch claims that shooting scenes asa singe shot was done to save fim, but ies also an importan stylistic element of the im. Tiboth the examples, the distancing nature ofthe frame s used for its own purpone, The filmmakers are deliberately putting the audi- ‘nee inthe postion ofthe impersonal observer. Thiscan citer lend. Gh observational, judgmental tone or much like objects in the fore- round of the frame, make the audience work harder to put them- Efe into the scone, ora combination of both. As with almost all ‘inematie eechnigues they ean be used in reverse to achieve a com- pletely deren effec than norma. CINEMA AS ALANGUAGE ‘You have probably heard interviews with directors where at some point they lean forward with great gravitas and pronownce, “You Pow. cinema isa language.” The frst time you hea eis your reac- ‘on might as likely," Wow, wharan insight. Thats deep.” Perhaps fometine iter you heae an interview with different director who ko announces solemnly, “Cinema isa language ll i’s own,” and. the eaction might be “Hey, he's ip tit .00." By the time you hear the fh o sith maker grandly say, “Film ise lnguage” your respomse might be "Yeah, yeah, 1 Know that row tel ine something I ean use.” Whac i the structure of eis an tage? Whats the vocabulary, he syntax, hove docs work?” This fe wby itis important co study cinematography as more than merely the echnical aspects of motion picture photography.ulin Block of Scene Brains sep mast eee Sr coe een ene ee ee een Se ae re Sra pag! te wee ea pe ge ee eee ec a eae i, oh aoa ee eee cant rss ee area Oe etceg a Teitsne = = e - eo - teu ee - + Tame Sher sae emer pee eet per geese eee Spee ealdange Sec toskhe Bes seca een ecco eae ere eae ee ee eee ee eer een enc Sees anes | ga lame = pyar Ce eae Ree eee ree tng “in opener tlle all a eee een see avec ee eee Ge res ome ur nn re per a eee er ee era sa ae eens ear eer ee eecieer aves eas Ue arama 0 | Bie ey a peter nicer omen oe ee See eae ANS Ome ern he anon Wa Se ee eee erin shooting methodsFigure 24.Anetaishingsho fom Fieetnning queso great dea ot Iman a gee cto Spent 9 main Shoat the Bithaeako aneampe crave ot cinematography 8 Establishing Shots "The establishing shot is usally a wide shot, Is che opening shot of esse that elle us where we ate. A eypical one might be “Estalish- Jog abot — Hele fice.” This ght const ofa wide shot of a2 Tc building, so when we cut to a shot of Helen at her desk, we Qaberwhere se ate in er office building, We've sen cat itis big, Masleon busiding, very upseale and expensive and chat its located wasAideown Mashatan, and the bustling activity of strets indicate Wicanother Bectc workday in New York. The exablishing shot bas tgven us 2 great deal of information. Laying Out the Scene — Establishing the Geography Dene that ofen wed te chat we bane to “establish the goog A a te worl we hve to gv che audience some ia of ese ee what kad of plac iets where objets and people are weet gach other. Other aspect af this are discussed in che Chapter ChematieComtiy Teesbishing the geography is hepfil othe audience eo let them Fane oe the land” within a Scene. Ie helps them orient aoe eal prevent confavon thar mig divers thee attention Ahern sa Thor arc times when you want ro kep de ayout a otc af curse. As we wl ce throughout te dscusin film ro adidog, one of the primary purposes x eonor confuse Sea EOE it be umes of couse where you wl wane aoe a co barf You dont give them information and they conte rime trying vo figure something, os, however sub- tae ety gou fave Taken their minds away trom dhe characters consout Ruronawa sa maser of ths ype of exablhing, asin saa ee Bom Sve Samora Figures 23 and 2.) He uses i353 ‘payee sarc des concrete and vile va caablihing shot, such 2+ our oie building example, might Cpe lain bee aoe ade ie clung an ofice bulding, bur that we ae going—__-—— res 25 and 2 Serer ents See ee ‘Sopa ‘ihveen ones {he viloge to 9 stot of te ser oiling the oesion ease ingto Sas Sees Be oak abet eenghch roel fee eee hy ln a cs cri ae Se ee Seeing eee ae eee PS oe eae ee ee es building. What we have done here is keep the andience in the story snd combined it with showing the building and the context shooting methods °‘inematoaeaphy I In gsenc it is bit of distraction such ta age maitan might eee eee ee Cotas lot beer than st ctng so een apd have er do some hacknejed "onthe ute” dog sich "Olt my god what Tint ging to doabou