Telling Your Story: Film Language

for Beginner Filmmakers

 You need to plan how to use pictures, sound and editing to tell the
story
 When you’re filming, you need to think how the shots will join
together
 You can learn a lot about film language by watching other people’s
films
In a good film, the audience understands the story that the filmmaker is trying
to show them, and feels what the filmmaker means them to feel.
To be a successful filmmaker, you need to use different techniques to make
sure this happens. You need to know what will happen if you frame a shot in
a particular way; how you can use sound to help show what’s going on, and
how to edit your shots together in sequences that build tension or emotion.
You need to know about film language.
Here’s a one-minute film that uses different shot sizes, camera angles,
movement, sound and editing to tell its story. This video includes the original
movie, followed by a step-by-step text explanation of how it uses film
language.

Here’s more detail about how to use different aspects of film language.
Shots (the picture)
When you plan your pictures, you can think about shot size (how big things
are), composition(how things are arranged in the picture), position (where
the camera is), how you use or show movement, what kind of lens setting
you use, and how the scene is lit.

Introduction to Shot Size in

Filmmaking

Shot size means how much of the scene is included in the picture, and
whether it mainly shows the setting, people in the setting, or details of faces
and things.
It’s important to use different shot sizes in your movie. It’s a way of spelling
things out, to make sure that people see exactly the things you want them to
see. If you shoot everything in long shot (head to foot) people will probably
miss details and expressions which would help them understand the story.

Most filmmakers use standard names for shot sizes.

Showing the setting

Extreme long shots or wide shots mainly show the setting: if they include
people, they’ll be very small. You can use these kinds of shot as establishing
shots at the beginning of a film or a sequence to show where the scene is
set.

Showing people in an extreme long shot can make them look lost, lonely or
insignificant. (Some people use the term very long shot to refer to a wide
shot where you can see people).

Introducing people
To show people in the setting, you need to get closer.
Long shots show people from head to toe. These are good for showing
people together, and for showing action.

Medium long shots are closer. They’re sometimes called three-quarter shots
because that’s how much of the body they include.
Mid shots (or medium shots) show people from their hips to head.
These kinds of shots are easier to use than closeups, particularly for moving
subjects, but they don’t have as much impact.

Using closeups
Don’t make the mistake of shooting the whole film with just mid or long shots:
take the time and trouble to use closeups as well. This will give it more impact
and help your viewers to understand the story.

Closeups let us see expressions and emotions. There are several kinds of
closeup, and as you move closer they get more intense.
A medium closeup shows the head and shoulders. It’s fairly loose, so the
subject can move a bit. This is a good shot for presentations to camera.

A standard closeup shows the head and maybe a bit of the shoulders.
You can use a big closeup – which just shows the main features of
somebody’s face – to show a strong emotion like sadness, or to make
somebody look scary.

You can even use extreme closeups, which just show part of somebody’s
face like the eyes or the mouth.
For an emotional scene, try starting with fairly loose framing (maybe mid
shots) and then use bigger and bigger closeups to build up the intensity.

You can also use closeups of things, to show patterns and details.

An insert is a kind of closeup that shows something important that viewers

might miss. So if you show a mid shot of somebody holding an object or
reading a note, you would follow it with a closeup insert that shows what
they’re holding or reading.

When you film closeups, you need to be very careful about how you frame
your shots, and you usually need to keep the camera as still as possible.

Stepping between shot sizes

A lot of films start with an extreme long shot to show the setting, then they cut
to long shots and mid shots of people in the setting, then they show closeups.
This is a good way to set the scene and bring the audience with you so they
know exactly where the people fit into the bigger picture.

But you don’t have to work this way. You could keep viewers guessing by
starting with a closeup or an extreme closeup, and not revealing the
setting until later.
Change position as well as shot size
When you change shot size, you should usually move the camera to a
different position around the subject to make the edit less obvious. So if one
shot is from directly in front, the second should be at an angle or from the
side. If you don’t do this, you may get a jump cut where the camera seems to
‘jump’ forwards or backwards. See Putting it together.

Composition For Filmmakers:

Framing Your Shots
 Composition means how you arrange things in the shot.
 Your film will look a lot better if you compose the shots carefully.
 Pay attention to where things are in the shot, what’s happening at
the edges of the frame, and what’s going on in the background.
Keeping it natural
If you want people to concentrate on the story – not the filmmaking – you
should frame your shot to look natural. But you still need to arrange
it carefully.

It’s a good idea to put things clearly off-centre if you want your film to look
natural. Some people talk about the rule of thirds: putting important things or
edges about a third of the way across, up or down the screen. In fact, many
cameras let you overlay a rule of thirds grid on your scene to help with this.
But it’s more important to judge whether the image looks right to you, rather
than following a rigid rule.
Getting it right

When you film a closeup of somebody, try to put the eyes about a third of the
way down the picture.

