Cinematography (Presentation) Author Ms. Jones

Cinematography
Film Study 1 – Ms. Jones

From Looking at Movies by Barsam and Monahan
What is cinematography?
• Cinematography is the process of capturing moving images on film or a

digital storage device.
• The word comes to us from three Greek roots—kinesis, meaning
“movement”; photo, meaning “light”; and graphia, meaning “writing”—but
the word was coined only after motion pictures themselves were invented.
The Director of Photography
• “…representing the mise-en-scene on film or video.”
• “the director of photography is the primary person responsible for
transforming the other aspects of moviemaking into moving images.”
• Story/screenplay Director Cinematographer (DP)
Shot, Take, Setup
• The three key terms used in shooting a movie are shot, take, and setup.
• Shot – one uninterrupted run of the camera
• Take – refers to the number of times a particular shot is taken
• Setup – one camera position and everything associated with it
Production Process
• The cinematographer’s responsibilities for each shot and setup (as well as
for each take) fall into four broad categories:
• Cinemagraphic properties of the shot (film stock, lighting, lenses)
• Framing the shot (proximity to the camera, depth, camera angle and height, scale,
camera movement)
• Speed and length of the shot
• Special effects
Lighting (Review)
• Source
• Natural and/or Artificial
• Quality
• Hard or Soft
• Direction
• Three-point Lighting (key, fill, back)
• Color
• The human eye is different than a camera
Back Light picks out subject from its background
Fill Light from the opposite

side ensures the key light Key Light highlights the object
only casts faint shadows
Lenses
• Short-focal-length lens (aka wide-angle lens, starting at 12.5mm)
• Makes objects look further away than they actually are
• Movement from background to foreground may appear faster
• Long-focal-length lens (aka telephoto lens, range from 85mm-500mm)
• Makes objects look closer (or flatter) than they actually are
• Middle-focal-length lens (aka normal lens, range from 35mm-50mm)
• Zoom Lens (aka variable focal-length lens)
Lenses
• Depth of Field
• Cinematography must decide what planes or areas of the image will be in focus
• Short-focal-length lens permit many or all planes to be in focus
• Rack Focus (shift focus, select focus, pull focus)
• Shifting focus from one plane to another
• https://youtu.be/NRMUbjI3grY
Framing the Shot
• Aspect Ratios
• 1.33:1 Academy
(35mm flat)
• 1.85 American
Widescreen (35mm
flat)
• 2.2:1
Superpanovision
(70mm flat)
• 2.35:1 Panavision
and CinemaScope
(35mm anamorphic)
• 2.75:1 Ultra
Panavision (70mm
anamorphic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CgrMsjGk7k
Framing the Shot
• Shot Types
• Extreme long shot (XLS or ELS), long shot (LS), medium long shot (MLS), medium shot
(MS), medium close-up (MCU), close-up (CU), extreme close-up (XCU or ECU)
• Two-shot or three-shot
• Draw an example of each shot on a separate sheet of paper
Long Shot
Medium Long Shot
Extreme Long Shot

Medium Shot
Medium Close-Up
Close-Up
Extreme Close-Up
Medium Long Shot
Medium Close-Up
Extreme Long Shot
Extreme Close-Up Long Shot
Close-Up
Medium Shot
Rule of Thirds
180 Degree Rule
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bba7raSvvRo
Camera Angle and Height
• Eye Level
• High-angle shot
• Low-angle shot
• Dutch-angle shot
• Aerial-view shot
• bird’s-eye-view shot
Camera Movement
• Pan shot
• Tilt shot
• Dolly or Tracking shot
• Crane or Boom Shot
• Zoom
• “vertigo shot”
• Handheld camera
• Steadicam
POV
• Omniscient
• Single Character
• Group
Speed
• Slow motion https://youtu.be/R6f8z9pBvfo
• Fast motion https://youtu.be/XPxmlKjKLSQ

Length of a Shot
• Long take https://youtu.be/OJEEVtqXdK8

• Short take
An average shot is about 10 – 12 seconds. A long take is anywhere from 1 – 10 mins.

Special Effects (SPFX or FX)
• Until the 1960s: • Post 1960s:

• In-camera effects • All old effects plus…
• Mechanical effects • Computer-Generated Imagery
• Laboratory effects (CGI)
How much do you see??
• Movie Trailer

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Cinematography

Film Study 1 – Ms. Jones

• Cinematography is the process of capturing moving images on film or a

Fill Light from the opposite

Medium Long Shot

Extreme Long Shot

• Slow motion https://youtu.be/R6f8z9pBvfo

• Fast motion https://youtu.be/XPxmlKjKLSQ

• Long take https://youtu.be/OJEEVtqXdK8

An average shot is about 10 – 12 seconds. A long take is anywhere from 1 – 10 mins.

• Until the 1960s: • Post 1960s:

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