film directing shot by shot

67 Pages·2010·16.48 MB·English

COMPOSING SHOTS:
TIAL CONNECTIONS

Shot Size

As we all know, the universal units of composition are the long shot, the
‘medium shot, and the closeup. These shots are a development of the
continuity system insofar as they are overlapping portions ofa single
space and only make sense in relation to one anosher. That i, they are
ted together to create a consistent spatial/temporal order. Though they
can be ised to describe spaces as large as the solar system or 98 small a6
the head of a pin, we always know approximaiely how large an area is
being framed when these terms are Used. That's because the shots are
scale o the subject and related to one another proportionately

‘A long shot ofthe World Trace Center frames allo the twin towers
‘and a generous piece of Manhattan a medium shot ofthe building would
Top off some of the lower floors. Moving in for a close-up a single win
«dow might fil the frame. There are no absolute rues n the use of these
terms and even the terms themselves very. In Figure 6.1 on page 122 the
basi faring heights are shown forthe human Figure.

The change of size from shot shct varies but is dtermined by the
limits of identification. As long as we recognize that each sho: isan over
lapping portion of the wide shot, the change in scale 6 permissible.
‘Actually, even this definition must fake into account the change in editing
styles over several decades. The move from wide shot to close-up was
cansidered too radical a jump for audiences during the frst five decades
ff motion pletures unless a medium shot was used in betweea. Helly
{wood editors were frbidcen to juxtapose a wide shot with close-up let
they confuse the audience as to where the close-up was taking place
Today, after several decades of famllaity with Hollywood conventions,
audiences easily accept extreme charges in scale. If anything,
thatthe conservative editing rules of the past lagged behind aadience
‘undersianding,

‘Vial recognition between shots, however, is only haf she strategy
ofthe consinaty style. Most afte theeationsiyp between shots is one
Implication or inference. For example, we ste a wide shot of a man
approaching a door. This i flowed by a cut to an extreme close-up of
the man’s hand taming the doorknob, Even if the doorknob was 60
small t9 attract our attention in the wide shot, we expt! that it is cor
nected tothe previous shot since it makes logical sense, even though we
could be looking at another doorway in. different place and time. Narr
tive logic and the visual connection between shots cooperate t create

CCompesing Shots: Spatial Coanections 121
Framing Heights

Extreme Close-up
Medium Close-up
Full Close-up
Wide Close-up

‘Close Shot

‘Medium Close Shot

‘Medium Shot

‘Medium Full Shot

Full Shot

Figure 6.1; Basic Framing heights forthe human igure.

122 Shor By Shot
sense of continuous space. This pir uf kes, cause and effectand spatial
‘cognition, provide the organizational basis ofthe continsty style

Tong shots, medium shots, an close-ups ean describe any subject or
locaton but are most often used to describe the human figare. The terms
take on special meaning in this connection. Here the change in sale
between shots sot related by logic or visuol recognition alone. Instead,
ffaming is determined by conventions of post-Renaiseanceartor what are
generally considered pleasing and balance compositions

The Close-up

Television has greatly increased the use ofthe close-up. To compensate
for the small sizeof the screen, the close-up i used to bring us into closer
tontact with the action. For dslayue sequences the shoulder and head
Shot has become the predominant framing. Castminded producers lke
the tighter shots because they are easier to light and can be joined to
Almost any other shot, reducing the amourt of coverage needed. The
preference forthe elose-up has been caved over to feature films a more
[ind more film directors graduate from lelevision to the big screen

Tn fil the eyes have it, Jeat-Luc Godard once said that the most
patural cat is the cut on the look. The power‘ul suggestiveness of this
pesture helps explain film's love affair with winks, glances, stares teas,
guint, glares and the waole range of langcage tha the eyes command.
‘The eyes are pethaps the mont expressive feature of the human face,
Comaanicasing silently whut the wouth must do largely with words and
Souncis A look can tll us that.at object out offeme is of intrest, and it
ante us in which diction he object is located. Tn the same way that
the focal leigh of the lens and the angle ofthe camera can place the
‘iewer ina definite relationship with tae subjects onthe acreen, the eye
Tine of a subject clenrly deersiues spatial relations in the cene space,
‘Viewers are particularly sensitive to Incongrities inthe sight lines be
thveen subjects who are lovking el each ther and in most situations cen
fasly detect when the eye match is sighly off. The use of lens-axis
‘elepromptcts has come abut largely becruse audiences ae avtare when
{ performer Is looking at « cue cava that is only afew inches off center.

