Cinematography

Cinematography - Use Of The Camera

In the early days of cinema a camera was connected to a tripod stand to record. This is called a fixed camera. This meant it created an effect like going to a theatre, it would all be shown from one position and constantly in long shot, so that all of the set and characters were visible to everyone in the audience.

   As techniques progressed, film makers began to try different experiments such as moving the camera around creating a range of shots. This eventually led to certain conventions such as the use of a close up used for showing facial expressions to convey emotion or focus the audience on a particular thing.

                                                         Camera Framing

When speaking about camera framing we focus on what we actually see inside the frame of the screen. We concentrate on the distance of the camera from the object or character and from what angle the shot is taken.

The different shots include:

Close Up (CU)

Extreme Close Up (ECU)

Mid-shot (MS)

Long Shot (LS)

Extreme Long Shot / Establishing Shot (ELS)

Point Of View (POV)

High Angle

Low Angle

Over the Shoulder Shot (OSS)

Camera Movement

When the camera moves from a fixed position.

 These movements include:

Pan - when the camera rotates from left to right or vice versa.

Tilt - when the camera 'tilts' up and down.

Dutch Tilt - when the camera 'tilts' on an angle to give a disorientating effect.

Zoom - when the camera remains still but the focus is adjusted to move either towards or away from the object.

Reverse Zoom - when the camera focus zooms in whilst the camera moves out or vice versa.

Free-Form Camera Movement

When the camera is free to move around the set/location.

These Movements include:

Track - when the camera moves fluidly on a set of tracks in a certain direction.

Dolly - when the camera is on wheels so can be moved in any direction.

Crane - when the camera is placed on a large crane arm that enables it to move around the set with ease. It also allows the camera to move quickly between different heights.

Rolling - when the camera moves diagonally, making the image askew.

Handheld - when the camera is held in a hand and can therefore move in any direction. The result is usually a very shaky picture.

Steadicam - when the camera is worn on a weighted harness to keep it still and balanced, whilst allowing the freedom of handheld filmin