-How the camera is used in television and film to serve story, character and action.
-the art of cinematography
-the primary grammar of visual storytelling
Basic Elements of Camerawork
-The shot; affects our emotional and pyschological relationship with character and setting through composition and speed
-Movement - affects our emotional and psychological relationship with characters and setting through changed in visual space and action
Why do we use shots?
-The basic building blocks of visual grammar
-The visual equivalent of sentence structure-if shots are words, mis en scene is meaning and editing is narrative structure
The Basic Shots
-Wide Shot; establishes location, setting or characters context in setting
-Medium Shot; character dominate the frame
-Close up; face or specific object dominates the frame
-Extreme Close up; selected part of character or object fills the frame
Alfred Hitchcock - "Never, never use a shot without it having a clear, dramatic purpose"
Angle and Speed
-High Angle Shot; objective, alienating. Diminishes character or subject in frame, emphasising vulnerability or isolation.
-Low Angle Shot; emphasises character or subjects dominance in frame. Often used for hero shots or menace.
-Dutch/Tilt Angle; disorientating, creates pyscological tension
-Slow motion/fast motion; alters audiences perceptual or emotional response to dramatic action.
Expressionism
-Angles shots are a common feature of expressionism, particularly the classic German Expressionist films of the 1920s-30s
-Expressionism presents the world sole from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effecting order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionists artists sought to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality
Motion and Emotion - Why do we move the camera?
-To heighten action or emotion
-To convey objective or subjective viewpoints
-Refocus audiences attention within the scene
-Explore or change setting/environment
Alfred Hitchcock - "I believe in using camera movement when it helps tell the story more effectively...i think one of the first essentials of the moving camera is that the eye should not be aware of it" - Hitchcock's use of reverse crane/tracking shot is an example of alienation effect
Alienation is the extent to which one maintains a critical distance from a cultural production. The more immersive a piece, the greater the extent to which one is drawn into fictional piece, often associated with passively experiencing the media.
Contrastingly an alienated audience remains removed from the media, critically considering the signs, narrative and so on. This is often considered in relation to artifice, with alienated media not attempting to hide the constructed and artificial nature of the production; showing scaffolding, using minimal staging etc.
Key Camera Movements - 1 Pan, Tilt and Zoom
2 Handheld
3 Dolly/Crane
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| opening viewpoint from halloween, camera pov heads toward the house |
Viewing of a clip from Halloween (1978)
- Heightens actions and emotion through subjective POV
-Switches between the subjective and objective viewpoints
-Refocuses audiences attention within the scene (movement through set and pans)
-Explores character relation to environment
Elements of Visual Style
-Denotative (directing attention)
-Expressive (bringing out the magnifying qualities)
-Decorative (flourishes or stylistic patterns that are independent or semi-independent of narrative design.
Use of handheld in documentary
-heightens action and emotion (conveys urgency)
- Dynamics of transition (moving from one location to another)
- Places character in context (life on the streets) authenticity
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