Excerpted and adapted from Reading in the Dark, John Golden; Reel Conversations, Alan Teasley, Ann Wilder; Looking at Movies, Richard Barsam and Dave Monahan; Shakespeare and Film, Samuel Crowl; Great Films and How to Teach Them, William Costanzo; Anatomy of Film, Bernard F. Dick; Shakespeare on Film, Carolyn Jess-Cooke; Reading Shakespeare Film First, Mary Ellen Dakin.
CAMERA SHOTS Long shot: A shot taken from some distance; shows the full subject and perhaps the surrounding scene as well. An aerial shot is filmed from a crane or an aircraft. Extreme Long shot: Taken from a great distance with a wide view. The subject may be too small to be recognized. An ELS is called an establishing shot when it defines the location. Medium shot: In-between LS and CS; people are seen from the waist up. Close-up: A single image takes up most of the screen; for example, an actor’s face. Extreme Close-up: A very close shot of a small detail that fills a screen; for example, an eye.
CAMERA ANGLES Low angle: Camera is below the subject; usually has the effect of making the subject look larger than normal. High angle: Camera is above the subject; usually has the effect of making the subject look smaller than normal. Eye level: Accounts for 90 to 95 percent of the shots seen because it is most natural; camera is even with the key character’s eyes. Overhead: The camera looks down on the subject from a fixed location directly above.
CAMERA MOVEMENT Pan: The horizontal movement left or right of a stationary camera mounted on a tripod. Tilt: The vertical movement up or down of a stationary camera mounted on a tripod. Dolly: The camera is moving with the action – on a track, on wheels, or held by hand. Zoom: The camera is stationary but the lens shifts, making the image appear to grow larger or smaller. A slam zoom is shot at high speed. Handheld: Small portable cameras that produce the shaky images associated with news footage.
EDITING The most common is a Cut to another image. Others are: Fade: Scene fades to black or white; often implies that time has passed. Dissolve: An image fades into another; can create a connection between images. Wipe: A line moves across the screen, literally wiping one shot and replacing it with another. Crosscut: Cutting to different action that is happening simultaneously; also called parallel editing.
SOUND Vocal: Dialogue (ordinary speech or theatrical), on-screen narration, and on- or off-screen voices (vocal sound produced by a large group of people). A voice-over (V/O) is off-camera narration by a character who is not in the scene, a narrator who is not a character, or a commentator. Environmental: Background sounds and noise that are natural to the setting and the action, though they may be produced artificially as sound effects to intensify the impact. Music: Can be any combination of classical or modern, and played by characters and objects in the film or by off-screen musicians, bands, and orchestras. Music contributes to the tone, mood, and themes of a film and can contribute to characterization. Silence: the absence of sound, which can have an unsettling effect on the audience. Silence in a film reinforces the importance of images.
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