If they are too low or too high it’ll look wrong.

Pay attention to the edges of the frame: try not to cut off people’s arms or legs
at the joints.

Put more space in the direction people are looking or moving. This is
called looking space or nose room.
When you join shots of people looking at each other, the direction they are
looking should line up: this is called eyeline match. There’s more about
composing your shots so they’ll edit together on this page.
Making it dramatic, wacky or scary

Centred compositions look formal, but they can also look odd.

Symmetrical compositions can look cool.

You can also use dramatic angles like diagonals. Putting your camera on a
slant is called a Dutch angle. Use it to make things seem strange or scary.
Make the angle obvious, otherwise people will think it’s just a mistake.
Really unbalanced compositions can make people feel uneasy.

To draw attention to shapes and patterns – like lines and grids – fill the screen
with them and line the camera up carefully.

Watch the background

Pay attention to what’s going on behind your subject and at the edges of the
frame.
Avoid lines or objects going into people’s heads. Moving around can avoid
this.

With a bigger camera and a telephoto lens, you can blur confusing
backgrounds.

Plain backgrounds are better than confusing backgrounds, but they’re boring.

Ideally the background should tell us about the story: here, the presenter is
talking about the building behind him.
The Filmmaker’s Eye: Learning (and breaking) the rules of
cinematic composition
This is one of those rare filmmaking books that delivers more than its title
promises. The Filmmaker’s Eye is about a lot more than just ‘the rules of
composition’: it’s a beautifully illustrated, systematic guide to the visual
language of film. Writer Gustavo Mercado wants you to pay attention to every
detail when you set up a shot, and to make sure that every shot contributes to
the story. And as an award-winning indie filmmaker and professor of film, he
understands film theory and the practical aspects of filmmaking.
The introduction uses a single still (from Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air) to
show how one well-composed shot can help us understand a character and
their place in the story. Then there’s a cautionary tale: a disastrous student
film screening where the audience was baffled and misled by irrelevant
details. The third chapter, Image System, uses Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy to
show how a consistent approach to visual language can support and enrich
film storytelling.
After some explanations of technical fundamentals, we get to the meat of the
book: 25 separate short chapters, each devoted to a specific type of shot.
These cover different shot sizes (from extreme long shot to extreme closeup),
narrative functions (including establishing shot, subjective shot, emblematic
shot), and movements (e.g. pan, dolly, Steadicam and sequence shot).

Each chapter starts with a description of the shot, then analyses an example
taken from a real film. Mercado then goes through the technical aspects you
need to consider, like camera and lens choice and lighting. The section ends
with a shot, taken from a different film, that ‘breaks the rules’.
The pages above are taken from the ‘long shot’ section, which focuses on a
shot from The Matrix and uses the final scene of Michael Haneke’s Hidden as
an example of rule breaking.
The illustrations are a large part of what makes this book so useful and
enjoyable. Where many film books use muddy black and white images, The
Filmmaker’s Eye makes lavish use of full colour stills. Mercado uses well-
chosen shots from over 75 different mainstream and indie films and classics,
from Thelma and Louise and City of God to Touch of Evil. Most if not all of
them are available on DVD or online.
What’s not to like? Not a lot. If you’re used to learning filmmaking from bite-
sized online videos, you might find Mercado’s writing style a bit
ponderous (and he does assume a basic understanding of filmmaking
terminology). But because the chapters are so short it’s easy to dip in and out.

You’ll also need to bear in mind that the book was published in 2010, just
before the DSLR/large sensor video revolution, so some of the technical
information is out of date (it assumes that you’ll either be shooting on film or
on small sensor video cameras). But that doesn’t detract from the wealth of
useful information it contains. Almost any filmmaker can learn something
useful from this book.

Filmmaking: Camera Position and

Angle
 Different camera positions can help tell your story
 Shoot from above or below, as well as from eye level
 Film from different positions around the subject as well
 Make sure your presenter or actors are looking in the
right direction
Don’t just vary your shot size: use different camera angles and positions as
well.
Instead of shooting everything from eye level, with the camera horizontal, try
shooting with it pointing up or down. Crouch down below the subject, hold the
camera above your head, climb stairs or use a tall tripod or ladder. If your
camera has a swivelling screen you can use that to monitor the shot while the
camera is in unusual positions. A remote control is also useful to start and
stop shooting when the camera is out of reach.
You should also shoot from different positions around the subject, not just
from directly in front or from the side. If they are moving, try shooting from in
front and then from behind then editing the shots together.
But to make sure that shots from different camera positions work together,
you need to follow a few ‘rules’. I’ve described them on the 180 degree
rule and Putting it together pages.
Camera angle

