Mise en scène
Goal is to communicate an idea through “Mise en scène“.
Visual storytelling = an emotional experience for the viewer.
“Mise en scène” is the combination of everything that appears in a frame.
Every shot is designed to stay true and adhere to the film’s theme.
Movie example: Up in the air. Framing composition breakdown.
Movie example: The Wrestler. The rim’s shining light separates the character from the background. Focus mainly on the character silhouette rather than the expressions on the face.
Composition
The placement, size and visibility of an element in the frame will affect how an audience understands its importance to the story. Also known as Hitchcock’s story.
Movie example: 2001: A Space Odyssey. The contrast of colour added perspective. The character goes deep and forward. Very directional. Direct the audience’s glaze to the centre. Very clean shot, not messy and full of stuff.
Aspect Ratio
Every comp starts with the dimensions of the frame.
The most common for cinema is 2.39:1 (cine scope). 2.35:1 is popular in modern days.
For web content, 16:9 is widely used.
Frame Axes
Every frame has two axis X & Y. However, there is a third when composing a shot, which is Z-axis, also know as depth. This is an important element to prevent a shot being too flat looking.
Movie example: Children of Men (2006), using fog as a tool to show the environment of the set.
Movie example: Apocalypse Now (1979) camera closeup to show intimacy.
Rule of the Thirds
Movie example: Se7en (1995). Conventions to create a harmonious composition. third guideline helps to place the essential elements in the shot. 4 points in the frame.
Movie example: Prometheus (2012)
Movie example: The King’s Speech.
Movie example: TRON: Legacy (2010), the rule of thirds is not adhered to, the character is at the centre for symmetry. which is also a composition/framing technique.
High/Low Angle
The height of the camera can change the audience’s perception of that subject.
High angle, makes the subject look powerless
Low angle,
Changes the power dynamic between subjects.
Movie example: No Country for Old Men (2007)
Movie example: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Shot selection
For filmmakers to categorize and name different shots. Define the size of the elements in the shot.
- Extreme close up
- close up
- Loose close up
- Tight medium shot
- Medium-full shot
- Full shot
What is Light?
Arts definition = trans-cultural language that evokes a common emotional response in the audience.
Good lighting makes the illusion of cinema feel real.
Light radiates outwards and spreads in every direction from the source.
Take note that light can spill over
Light can also be refracted & reflected
Light can be absorbed, and the rest of the wavelengths are reflected back as the colour we normally see.
Brightness vs Exposure vs Gamma
Brightness: make everything brighter or darker evenly.
Exposure: more effect on brighter parts, less effect on darker parts.
Gamma: more effect on darker parts, less effect on brighter parts.
The Four Main Attributes of Light
- Intensity of light
- Measured in F-stops
- Sometimes known as exposure
- Quality of light
- Soft light
- Soft-edge shadows
- Wrap around the subject and bleed into the shadows
- Hard light
- Defined edges, little fall-off
- E.g. sunlight
- Size of the source
- Source distance from the subject
- Filtering
- Soft light
- Angle of light
- Position of the light in relation to the subject
- Core lighting setup (as a baseline) is three three-point lighting
- Key light, 45-degree angle towards the subject, main source
- Fill light, 45-degree angle opposite the key light
- Rim/backlight, behind the subject, illuminates the subject dimension/volume, separation from the background.
- Movie example: Amelie (2001)
- Movie example: Blade Runner (1982)
- Movie example: Schindler’s List (1993)
- Colour of light
- RGB = White light
Colour Temperature
Light has its native temperature. It is measured in Kelvin as a standard unit.
Colour grading
The process of manipulating the images to achieve a stylistic look. Mainly the colour and the contrast of the film. Some examples include complementary colours, Analogous colours, Triadic colours, and monochromatic colours.
Movie example: Drive (2011)
Movie example: Hugo (2011)
Feedback
Review of last week’s mood board related to time:
- Sentences need to be concise and efficient. Get to the point.
- All images need to tell one story instead of individual stories.
- The picture with the white background stands out from the rest of the mood board. It would be good to have coherence between all the pictures.
Reflections
Today we continued with the second part of the cinematography lesson with Gonzalo. For this class, I think the most inspiring part of the class was about the composition of a shot. Especially the rule of the thirds and the shot angles. I feel that as aspiring film makers (sort of) it is important to understand the reason why a shot is framed. Following the general guides for the the rule of thirds will definitely help us keep our shots grounded and be more aesthetically pleasing. Next lesson we will start with using the nuke software. I look forward to it.
Homework for next week is to record about 10-15s about travel.