Camera Composition & Movement - Film Production

Camera Composition & Movement

1. Cinematography Basics

2. The Shot The shot is the most basic building block of cinematography. A shot is one continuous capture of a span of action by a motion picture camera. A finished film is made up of a series of these shots, of varying length, that ultimately tell the story.

3. Composition Film celluloid is composed of frames , still images that together make up the entirety of a film. Composition is the arrangement of people, objects and setting within the frame of an image. How those people, objects and setting are arranged with in the border of the image can bring balance or imbalance, reveal or hide information, indicate power or weakness, all without a word of dialog, an edit or even a character on the screen.

4. Basic Camera Composition - Shots and Angles in Filmmaking

5. Shot Composition How the elements of the shot are positioned in the frame.

6. Top of head to shoulders Isolates the character in the frame Close Up (CU)

7. Anything closer than a Close Up Extreme Close Up (ECU)

8. Top of head to waist Medium Shot (MS)

9. 3/4 Shot Top of head to just below knees.

10. Head to Feet Long Shot (LS)

11. Character becomes almost lost in the scene. Extreme Long Shot (ELS)

12. Often used in conversations. Two-Shot

13. Signifies a distinct group of people. Three-Shot

14. Used in conversations, or to reveal what the character is seeing. Over the Shoulder (O.S.)

15. Shows the audience where the scene is taking place. Establishing (Master) Shot

16. Camera Angle Where the camera is positioned vertically while filming.

17. Camera is at the character’s eye level. The character is the audience’s equal. Eye Level

18. Camera is at the character’s eye level. The character is the audience’s equal. Point of View (POV)

19. Camera is above character. Implies superiority over the character. High Angle

20. Camera is almost overhead of character. Establishes the character’s smallness in the world. Bird’s Eye View

21. Camera is below character. Emphasizes the power of the character. Low Angle

22. Camera is placed near or on the ground. Worm’s Eye View

23. Camera is tilted. Can suggest character is mentally unbalanced. Dutch Angle/ Canted Angle

24. Moving Shot - place camera on a moving object Pan - horizontal camera movement Tilt - vertical camera movement Zoom - electronically moving the camera closer or further to the subject Dolly - physically moving the camera forward or backward Tracking - physically moving the camera left or right Crane/Boom - mounting the camera on a weighted arm that moves it up and/or down Steadicam - special equipment that keeps camera steady during handheld shots Camera Movement Camera Movement is the real or perceived movement of the camera through space.

25. 1 5 Compositional Theories of Cinematography “ I can't think how anyone can become a director without learning the craft of cinematography. ” – Nicolas Roeg

26. Headroom Too little or too much room between the top of the head and the edge of the frame looks awkward. The Darjeeling Unlimited

27. Active Space (aka Nose Room) In a profile shot, l eave space between the side of the frame and the subject. 2001: A Space Odyssey

28. Rule of Thirds Imagine a grid that splits the frame into thirds vertically and horizontally. Place the subject along those gridlines. The intersections of the lines are especially compelling. The Darjeeling Unlimited

29. The Golden Ratio / Divine Proportion The ratio of a:b = a+b:a = φ (1.618033…) First mentioned by the Greek Mathematician , Euclid (300 B.C.E). The Golden Spiral

30. The Golden Ratio Grand Budapest Hotel

31. The Rule of Odds Having an odd number of things in a composition means your eye and brain can't pair them up or group them easily. There's somehow always one thing left over, which keeps your eyes moving across the composition. The Darjeeling Unlimited

32. Leading Lines Lines that guide a viewer’s eyes around, or through, the composition are called leading lines. Amelie

33. Strong Diagonal A form of a leading line that can transform a boring composition into a dynamic one. Inception

34. Lines of Sight Lines of sight are created when the subject is looking at something within the frame. This causes the viewer to follow the line of sight to the object being observed. The Darjeeling Unlimited

35. Point of View Moving the camera above, or below, the subject can create a more interesting, dynamic composition. Hugo

36. Framing Use a natural frame within the composition to draw the viewer’s eye to the main subject. Framing can also be used to create a sense of depth, or to provide a context for the shot. Life of Pi

37. Simplify E liminate unnecessary items from your composition – they will only distract the viewer. Lawrence of Arabia

38. Shallow Depth of Field L eaves just a small portion of the shot in focus, while the rest remains blurry. It can be used to draw the viewer’s eye to the main subject. It also can compensate for a distracting background. The Hunger Games

39. Strong Foreground C an help bring the viewer into the composition, as well as provide a sense of depth. Life of Pi

40. Fill the Frame It is not always necessary for the entire subject to be included in the composition. Sometimes it is more effective, and interesting, to crop the edges of your main subject. The Darjeeling Unlimited

41. Hitchcock’s Rule The size of an object in the frame should equal its importance in the story at that moment. The Darjeeling Unlimited https://vimeo.com/145332674

42. “I like movies where you can come back and re-watch them and admire the cinematography 25 years later.” – Rob Zombie

43. References & Resources Moving Pictures by Russell Sharman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted. FILM APPRECIATION by Dr. Yelizaveta Moss and Dr. Candice Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .