Shot by shot

474 Pages·2016·16.26 MB·English

by  Steven Katz

f i l m d i r e c t i n g
shot by shot
visualizing from concept to screen

by steven d. katz

Published by Michael Wiese Productions, 12400 Ventura Blvd,
#1111, Studio City, CA 91604, [phone], in conjunction with
Focal Press, a division of Butterworth Publishers, 80 Montvale Avenue,
Stoneham, MA 01801,[phone].

Cover design by Barry Grimes
Cover photograph by Geraldine Overton
Interior design and layout by Douglas R. Kelly and David A. Shugarts
Illustrations by Frank Bolle and Steven D. Katz

Printed by Sheridan Books, Chelsea, Michigan
Manufactured in the United States of America

Copyright 1991 by Michael Wiese Productions
First printing, June 1991

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without permission in writing from the author, except
for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

ISBN 13 978-0-941188-10-4
ISBN 10 0-941188-10-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Katz, Steven D. (Steven Douglas), 1950–
Film directing shot by shot: visualizing from concept to screen/ by Steven D. Katz.
p. cm.
“Published… in conjunction with Focal Press”—T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-941188-10-8: $27.95
1. Motion pictures—Production and direction—Handbooks,
manuals, etc. 2. Video recordings—Production and
direction—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
PN1995.9.P7K38 1991
791.43' 0233—dc20 90–70213
CIP

Printed on recycled stock

I

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

would like to express my thanks to the people who gave me valuable
assistance in the preparation of this book. Assistance is an inadequate
term for all the patience, time and knowledge that colleagues and friends
generously provided. First is my friend Michael Wiese, who as a
filmmaker and publisher thought that a book on the subject of
visualization would be of interest to other filmmakers. Michael supported

all the decisions that in the end cost additional time and money but that resulted
in a better book. For this I will always be grateful.

Both Joe Musso, president of the Production Illustrators and Matte Painters

Union, and Gene Allen, executive director of the Society of Motion Picture and
Television Art Directors, were not only highly informative about their
respective crafts, but saved me months of research by helping to arrange the
many interviews with their members whose illustration and design work
appear in these pages.

Two production illustrators in particular, Camille Abbott and Harold

Michelson, gave generously of their time and expertise in helping me prepare
the text and diagrams explaining the Michelson method for camera angle
projection. In addition, they offered valuable insights into the craft of
continuity illustration and encouragement by way of their enthusiasm for the
movies.

Special thanks to Steven Spielberg, who was especially generous in

providing me with the lengthy storyboard sequence from Empire of the Sun, a
portion of which appears in the book; to Robert C. Carringer of Illinois
University, who was consistently able to direct me to useful sources of
information on production design on the rare occasions he was unable to
answer questions personally; to Mary Corliss of the Film Stills Archives in the
Museum of Modern Art, who provided the storyboards from The Birds and
valuable suggestions for researching production design.

The artwork from Beverly Hills Cop II and Flashdance was provided by

Paramount Pictures; artwork from La Bamba is courtesy of Columbia Pictures;
and Blade Runner artwork is courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. The Citizen
Kane art from which the reproductions were taken is in the Rare Books and
Special Collections Library of the University of Illinois. (© 1941 RKO
Pictures, Inc., Ren. 1968 RKO GENERAL, INC.)

On a more personal level, Doug Sheffer, Jim Coon, Scott Dea ver, and my

longtime producer and comrade Carl Shea all lent the kind of support only
friends can provide.

Warmest gratitude goes to my sister, Barbara, and parents, Betty and Stanley

Katz for understanding (most of the time) that the basement could be a studio,
and for the continuing belief that I would someday graduate to the real thing.

Above all my thanks go to my wife and best friend Jane for more love and

understanding than anyone could unreasonably expect.

