Hi,
This weeks lecture was all about shots and frames seen in films and television, which I found really fascinating especially when I began relating this information to the epic historical films made of late.
First we learnt about shot sizes, and I immediately recognised the Very Long Shot. It is used in pretty much all films, especially historical films. It helps to set the scene, and gives information to the viewer about the situation or place the protagonists are in. Extreme Close Ups and Big Close ups are not as popular (as far as I've noticed) in modern historical films because the filmmakers often show how large and dramatic battle is, but not nearly as often focus on the inner workings of a character (The Queen is an obvious exception, however the historical films I will generally be discussing are more action and battled based).
In the lecture we learnt about relating shot sizes to words: who, where, what, why, when and how. 'Who', 'where' and 'what' are the most easiest to visualise and they related to the Close Up shot, the Long Shot, and the Mid Shot respectively. 'Why' is generally a Big Close Up, zoning in onto something much more specific about a character or action. 'When' can related to a variety of different shots, as visual representations of time can vary. Often in historical films, there will be a variety of long shots showing a bustling city, party or area where the dress and characteristics of the actors are very different to today. This helps set the time period of the film. In other cases, like the image used in the lecture notes, the filmmaker could use an Extreme Close Up on a clock. 'How' is generally more specific; the shot needs to be at least a Mid Shot, but often a Close Up, to inform and answer questions about 'how'.
We learnt about the 180 degree rule. If you imagine a line between two conversing actors and begin filming from one side of the line, you can not cross the threshold onto the other side of the line. This looks jarring on screen, and makes it hard for the viewer to believe the situation is real.
We also learnt about shots that are put in between action sequences to further provide information. These could be shots of text or items, however they are not usually characters (one notable exception is The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, when Benjamin Buttons is narrating a scene with various inter-connecting characters. The shots regularly cut away from a character and move to another. This continues and repeats itself).
The idea of head room and talking room was also discussed; we need a balanced head room so the character doesn't look too big or small. We need to have a character with an even amount of space while talking to another character, because subconciously, if they are too far away or too close to the edge of the frame, the viewer doesn't believe the character is speaking to someone.
The rule of thirds was something I had heard of, but I never really knew what it was. It's when the frame is divided into thirds horizontally and vertically, resulting in criss-crossing lines. The subject of the frame should overlap one or two of the intersections. This creates a balanced shot.
That pretty much sums up our Week 2 lecture! Our Tute*Spark this week was to discuss how different mediums effect our viewing experiences. We were advised to watch TV and movies and compare how shots and framing varied.
I didn't watch any movies last night, but from what I remember, when the character is right in the middle of the frame, they seem isolated or alone. On television however, we often see news readers and TV hosts right in the middle of the frame. In live television, shot lengths don't have the same amount of variety as films or telivision series'. For example the 7pm Project, apart from an establishing long shot at the beginning of show, and a closing one at the end, is made up of only Mid Shots and Close Ups. Also on TV, I haven't seen many Extreme Close Ups. On shows like Neighbours and Home and Away, 'when' is not an extremely relevant question (who could forget on the Bold and The Beautiful when a character aged 12 years in two months worth of episodes). In films, 'when' is a much more vital question as often the characters are driven to achieve a goal by some sort of deadline (Jack and Rose need to get off Titanic before it sinks!!).
That's my response to this weeks Tute*Spark!
Thanks for reading,
Emily
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