Film Composition and Cinematography Quiz

Lecture 9: November 7, 2024

• Cinematography Part 1: Lighting Recap
• Cinematography Part 11: Framing & Angles
• Visions of Light documentary screened October 31, showcasing history and craft of cinematography.

Moonlight - Cinematography Analysis

• Cinematographer James Laxton aimed to best portray Black skin tones through lighting.

• Laxton intended to use cinematography to highlight societal biases embedded in representation. This approach echoes and reinforces mainstream cinema's conventions of "beauty" and desirability, which often reflect particular biases.

• Moonlight's narrative is a coming-of-age story about a young Black man grappling with identity, sexuality, and his circumstances within a backdrop of a drug-addicted single mother.

• The film features an all-Black cast and emphasizes race and Black queer sexuality through its lighting and cinematography.

• Moonlight deliberately challenges the typical white-washed, heteronormative Hollywood portrayals of race and sexuality.

• Moonlight won 8 Oscars (including Best Picture, Director, Cinematographer, Film Editing, and Supporting Actors).

Moonlight Clip Analysis

• A clip of the diner scene from Moonlight.
• Relevant comments from nofilmschool.com discussing how cinematography in Moonlight creates emotional impact.
• The analysis addresses how camera placement, lighting, and eyeline contribute to creating emotionally powerful moments within the movie.

Framing & Composition

• Framing is the process by which the cinematographer uses the boundaries and dimensions of the moving image to determine what viewers see on-screen. (LM 193)
• Framing relies on composition. Composition involves factors, including: organization, distribution, balance, and the overall relationship between actors and objects within each shot's space.
• Framing creates vastness and depth. The director and cinematographer's decisions about camera-subject distance impact perceived proximity, along with camera angles, heights, space within/outside the frame, and point-of-view perspectives.

Aspect Ratios

• Aspect ratio is the ratio of the frame's width to its height, affecting the visual presentation.
• Various aspect ratios exist, including square frame 35mm (1.375:1), European widescreen (1:66:1), American wide screen (1:85:1), Super Panavision & Cinemascope (anamorphic lens 2.2:1 (70mm)), Panavision & Cinemascope 2:35:1 (35mm anamorphic), and Ultra Panavision (70mm -2:75:1).

Shot Types

• The Long Shot showcases the full body of the subject against a broader backdrop.
• Various shots, including medium shots, medium close-ups, close-ups, and extreme close-ups, are used to highlight specific details or emotions. The implied proximity between the camera (viewer perspective) and the subject is crucial. The opening sequence of The King's Speech provides an illustrative example.

Screen Analysis (Parasite)

• The opening scene of Parasite focuses on showing the perspective of a poor family, exemplified by a low angle medium shot and framing through a window. Analysis from premiumbeat.com.

Camera Angles

• Camera angles, such as high angles, low angles, Dutch angles, bird's-eye views, and eye-level shots, affect the visual storytelling and emotional impact. (201-203 LM)

Deep Focus

• Deep focus, made popular by Orson Welles, emphasizes multiple planes of action within the same shot; this often allows for revealing complex character relationships within a scene. The technique was used effectively in Orson Welles and Gregg Toland's work in Citizen Kane (1941). A boarding house sequence from this film can be reviewed as an example.

Space in Film

• On-screen space is the portion of the film frame that the viewer directly observes. Off-screen space involves the area beyond the frame, inferred through sound, dialogue, or other sensory cues.

Long Shot vs. Long Take

• Long Shot: A framing technique where the subject is shown in full body against the setting.
• Long Take: The length of time a shot stays on screen, often exceeding one minute. Cache provides an example in class materials.