Film

1. Film The Life of a Film Film Terms and Techniques

2. The Life of a Film • Pre-production (Obtaining / Developing) • Production (Shooting) • Post-production (Editing)

3. Pre-production: the planning stage • Development: person / company buys the rights to a literary work (screenplay or outline) • Scriptwriters are hired to improve the work • Once the owner decides to film… personnel is hired • Director, business manager, talent, talent agents, lighting designers, sound engineers, accountants, special effects coordinators, etc.

4. Production • Dailies: the day’s (or night’s) shooting • Each night the director and staff review the dailies • Problems: bad weather, talent forgetting lines, technical glitches (ie. Uncontrollable outside noise or equipment malfunction) • Music is composed and recorded (The Score) • Computer generated special effects designed • Publicity strategies are mapped out

5. Post-production: Editing • Splicing: film is cut and arranged • Director and editor must decide on the order of the shots • Transition techniques: • Cut – piece of film literally cut and spliced to another piece of film • Dissolve – current shot gets lighter and fades away while the next shot appears and gradually takes over the screen

6. Adding Sound • Ambient sounds: sounds that occur naturally in the course of a scene’s action • Looping: actors watch themselves on a small screen in a recording studio and speak their lines; they’re lip-syncing with themselves • The Score

7. Promotion and Distribution • Trailers: coming attractions • Print ads: Advertisements appearing in newspapers and magazines • Posters • Previews

8. Film Terms and Techniques Cinematography: how the film was photographed

9. Cinematography • Frame: an individual picture, or exposure, on a strip of film. Film passes through camera at 24 frames per second (fps) • Shot: the basic unit of film; any continuous piece of unedited film (average length is 20 –30 seconds long) • Scene: a group of interrelated shots taking place in the same location • Sequence: a group of interrelated scenes that form a natural unit in the story. For example, an elevator scene, a fight scene, and a car chase may all be part of an escape sequence.

10. Distance • Long Shot (LS): shows the main visual subject of the shot in its entire surroundings (ex: a swimmer in a public pool showing the entire pool) ; also called ‘establishing shot’ • Extreme Long Shot (ELS): For example, a shot taken from a helicopter • Medium Shot (MS): shows the main subject in its immediate surroundings (ex: the swimmer in the pool with only a portion of the pool visible • Close-up (CU): shows just the main subject (ex: only the swimmer is visible) • Extreme Close-up (ECU): For example, just the swimmer’s face

11. Establishing Shot (or Extreme Long Shot) • Shot taken from a great distance, almost always an exterior shot, shows much of locale • ELS Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom

12. Long Shot (LS) • (A relative term) A shot taken from a sufficient distance to show a landscape, a building, or a large crowd Austin Powers and the Spy Who Shagged Me

13. Medium Shot (MS) • (Also relative) a shot between a long shot and a close-up that might show two people in full figure or several people from the waist up The Talented Mr. Ripley

14. Close-Up (CU) • A shot of a small object or face that fills the screen • Adds importance to object photographed Under Pressure

15. Extreme Close-Up (ECU) • A shot of a small object or part of a face that fills the screen Rocky Horror Picture Show The Saint In London

16. Over the Shoulder Shot • Usually contains two figures, one with his/her back to the camera, and the other facing the camera Hollow Man Cast Away

17. Angle • Low angle (LA): camera is lower than the subject and looks up at the subject (makes the subject look powerful) • Extreme low angle (ELA): camera is directly below the subject looking straight up at it

18. Low Angle (l/a) • Camera is located below subject matter • Increases height and powerof subject The Patriot

19. Angle (continued) • Flat angle (FA): camera is at the same level as the subject (eye-level shot); these are neutral shots and don’t convey any particular sense about the strength or weakness of the subject. • High angle (HA): camera is higher than the subject and looks down at the subject; makes the subject look inferior and insignificant – conveys weakness and / or defeat • Extreme high angle (EHA): camera is directly above the subject looking straight down at it

20. “Eye-Level” • Roughly 5 to 6 feet off the ground, the way an actual observer might view a scene • Most common

21. High Angle (h/a) • Camera looks down at what is being photographed • Takes away power of subject, makes it insignificant • Gives a general overview Without Limits

22. Bird’s Eye View • Camera is placed directly overhead • Extremely disorienting • Viewer is godlike Beverly Hills Girl Scouts

23. Oblique Angle • Lateral tilt of the camera sothat figures appear to befalling out of the frame • Suggests tensionand transition • Sometimes used asthe point of viewof a drunk The Matrix

24. Movement • Pan: camera remains in place but swivels from side to side; used to survey a scene or capture horizontal motion (example – camera is located in the middle bleacher section, pan left as the swimmer passes by in the pool)

25. Movement • Track: entire camera actually moves to the left or right, also capturing horizontal movement. • Motion of the camera is parallel to the motion of the subject.

26. Movement • Zoom: camera remains in place, but the lens of the camera is manipulated to create the appearance of moving closer or farther away from the subject; used for dramatic effect • Dolly: camera moves toward or away from the subject; differs from a zoom in that it leaves more of the background visible than the zoom

27. Movement • Tilt: camera remains in place but pivots up or down; gives the viewer a trip up or down a building, person, or other vertical object • Boom: camera, usually mounted on a crane or hydraulic arm, moves up or down; can also move sideways while moving up and down

28. Movement • Subjective: camera shows what the character sees • The camera is meant to take the place of the character’s eyes. Subjective shots often are not perfectly smooth; they might bounce up and down a little to show that the character whom we’re seeing through is walking (also known as point of view [POV])

29. Point of View (POV) • A shot taken from the vantage point a particular character, or what a character sees

30. Getting from Scene to Scene

31. Cut • Transition between scenes when one scenes ends and another one begins • Most common

32. Dissolve • A gradual transition in which the end of one scene is superimposed over the beginning of a new one.

33. Fade-out/Fade in • A scene gradually goes dark or a new one gradually emerges from darkness

34. Wipe • An optical effect in which one shot appears to push appears to push the preceding one from the screen.

35. Iris • An optical effect in which one shot appears to emerge from a shape on the screen.