Moving Image Conventions

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE – structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer

• Character
• Theme
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Ideology

THE CAMERA – to direct and prioritise elements in a shot and therefore prioritise certain information

Angle

• High angle
• Low angle
• bulls-eye
• birds eye
• canted angle

Shot Size

• Establishing Shot
• Long Shot
• Medium Shot
• Close-up
• Big Close-Up
• Extreme Close Up

Movement

• Tracking
• Panning
• Craning
• Tilting
• Hand held
• Steadicam
• inset shot

Focus and Depth of Field

• pull focus
• rack focus
• follow focus on people, objects, spaces, shapes or colours, which may represent an idea, theme, belief

THE EDIT – process of manipulating separate images into a continuous piece of moving image which develops characters, themes, spaces and ideas through a series of events, interactions and occurrences.

When to cut:

• On action
• On a matching shape, colour, theme
• On a look, glance, eyeline
• On a sound bridge
• On a change of shot size
• On a change of camera angle, position, focus

Shot sequencing:

• Linear/sequential
• montage
• parallel
• shot – reverse – shot
• flashback/forward

Shot progression:

• establishing shot / ES, moving to
• wide shot / WS,
• to medium shot / MS,
• to close up / CU,
• to big close up / BCU;
• and then back out again

Movie Sequence Analysis