Friday 30th September
LO: to understand and practice using the principles of film making.
shot type
shot sizes, m tone meaning
establishing shot crucial
master shot confirms location and characters in scene, their relationships
used for longer scenes
wide shot (ws) visually represent their relationship in their environment
long shot to show people in full, make statements in all their glory
medium full/ medium long shot top of the subjects head to the waist present subject as confident and confrontational
medium short, above the waist below the waist, above their chest, just above the head utilise a true middle ground approach
MCU medium close up, reduce distraction get intimate with a character head to chest
close up (cu) highlight a change in emotion in a dramatic scene dramatically effective
Extreme close up shot, focus on a features, emphasis,
insert shot, used to highlight an important object
framing
singles, feature s on e character, primary focus used to convey a characters isolation
two shot, both faces must be visible, visual relationship between two characters
three shot, four shot...
over the shoulder hybrid of single and two shot, focus on one character at a time, perspective on both sides
pov , pov shot with pov audio
insert shot detail, way information is framed is more important
camera angle
low angle, below a subject eye line, make subject more powerful
high angle makes a subject look less powerful, diminish a character, appear weak. environments, cities, landscapes
overhead camera directly above the subject, capture details
dutch angle off kilter image sense of unease, terror or bewilderment, magnify tension,
eye level,
shoulder level, slightly low angles but less dramatic emphasise a hight difference, can also advance an affectionate glance
hip level,
knee level shot, at knee height, doubling a slow angles
ground level, to track a characters movements,
camera movement
"Not quite my tempo" Whiplash scene
in this scene Fletcher is getting Andrew to play the drums instead of the core drummer, the music keeps cutting which shows how aggravated Fletcher is becoming, because it's not the tempo he was looking for. This also shows that Fletcher is in control. Not just in the room, but in the film as well. Fletcher raises his hand to stop the band, however this motion causes a cut from the camera as well.
These are subtle film making ways to build power with Fletcher. Stop after stop diffuses his reaction but not his power. His soft demeanour is coming in contrast to the power he is wielding. We see eight of those stopping motions, and it makes you tired until you get Fletcher bopping his head and turning around only to throw a chair at Andrew.
The tone has shifted entirely. Before Fletcher threw the chair, we were getting typical shots, single shots primarily of both characters. and the way you frame these shots, is so that way the characters heads are roughly the same size. After Fletcher throws the chair, we get a side profile shot of disbelief focused on Andrew, but Fletcher still shown in a medium shot
.These characters are not on equal basis now. The angle and size difference of these shots now show the superiority.
Until the action finally tilts forward now we see them both in the same shot (a two shot). When Andrew is told to count in tempo and gets slapped in the face by Fletcher, there's a cut on every hit. Since the camera is jumping to the other side of the characters, it looks like a back and fourth motion (to me its almost like a seesaw).
When asked rushing or dragging, the shot changes, they're now at a hybrid single shot at a low angle to make Fletcher look more powerful.
Then we come back to that earlier profile with the next shot. In conclusion the scene keeps building tension to give you the same kind of feeling that Andrew is feeling throughout that whole scene.
Not quite my tempo scene
