Camera , Sound and Editing

i feel i need a better understanding of some of the elements of film before i can analyse their use in openings, and use them myself in our opening. i am going to look at a few different camera, editing and sound effects and what meaning they give.

the camera

in films and TV there are different things the camera can do that gives us different effects. as well as different shots there are different ways of moving and turning the camera.

• Zoom: The subject is magnified, and attention is concentrated on details. they are not common, but can be very dramatic.
• Following pan: The camera swivels to follow a moving subject.. A pan usually begins and ends with a few seconds of still picture to give greater impact. The speed of a pan across a subject creates a particular mood as well as establishing the viewer's relationship with the subject.
• Surveying pan: The camera slowly searches the scene: may build to a climax or anticlimax.
• Tilt: A vertical movement of the camera - up or down- while the camera mounting stays fixed.
• Crab: The camera moves (crabs) right or left.
• Tracking (dollying): Tracking involves the camera itself being moved smoothly towards or away from the subject. Tracking in draws the viewer into a closer, more intense relationship with the subject; moving away tends to create emotional distance.
• Hand-held camera: A hand-held camera can produce a jerky, bouncy, unsteady image which may create a sense of immediacy or chaos. Its use is a form of subjective treatment.
• Process shot: A shot made of action in front of a rear projection screen having on it still or moving images as a background.

Editing

• Cut: Sudden change of shot from one viewpoint or location to another. On television cuts occur on average about every 7 or 8 seconds.
• Matched cut: In a 'matched cut' a familiar relationship between the shots may make the change seem smooth:
• Jump cut: Switch from one scene to another which may be used deliberately to make a dramatic point. Sometimes boldly used to begin or end action. Alternatively, it may be result of poor pictorial continuity, perhaps from deleting a section.
• Motivated cut: Cut made just at the point where what has occurred makes the viewer immediately want to see something which is not currently visible.
• Cutting rate: Frequent cuts may be used as deliberate interruptions to shock, surprise or emphasize.
• Cutting rhythm: A cutting rhythm may be progressively shortened to increase tension. Cutting rhythm may create an exciting, lyrical or staccato effect in the viewer.
• Cross-cut: A cut from one line of action to another.
• Cutaway/cutaway shot (CA): A bridging intercut shot between two shots of the same subject. It is often used to shortcut the passing of time.
• Reaction shot: Any shot, usually a cutaway, in which a participant reacts to action which has just occurred.
• Insert/insert shot: A bridging close-up shot inserted into the larger context, offering an essential detail of the scene.
• Buffer shot (neutral shot): A bridging shot (normally taken with a separate camera) to separate two shots which would have reversed the continuity of direction.
• Fade, dissolve (mix): Both fades and dissolves are gradual transitions between shots. In a fade the picture gradually appears from (fades in) or disappears to (fades out) a blank screen.
• Superimpositions: Two of more images placed directly over each other (e.g. and eye and a camera lens to create a visual metaphor).
• Wipe: An optical effect marking a transition between two shots.
• Inset: An inset is a special visual effect whereby a reduced shot is superimposed on the main shot. Often used to reveal a close-up detail of the main shot.
• Split screen: The division of the screen into parts which can show the viewer several images at the same time. This can convey the excitement and frenzy of certain activities, but it can also overload the viewer.
• Stock shot: Footage already available and used for another purpose than the one for which it was originally filmed.

Use of Sound

• Direct sound. Live sound. This may have a sense of freshness, spontaneity and 'authentic' atmosphere, but it may not be acoustically ideal.
• Studio sound. Sound recorded in the studio to improve the sound quality, eliminating unwanted background noise ('ambient sound'), e.g. dubbed dialogue. This may be then mixed with live environmental sound.
• Selective sound. The removal of some sounds and the retention of others to make significant sounds more recognizable, or for dramatic effect - to create atmosphere, meaning and emotional nuance. Selective sound (and amplification) may make us aware of a watch or a bomb ticking. This can sometimes be a subjective device, leading us to identify with a character: to hear what he or she hears. Sound may be so selective that the lack of ambient sound can make it seem artificial or expressionistic.
• Sound perspective/aural perspective. The impression of distance in sound, usually created through the use of selective sound. Note that even in live television a microphone is deliberately positioned, just as the camera is, and therefore may privilege certain participants.
• Sound bridge. Adding to continuity through sound, by running sound (narration, dialogue or music) from one shot across a cut to another shot to make the action seem uninterrupted.
• Dubbed dialogue. Post-recording the voice-track in the studio, the actors matching their words to the on-screen lip movements. Not confined to foreign-language dubbing.
• Wildtrack Sound which was self-evidently recorded separately from the visuals with which it is shown. For example, a studio voice-over added to a visual sequence later.
• Parallel sound. Sound 'caused' by some event on screen, and which matches the action.
• Commentary/voice-over narration. Commentary spoken off-screen over the shots shown

mis en scene

mis en scene is everything that is happening inside of the screen, and it used a lot to convey meaning to a scene. it is the most obvious for the audience too. i am going to look at a few, as there are too many to fully explore.

1. the dominant - this is where our eye is attracted to first and can connot alot. the dominant contrast can be shown by lighting, colour, focus etc. something that is dominant in the shot is given high importance and status, if it were a two shot of a male and female, and the male was the dominant, through the use of light and focus, this could connote that males were more important in that context.

2. colour - the use of different colours can apply a mood or tone to a scene, such as dull grey tones giving it a serious, sombre mood. colour can also be used as symbolise, such as excessive used of red connoting agression or violence.

3. position - the position of subjects can give a shot meaning, a circular compositiong suggests security, a vertical one might suggest strength, and a horizontal one might suggest anxiety.

4. framing - a tight framing where the characters fill the frame and there is little room to breathe might suggest confinement, whereas a looser framing, with empty space gives the shot a sense of freedom.

5. depth of field - a single plane in focus, such as the foreground, will isolate objects in the foreground from the rest, whereas a depth of field where all planes are in focus will unite the shot.

6.  character placement - placement in the top third of the shot connotes importance and authority. contrastingly, placement in the bottom third connotes subservience. the middle of the frame will show the character to be the focus of the shot, so connots importance too.


this information has given me a better understanding of the different things i need to consider when making my opening, and will therefore help me to plan, make and direct the opening as i have a better understanding of the different things i can do and the correct terms for it. I am now more aware of the connotations associated with different uses of camera, sound and editing and can therefore apply more meaning to my opening.