Low angle shots, where the camera points upwards from below, make people
(and things) look bigger, more courageous and more important.
These shots are also good for filming people who are looking down at things,
so you’re filming their face rather than the top of their head.
High angle shots from above usually make people or things look weaker and
less powerful.
You can put high and low angle shots together to show that one person
(filmed from a low angle) is more powerful than another person (filmed from a
high angle). You can be quite subtle about this, rather than using extreme low
or high angles.
You can also use a high angle shot to give an overview of a scene as
an establishing shot.
Birdseye shots, from directly above, can look cool. They give you another
way to show how things in the scene relate to each other.
Wormseye shots, from below, are a bit more unusual but they can be useful
if the scene above is interesting.
Camera position
You can position the camera in different places around the subject as well.
A head-on frontal view makes us feel really engaged with the subject. It’s
often used as a subjective shot, where we see the person as if we’re looking
through the eyes of another character. (If your shot isn’t meant to be
subjective, they should look close to the camera but not directly at it –
see eyeline below).
With a three-quarter shot we’re a bit less involved.
In a side view its more as if we’re just watching them as an observer.
A back view can mean several things: we’re seeing them from the view of a
watcher; they are ignoring another character; or they are upset and vulnerable
and hiding their emotions.
Eyeline
Actors and presenters need to be careful about where they are looking. A
presenter – or an actor in a subjective shot – should look directly at the
camera. In a standard interview, they should look at the interviewer (who
should be close to the camera) rather than at the lens.

For most drama shots, actors should look close to the lens but never directly
at it (this is called ‘spiking’). Changes of gaze should be very subtle.
Experienced film actors keep their gaze within a limited circle around the
camera lens.

The 180 degree, camera position and eyeline match page has more
information about how to use camera position when you’re editing different
shots together.
Filmmaking: Use Movement in Your
Movie

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Movement will give your film life. Most shots should have some kind of
movement in them, even if it’s very slight.

You can film things moving in front of a static camera, or you can move the
camera itself.

Static camera
If there’s interesting movement within the picture – like milling crowds of
people, falling leaves or clouds moving – keep the camera completely still
(use a locked tripod). Viewers will see the movement you want to show and
won’t be distracted by the camera moving.

It’s usually best to keep the camera still when you’re showing important details
and facial expressions. If a character is moving and you want a closeup, it’s
easiest if you plan your sequence so that they pause at the point in the action
when you’ll need to cut to the closeup.

Moving subjects
People can move in various different directions: left to right (‘along the X
axis’), up or down (‘along the Y axis’), towards or away from the camera (‘the
Z axis’). All of these have different meanings. Moving closer builds
involvement (or threat); moving left to right is ‘natural’ for a main character on
a journey; moving upwards suggests a struggle. So if a character is moving
diagonally upwards from left to right – like Rocky running up the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial – they’re heroically overcoming a challenge. Moving
diagonally downwards, on the other hand, suggests uncontrolled, headlong
flight.

Moving the camera

The coolest camera moves are where the camera itself moves.
These tracking, arc or craneshots look more interesting than shots where the
camera stays in one place and pans (turns) sideways or tilts up or down.
Tracking shots
In tracking shots, the camera itself moves forwards, backwards or sideways.
You can track in(move forwards) to move through a space, to build intensity
in a closeup, to follow a character, or to show what a they’re seeing (a point
of view shot). A track out (backwards) can reveal more of a scene, or
a character can follow the moving camera. This will take practice, as
inexperienced actors or presenters tend to walk too fast.
Tracking shots usually look better if you zoom out or use a wide angle lens or
adapter (especially if you’re using the camera handheld). You’ll be able to get
closer, so the shot will look more dramatic and camera shake will be less
obvious.
You can use a sideways tracking shot or crab to scan across a scene or to
travel alongside a moving subject. But if you’re using a DSLR, be careful –
fast sideways movement can cause a rolling shutter effect which distorts the
image.
If you can borrow a wheelchair, a trolley or skateboard your tracking shots
will be smoother. You can also put the camera in a carrier bag with a hole cut
out for the lens.
If you want to do it the pro way you can use mechanical stabiliser like
a Steadicam or Glidecam – a balanced rig that smooths out your body
movements – an electronic gimbal stabiliser (easier to learn), or a system
like the Glidetrack which lets you run the camera on rails.
You could also try an arc shot which moves in a circle around the subject.
This is difficult to do but is a great way of showing the whole space, or all the
characters in a group, without cutting between them.
Sequence shots
Feeling ambitious? You could try sequence shots, where you use continuous
camera movement instead of editing the shot. You have to plan your shot in a
lot of detail. There are some great sequence shots in the Soviet/Cuban film I
Am Cuba; more recently, the German thriller Victoriatells a whole feature-
length story in one take.
Crane shots
Crane shots move the camera vertically, above or across the action. You can
buy jibs – some of them, for small cameras, are fairly inexpensive – but they
are big and cumbersome to transport. With phones and lightweight cameras,
you can shoot crane shots by mounting a handheld stabiliser on a boom pole.
Aerial shots
You used to have to hire a helicopter to get good aerial shots, but this has got
much more affordable with drones. Good drone shots take skill, though, and
you need to be careful about safety. There are a lot of legal restrictions on
them which vary between countries and states.

