Focus on Cinematography

The filmmaker controls not only what is filmed but how it is filmed: how the staged, "pro-filmic" event is photographed and framed, how long the image lasts on the screen.

 

1. Photography

 

Film Stock: What type of photographic film is used? (Fast film stock to achieve grainy, contrasty look) Tinting? Over/underexposed? Black and white or color? Symbolic use of color? Subjective use of colors linked to certain characters? Colors as leitmotif?

 

Speed of Motion: "Normal" speed (24 frames per second for sound film; 16 for silent); slow motion; accelerated motion; freeze frame; time-lapse (low shooting speed: a frame a minute--see the sun set in seconds?)

 

Lens: Normal, telephoto, wide angle, distorting lens, macro, zoom?

 

Focus: Depth of field; shallow focus; deep focus (everything is in sharp focus)? Rack focus (lens refocuses)? Soft focus? Who/what is in/out of focus?

 

Special effects: Glass shot; superimposition; projection process? Computer-generated image?

 

 

2. Camera/Framing

      

Angle/Level: High angle shot, low angle shot, eye level shot, oblique angle shot, extreme angle (bird's eye), canted frame?

 

Distance: Extreme long shot, long shot, medium shot, close-up, extreme close-up?

 

Movement/Mobile Framing: Panning shot, tracking shot; from above, below, in/Âout/circular; zoom/in/out, slow/fast; tilt shot, handheld camera, camera on vehicle? How do camera movements function? What information do they provide about the space of the image? Does the camera always follow the action? Does it continually offer new perspectives on the characters and the objects? Subjective camera movement? How does it relate to on-screen/off-screen space?

 

Type of Shot: Establishing shot/point-of-view shot/reaction shot/insert shot/flashback shot/shot-counter shot?