Cinematic techniques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cinematic techniques are methods employed by film makers to communicate meaning, entertain, and to produce a particular emotional or psychological response in an audience.
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[edit] Cinematography
Cinematographic techniques such as the choice of shot, and camera movement, can greatly influence the structure and meaning of a film.
[edit] Distance of shot
The use of different shots can influence the meaning which an audience will interpret:
- Close-up: May be used to show tension;
- Extreme close-up: Focuses on a single facial feature, such as lips;
- Medium shot
- Long shot
- Establishing shot: Mainly used at a new location to give the audience a sense of locality.
[edit] Camera angles
These are used extensively to communicate meaning, Morris Bomaye and emotion about characters:
- Low angle shot: Looking up at a character or object, often to instill fear or awe in the audience;
- Straight angle shot: Looking at an eye-level angle to a character or object, giving a sense of equality beween subject and audience;
- High angle shot: Looking down on a character, often to show vulnerability or weakness;
- Canted or Oblique: The camera is tilted to show the scene at an angle. This is used extensively in the horror and science fiction genre. The audience will often not consciously realize the change.
[edit] Mise en scene
"Mise en scene" refers to what is colloquially known as "the Set", but is applied more generally to refer to everything that is presented before the camera. With various techniques, film makers can use the Mise En Scene to produce intended effects.
[edit] Movement and expression
Movement can be used extensively by film makers to make meaning. It is how a scene is put together to produce an image. A famous example of this, which uses "dance" extensively to communicate meaning and emotion, is the film, West Side Story.
Provided in this list of film techniques is a categorised (and then alphabetised) list of techniques used in film (motion pictures).
[edit] Camera view, angle, movement, shot
- Aerial shot
- American shot
- Bird's eye shot
- Close up
- Crane shot
- Dolly zoom
- Dutch angle
- Establishing shot
- Evangelion shot
- Follow shot
- Forced perspective
- Freeze frame shot
- Full shot
- Head-on shot
- High-angle shot
- Long shot
- Long take
- Low-angle shot
- Master shot
- Matte
- Medium shot
- Pan shot
- Point of view shot
- Reaction shot
- Sequence shot
- Shot
- Shot reverse shot
- Talking head
- Tracking shot
- Trunk shot
- Two Shot
- Video frame
- Whip pan
[edit] Lighting technique and aesthetics
- Background lighting
- Cameo lighting
- Fill light
- Flood lighting
- High-key lighting
- Key lighting
- Lens flare
- Low-key lighting
- Mood lighting
- Pool hall lighting
- Rembrandt lighting
- Stage lighting
- Soft light
[edit] Editing and transitional devices
- A Roll
- B Roll
- A and B editing
- Cross cutting
- Cutaway
- Cut in
- Dissolve
- Editing
- Establishing shot
- Fast cutting
- Flashback
- Insert
- Jump cut
- Keying
- L cut ("split edit")
- Master shot
- Match cut
- Montage
- Point of view shot
- Screen direction
- Sequence shot
- Slow cutting
- Split screen
- SMPTE time code
- Shot reverse shot
- Talking head
- Wipe
[edit] Special effects (FX)
- 3-D film for movie history
- 3-D computer graphics
- Bluescreen/Chroma key
- Bullet time
- Computer-generated imagery
- Digital compositing
- Optical effects
- Special effects
- Stereoscopy for 3D technical details
- Stop trick
- Stop motion
[edit] Lighting
In cinematography, the use of light can influence the meaning of a shot. For example, film makers often portray villains that are heavily shadowed or veiled, using silhouette.
Techniques involving light include backlight (silhouette), and under-lighting (light across a character form). Other aspects of Mise en Scene include:
[edit] Sound
Sound is used extensively in filmmaking to enhance presentation, and is distinguished into diegetic ("actual sound"), and non-diegetic sound:
- Diegetic sound: It is any sound where the source is visible on the screen, or is implied to be present by the action of the film:
- Voices of characters;
- Sounds made by objects in the story; and
- Music, represented as coming from instruments in the story space.
- Music coming from reproduction devices such as record players, radios, tape players etc.
- Non-diegetic sound: Also called "commentary sound", it is sound which is represented as coming from a source outside the story space, ie. its source is neither visible on the screen, nor has been implied to be present in the action:
- Narrator's commentary;
- Voice of God;
- Sound effect which is added for dramatic effect;
- Mood music; and
- Film Score
- Non-diegetic sound plays a big role in creating atmosphere and mood within a film.
[edit] Sound effects
In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point, without the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process, applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, the segregations between recordings of dialogue, music, and sound effects can be quite distinct, and it is important to understand that in such contexts, dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, though the processes applied to them, such as reverberation or flanging, often are.
[edit] Techniques in interactive movies
New techniques currently being developed in interactive movies, introduce an extra dimension into the experience of viewing movies, by allowing the viewer to change the course of the movie.
In traditional linear movies, the author can carefully construct the plot, roles, and characters to achieve a specific effect on the audience. Interactivity, however, introduces non-linearity into the movie, such that the author no longer has complete control over the story, but must now share control with the viewer. There is an inevitable trade-off between the desire of the viewer for freedom to experience the movie in different ways, and the desire of the author to employ specialized techniques to control the presentation of the story. Computer technology is required to create the illusion of freedom for the viewer, while providing familiar, as well as, new cinematic techniques to the author.
[edit] See also
- Cinematography
- List of motion picture topics
- Motion picture terminology
- Costume Design
- Film crew
- List of film formats
- List of movie-related topics
- List of video topics