Choosing tripods, monopods, stabilisers, cranes and drones

Filmmaking: Use the Lens to Tell

Your Story
 Use different lenses or lens settings to help tell your story
 Use wide angle lenses for handheld shots, cramped spaces and
dramatic perspective
 Use longer lenses, and wide apertures, to blur the background
 Don’t zoom while you’re filming
The first rule of using the lens is don’t zoom. Keep your finger off the zoom
button while you’re filming. Just use it to set the lens before you start shooting.
If you have a basic camera, it probably has a button with ‘W’ and ‘T’ settings
on it. Or it might have a picture of a landscape and a picture of a portrait. W
stands for wide angle and T stands for telephoto. (Some cameras have fixed
lenses, and many pro filmmakers use prime lenses – these don’t zoom, you
swap the lens to get wideangle or telephoto shots).
Wide angle

When you shoot on a wide angle setting, the camera takes in a wide section
of the scene in front of it. This means that it’s easy to fit a lot in. It’s good for
filming indoors. It also means you have to get much closer to the subject to
make them look big. It’s easier to hold wide angle lenses steady, and if you do
get close to the subject it makes the perspective look more dramatic. It makes
closeups of people look wacky, though.
Telephoto

The telephoto setting is like looking through a telescope. It’s hard to handhold,
so you will probably need to use a tripod. It’s good for making subjects that
are further away look bigger. It seems to flatten perspective, and it usually
makes for flattering closeups.

You can see how different lenses affect a closeup of a face on this page.
Focus
If everything in the scene is in focus, like the shot at the top of the page, it’s
called a deep focusshot. This is easier to do with a wide angle lens and a
small camera. You can change the amount that’s in focus – the depth of
field – by changing the size of the aperture*. This is the name for the hole in
the lens that lets light in. When the aperture is smaller, the lens lets less light
in but more of the scene is in focus.
In a shallow focus shot only part of the scene is in focus. This is useful for
putting distracting backgrounds out of focus, and for making individual things
or people stand out against the blurred background. Telephoto lenses on
bigger cameras (such as DSLRs) naturally have shallow depth of field so they
are useful for shallow focus shots. You can reduce the depth of field by
opening up the aperture, though you’ll need to make sure the shot isn’t
overexposed. More about exposure
pullfocus from Tom Barrance on Vimeo.
Some filmmakers use pull focus or rack focus to change focus during a
shot. This can change the emphasis from one part of the scene to another. To
do this effectively you need a system still camera or a large sensor video
camera with a lens that is easy to focus manually. You can buy follow
focus attachments that make this easier. It’s not worth trying to do this if you
have a small automatic camera.
*Just to confuse things, aperture is a fraction, so a larger number means a
smaller hole. F2.8 – which should properly be written f/2.8 – lets in twice as
much light as f/4.

Filmmaking: Using Light in Your

Movie
  Think about light size, position and colour
 Avoid big contrasts: use reflectors to fill shadows
 Set the exposure manually if you’re shooting in difficult light
Getting the light right when you film is much better than trying to improve
badly lit footage when you edit.

When you shoot a film as separate shots, it’s important to make sure that the
lighting in a scene is consistent. If the lighting style and colour is too different,
the shots may look as if they were filmed in different locations.

Cameras and light

With any camera, the images will be better if there’s enough light, it’s in the
right place, and it’s not too contrasty. But bigger cameras like DSLRs are
usually better at handling low light or very contrasty light. It’s best to set the
exposure manually if possible, rather than relying on automatic exposure.

Light size

Small or hard lights, like bare bulbs or direct sun, cast harsh shadows. You’ll
usually need to soften them with a diffuser, or fill them – reduce the shadows
– with another light or a reflector.

Big, soft lights – like a cloudy sky, or the light reflected off a white wall – give
very even lighting and soft shadows but don’t have much atmosphere. This
kind of light is the easiest to use. It’s good for scenes with a lot of detail and
group shots.

