Cinematography Flashcards
what is cinematography?
The art of motion picture photogtraphy.
What are the three essential groups?
Shot sizes, camera angles and camera movement.
What is a close-up and extreme close up?
A close up typically shows from a characters forehead to the bottom of the chin. Used to highlight a characters facial features without any distractions.
An extreme close up goes further and focuses on specific features of the characters face. Most commonly the eyes. Often used in duals in a classic western.
Shot sizes definition
Refers to how how big or small the frame is in relation to the subject.
Long shot?
Extreme long shot?
From characters head to toe. Shows the character in their environment. Eg in action shots, character would be running through the environment around them.
Character nearly lost in frame or obscured by their surroundings. Eg a character riding of into the sunset.
Medium Shot/mid-shot?
Between and close-up and a long shot. shows a characters face to the waist. You can still see their face while still conveying some body language.
Single/two/three shot?
Refers to the number of people in the frame. Often combined with another shot size. Eg a two shot close-up.
Point of view (POV) shot?
You see what the character is seeing and feeling what he is feeling.
Camera angles
From what place do we view the character from. This can add more perspective to the shot.
Eye level shot
Camera angle that is shot at the same level of a subjects face. Eg used in an interview t create and a sense of objectivity. Its goal is to let the viewer follow the action without manipulating their emotions.
Low angle shot
Camera looks up at the subject from a low angle. This can make a character appear threatening, dominant or in a position of power relative to another character.
However this can be varies based on the intensity of it. Eg a slight low angle can create a sense of authority like a teacher looking down on their student or an extreme low angle shot like Godzilla or King Kong bearing down like a monster.
High angle?
Reverse of a low angle shot. This makes the subject in the frame appear small. Eg a shot from king Kongs POV to show how small and powerless the other characters agree in relation to him.
Top angle or birds eye view?
Looks down on subject from above. Eg a subject entering a church or a stadium. Or a character running away from a helicopter.
Dutch angle.
Most common way top convey disorientation. Simple tilt to one side so it shows it isn’t level with the horizon. Eg you may use this for a drunk subjects POV.
