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Cinematography: Lighting and Colour
Cinematography: Lighting and Colour
CONTRAST high contrast bright whites, defined blacks, narrow range in between
comparative difference
between dark/light areas
low contrast no true whites or blacks, large range in-between
middle range pure whites and blacks, large range in-between
FILTERS hollywood diffusion filters; use of blue filters for day-for-night technique
objects changing quality (digital) colour grading — alter/enhance colour post-production
of colour or light picked up
by camera tinting colour light areas, developed film
toning (colour dark areas during development)
hand-colouring filling certain parts of shot with certain colour:
SPEED OF MOTION
relation between rate at which film was shot and rate of projection influences speed — realism in their correspondence
DURATION
real time when shot records actual duration/length of action
can be manipulated by slow/fast motion, ellipses, etc.
long take shot lasting much longer than typical shot in specific film or films in general
sequence shot when an entire scene is rendered in only one shot
FRAMING
SHOT SCALE extreme long shot human body looks small, lost in frame; establishing shot, for setting
distance between
camera and subject in long shot body entirely in frame
reality, in terms of
medium long shot body framed from knees up
human body
medium shot body framed from hips up
medium close-up body framed from chest/shoulders up
close-up body framed from neck up
extreme close-up body framed in eyelids; zoom in on one specific element
full shot human body takes up entire vertical/horizonal frame
MOBILITY
concerns any camera movement that happens while filming
pan (panorama) camera rotates on vertical axis, scan space left/right
‘neck’ movement
tilt movement camera rotates on horizontal axis, scan space up/down
tracking / dolly shot camera changes position while moving along the ground
‘feet’ movement
crane shot camera changes position while moving above ground
NON-TACTILE
LIGHTING quality highlights/shadows guide attention, dramatic effect, narrative development
hardness hard lighting defined shadows, glare edges, crisp textures
softness of light,
shown by shadows soft lighting diffused glow, less defined
or glares
STAGING acting work an actor does to enact a character, including invisible processes
performance how an actor’s work manifests itself on the screen
props and sets may also perform, convey messages
individualisation films create broader anonymous types, pick actors through typecasting
typage — when actor is expected to portray typical representative of some class
aerial perspective hazing of more distant planes in a scene, with foreground outlines sharply
size dimunition when faraway objects get proportionally smaller, creating deep space
EDITING
CONNECTIONS
cut simple, instant change from one shot to the next shot
match on action motion of one shot carried through to the next shot
graphic match cut from one shot to similar shot by matching action, composition, sound in shots
cut-in cut from distant framing to closer view of a part of the space
cut-away cut to insert shot of something, and then cut back to first shot
fade in fade from black into shot
fade out fade from shot into black
dissolve blending one shot into another
wipe shot replaced by new shot, moving into previous shot with set boundary
iris circular filter mask opening or closing to reveal or conceal a scene
eyeline match a shot of the character looking offscreen, with a cut to what the character sees
jump cut cutting between (roughly) same shot and frame, with time lapses
cross cut intercutting back and forth between locations
RELATIONSHIPS
GRAPHIC defined by mise-en-scene + cinematography; light/dark, motion/stasis, colour, framing
RELATIONS
interaction interactions graphic match graphic qualities of shots are parallel, line up
between purely
pictorial qualities
graphic continuity graphic qualities of shots resemble each other
of shots graphic qualities of shots are in opposition
graphic discontinuity
RHYTHMIC manipulations of steady beat shots cut at similar lengths in relation to another
RELATIONS rhythmic relations
duration of shots acceleration of rhythm shortening shots in a sequence
and the patterns
they create deceleration of rhythm lengthening shots in a sequence
montage sequence short sequence with quick, steady rhythm; compress large-scale process over a
lengthy period into a few moments
use parts of represented process/words/stereotypes/newsreels/dissolves for footage
SPATIAL analytical editing move from spatial whole (establishing shot) to parts in the space
RELATIONS
construction of constructive editing construct space from seperate, partial shots
film space
through illusions kuleshov effect use of constructive editing to make viewer assume
and links intended spatial whole not shown on screen
occurs in lack of establishing shot, eyeline match/match on action/POV
saves money and time while creating impossible situations
TEMPORAL order flashback present shots that happened earlier in story order at a
RELATIONS later point in plot order
editing establishes
order, frequency flashforward present shots that happen later in story order at an earlier
and duration point in plot order
frequency frequency is the amount of times a narrative moment or shot appears
duration long take is shot longer in seconds in relation to film/scene; short take is shorter
relations between narrative — chain of events linked by cause/effect + occurring in time and space
story, plot and story vast chain of narrative events in chronological order
narrative
plot (order of) narrative events within diegesis — as it
happens in the story
narration storytelling logic organising plot and presenting narrative
elliptical editing show action to consume less screen time than in story
done by creating ellipses
overlapping editing action from end of one shot is partly repeated at start of
next shot
CONTINUITY EDITING
system establishing narrative continuity — convey narrative information smoothly, clearly over a shot sequence