Medium-sized lights – like the light from a window, or a Chinese paper lantern
– give a nice balance. They’re big enough to be reasonably soft but small
enough to be atmospheric.
Light position
Light from directly in front is flat and characterless and can dazzle people
you’re filming – but it may be the only usable option if you’re using a basic
camera that can’t handle much contrast.

Three-quarter light – from a 45 degree angle in front of the subject, and

above – is the normal place to put the main key light in traditional lighting
setups. It gives the image depth.

Light from the side can be really atmospheric but is trickier to work with.
Shooting against a dark background, you’ll get a moody low-key effect. You’ll
probably have to adjust the exposure to avoid making the skin tones too
bright.

Lighting from below makes people look scary.

You should usually avoid shooting into the light unless you’re aiming for a
silhouette effect.

Rim light – from a light behind the subject, but out of shot – can be
atmospheric and is a good way to make the edge of the subject stand out
from the background.

Avoid big contrasts

It’s better to have shots that are a bit too flat rather than too contrasty. Phone
cameras and compact cameras are particularly bad at handling scenes with
low light or high contrast.
If you can adjust the contrast in your camera, turn it down. Turn down the
colour saturation (intensity) as well. You can always boost these when you
edit the film; it’s much harder to reduce them.

Some cameras give you the option of filming in special flat or ‘log’ modes,
which are useful for managing contrast. This footage looks dull straight out of
the camera, but is easier to correct at the editing stage.

Three point lighting

Three point lighting is the traditional way to light a movie scene: a main key
light, a fill light to reduce the shadows, and a rim light to make the subject
stand out from the background. Use the arrows on the interactive image below
to see the effect as you add extra lights.

Lighting diagram adapted from Making Movies Make Sense.

You start with a main key light. It’ s usually in front of the subject but to one
side (and slightly above). Putting it to the side helps to give depth or
‘modelling’, showing the shape of the face. How far round you put the light is
important: if it’s from almost in front, you’ll have flat, bright high-key lighting.
Move it further to the side for dramatic low-key lighting with heavy shadows.

To control shadows, you add a fill light on the other side. Normally it should
be about half as bright as the key light. For high-key lighting, make it almost
as strong as the key light; for low-key lighting turn it down. (You can use
a reflector instead of a fill light.)

Then you add a third rim light (or ‘backlight’). It’s behind the subject, but out
of shot, to make the edges of the subject stand out from the background.
Extra lights
You can also add a fourth light on the background, and a small catchlight or
‘obie’ to put a reflection in the person’s eyes.
Carrying three film lights around can be a drag, but if you understand the
principles of three point lighting you can use natural light and reflectors to get
the same effect. You could use a window as a key light, with a folding
reflector, white wall, or a sheet of styrofoam instead of a fill light.

Reflectors, diffusers and flags

There are several ways to improve light, whether natural or
artificial. Reflectors let you fill in shadows; diffusers make lights ‘bigger’ and
softer. You can also block the light and deepen the shadows using black card
or flags.
One of the most useful bits of kit you can buy is a folding five-in-
one reflector. These are great value: they include a diffuser and a zip-on
cover with white, silver and gold reflectors and a black side to intensify
shadows. Alternatively, you could use kitchen foil glued to card, or white
styrofoam insulating board.
Outdoors
Using daylight is easiest on a day with even cloud cover: you can shoot in any
direction and get reasonable shots.
Sunlight is trickier as it can cast harsh shadows and dazzle your subject. For a
subtler effect, use it as rim light (behind the subject, out of shot) as in the
shot above.

Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven was shot almost entirely in golden hour
light.
Low sunlight is tricky to work with but it can be very atmospheric: many films
are shot in the rich golden hour light just after dawn or before dusk.
Indoors
You can boost the light from ordinary ceiling lights and table lamps (what
filmmakers call practicals) by fitting them with brighter bulbs. Use energy-
saving bulbs to get brighter light without overheating. If you can afford it, buy
special bulbs with good colour rendition. Manufacturers use a scale
called CRI to measure this: you want a CRI of 90 or more.
You could bounce a powerful light, like a builders’ work lamp, off a reflector, a
white wall or the ceiling. You can also use work lamps to shoot low-key
(sidelit) closeups. Or you could buy a set of film lights. Halogen film lights get
very hot; LED arrays use less energy and run cooler.

Chinese paper lanterns fitted with bright low-energy bulbs are an affordable
way to get manageable, atmospheric lighting. You can also buy tougher
Chinese balls designed specially for film lighting.
With any lights, be careful about overheating and the dangers of breaking
glass, toppling stands and trailing cables. Don’t use LED lights without
diffusers as they can cause eye damage.

Exposure
Most cameras automatically adjust for different amounts of light. Automatic
exposure works pretty well for average scenes. If your scene isn’t average – if
it has lots of light or dark areas in it, or you’re shooting into the light – you may
need to increase or reduce the automatic setting by using exposure
compensation.