“The close-up can bring us ilo a mioreffimate relationship with the
subjects onthe screen than we would rormally heve with anyone but our
Clowes friends o: family. Sometimes this eapecity for inspection can be
foverdone, and the clse-up becomes a violation of privacy by forcing »
degree of intimacy that should only be shared by consent. The camera,
however, does not require coasent, particularly if ti equipped with a
telephoto lens. Televison news cameramen frequently pry into the lives
of farilies during moments of grief, using extome close-ups, Viewers
nay find themselves uncomfortable wetehing scenes that they would
‘orally have the tac fo fut anvay from i their daly lives

in every culture there ate customs of privacy, physical contact and
acceplea behavior base on the distances permitted between people i
‘rious situations. A filauakercan dre the camera to record these social
iistances in such a way thal we reac #o them as if they were happening

Composing Sots: Spotial Connecions 123
within our own personal space. Not only can the close-up reveal the
Intute, itcan make us fc] as if we ae intrading on moments of privacy
tr sharing « moment of vlnerability—as ifthe person om the sreen has
‘pened himself up to us, We can be made to feel detachment ot an
notional involvement with events and subjects on the screen largely
through the manipulation of space with the lens ofthe camera,

Figure 6:2 features a seres of eight close-up framings in three aspect
ratios, Academy aperture, which isthe seme as (émm and television
(3:1; wide screen (851); and the anamorphic Cinemascove process
2350).

“The images are shown in pairs as they might appear together in a
sexquenoe beesuse the balance of imbalance of any frame is dependent on
the shots that come before and after. In the first two irames te subjects
fare positioned dead center. If you move your eyes over these frames,

reading” them as though they were edited, you Will se that there is no
htm in the shot change since the eyes remain focused on the center of|
the screen. Compare this with frames 3 and 4, Here the off-center
‘compositions in alternate close-ups creates a left/right eye motion thal 8
‘dynamic. This effect becomes more pronounced as the width of the
Screen increases. Here we have a good example of what is meant by
Seaquential art since compositions are not judged individually but by how
they combine’ina sequence.

‘Conventions in weslem art favor portits that position the human
face slighty of center to avoid dstarbing symmetrical compositions. The
customary solution isto eave extra space or the side of the screen the
Subject sfooking at and more space the botiom ofthe frame than atthe

Figure 6.2: Closeups in thre aspect rfis.

1 T

124 Shot By Shot
top. In lm, the use of off center compositions hecomes more common as
thesereen widens, But don’t let this stand in the way of experimentatior.
‘There i no reason for filmmakers to accep these limitations they donnat
suit their sense of design The following examples illustrate common and
“uncommon framing proportions,

Extreme use of screen width is possible es shown in Figure 6.3, ilus-

Composing Shot: Spatial Connections 125
trsting anconventional treatments of portrait composition. Sharply off-
‘center framing is possible in any aspect ratio though the effect becomes
more pronounced the wider the screen. This type of composition has
‘become quite commen in television commercials recently, influenced by
print graphics in advertising. ‘This has had a subtle iméence on the
‘movies, which tnd to absorb techriques from the cther ars,

The eyes, mouth and ears are frequently given extreme close-ups of
their own, usually te advance some specific part ofthe narrative For
example, a shot of a woman walking home alone a* night on a lonsly
Stree: might be fllowed by an extreme closeup of her ear, as faint
footsteps re heard. A similar setup might utilize a close-up of her eyes
indicating her fear. These are familie devices and there are many more
ways that you can utilize macro closeups if you begin to experiment,
‘Three versions of extreme and macto close-ups are shown in Figure 6.400
page 123. In al cases, the viewpoint was from the front or side of the face

Figure 6.3

128. Shot By Shot
favoring the features. Thsisjut one more convention tha nee not limit
‘your individual style. Unconventional viewpoints, framing and shot size
‘an be used to explore portraiture through textur light anc the infinite
‘varieties of form. This doesnot mean that you have to pive up traditional
‘methods. They are by no means exhausted and can be as communicative,
starling and moving as more experimental techniques.

mn began emphasizing the use ofthe ciose-up and extreme
close-up, the medium shot was the workhorsefor dialogue scenes through
fut the sound period. Combining, valuable qualities ofthe fall shot and
the close-up, itis stil widely employed in television and feature films,
Like the full shot, the medium shet eaptures anactors gestures and body
language, but is still ight enough to ince subtle variations in fecal