involves graphic qualities, rhythm, space and time in different ways
narrative discontinuity the breaching of continuity rules
SPATIAL 180° system ensures: consistency of relative positions in the frame
CONTINUITY consistent eyeline matches
the 180° system consistent screen direction
tactics in the shot/reverse-shot shot of one end + shot of other end of 180° line
180° system eyeline match shot of person gazing offscreen, cut to what’s looked at
reestablishing shot like establishing shot, but to reestablish space in scene
match on action carrying single movement out across cut
180° line; characters with characters in circle, axis of action between most important characters
in a circle line may shift as characters move
excluding the rely on kuleshov effect to construct space using axis + eyelines
establishing shot elements must stay consistent (motion, eyelines, positions)
cheating with cuts cheat cut slight mismatching of positions of subjects
likely to be unnoticed if shots remain consistent with 180° line
crossing the axis axis may be broken in symmetrical settings
may transition from one side to other; use 180° line as transition point
head-on shot action seems to move directly toward camera on axis
tail-on shot action seems to move directly from camera on axis
screen direction can be violated safely if physical layout is well-defined
the POV shot point-of-view cutting eyeline match showing person’s perspective
not a violation of 180° system; on axis
SPATIAL crosscutting alternation of shots of events in one place with events in other places
CONTINUITY
risk of spatial discontinuity; yet link action to idea of cause/effect + simultaneity
crosscutting
cut-in shift form distant framing to closer view of a portion of the space
TEMPORAL order and order usually shows story events in 1-2-3 sequence
CONTINUITY frequency
frequency usually presents once whatever happens once
duration continuous plot and screen time = story time
FIDELITY TO SOURCE degree to which sound matches the presumed source of the sound
low fidelity mismatching of image and sound
high fidelity correct matching of image and sound
subjective/internal diegetic sound sound that only character of POV can hear, inside mind
nondiegetic sound sounds which don’t occur naturally in world of depicted narrative
typically music
SOUND PERSPECTIVE how a film suggests the placement of sound in the story world through sound cues
volume increases with closeness of camera
timbre creates reverberations that imply distance
SOUND IN TIME synchronous sound and its source in image are logically connected; high fidelity
asynchronous disconnect in logical/causal relationship between sound and image
most german directors moved away from germany with nazi regime in 1933
USSR tagefon/shorinfon simultaneously invented sound-on-film systems (1926)
prevent ussr from importing equipment in 1929
1931> — popularity of sound film, both in production and re-release of silent film
even by 1935, many theatres not wired — however, transition complete by 1936
—> transition starts during five-year plan; attempt to be self-sufficient
—> great depression hits ussr; prices/demand for main export falls
no foreign help in transition — isolated in international conversion to film
eisenstein — rejection of western fear of dialogue, see value of sound/image for montage
sound experimentation ended in 1935; simple, straightforward sound in socialist realism
FRANCE early sound market dominated by american/german systems and film
foreign films in sound theatres inspired french producers
germany look to capture production — france important market
1929 tobis-klangfilm set up subsidiary in paris; make many major french films
most studios wired (foreign systems) in 1930; took until 1934, many theatres small, independent
with weak industry, filmmakers experiment with sound to create emotion
synchronised vs. adding over silent scenes, cutting, motifs, asynchronous sound
GREAT BRITAIN interest in sound (vitaphone, jazz singer) but enthusiasm start with the singing fool
push wiring of theatres/studios — main system by western electric and rca
25% of market to tobis (1930 agreement) — difficulties, fail to exploit market
british had own, cheaper systems, but bad quality;
thomson-houston made reliable equipment in 1930 but came third after two american firms
all british cinemas could exhibit sound by 1933
british production companies (weakest in industry) struggled to convert to sound
—> industry investments slowed down — firm struggle while silent films lose relevance
exception of british international pictures (1927), focus on europe > america
JAPAN one of few with ‘talkies’ in silent era using katsuben or benshi — central to cinema
centrality of performer slowed down conversion to sound
inventors tried to create sound systems but only fox sparked interest of firms
after movietone films (1929) many theatres became wired
most imported films were talkies by 1930
japanese production hesitant with sound production
financial issues (depression) meant high american royalty fees for equipment
fear of american control of sound leading to american market domination
—> studios create own technology
use sound to combine music, dialogue and sound effects for atmosphere; successful
sound production much slower — mostly music, production only half sound by 1935
small firms couldn’t afford sound production, theatres couldn’t afford wiring
labor (benshi) resisted introduction of sound — strikes
sound spreads through world —> uneven, quick in non-production countries
theatres not wired by mid-30s went out of business, sound dominated international exhibition and production
issue of foreign language dubbing, narration, subtitles, intertitles rejected — inefficient, distracting, wasteful
1929 decision to reshoot additional versions, assume relative cost to be lower
but required too many people in studio waiting too work, only small markets
mixing seperate tracks became possible by 1931; synchronisation improved
by 1932, dubbing/subtitles enabled talkies to cross language barriers
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