You should try and get the exposure right when you’re filming, but it’s more
important to avoid overexposure – it’s harder to correct this when you edit. If
you aren’t sure about the exposure, you should underexpose slightly.

Pay attention to skin tones as the audience will notice if these look wrong.
Make sure you don’t have large areas of completely white highlights. Some
cameras show you when this is happening with a ‘zebra stripe’ pattern.

For better control (if your camera allows it) set the exposure manually. The
simplest way to do this is by shooting test shots and adjusting the exposure
until it looks right. You can also measure the light with an 18% grey card,
which the ‘average’ scene colour which cameras expose for. Hold it in front of
your lens, filling the frame and you’ll get the correct exposure. You could also
use a separate light meter. There’s more about exposure here.
Colour balance
If you walk outside on a sunny day, and then come into a room lit by ordinary
house lights, your eyes will quickly adjust to the difference in colour and you
may not even notice it. If you try and shoot the same things with a camera
they may look very different.

Most cameras use automatic white balance to adjust to different colours of

light. This is OK but not usually as good as setting it yourself.

Some cameras have settings for different kinds of light, eg daylight, cloudy or
indoors.
Some cameras let you choose the colour temperature, which is a standard
way of measuring the colour of a light.
To be really precise, you can set the colour balance manually (in the same
way as checking the manual exposure) by using an 18% grey card or a sheet
of white paper.

Remember that if you have set the white balance manually, you’ll need to
change it when you go somewhere with different lighting – it’s easy to forget.

Try to make sure that all the light in the scene is the same kind. If you mix light
sources – eg daylight from a window and fluorescent light in the room – it’ll be
impossible to get them both right.

Filmmaking: Use Sound to Tell Your

Story
Sound is a really powerful tool for storytelling and giving your film impact. You
should plan the soundtrack in detail – don’t just add any old music as an
afterthought.

Soundtracks can include lots of different elements and you’d normally build
them up in layers, with different kinds of sound on different tracks.

‘Real’ sounds
Your film can include sounds that seem like a natural part of the scene: waves
breaking on a beach, wind blowing, and dialogue (people on screen talking).
These are sometimes called diegetic sounds. Though they seem real,
they don’t have to be recorded live: sound effects are often better than the
real thing.
Imagine you’re filming a scene in the woods with a girl walking. Your on-
camera microphone will probably just pick up a confusing mush of sound. You
may not be able to hear the footsteps. Ditch the soundtrack, and use separate
sound effects for birdsong, wind and the footsteps, and your scene will be
much more convincing. By doing this, you’re using the sounds as if they
were closeups, to focus attention on important things.

If you don’t want to use artificial sound effects, get in close so you can pick up
individual sounds. In your editing program you can detach the audio from the
video and move the sounds to where you want them. Or, even better, you can
record the sounds using a separate audio recorder.

You can use diegetic sound that matches things you see on screen, like the
footsteps with the walking feet. This is called synchronous sound. Now
imagine that the camera stays on the girl, but we hear a branch
snapping. Suddenly there is tension and mystery. This kind of sound,
which comes from something that’s not on the screen, is
called asynchronous sound.
Music
Most films also use sound that we know has been added: things like
voiceovers, and background music. This is called non-diegetic sound.
You can use music to set the scene and show where and when the film is set.
So a scene of an old house becomes France if you play accordion music, or
the 18th century if you hear baroque music.

You can also use it to establish the mood, or change it. Deep, sinister tones
tell us that something scary is about to happen, or that a character who seems
friendly is actually dangerous. High violin notes suggest tension, and
discordant sounds make us feel uncomfortable. Fast music can add
excitement to an action scene.

Hits are where the music exactly matches an action we see on the screen,
though if you use them too much it looks cheesy: it’s called ‘Mickey Mousing’
because it’s most common in cartoons.
You can also use music that goes against what you see on screen. To create
a sense of irony, use happy music for a sad or scary scene. This is sometimes
called contrapuntal music (as opposed to parallel music, which matches
what happens on screen.)
In a longer film, you could even give each character their own musical theme
or leitmotif.
Sound and editing can work together. Changing the sound and the image at
different times (split edits) can make a sequence flow more smoothly,
because it makes the cuts less obvious. Or you can link two scenes using
a sound bridge. So at the end of a scene in an office we might hear birdsong,
before we cut to the next scene which is in the woods. This helps prepare us
for the change of scene.
You can also edit your whole film or sequence to music, with the images
changing on every bar, every beat, or when there is a change in the mood of
the music.

Don’t forget the power of silence. A sudden change from hectic music to
silence can be shocking, and a few seconds of silence in a dialogue scene
can build up anticipation and tension. You don’t usually want complete
silence: the basic background ‘ambience’ of the location should usually carry
on.