"The medium shot aio the gereral mnge in which group shot are

Composing Shots: Spatial Connections 127
Figure 64

‘composed for dislogue scenes. The twershot, trees, fourshot or five
Shot ae the typical groupings. With mowe than five players in the frame
the cemera often must pull sack nto the ful-shot range to include every
fone ifthe igures are’ not signieantly overlapped. ‘The medium shot
“ares the honors with the close-up for popularity at te present time but
‘nly insofar asi is use in conjuction with closeups not asthe pr
Imaty setup fer a scene, We will pass over examples of medium shots in
this section and cover them in depth later inthe workshop section ofthe
ook

The Full Shot

“The fall shot as an alternative to the medium or close-up has fallen. isto
disuse inthe Ist twenty years, relegated tthe function ofan establishing
Shot when itis pecesnry to connect a character and a locaton ina single
Shot. Filmmakers sen tobe reluctant to playa scene wide ifa dose-up

128 Shot By Shot
cor medium shot can be substituted. One of the reasons the full sot is
tnderused is that it requires dalogue scenes to be played in Tong takes.
‘This is because the fll shot usually frames all Ue speaking charactersina
‘cone, making @ cutting patter of medium ard close-up shots unneces-
Sry. If the long shot is used with these two tighter framings, the editing
pattem invariably moves in close and does Pot return 10 the full shot
hile the medium ard long shots ean encompass the action in a scene
tithout resoring fo other shots to full the narrative, a close-up genet~
Sly must be accompanied by other close-ups, medium or full shots to
fulfil the narrative requirements ofa scene.

‘One of the full sho's most attractive qualities is that it allows the
actor to use body language. This type of physical expression has all but,
disappeared from the movies since the sient period. Again, television
tnd ght-fsted producers ae to blame since there is nothing as inexpen
‘ive to shoot of to light as the close-up. This is most clea in the way
ance is photographed in music videos, which rarely show the full figure
inextende shots

“Compsitionally, the long shot ofa single figure offers many of the
‘same opportunities for asymmetrical framing as the close-up. The vert-
al ine ofthe sanding igure easily is into designs tat stress graphic
pattems particulary i the wider formats

Figure 65 on page 130 features two full shots ustrating frame bel-
ance slighty off-center framing, s0 common today that a centered
Subject is nearly as powerful as ¢ drastically dacentered composition.

The Line of Action

‘The general approach in this book is to encourage the development of
sclaions that ane adapted tothe individual needs ofthe fimmaker. Many
of the solutions that wil be shown are pat of recognizable strategies, Dut
the filmmakers personal vision can at any fime overrule systems, ac
{epled practice, traditional wiscom or coneention. Having sad th, we
‘an Took atthe most basic rule of camera placement that she continvity
System observes: the line of ation.

“The parpose ofthe line of action is quite simple: tt organizes camere
angles to preserve consistent screen direction aid space. Is also ase
for organising the shooting plan. Because theset has tobe elt every tie
the camer is maved toa ner angle, makes sense to gang shots sharing
‘similar angle of view logether so that they can be shot atone time. This
{voids having to ight any camera position more than once

‘We can think ofthe line of acon a an imaginary partition runing
through the space in front ofthe camera. It was originally devised to
‘make sure that if miltiple angles ofa ssene were shot, they could be eut
together without a confusing reversal of et and right seen space. This
way, subjects moving tarouph the frame in one shot conte nthe same
“rection in a subsequent shot. The line of action is also called the “180+
degree rule” or the “axis of action” illustrated in Figare 66 on page 131
“Tomainteinconsistent screendlirection ofthe twe people vealed atthe table,
the continuity system proposes that an imaginary lite 0 action be drawn

Composing Shots: Spatial Connections 129
between them, The direction ofthe line can be anywhere the filmmaker
chooses, but it is usually the line of sight between subjects featured ina
scene. Once the fine is determined, a working space of 180 degrees (the
‘ray semicircle) is established, For any scene or sequence, only camera
Positions within the established semicircle ate peered, The result is
that the scren direction of any shots oblained fram one sie of the line
willbe consistent with each other. This is illusraie in Figure 87, which
‘haves the shois obtained with cameras A, Band Cof Figure 66. Camera
positon: that are outside the gray working space are said to be across tie
line or oer the lin. Figure 68 shows what happens if we edit shots ftom
both sides ofthe line together, in this case, cameras Aand ‘The results,
that the man is looking atthe back of the womans head.

The Tricngle System

When the line of action isin use, another convention, the triangle system
of camera placement, is a shorthand way of descibing camera postions
fon ore side of the line. The system proposes that all the basic shots
possible for any subjct com be taken from three points within the 180-
Aegree working space. Connecting the three points, we havea triangle of

130. Shot By Shot