Moving image conventions

A look into how films are produced, planned and created. Language of moving image is about time, space and scale. Following typical filming techniques that viewers are used to seeing.

The importance of focus:

Moving image in films has a particular importance to the use of focus, it allows the producer to make the viewer portray and understand the feelings of the scene and their characters. Showing a specific item or person that may be an important plot or situation.

Different camera angles:

• High angle / Low angle / bulls-eye / birds eye / canted angle
• Tracking / Panning / Craning / Tilting / Hand held / Steadicam
• Establishing Shot / Long Shot / Medium Shot / Close-up / Big Close-Up / Extreme Close Up (students often struggle with the first and the last again issues with SCALE, SIZE & SPACE, so practice is really important)
• Insert Shot – It focuses on a specific item or person/thing often to highlight important items or ideas to be later referenced in the movie. It shows key information that is relevant to the understanding of the movie and its context.
• When relating this to my own film sequence, I could potentially use a low action shot that focuses on the football whilst moving rapidly, this will set the tone and mood of the moving image to be action pact and more interesting to the viewer.

The Edit:

• Editing stitches together the camera work. The final edit of a movie or recording is the final product and is used to finalise what the producer wants the audience to focus on and understand the plot to be entertained by the movie effectively.
• A basic rule in editing is is you don’t show everything, you use just enough information and scenes to provide suggestions and ideas to the audience to develop emotion:

• Editing stitches together the camera work. The final edit of a movie or recording is the final product and is used to finalise what the producer wants the audience to focus on and understand the plot to be entertained by the movie effectively.
• A basic rule in editing is is you don’t show everything, you use just enough information and scenes to provide suggestions and ideas to the audience to develop emotion:

• Editing stitches together the camera work. The final edit of a movie or recording is the final product and is used to finalise what the producer wants the audience to focus on and understand the plot to be entertained by the movie effectively.
• A basic rule in editing is is you don’t show everything, you use just enough information and scenes to provide suggestions and ideas to the audience to develop emotion: EMPATHY, INVOLVEMENT, RECOGNITION, CATHARSIS etc, with plots and characters for example.

But the key question is WHEN TO EDIT ie when is it best to move from one shot to another? The answer is usually found in the following list:

1. EDIT ON ACTION
2. EDIT ON A MATCHING SHAPE, COLOUR, THEME
3. EDIT ON A LOOK, A GLANCE, EYELINE
4. EDIT ON A SOUND BRIDGE
5. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT SIZE
6. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT CAMERA POSITION (+30′)

Shot sequencing 1: Montage

• A montage is a method of film sequencing to tell a very long narrative in a short amount of time, for example to understand a character more in depth it may help to provide context through their constructed past which will help understand the narrative and emotion in the scene. A classic example of this is a montage of a characters past with his wife, where perhaps she passes away and explains why the character has a distant and rude personality.
• It was first conceptually theorised as the Kuleshov effect, in that adding one element / idea to another actually produces a third idea / element, which if constructed well can produce in the audience an idea that isn’t actually present!

Shot sequencing 2: Shot progression :

Conventional shot progression – to create VERISIMILITUDE (ie realism, believability) usually involves the following shots (although not always in the same order).

• 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

For example, during a chase like in a movie Vertigo, there is a pan to the climbing of a ladder, to then a chase from police officers with a pan out to the scenery of where they are, the rooftops of various buildings then once again a mid close up to the climbing of a steep roof top, to when one officer falls and there is a sudden zoom in to the officers face and hands, then a pan to the long drop and fall, creating the tension of the scene and creating emotion for the audience accordingly.

Shot Sequencing 2: Shot / Reverse Shot:

The basic sequence runs from a wide angle master shot that is at a 90′ angle to (usually) two characters. This sets up the visual space and allows the film-maker to to then shoot separate close-ups, that if connected through an eye-line match are able to give the impression that they are opposite each other talking. The shots are usually over the shoulder.

Shot Sequencing 3: Continuity Editing

Continuity editing can be seen as the opposite of montage editing as the main aim is to create a sense of realism or ‘believability’ known as verisimilitude and has it’s own structure of rules where shots are edited together at particular times or on particular shots, as previously highlighted above.

• match on action
• eye-line match
• graphic match
• sound bridge
• 30′ rule
• 180′ rule

Shot Sequencing 4: Parallel Editing

The use of sequential editing (editing one clip to another) allows for a number of key concepts to be produced:

• parallel editing: two events editing together – so that they may be happening at the same time, or not?
• flashback / flash-forward – allowing time to shift

Movies and films use language of moving image and focus on the scale and time of each sequence. We are looking at this to understand the rules and conventions of moving image.

The power of focusing controls the eyes of the audience, through focusing on important objects / personnel to tell a story. In short, in Casino Royale they use rack focusing when Bond realises his martini has been poisoned.