Continuity: Shoot and Edit so your

Movie Makes Sense
 The continuity system is a set of rules for making sure your shots
work together
 It includes framing, camera position, shot size and editing
Film-making is a bit like a magic trick. You can film a lot of different shots, add
some sounds and music, and put it together so everything seems to flow
naturally. You can shoot with one camera and make it look as if you have ten.
You can persuade the audience that they’re watching a real story with real
people.

Here are some of the tricks and rules that make this work. You should follow
these rules while you’re filming, and use them while you’re editing.
Step between shot sizes

Whether you’re showing a place, people, or action, your film will look more
interesting if you shoot things with different shot sizes (above).

But don’t jump straight from, say, an extreme long shot to a big closeup
unless you really want to confuse people. You need to put something like a
long shot or mid shot between them so the viewer can see the connection.
Change position as well as shot size

When you change shot size, you should move the camera to a different
position around the subject. If you don’t, it may seem to ‘jump’ forwards or
backwards (above).
The 30 degree rule says that you should move the camera at least 30
degrees between shots. So these two will edit together better.
Shoot in opposite directions

You should normally shoot shot reverse shot. You film in one direction, then
more or less the opposite direction. This lets you show a person and what
they’re looking at – or two people together – using closeups for more impact.

Two characters but only one camera? No problem. Shoot the scene several
times: once with both characters in the shot, then with mid shots and closeups
of one character, then with mid shots or closeups of the other person. Then
alternate between the characters when you edit.
If you’re filming someone moving, shoot some of the shots from in front and
some from behind.

Stay on one side of an imaginary line

You could film shot-reverse shot by shooting exactly head-on (above). That’s
OK for subjective shots that show the scene from each character’s point
of view.

But it’s more normal for the camera to be slightly to one side of each character
(above). The crucial thing is that it has to stay on the same side.
Imagine there’s a line between the two characters (above). Keep your camera
on one side of that line. If you’re filming someone moving, stay on the same
side of the direction they’re moving.

If you cross the line then the shots may not fit together. Your two characters
will look as if they’re facing the same way, rather than facing each other.
Or your moving person will look as if they’ve changed direction.

This is called the 180 degree rule.

Put more space in the direction people are looking
If a person is looking to one side of the screen, make sure there is looking
space or ‘nose room’, as I did with the closeups in the dialogue scene. This
looks more natural, and it makes it obvious that the characters are facing each
other.
Make sure they’re looking in the right place
Each person’s ‘gaze’ should lines up with what they’re looking at, on the
opposite side of the screen. This is called eyeline match.
Try not to join two similar shots of the same thing together

Editing between two closeups of the same person (above) will give an obvious
jump. Sometimes this is unavoidable if you’re editing dialogue or an interview.

You can avoid this by cutting to a master shot and then back.
Or you can use a cutaway like the reaction shot (centre), which
maintains shot reverse shot.

Alternatively you could use a detail of the scene (an insert).

Basic Editing Principles for

Filmmakers
Editing is one of the most interesting and rewarding parts of making a short
film or video. It’s where the story really comes together. Decisions you make
about which shots to use, how you put them together, and how you use
sound, will make a big difference to your movie. So here’s a beginners’ guide
to basic editing principles.

There’s a guide to the editing process here.

Shoot for editing
You should be thinking about editing as you plan and shoot your film. The
pages about continuity and coverage have advice on how to film shots that
will edit together.
Select just what the story needs
Don’t be precious about your footage, however proud of it you are. The
finished film is the important thing. You may need to leave out some really
good stuff if it doesn’t fit. (But don’t delete any clips unless you’re absolutely
sure they’re unusable.)
Select the important action
Choose the clips that show the essential action. You can leave out anything
that doesn’t help tell the story. Use just the part of the clip that has the action
you need.

Show something new with each edit

Show a different subject, or a different view of the same thing: a different shot
size or camera position.

Vary the shot size and angle

Don’t cut between two very similar shots of the same thing, unless you really
want a ‘jump cut’ for effect.

Step between shot sizes

If you cut straight from an extreme long shot to an extreme closeup, viewers
won’t understand where the closeup fits into the bigger picture. Use an in-
between size like a mid shot to bring the viewer with you.

Use cutaways to hide jumpy edits

If you have to cut similar shot sizes together, use another shot to hide the join.
Add it as a ‘cutaway’ above the main clips.

Use a master shot for an overview

Long shots and extreme long shots remind viewers of where everything fits
into the scene.

Get the pace right

A shot should stay on screen long enough for people to understand it, but not
so long that they get bored.
Closeups, simple shots, and shots without any action or movement, can be
short. Long shots, extreme long shots, and any shots with detail will need to
be on screen for longer.

