Research: Cinematography?- Ms Begum

What is cinematography?:

The term Cinematography is a word often associated with film making and motion pictures, usually shortened to '' Film. '' The word origin is from two Greek words Kinema which means movement and Graphein which means to record.

Cinematography looks at Different angles of a framed shot and also the movement of the camera. The audience will then build up a better opinion of the character and respond in different ways

Different Terms:

There are many different terms used in modern day movies these days a Panning shot is used most commonly; a panning shot is where the camera moves across the scenery showing whats in view, this term is often used in films or TV shows to follow where someone is walking. Panning shot allows the audience to see what kind of environment the character is in, The Video below is an example of a panning shot. For example below: 1 minute and 23 seconds in to the clip, spiderman is seen within a panning shot.

 

The Amazing Spiderman

Another term used is a Tilt shot where the camera moves up or down at an object being photographed or a movie scene, instead of being on the same level. Tilt shots are often used to be more dramatic than a normal straight shot. For example, if someone is running up stairs of a huge building a tilt shot will be used in a situation as that to show the audience how far he will have to go. The use of a tilt shot can influence how the audience will interpret the situation the character may be in.

                                                    Tilt shot animation

A Crane shot, is a dolly shot but airborne. A crane is a large, piece of heavy equipment which is useful for moving left, right, up, down, zooming in on something or zooming out diagonally. The camera man and the camera itself is counter-balanced by heavy weights to avoid injuries to the camera man. If a crane shot is of a character or the people around the character it can make them seem insignificant and meaningless to the audience for example crane shots are often used in action films where the main character is walking through a crowd of people.

The Matrix

Moving on Zoom shots are often used to capture emotion in a characters face, or to get away from something by zooming out. Zoom shots can decide the audience's feeling for example a long shot of a person lying unconscious wont have the same effect as it would if the body was shown close up as the cause would be evident and the damage would be visible.
                                          The Amazing Spiderman              

 

The Point of view is in other words known as 1st person where it looks like its from a personal view. Point of view thriller scenes which have a Protagonist for example about to open a door or walk around a corner will often have low-key lighting setting and fast pace music to create tension and suspense among the audience. This will also make the audience put themselves in that particular situation or imagine that happening to them etc.

                                         The Amazing Spiderman

Different camera shots:

Close Up

- This shows very little background and mainly concentrates on a face or a very detailed mise-en-scene which could be a object. Close ups magnifies the object or an expression on a person by doing this close ups 

takes us into the mind of the character and shows us how their feeling or what they could be thinking.

Harry potter 7

 

Extreme Close up

- Extreme close up is used to emphasize a facial feature, emotion or movement. For example a extreme close-up of a face for instance will show the mouth or eyes with little background detail The image below is an example of a close up, the audience can interpret the characters facial expressions and emotions as sometimes extreme close ups are there to tell the audience something has happened etc.

Harry Potter 7

 

Mid Shot

-  A mid-shot is a shot of a character from the knees/waist up, most mid shots are normally used to show some detail of action. A mid shot could be to show the body and facial expressions of a character in order to show their emotions or their injuries e.g a gunshot wound etc.

 

Batman- The Dark Knight

Long Shot

- a long shot is a shot that shows the full size image of the character from head to toes. it doesn't necessary have to be a character for example, a movie could have a long shot of the earth which then zooms out into the universe or zooms into someones head etc. Long shots allow the audience to see the character and and where he is standing e.g. surroundings/ scenery

Batman- The Dark Knight

High Angle

-This is not a bird's eye view, high angle shots are taken when the camera is elevated above the character using a crane to give the audience a general overview. High angles make the objects/characters less significant or less scary all though in some cases this has the reverse effect.

Fight Club

 

Low Angle

- Low angles are useful as they increase the height of a character and gives of a sense of authority. Low angles can also give of a sense of confusion and powerlessness to the audience within the action of a scene. The background of all low angles tend to be the sky/ ceiling as they all lack detail adding to the disorientation.

Batman- The Dark Knight

 

Filming Techniques:

Hand Held

- The camera moves with the person as the camera is hand held. Hand held cameras are often used in budget/amateur movie clips such as a school project. The audience may not like this as the camera operation could have shaky hands and ruin a good scene. Such as the film entitled 'The Blair Witch project', this film was filmed using a hand held camera.

 

                                                              The Blair Witch Project

                           

 

 

I was able to learn the combinations of different camera features and how i can get the most out of a shot using different techniques; this will help me when creating my own short thriller scene. I  have also learned the origin of the name cinematography which is in fact from Greece. When doing my own thriller i will be using a lot of theses new techniques I've learned and develop my skills which will enable me to make my thriller to be of a high standard.

In my thriller i plan to use shots such as the long shot, zoom shot, a mid shot a close up and an extreme close up. However we may decide to use other shots or not use the same ones I have picked out.