Before pupils start making their own films it’s important to look at how other people do it. Look at short sections (no more that a minute or two long): opening sequences, key scenes, television advertisements or trailers.
Reading Films in the Classroom - Introduction
Moving image sequences build up in a number of ways, and it is a good idea to look at each of these separately. The following pages outline the technical elements that need to be considered when making a movie. After considering these you make like to try out the following activity:
Activity 1: Compare a couple of short clips
| The whole sequence ▪ How long is the sequence? ▪ How many separate shots are in it Individual shots (use the pause button) Look at everything you can see in a shot and describe it. Now describe what kind of shot it is using the right technical terms if you can. Think about the following: ▪ Framing ▪ Lens ▪ Camera Position ▪ Camera Movement ▪ Lighting & Colour Why has the shot been filmed in this way? What does it tell us about: ▪ The characters ▪ The setting ▪ The story? How are the shots connected together (editing) ▪ Is the editing fast or slow? ▪ Does it speed up? ▪ How are the shots joined together – with cuts or transitions? ▪ If there are transitions, why have these been used? ▪ Does the sequence show action that seems to be continuous (‘continuity editing’)? ▪ Or does it link to a series of different images to build up an impression (‘montage’)? ▪ If it’s a ‘continuity editing’ sequence, is it all set in one place, or in two places where things are going on at the same time? (‘cross-cutting’) |
Effects Are there any special effects – special colours, sepia, black-and-white, computer graphics? Why? Titles and Text Are there any words on the screen? If so, what style of type is used? What does it suggest? Sound You can try playing the sequence without the sound to see what difference it makes. The try playing different music. You can also start by covering the screen and listening to the music first: ▪ What can you hear? ▪ What sort of images would you expect? ▪ What type of film do you think it is? ▪ If there’s music, what kind of music and how does it make you feel? ▪ If there a voices, what sort of person is talking? ▪ If there is natural sound, what is it? Characters In an opening sequence, which features several characters, you can look at what the sequence tells us about the character. Each group could discuss a different character. You can consider all the things above and also things like: ▪ What are they wearing? ▪ Are they big or tall, fat or thin, rich or poor? ▪ How are they speaking? ▪ What are they doing? ▪ How do they behave towards other people, and how do other people behave towards them? What kind of place are they in? |
Reading Films in the Classroom – Technical Information
Camera
| Framing: Very long shot/wide shot
Long shot Mid or medium shot Medium close up Close up Big close up Extreme close-up |
A shot in which people appear small in the landscape. This is often used at the start of a film as an ‘establishing shot’ so that the audience knows where everything is happening. It can also be used to make a person look small and isolated. A shot in which a person can be seen from head to toe. This includes a person from about their head to their waist. In a mid shot, you can easily recognise an individual but you can also see what they are doing with their hands. From chest to head Head and shoulders only, so you can easily show the expression on the face. Head only. This is used when the expression is really important. From just above the eyebrows to just below the mouth, or even closer. This shows what a person is thinking or feeling. It can also make them seem threatening. |
| Other useful terms for shots: Point of view shot Reaction shot |
A shot from a characters point of view. A shot showing a character’s expression as they react to something. |
| Examples |
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| Wide shot
Long shot |
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| Medium shot
Close up |
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| Lens: Wide angled shot
Zoom lens |
The ‘angle of view’ of the lens is also important: This seems to make perspective more obvious. It is often used to make the viewer feel that they are close to the action. Wide angle close-ups make the nose look bigger and the ears smaller so the person looks odd. Like using a telescope, a telephoto lens seems to bring the subject closer and makes the perspective flatter. A zoom lens can go from wide angle to telephoto (or the other way) Making the subject get bigger or smaller without moving the camera. |
| Depth of Field: Deep focus Shallow focus |
This means how much seems to be in focus, in front of and behind the subject Everything in the shot seems to be in focus Only the subject is in focus. This can make them seem isolated or lonely. |
| Camera position: Low angle shot High angle shot Bird’s eye shot |
The camera point upwards. This usually the subject or setting seem grand or threatening. The camera looks down making the subject look vulnerable or insignificant. Looks vertically down on the subject. |
| Camera movements: Track
Whip pan Tilt Arc Crane shot Hand held shot |
Moving the camera itself towards or away from the subject, or to follow a moving subject. Not to be confused with a zoom, where the camera’s lens is moved to give the impression of moving closer to, or away from the subject. Turning the camera to the side to go across a scene to follow a moving subject. A sudden, fast pan. Turning the camera vertically up or down. Moving the camera in an arc around the subject. A shot where the camera itself moves up or down. This is used to convey a sense of immediacy. |
| Lighting & Colour: High-key lighting Low-key lighting Lighting from below Backlighting Colour
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Bright flat lighting. Strong shadows and dramatic contrasts. This can make a subject appear threatening or horrific. Produces a ‘halo effect’ around the edges of the subject. Cold or blueish lighting can convey a sense of isolation or technology, while warm yellowish lighting can convey comfort, sunset and so on. Can be used to indicate a scene that’s past or in a character’s imagination. |
Still Images
Many film and TV programmes use still images (pictures, photographs, maps etc) to emphasis a feature, person or location. For example, they can be used to sum up what happened to the characters later in life at the end of a movie or to position a location. Still images are particularly used in documentaries. Panning or zooming into a still image can give a feeling of depth and emphasis individual elements of a picture. Many war documentaries use these techniques to produce material that can be both shocking and poignant.
Editing
Editing helps to give us the feeling that everything in a scene is taking place in ‘real time’. However the scenes can be made up of lots of different shots, which weren’t necessarily filmed in order. A lot of films and drama scenes are filmed with one camera, shooting the scene over and over again with the camera in different positions. It will then be edited so that the scene seems to have only happened once in front of several cameras.
| Transitions: Cut Cross-dissolve
Fade out |
One image is suddenly replaced by another. One image dissolves into another. Sometimes this is used to build up a relaxed atmosphere, or sometimes it’s used to show we have moved on in time and space. An image gradually fades in. An image gradually fades out. One image replaces another without dissolving, with the boarder between the images moving across the screen. |
Sound
Sound can be either diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic sound is sound that we think is going on as part of what’s going on in the scene – horse’s hooves, the sound of thunder and so on – even though many of these will be added later by a Foley artist. Non-diegetic sound is sound that we know is not part of what’s on screen, such as music or voiceover.