the bigfisne scandal?” Of couse thre She oe level you cn ad te guy who buys the newapaprs mot Snaonymgas a, Bue et be te repre og teancoe thea seanyThescarjust example, of cour bat the polne ny covey the location nfrmson combination with Fier of the ory or something tn comseys 3m ln» 0h Fick infection or anything tains our emerson of he ce: the mood or abyiag tars ef oyou athe oryele A mote eibort, but eBscveeslingsoquence eis one fon Cling (igure 28 to 2-13). The oping shee ia ying tanner har lst soiene they ae n Mia! Bea and i topes oes non abesch hel md senate shor of Ure We fol bim dn ino te we and tem et fo under the ier het he sin avy. A crowing eae immer a= tes tek nthe oppose nen where we cone Fey Leer, Ss oway os: Bn, fe Bod The sequence ly “bites noon celacaon od ceaotnce Beas na Continvus sweep of ton snd action. Character Shots “There area numberof terms for difrentshos ofa single character Most movies und shor lis are about people so shots of people are tne ofthe fundamental building blacks of nema, The sae applies {most commer and even many musi videos. For luratons talleypes of chaste shots see Figure 2.14 Fulshot il ht indicates that we see the characte om ead wo toe It can referto objects a well afl shot of scat iclndes al of theca. thot tht only inelaes che door andthe dever would be move ofa tnedium shot A variation om this the colo, wich fom the top ofthe head to midthigh, originally inorder to seth sx-guns ois bee Ip noo-Englth speaking cunts, terms sch a plan Serio plano cman refers os shor famed from mile op. Two Shot The sh i ny frame that includes two characters. The inerc- tion between va chuacers in scene is one ofthe mast fanda- imental pcces of storyeling; sth ewo shot one you will se Fequemly: The ene charters dont have to be aanged symmets- fallin the fram They might be ing cach other, bot facing Fo Sree, bth fing aay from the camera, andso on, but che methods Sou te for dealing wi this ype of scene wil be che same in any ‘Gre You might aso occasionally hear the tem ees Fora shot of thre charset Meum Shot The meds, ke the wide shot i relative vo the subject. Obvi- tht lose than il shoe. dim hos might be people at Table na testaurane,o smeone buying a soda, shown from the ‘cst up By being lve in othe action, we cance people's expres Tins, deus of ow they ae dred, and s0 on. We thus become tnow involved in whae they are saying and doing, without focusing on one specfichaacter or any parila dealIBese-ups [Elec are one of che most important shots in the vocabulary Phere area mimber of variations: 4 malium cse-up would generally See considered a something like from top of head to waist or some fing in that are. [A clse-up (CU) would generally be from the top of the head to Somewhere jst below the shirt pockets. I eh shot i eut just above The shee pocket arca itis ofien called a had and shoules. A choker Seo be from the top of the head dovwn to just below the chin. A Tht cloe-up wold be slightly ls: losing some ofthe forchead and ferhaps some ofthe chin, framing the eye, nose, and mouth. An xine dow-up of ECU might include the eyes only; this is some= Sites called a Sep Leone alter the Italian director who used it re- Guendy, Jost as often, an ECU isan object: pethaps just a ring lying Gna desktop, a watch, and s0 on. Any shot that includes ony one character ie called single. Terminology For close-ups includes * Medium CU, Midchest up. + Coe: from the croat up, + Big Head CU ot “right CU”: from just under the chin and giving a bit of “hares.” That s cutting off just alte bit of + ECU: Varies, bor usually just mouth and eyes. A close-up, median or fall shoe might abo be called a cen singe whenever ita shot of one acto alone. If we are shooting someone's EU and don't include any piece of the other actor, this i called 3 tdean single If we doinchadealitele bit of the actor in from, i's offen falled adi snl, This otro be confused with an orer-the-shouler {Sec below), which includes more ofthe foreground actor. Figure 27. 4 lsc medium shot {im ‘Shanghot Express. Note also £0 ne ing vey specie or ibshotand locher Boe herend tee notin juste raht poston. Wevietng Wet not achive suds fn elegant and powerulefect. Figures 24 trough 233, ope itont Colanger This series of shots tSie she vente what hy they ae ‘het hota where Sond w stasis Shi by foeming = sume om SRE ing bowed to a under rae tp overt Fee Upttertitraduces sey characte