Speaking Skills

Good morning everybody.

Today, I’m going to talk about technical elements used in cinematography.

So, what is cinematography? The dictionary defines it as the art of making motion pictures.

The word cinematography is derived from Greek which translates to writing with movement.

A film typically consists of many shots. A shot is just a word for a small part of a scene of the movie.

Basically, cinematography consists of 6 elements.

Lighting, Shot size, Camera placement, Camera movement, Angles, Graphics, and Mise-en-scène.

Lighting:

Lighting is the most common type technical elements. After all, the whole ambience of the film
depends on the type of lighting. Imagine a horror movie; If it were all bright and well-lit, where
would the spine-chilling feel come from? This is exactly why all horror movies are dark and eerie.

Now, imagine a kid’s movie; everything is brightly lit and you get a perky mood.

Key light, fill light, background light.

Shot Size:

There are atleast 16 cameras used for every scene.

A shot size typically means how much of the scene is actually visible to the audience.

It might be a close up, an extreme close up; to watch the expression of the actor change or to make
the audience perceive certain details, a wide shot to see the entire plot, or an aerial shot, to depict a
city or a locality.

Camera placement:

Camera placement significantly affects how the audience make out a certain character’s behavior.

For example, if a person is to be portrayed as rude or ill mannered, placing the camera closer to that
person is proven to be effective.
Camera movement:

Camera movement is very important to heighten emotions in a movie. For example, in a thriller,
moving the camera in a first-person view, or the camera peering in from the edge of the wall

increases fear and suspense.

Angles:

A bird’s eye view in a camera angle is usually used for the feeling of anticipation. Let’s say, in a heist
movie, a bird’s eye view is given from a helicopter to heighten the anticipation of the robbery which
is to take place.

A low angle, is used to make the subject look dominant and superior. It makes the character look
bigger than he or she actually is.

A high angle, on the other hand, is used to show that the character in focus is submissive or inferior
against another subject.

Drones are used for bird’s eye views.

Graphics:

Simply put, graphics are pictures that are edited into a video. Suppose, if a set is already very
expensive, a green screen is used for the background. For instance, the whole war part of
AVENGERS: END GAME was a green screen and half of Thanos’s army wasn’t real. The editor later
adds the background and elements later to the film.

Mise-en-scène:

Mise-en-scène, pronounced meez-ahn-sen, is just the placement of props in the scene. It is a word
derived from French and it translates to “placing on stage”. Suppose if a person is subject to
confinement, all the props are placed nearby which shows their inability to escape.

So, I hope you all learned something new today and thank you.