Cinematography

Cinematography

1. What is it?

   • Camerawork and photography in film

2. Camera

   • A "virtual eye"; helps cinematographers 'see' shots
   • Shot sizes and camera angles are the most interesting parts

3. Lighting

   • One of the most integral parts
   • can give a sense of depth and can fix bad shots
   • "White Balance" is the amount of light in a scene

4. Composition

   • How things are staged
   • "Rule of thirds"- everything is placed in an imaginary grid, with the points of interest being placed in the cross-sections.
   • "Dynamic Composition" - everything is placed either on a diagonal or at steep angles; often this can be used to add tension or discomfort in a scene
   • "Lead Room" - the characters must be placed in a strategic position to suggest there is distance between them and what they are looking at to suggest that such things exist when off-screen; e.g. something the characters are looking at is on the left, the characters are positioned on the right of the screen, adding realism and continuity

5. Depth of field

   • The region in front of the camera kept in focus; everything else is blurred
   • Often used to emphasise certain details in the frame for specific effects.