Core Study Areas

Cinematography:

• Refers to the visual aspects of a film specific to the camera. Camera shots and movements can give us clear indications of emotion, motive and give audiences clues as to what may happen.
• Camera shot size:
• Extreme long
• Long shot
• Mid long
• Mid shot
• Mid close up
• Close up
• Extreme close up
• Camera movement:
• Pan
• Tilt
• Dolly
• Crane
• Handheld
• Crab
• Zoom
• Tracking
• Steadicam
• Static
• Camera angles:
• Low angle
• Extreme low angle
• High angle
• Birds eye view
• Dutch angle
• Aerial
• Eye level

Slide 2

• Focus:
• Shallow or deep (depth of field)
• Shooting for emotion:
• Distance from actor creates emotional distance
• Close up makes you feel emotionally closer
• Long shot to show loneliness
• Slow zoom for dramatic emphasis
• Lighting:
• High-key (saturated)
• Low-key (mysterious)
• Key light (main light, shows importance)
• Fill light (fills shadows)
• Practical light (e.g. candle)
• Motivated light (light has a purpose)
• Unmotivated lighting (illuminates scene but is not a source in scene)
• Back light (behind actor)
• Chiaroscuro (contrast between dark and light)
• 3 point lighting (key, fill back, - main, fills shadows, behind actor)
• Ambient lighting (uses light thats in the scene)
• Night time shots:
• Often require practical light (e.g. lamp, streetlight)
• Use one light source and then build up from there
• Day light shot:
• Front light, LED as back light, fill light can show time of day
• High-key - shows brighter day, little shadow

Cinematography - Composition:

• Staging, framing, depth and balance - how space is presented.
• Lighting - the use (or lack of) light in a scene
• Blocking - working out the details of an actors moves in relation to the camera
• Kuleshov effect - Film editing montage, sequence of shots
• Eisenstein - Innovator of the montage
• Rule of thirds - Finding the perfect balance within each unique shot
• Triangular composition - Three points of interest on separate lines
• Wide angle - focal length is substantially smaller than a normal lens
• Frame within a farm - Directs audience to the intended focal point
• Lines of perspective - Straight lines, distance shows struggles
• Artificial/Primal control - Composition and angles/ Power dynamics
• Frame centrality - Subject is central to the farm
• Negative space - Space around and between the subject, creates apprehension and shows struggle

Sound:

• General categories:
• Vocal sounds
• Environmental sounds
• Music
• Silence
• Specific terms:
• Diegetic - Sounds character and audience hear
• Non-diagetic - Sounds only the audience can hear
• Hyper-diagetic - Extreme diegetic noise (extra noise)
• Parallel sound - Sound that is meant to be there
• Contrapuntal Sound - Not meant to be there ( e.g. hearing dialogues before seeing the person speaking)
• Foley - Sound design after the film is made ( added post production)

Editing:

• Cut - Abrupt end to a scene
• Continuity editing - Combining related shots
• Jump Cut - Two shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions
• Parallel editing - intercutting/cCross cutting
• Reaction Shot - A shot which cuts away from the main scene in order to show a reaction
• Shot Reverse Shot - One character is shown looking at another
• Montage - Shots are juxtaposed in a fast paced fashion
• Transitions - Scenes and shots are combined
• Smash Cut - One scene abruptly cuts to another unexpectedly
• L and J Cuts - The audio is cut before the scene is cut
• Kuleshov Effect - Editing montage effect
• Slow/fast Motion - Slowing down or speeding up a scene
• Match Cut - A cut within a scene that makes sense specially
• Dissolve - A gradual transition from one image to another
• Fade Out - A transition to a blank image

Mise-en-scene:

• Costumes - What the actors wear, can be used to show emotions
• Props - Objects used by actor
• Make up - Can be worn just on the face or used for prosthetics
• Actors - Play the characters
• Setting - Where the scene takes place
• Gestures - Movements by actors to convey feelings and emotions
• Colours - Colour of the film
• Decor - Decoration of the scene
• Set dressing - Objects not used by actors, can show change in time
• Tinting - Sepia tone, added colour to black and white films
• Colour grading - Altering and enhancing colour
• Colour palette - Dominant colours in a shot
• Balance - Gives weight to the scene
• Deep space - Places elements near and far
• Shallow space - Closeness of actors and objects
• Off-screen space - Things that happen offscreen that we know about
• Blocking - Actors movements (markers show them where to stand)

Performance:

• Range: How many different emotions an actor can portray
• Depth: How ca they show an emotion in different ways
• Emotions can be expressed by actors in many ways, such as: facial expressions, voice (tone and pitch), body movements

Colour:

• Used for aesthetics and symbolism
• Can create atmosphere
• Colours evoke emotions - audience notice what does;t fit in
• Red causes the strongest emotional reaction
• Hue - Actual colour
• Saturation - Intensity
• Value - Darker or lighter
• Associative - Associating colour to an idea/object
• Transitional - Changing the colour association