Cinematography Flashcards
What is cinematography?
Covers the photographic elements of the film, camera movement shot composition, camera angles, framing and film stock
What is an extreme long shot/?
Bird’s eye view of a landscape
What is a longshot?
Background dominates image
What is a medium long shot?
Shots of the human figure from the knees up
What is the medium shot?
The human figure shot up from the waist up
What is the medium close up?
From the chest up
What is the close up?
Head, hands or feet
What is a big close up?
The face is tightly framed
What is the extreme close up?
An eye/ of a detail
What is an over head shot?
The action shot from a birds eye view above
Why may directors use black and white footage/colour?
Films may mix both, black and white for period feel or flashbacks
Why may directors use multi or monochromatic colour palette?
A single colour may be emphasised in terms of purity and lightness to signify something; shades of grey q
What does the exposure mean to films?
Over exposed film tends to be harsh and bleached, underexposed film is dark and muddy
Why are filters used for films?
Can be used to change the colour composition of the film by draining colours out of emphasising a particular colour
What is the rate of projection?
The director slows down or speeds up the film for effect
What is the use of juxtaposition?
A shot may contain single, multiple, overlaid images for effect eg juxtraposition- a man thinks of his past love and her face is overlaid on the screen
How can camera position effect the picture?
Can suggest lots of different things
What can high and low angles do?
Can suggest power or inferiority
What is pan?
The camera moves from left to right or right to left on a pivot- high speed pan is called a whip pan
What is a tilt?
When the camera moves on a pivot to look up or down an object
What is zoom?
A way of moving in and out on objects without moving the camera- this has an amateurish feel to it as the camera tends to shake or the zoom may be uneven and jerky often used to suggest the use of bincolualrs
What is tracking/dolly shot?
The camera moves to follow or track a person or object often this may involve the camera moving on a trolley or dolly, sometimes on rails in order to minimise camera shake
What is crane shot?
Suggest scale or to track in or out on objects
What is a helicopter shot?
Common in chase sequences to convert landscape or cityscapes