Lesson 41

1. Selfie! Lesson 41 2.15: Working with Cinematic Techniques, Part 1 Lesson Goal: analyze and interpret how directors use cinematic techniques to achieve specific effects Turn in HW: P121 Story Diagram

2. Academic Vocabulary! • Cinematic Techniques: methods a director uses to communicate meaning and to evoke particular emotional responses in viewers When finished, open to page 134. **place a post it note on these pages, as you will reference the terms here frequently**

3. Here’s what you need • Grab a piece of scrap computer paper from your binder • This is now your “camera” • We will manipulate the paper camera for each type of technique used with real cameras

4. Shots and Framing • Shot: a single piece of film uninterrupted by cuts • Roll up your camera into a lens, and look through • Focus on your subject • Long Shot (LS): a shot from some distance. If filming a person, the full body is shown. It may show the isolation or vulnerability of the character. Also called a full shot • Manipulate your camera to focus on me in a long shot

5. Shots and Framing Continued • Medium Shot (MS): the most common shot. The camera seems to be a medium distance from the object begin filmed. A medium show shows the person from the waist up. The effect is to ground the story • Focus on me now in a medium shot; manipulate the camera • Close Up (CU): the image takes up 80% of the frame • Now focus on a close up of my face; it should take up the majority of your frame, or what you see through the paper tube

6. Shots and Framing Continued • Extreme Close Up: the image being shot is a part of a whole, such as an eye or a hand • Now focus in on an extreme close up of my eye; why might a director use an extreme close up? What significance does it have? • Two Shot: a scene between two people shot exclusively from an angle that includes both characters more or less equally. It is used in love scenes where interaction between the two characters is important. • Manipulate your camera now to show both me and another person talking; you should be able to see both of us in your frame

7. Camera Angles • Eye Level: a shot taken from a normal height; that is, the character’s eye level. 90-95% of the shots seen are at eye level, most natural • Stand up and look through in a normal shot at me • High Angle: the camera is above the subject. This usually has the effect of making the subject look smaller than normal, giving him or her the appearance of being weak, powerless, or trapped • Stand on your desk and look down • Low Angle: the camera films subject from below. This usually has the effect of making the subject look larger than normal, and therefore strong, powerful, and threatening • Sit on the floor and look up

8. Camera Movements • Pan: a stationary camera moves from side to side on a horizontal axis • Stand in place, and turn your camera side to side • Tilt: a stationary camera moves up or down along a vertical axis • Stand in place, and turn your camera up and down • Zoom: a stationary camera where the lens moves to make an object seem to move closer to or further away from the camera. With this technique, moving into a character is often a personal or revealing movement, while moving away distances or separates the audience form the character • Twist your camera to zoom in on a subject, then twist the other way to zoom out

9. Camera Movements Continued • Dolly/Tracking: the camera is on a track that allows it to move with the action. The term also refers to any camera mounted on a car, truck, or helicopter • Stay with me as I move, holding the camera steady; the camera moves as the subject moves • Boom/Crane: the camera is on a crane over the action, used to create overhead shots • Camera hangs overhead; student volunteer 

10. Lighting • High Key: the scene is flooded with light, creating a bright and open-looking scene • Low Key: the scene is flooded with shadows and darkness, creating suspense or suspicion • Bottom or Side Lighting: direct lighting from below or the side, which often make the subject appear dangerous or evil • Front or Back Lighting: soft lighting on the actor’s face or from behind gives the appearance of innocence or goodness, or a halo effect

11. Editing Techniques • Cut: most common editing technique; two pieces of film are spliced together to “cut” to another image • Fade: can be to or from black or white. A fade can begin in darkness and gradually assume full brightness (fade-in) or the image may gradually get darker (fade-out). A fade often implies that time has passed or may signify the end of scene

12. Editing Techniques Continued • Dissolve: a kind of fade in which one image is slowly replaced by another. It can create a connection between images • Wipe: a new image wipes off the previous image. A wipe is more fluid than a cut and quicker than a dissolve • Flashback: cut or dissolve to action that happened in the past • Shot-Reverse-Shot: a shot of one subject, then another, then back to the first. It is often used for conversation or reaction shots

13. Editing Techniques Continued • Cross Cutting: cut into action that is happening simultaneously. This technique is also called parallel editing. It can create tension or suspense and can form a connection between scenes • Eye-Line Match: cut to an object, then to a person. This technique shows what a person seems to be looking at and can reveal a character’s thoughts

14. Sound • Diegetic: sound that could logically be heard by the characters in the film • Non-Diegetic: sound that cannot be heard by the characters but is designed for audience reaction only. An example might be ominous music for foreshadowing

15. Activity 2.16: Applying Cinematic Techniques • Identify cinematic techniques in a video • To revise sketches and transform them into a storyboard • Explain the effect of the cinematic choices

16. Page 137 • We are going to watch a video to analyze the different cinematic techniques two times • The first time, the sound will be off, pencils will be down • Anytime the video cuts from one shot to the next, I want you to clap • Pay close attention to the way the camera moves, and how the video is edited

17. Second Viewing • This time, the sound will be on • Notice the organizer on page 137—each person in your group is responsible for taking notes on one of the categories • For instance, if you are in charge of Camera Angles, you will take note of the different angles used in the video. Write down the angle, and where it was used/what was shown • Leave sound as a category for us to discuss as a whole class

18. Discuss • What was used? Where? • Editing? • What about the music/sound? • How did the addition of the song in the background effect the mood of the video?

19. Exit Ticket • Choose the most significant cinematic technique from your notes above, and write an interpretive statement that explains the effect of this cinematic technique in the video. • (Cinematic technique) is used in the video to show (effect). (explanation of importance of effect).