Return to Intro to Film syllabus
Updated 31 March 2007
ENGLISH 114: INTRODUCTION TO FILM, Fall 2006
Section 2: Monday, 6:00-9:30 p.m., Professor Larsson
Week 10, March 26, 2007
Note: Test 3 next week.
25 multiple-choice, true-false questions
Terms and concepts from Barsam (Chapter 6), lectures (see Terms to Know page on website:
· Cinematography
· How terms and concepts apply in/to:
o Hamlet
o Vertigo
· Narrative and meaning in Hamlet and Vertigo
Some questions may relate to a still shot or a short clip from a film.
Bring full-sized Scantron sheet (8 ½ “ X 11”) and a Number 2 pencil
Cinematography (“Writing in Motion”)
Key Terms:
Shot: an uninterrupted run of the camera (1 frame to the total run of the film)
Take: one version of a particular shot
Setup: Camera position, lighting, blocking of character movement,
etc.
Cinematographer (or Director of Photography/DP):
The person responsible for supervising all aspects of
cinematography during shooting
Image characteristics depend on the physical properties of the recording medium
§ Type of film stock (or use of digital recording)
o Gauge (35 mm., etc.)
o Black-and-white/color
o Sensitivity to light (“speed”)
§ Higher speeds need less light but produce grainier images
§ Lower speeds produce smoother images but need more light to record
§ Lighting (also a property of mise-en-scene)
§ Camera lens
o Focus
§ Soft focus
§ Hard focus
o Focal length (distance from center of lens to film in camera)
§ Long (“telephoto”)
· Can frame close shots at a distance
· Tends to flatten planes of the image together
§ Medium (“normal”)
· Approximates normal human vision in perspective, space relationsh
§ Short (“wide-angle”)
· Can display a wider field of vision in a 35mm. frame
· Causes edges to bulge outward, closeups to appear distorted
§ Zoom lens
· Can be adjusted to different focal lengths
· Also gives sensation of movement
o Aperture (measured in “f-stops”)
§ Controls amount of light passing through lens (similar to human iris)
Composition in the frame
§ Aspect ratio (width: height of frame/screen)
o 1.33: 1 old Academy ratio (similar to standard TV screen)
o 1:85: 1 new widescreen Academy ratio
o 2.35: 1 (or wider!) anamorphic widescreen
o Anamorphic lens
§ Used on camera to “squeeze” very wide perspective unto film
§ Lens on projector “unsqueezes” image to wide screen
§ Depth of field
o Range of image from foreground to background that is in clear focus
o Shallow focus (only foreground, midground or background in sharp focus)
o Deep focus (all planes of image in sharp focus)
§ Deep space arranges objects in mise-en-scene using all planes, whether the shot itself is shallow or deep
o Racking focus (adjustment of lens shifts focus from background to foreground or vice-versa)
§ Rule of thirds: frame is composed according to grid that divides frame into 9 square (3 vertical X 3 horizontal)
o Aids composition for symmetry, balance, depth
· Motion (in addition to movement in the mise-en-scene)
o Speed of motion (camera motor speed)
§ Slow camera speed when projected at 24 frames/second speeds up motion
§ Fast camera speed when projected at 24 frames/second slows down motion
o Length of shot: long take
§ Usually a shot that continues to run for a minute or (much) longer
Special effects
§ In-camera
o Masking (part of lens blocked from light)
o Iris (shot opens out or close in circle, like iris of eye)
§ Process shots: combine two or more images into single image
o Studio processes—back projection/ front projection
o Laboratory processes (matting)
§ Painted or photographed images (“mattes”) are inserted into shot
§ Traveling mattes—shots filmed against a blue or green screen are inserted into shot
§ Digital/Computer-generated imagery (CGI)
o Images created in computer (completely or to be inserted into photographed shots)
Lighting:
§ Source
§ Quality
§ Direction
Types of light
§ Key Light
§ Fill Light
§ Back Light
All 3 = “Three-point Lighting”
Types of Shots (apparent camera position)
§ Extreme Long Shot
§ Long Shot
§ Medium Long Shot (plan americain)
§ Medium Shot
§ Medum Close-up
§ Close-up
§ Extreme Close-up
Camera Angle:
§ High
§ Low
§ Eye-level (or straight-on)
Dutch Angle (Canted/Oblique Angle)
Aerial view/bird’s-eye view
Camera Movement
§ Pan
§ Tilt
§ Tracking Shot
§ Crane Shot
Clips from Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography
§ Film Noir
§ Color
§ The Cinematographer’s Craft
§ Movies Get Wider
§ European Influences
Examples:
A Closer Look at Hamlet and Vertigo
· Hamlet opening
o High angle point of view (POV) shot of New York skyscrapers through car back window
o Extreme long shot of Times Square, evokes film noir style
o Close-up of sign for “Denmark Corp.”
o Medium shot of revolving door—no Hamlet!
o First shot of Hamlet comes with abrupt change of tonalities—grainy video footage taken with 16mm. camera and/or webcam
· Vertigo opening
o Close-up of hands pulls back to long shot of chase
o Leads to alternating shots of Scottie and Scottie’s POV of policeman and accident
o First view of “Madeleine”
· Restaurant
o tracking shot moves out from Scottie and views Madeleine at distance
o close-ups: Scottie and Madeleine do not make eye contact
o Madeleine and Elster walk past mirror
· Following Madeleine in car
o Back projection used in car windows
o Scottie’s POV reinforced by tracking shots at flower shop
o Use of masking to view Madeleine through opening door
· Monterey beach scene
o Extreme long shot establishes scene
o Dialogue filmed against back projection screen
· Mission: two pan shots
o First shot sets scene for Scottie and Madeleine
o Second shot leads to coronor’s inquest
Camera movement and deep focus: Touch of Evil
Lighting, camera
placement (Dutch angles), and point of view: The
Third Man
Framing (camera height, distance) and mise-en-scene: Tokyo Story, The Conversation
Special effects (front projection, matting, “slit-scan” process), wide-screen composition