Introduction to Cinematography BSA 101 (Intro To Film) Week 3

This week we looked at the basics of cinematography, from shots types to the rule of thirds:

Shot types:

  

The Extreme Wide Shot: Often seen used as an establishing shot, the extreme wide is recorded far away from the subject, giving a picture of the larger surrounding area. Normally an exterior shot, this may be the outside of a building or an entire cityscape.

Inglorious Basterds (Richardson, R. 2009)

Lawrence of Arabia (Young, F. 1962)

The Wide Shot: This type of shot usually shows the entire object or human figure, it is typically used to place the subject in its' environment.

Inception (Pfister, W. 2010)

Lawrence of Arabia (Young, F. 1962)

The Long Shot: Like the Wide Shot, The Long Shot has the subject or object fully in frame, but it's closer to the subject with less of the environment in frame and less head room. It is also known as the 'Full Shot'. 

Django Unchained (Richardson, R. 2012)

La La Land (Sandgren, L. 2016)

The Mid-Long Shot: Also known as 'The American', this shot became popular because of it's use in spaghetti westerns where the characters wore guns on their hips. Generally accepted that this shot cuts of at the knee.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (Colli, T. 1966)

   The Medium Shot: Also known as the mid-shot, shot from the waist up.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Lesnie, A. 2012) 

La La Land (Sandgren, L. 2016)

The Mid Close-Up: Half way between a close up and a medium shot, the MCU shows 1/3 of the subject. Cuts off at the nips. 

 The Tree of Life (Lubezki, E. 2011)

True Grit (Deakins, R. 2010)

The Close-Up: Used to show the whole face of the subject, the face fills the entire frame emphasizing the performance. This can also be used to focus on specific objects or details. The subjects exits the frame at the head and at the collar bone. Some filmmakers cut the top of the head off, but many dislike this technique.

The Revenant (Lubezki, E. 2015) 

Pulp Fiction (Sekula, A. 1996)

The Big Close-Up: Another favourite of the Spaghetti western genre, it cuts the top and bottom of the head, filling the frame completely with the subject's face.

2001: A Space Oddysey (Unsworth, G & Alcott, J. 1968)

Once Upon a Time in the West (Colli, T. 1968)

The Extreme Close-Up: A shot that focuses on one very specific object or detail, similar to macro photography the small detail fills the frame and becomes the main focus.

Pulp Fiction (Sekula, A. 1996) 

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (Colli, T. 1966)

Rule of Thirds: Split into nine equally sized segments, the rule of thirds is a guideline to achieve more pleasing compositions. The theory being that a more interesting image will be created if the main elements align with the nine intersections.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (Colli, T. 1966)

The Fibonacci sequence: Also known as the golden ratio, this naturally recurring pattern is automatically appealing to the human eye - because of this artists have used it as a reference for their work.