Film Study Notes

Cinematography What is the narrative of the film?  Does the narrative have a clear beginning, middle and end?  What is the goal of the protagonist of the film?  Are there any symbols, images or motifs that define character and theme?  What contrasting messages are presented in the film?  How is the antagonist or villain made to appear attractive or fascinating to the audience?

Character Character…  How is the central character introduced to the audience?  What details are provided in the images that help define the protagonist personality?  Consider props, dialogue, character motivations, music cues.  Are there familiar character types such as “the hero”, “villain”, “cruel villain”, “damsel in distress”etc?

Lighting Lighting creates mood and atmosphere. Questions to ask yourself about lighting include…  What is the purpose of the lighting?  Does the light focus on a character or object? Why? Lighting can be used to conceal or dramatize aspects of character, and action.

Color Color usually will have symbolic and atmospheric purpose. Consider the choices for color.  Note contrasts, tones, where the color is used Color can also help unify a film and create consistency for time periods, and themes.

Editing/Film Shots Editing and film shots are strategies that directors use to help enhance the narrative.  They can create tension.  Further the plot.  Establish setting  Create the perception of a relationship.

Aerial Shot An exterior shot filmed from — hey! — the air. Often used to establish a (usually exotic) location.

Arc Shot A shot in which the subject is circled by the camera.

Bridging Shot A shot that denotes a shift in time or place, like a line moving across an animated map.

Close Up A shot that keeps only the face full in the frame. Perhaps the most important building block in cinematic storytelling.

Long Shot A shot that depicts an entire character or object from head to foot.

Cowboy Shot A shot framed from mid thigh up, so called because of its recurrent use in Westerns.

Deep Focus A shot that keeps the foreground, middle ground and background ALL in sharp focus.

Dutch Tilt A shot where the camera is tilted on its side to create a kooky angle. Often used to suggest disorientation.

Establishing Shot The clue is in the name. A shot, at the head of the scene, that clearly shows the locale the action is set in. Often comes after the aerial shot.aerial shot

Low Angle Shot A shot looking up at a character or subject often making them look bigger in the frame. It can make everyone look heroic and/or dominant. Also good for making cities look empty.

High Angle Shot A shot looking down on a character or subject often isolating them in the frame.

Over-The-Shoulder Shot A shot where the camera is positioned behind one subject's shoulder, usually during a conversation. It implies a connection between the speakers as opposed to the single shot that suggests distance.

Pan A shot where the camera moves continuously right to left or left to right. An abbreviation of "panning". Turns up a lot in car chases.

Related shots spliced together to create relatively quick changes of action that suggest time passing or that describe unified events.

A storyboard for video production is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help directors, cinematographers and television commercial advertising clients visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement. In creating a motion picture with any degree of fidelity to a script, a storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera lens. And in the case of interactive media, it is the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or information. In the storyboarding process, most technical details involved in crafting a film or interactive media project can be efficiently described either in picture, or in additional text.