Camera Angles:

• High angle / Low angle / bulls-eye / birds eye / canted angle
• Tracking / Panning / Craning / Tilting / Hand held / Steadicam
• Establishing Shot / Long Shot / Medium Shot / Close-up / Big Close-Up / Extreme Close Up (students often struggle with the first and the last, again issues with SCALE, SIZE & SPACE, so practice is really important)
• Insert Shot – A shot containing a part of a scene as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot. In my film, the inset shot would be the gun that the soldier is holding and the letter being written by the commander of platoon 7.

Editing:

Editing is important as it stitches together your camera work into one whole project, through the use of sequences. The editing puts together the BACK STORY, FORESHADOWING, REPETITION, ELLIPSIS, DEVELOPMENT, ENIGMA, DRAMATIC IRONY. Some basic tools for editing involves CUT, DISSOLVE, FADE.

The rules to when editing happens is during:

1. EDIT ON ACTION
2. EDIT ON A MATCHING SHAPE, COLOUR, THEME
3. EDIT ON A LOOK, A GLANCE, EYELINE
4. EDIT ON A SOUND BRIDGE
5. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT SIZE
6. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT CAMERA POSITION (+30′)

Parallel Editing:

• Parallel Editing: Two events editing together – so that they may be happening at the same time, or not?
• Flashback / Flash-forward: Allowing time to shift

Montage:

A montage is a short video that has been cut out of a long series of shots. The effect of a montage allows for creators to tell a long story in a short amount of time.

It was first conceptually theorised as the Kuleshov effect, in that adding one element / idea to another actually produces a third idea / element, which if constructed well can produce in the audience an idea that isn’t actually present.

Logical Shot Progression:

A set of shots that create realism through the use of different shot types e.g:

• 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

Shot / Reverse Shot:

These shots are the use of creativity and realism with the use of angled shots when two people are talking. They include both characters – which are called EXTERNAL REVERSES. 

Looking into how films are created, planned and produced. Language of moving image is about space, time and scale, films following a typical production technique that viewers are so used too, they look by it.

The Importance of Focus:

The best tool a producer has is the camera, the camera can control focus which is the most powerful tool in film making. The focusing feature can be used to direct the viewers attention to or away from something, which is when a new hint, moment or object is revealed that the producer brings attention to.

Camera Shots:

• High angle / Low angle / bulls-eye / birds eye / canted angle
• Tracking / Panning / Craning / Tilting / Hand held / Steadicam
• Establishing Shot / Long Shot / Medium Shot / Close-up / Big Close-Up / Extreme Close Up

Application in my own work:

Low angle – to use when focusing on the protagonist running, getting the legs in focus.

Insert shots:

Insert shots are inserted into a sequence that gives the sequence or section meaning or dramatic emphasis. Like quickly snapping on the wine the spy is about to poison or cutting in on the book that gives the character an idea so that the viewers know what happened.

Space, size and scale is essentially the main point in media/creative arts. There is a set of rules that goes along with each section- key terminology.

Rack Focus:

Focusing on one subject, then to another to reveal a plot or storyline.

This guides the viewers on who/where/what to look at which usually has great significance to the shot.

Camera shots, angles and sizes

• High angle / Low angle / bulls-eye / birds eye / canted angle
• Tracking / Panning / Craning / Tilting / Hand held / Steadicam
• Establishing Shot / Long Shot / Medium Shot / Close-up / Big Close-Up / Extreme Close Up
• Insert Shot

High angle shots can be used to make the subject appear small, subordinate. Low angle shots can be used to make the subject to appear big and in power.

Insert Shots:

Used to:

• Add detail and clarity to visual information
• Emphasise something significant happening

Edit

Stitching one moving image to another in a way where you control what everyone sees.

1. EDIT ON ACTION
2. EDIT ON A MATCHING SHAPE, COLOUR, THEME
3. EDIT ON A LOOK, A GLANCE, EYELINE
4. EDIT ON A SOUND BRIDGE
5. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT SIZE
6. EDIT ON A CHANGE OF SHOT CAMERA POSITION (+30′)

I would edit on action when the subject starts to walk. When they notice the tree and point to it, I will cut to an eyeline view of the tree, and back again.

Parallel editing:

When you cut back and forth showing two things happening at once.

Montage editing:

When you have to show a backstory or the history of something, you use montage editing where you reveal key parts of a life/story that helps people understand the story they’re watching.

‘Creates meaning through putting ideas and objects next to each other.’

Sequencing a shot/Logical shot progression:

Used to create verisimilitude and empathy for the audience, gets audience on the ‘edge of the seat’.

• 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

Shot/Reverse Shot:

When characters are having a conversation and you focus on one person speaking (shot), then the other person (reverse shot).

If you show the person’s head while they’re being spoken to, it is an internal shot, if you show it as if they’re speaking to someone it is an external shot.

Examples in my sequence:

• I can use an extreme close up/big close up to highlight significance of the tree and the person.