For Jane

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

PART I Visualization: The Process

1. Visualization

2. Production Design

3. Storyboards

4. Visualization: Tools and Techniques

5. The Production Cycle

PART II Elements of The Continuity Style

6. Composing Shots: Spatial Connections

7. Editing: Temporal Connections

PART III The Workshop

8. The Basics Applied

9. Staging Dialogue Sequences

10. Dialogue Staging with Three Subjects

11. Four or More Player Dialogue Stagings

12. Mobile Staging

13. Depth of the Frame

14. Camera Angles

15. Open and Closed Framings

16. Point of View

PART IV The Moving Camera

17. The Pan

18. The Crane Shot

19. The Tracking Shot

20. Tracking Shot Choreography

21. Transitions

22. Format

23. Parting Shots

Appendix: Camera Angle Projection

Glossary

Recommended Reading

I

INTRODUCTION

t's something of a parodox that film, the art that most resembles our
daydreams, is the one most difficult to bring into existence. After all, we
need only close our eyes and we are in a darkened theater of our own
making, screening the movies we'd like to see for an appreciative
audience—ourselves. Because we suppose our imaginations are naturally
cinematic it is particularly frustrating that we cannot easily commit what

seem like fully formed works of art directly to film. If only we could express
our daydreams as easily as the musician improvises a melody or as the painter
controls color and form on the canvas. Of course it's only an illusion that we
dream in sequences ready for national release. What matters is that while most
artists can easily create works in their respective mediums, accumulating
experience day after day, a filmmaker has difficulty practicing his craft unless
he can afford the considerable expense of film production.

Unfortunately, this is simply beyond the means of most artists. Even in film

schools, most students are lucky to complete two or three 16mm short films in
a period of four years, which means that only a small portion of their time is
spent making films. In the world of mainstream features, screenwriters and
actors who have managed to use their success to leverage a directorial
opportunity would be hard pressed to find another way to gain experience
before taking the reins of a full-scale multi-million dollar movie. This gives
new meaning to the notion of on-the-job training.

In film schools the primary method of teaching is the study of the film

technique of classic films and the styles of famous directors. There are editing
and cinematography courses, but these are largely devoted to technical
processes and procedures. Necessary as these skills are, true hands-on work
and discovery is limited.

This lack of direct experience is perpetuated in mainstream film production

where the primary creative positions—screenwriter, director, cine-
matographer and editor—divide the individual artist's vision into component
parts. There are unavoidable practical reasons for this division of labor, but
the fact that this type of organization exists doesn't mean that the filmmaker
should take management courses instead of learning the subtleties of his craft.
The compartmentalization of image, sound, language and continuity fulfills the
needs of efficiency, but it is a hierarchy that is fundamentally different from the

way in which we visualize. The question is whether the expression of this
organic, unified experience is a single craft or a combination of individual
skills. My answer, and it is a personal view, is that the visualization of shots
and sequences is very much a single craft called shot flow.

Shot by Shot is about shot flow, principally in narrative film, with the goal

of exploring the practical relationship between the three-dimensional reality of
the space in front of the camera and the two-dimensional representation on film
and on the screen. These are the two mediums in which the filmmaker must
work: the set or location, which is a medium in the sense that it is a
consciously manipulated space, and the exposed film, which resembles
traditional materials in the graphic arts.

The basic method used in this book is the side-by-side comparison of

cinematic techniques using illustrated and photographic storyboards. Unlike the
screenplay, which has been studied in depth, the storyboard is one of the least
understood or documented aspects of film production. It is used not only as an
instructional tool in this book but also as a useful technique for filmmakers
who can describe in pictures what the screenplay describes in words. What
you can expect to find in Shot by Shot is the working out of narrative and
visual problems on paper and the basic vocabulary of techniques from which
solutions can be fashioned.

If you have leafed through the book you will have seen the many photo

sequences that seem to present an encyclopedia of staging and narrative
strategies. While I hope these sections are thorough, it would be incorrect to
think of them as compendiums of stock solutions. The reasoning behind
demonstrating so many versions of such familiar strategies as the over-the-
shoulder shot is to accumulate the type of experience that would come from
lining up hundreds of shots and editing dozens of sequences. While there is no
substitute for actual filming, there is also no substitute for working out your
own storyboard, each mode of expression posing a unique and rewarding
challenge to the imagination. In all cases I have critiqued the examples in the
first person, expressing my own opinions rather than stating indisputable facts.
The point of all the examples in the book is to encourage your critical sense, so
that when you step out onto the set and face a complex staging situation you
will have the foundation from which to devise your own solutions.

There are many ways to visualize a film besides storyboarding. Video and

computers are useful alternatives, but the process of putting images together
and working out an idea in successive versions is the best way to develop a