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Film Techniques

film-techniques-for-visual-storytelling.

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Starting out - What do you need to think about?

  • Shot Size

  • Composition

  • Camera Position and angle

  • Lens

  • Light and Colour

  • Movement

  • Double check your shot

These are basically the first aspects of cinematography that you will think about or come across. Carry on for techniques about how to address each one.

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The 'One-Person Interview'

This is based on having one main focus, the interviewee, to one side of the screen.

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Placing the person(s) to one side allows the eye to naturally fall upon them, without being distracted by what else is going on.

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Your interview should feel natural, not staged or awkward.

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The person should talk to the interviewer, NOT THE CAMERA

A-Roll and B-Roll Explained

Follow this link for an explaination

Settings

TRY and stick to:

Shutter Speed 1/50 -
If we use 25FPS (frames per second), we double it for our shutter speed....25 X 2 = 50...(1/50 shutter speed)

Aperture Between F6-F9
- Gives the middle ground between light and focus

ISO 400ish
- Any higher and it may become too grainy...any lower and it may become too dark

 

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Shot Size

The sizes of your shot can all tell very different stories. 

Establishing Shot

Shot at the beginning of the scene, usually a wide angle. Sets the scene.

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Medium Shot

Frames the subject from knees up(ish). Splits the difference between establishing and close-up.

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Close-Up Shot

Fills the frame with the subject. Shows the emotion of characters and important or interesting moments.

Here are some more examples

Composition

The composition of a shot can influence the way a scene is felt or looked at. Compositional rules are only GUIDELINES, so they can be broken. They just might help you to establish a scene correctly or get started.

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Here are some examples:

  1. Rule of Thirds

  2. Balance and Symmetry

  3. Leading Lines

  4. Eye-Level framing

  5. Depth of Field

Here are some examples of how these shots are used (In Order):

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Camera Position and Angle

Camera position and angles effect the scene much like the composition. There are many ways to use this to your advantage to benefit the cinematography overall. Here are a few examples:

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Here are some examples:

  1. Eye Level shot

  2. Hip Level Shot

  3. Ground Level Shot

  4. Aerial Shot

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Here are some examples of how these shots are used (In Order):

Lens

The lens choice of cinematography can be very important.

 

It can change the shot from a close up to a wide angle.

 

For this project, think about what each lens can bring to the scene and whether changing them will actually make a difference.

 

You might find out that keeping the same lens all the way through will work much better - The choice is yours!

Light and Colour

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Light and colour can be the key to setting the scene.

Think about Moonrise Kingdom and how this can influence a particular moment in the shot.

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Here are some examples

of how colours and light

can change a
scene:

  • High Key -
    Happiness/Confusion

  • Low Key -
    Darkness/Mystery

  • Red Colours

  • Muted Colours

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