Check that the pace is consistent. Sudden changes of pace look really clunky,
whether it’s a shot that outstays its welcome, or one that flashes by too fast to
grasp.

Use the right transitions

Transitions are the ‘joins’ between shots.

Does your scene show continuous action, or one short space of time? You
should use cuts, where the shot goes straight into the next one. If you use
fades or dissolves, you’ll confuse people.

In a cross dissolve or cross fade, the shots dissolve into each other (one
image gets weaker while the next shot gets stronger). You can use these to
show that you’ve left out a short space of time, or part of a journey.

You can use a fade out (usually to black) at the end of a scene. Fade
out followed by a fade in means that a period of time has passed.

Wipes and other elaborate transitions don’t usually contribute to storytelling.

Edit on the action

If you edit while an action is happening, rather than at the beginning or the
end, it’ll look smoother. Viewers will concentrate on the movement, not the
edit.

Don’t cut moving shots to still shots

It’s jarring if you show something moving in one shot and it’s not moving in the
next shot. Let the movement come to an end before you cut to a static shot.

Pay attention to the sound

Don’t have sudden changes in sound level, or dead silence, unless you’re
deliberately trying to shock people.
Build your soundtrack carefully
When you have more than one audio track, you need to balance the sound
levels. You don’t want background sound, or music, drowning out dialogue.

Use sound that carries across the edit

You can use ‘wild track’, ‘room tone’ or ‘ambience’ – background sound from
the location – to avoid silence and keep things smooth.

For dialogue scenes – where you cut between shots of each character – try
using split edits where the sound changes at a different time from the picture.

These are also called J-cuts (where the sound changes first) and L-cuts. You
can use a J-cut as a sound bridge between separate scenes, where you
hear the sound from the new location before you see it.

Keep track of the bigger picture

Don’t get so bogged down in one edit that you lose track of how it fits into the
sequence. Play several shots together – or the whole sequence – to check
how it all works together.

Filmmaking Techniques and Ideas

One of the best ways to learn filmmaking is to get inspired by other filmmakers, and to try out
new techniques. This section has ideas, short movies, and information about film history and
movements.
How to use still images in a film
There’s lots of potential for using still images in a film or video. It doesn’t just have to look like
a slideshow: you can zoom them, pan them, group them, and even make them look three-
dimensional. Some of these techniques are simple and others need advanced image manipulation
skills.
What Photographers Need to Know About
Filmmaking
If you’re a good photographer you’ve already got many of the skills you need to make films. But
there’s a lot more to filmmaking than the image.
Ten ways to make your film poetic

Films don’t have to be just about bare stories and information. You can use pictures, sound and
editing to build up a sense of a place or mood or to get ideas across.
Recording voiceovers: how to get it right
Editing your film to a voice track is a great way to get professional results without the hassle of
recording live sound as you film. Here are my seven tips for recording voiceovers right.
I am Cuba / Soy Cuba

I am Cuba / Soy Cuba is an amazing Soviet/Cuban propaganda film from 1964 with beautiful
ultrawide, long take black and white cinematography.
Poem films and film poems

Poems can make great inspirations for films. Here are some examples, using music and images
to broaden out the meaning of a poem; linking performance, dance, sound and editing; and using
punchy, in-your-face typography.

Filmmaking Techniques and Ideas

One of the best ways to learn filmmaking is to get inspired by other filmmakers, and to try out
new techniques. This section has ideas, short movies, and information about film history and
movements.
Alternative storytelling

Yan Giroux’s award-winning short uses unconventional filmmaking to show the confrontation
between a young park warden and a gang of youths.
How Great Filmmakers Have Used Sound in
Movies

Sound is a crucial part of film and you need to pay as much attention to it as you do to the
images. Here’s how some great filmmakers have used sound in their films.
Soviet montage: how the Russian Revolution
changed film

In the years between the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalin, Soviet filmmakers invented a
new language of film: one that still inspires filmmakers today.
Fiction film

Josh Soskin’s ‘Milk Run’ shows how a skilled filmmaker can use pictures, sound and editing to
tell a complex story clearly in a couple of minutes.
Film with a message

Artist Michelle Guieu kept her film simple to get a clear message across.
Macro music video

Neil Innes used ultra-close macro shots and edited to the music to make a really cool video for
the band Colourmusic.

Filmmaking Techniques and Ideas

One of the best ways to learn filmmaking is to get inspired by other filmmakers, and to try out
new techniques. This section has ideas, short movies, and information about film history and
movements.
Video portrait
New York photographer Dustin Cohen lets a 91-year-old Brooklyn shoemaker speak for himself
in this beautifully shot film.