Cinematography Slides PDF

The fedayeen (guerrillas) in When I Saw You, Annemarie Jacir. dir. Cinematography Image: http://ta3beer.blogspot.com/2013/04/when-i-saw-...

The fedayeen (guerrillas) in When I Saw You, Annemarie Jacir. dir. Cinematography Image: http://ta3beer.blogspot.com/2013/04/when-i-saw- you-review-of-annemarie.html kinesis-movement + photo-light + graphia- writing  What is cinematography? The process of capturing movement on film. More specifically, the planning and control of lighting and camera during film production. (Kuhn and Westwell) Frames and their actions [camera movement, duration of shot, etc] have no universal meaning (Corrigan 66) Properties of the shot: film and digital formats; lighting sources; tonalities (contrast, exposure); lenses Framing of the shot: Frame dimensions: aspect ratios (ratio of frame width to depth) Depth Camera position: angle, height, level, distance of framing Camera movement (mobile framing): pans, tilts, dollies, zoom, crane shot, handheld camera, Steadicam Framing what we see (on-screen/off-screen space); framing and POV Speed and length of the shot Special effects  Low-key lighting with sharp, dramatic contrast is a convention of horror films Rhymes for Young Ghouls, In this deep-focus shot inside St. Dymphna’s residential school, light travels two directions. Aila sits dead center; she’s on the dark side of the frame. On the right side of the frame, cold sidelight from an off-screen window slices in; wavy lines appear to emanate from the priest’s back; their hand is highlighted as is half of Aila’s face. Aila’s face is sidelit to look like a mask. Left side of the frame: a repeating doorframe pattern is backlit, silhouetting a nun who stands framed in the doorway like Nosferatu. The Elements of cinematography that cross light with on mise-en-scene: the left is sallow in colour light (source, quality, direction, colour); than that on the right, adding tonality, framing an institutional tone See slide 11 and mise-en-scene PPT, slides 27-36 + 40 (rule of thirds) https://www.cinemaclock.com/movies/rhymes-for-young-ghouls-2013  Requires:  a detailed, scientific knowledge of how light reflects off the lived environment and how that light reacts to various light-sensitive media.  a sophisticated grasp of color temperature and the interplay of light and shadow. cinematographe  an artist’s sensibility to composition, the arrangement r / Director of of objects and setting within the frame of the camera to Photography achieve balance and visual interest.  a deep, technical understanding of the gear required, cameras, formats, lenses and their respective idiosyncrasies.  know[ing] how to tell a story in a single image / 24 times every second (fps or frames per second)  collaborates with the director to serve the narrative and the overall mise-en-scene; translates the director’s vision into cinematic techniques and usable footage one of the most technical jobs in cinema, requiring as much science as it does art Works with a team: the camera department: camera operator, the person who handles the camera; 1st assistant camera (1st AC), responsible for the camera components, changing lenses, keeping the cinematographe camera in focus; 2nd assistant camera (2nd AC), r assists the 1st AC and often operates the slate or clapper; Digital Imaging Technician (DIT), organizes the digital files coming off the camera; includes quality control and color correction during the shoot. Oversees the lighting department (responsible for the lights, electricity; includes the gaffer and best boy, assistant) and the grip department (moves equipment from cameras to cranes) Responsibilities of the DP Cinematographic qualities: the photographic aspects of the shot (lighting, lenses) the framing of the shot (proximity to camera, depth, camera angle and height, scale) camera movement (whether to move the camera or not) duration of the shot (speed and length of the shot) special effects  Pariah. The lighting and framing of this MLS draws attention to the family dinner table, the three family members, and Lee’s absence. https://headcanonmagazine.com/2021/05/21/queering-the-binaries-belonging-and-becoming-in-dee- reess-2011-pariah-by-danielle-straus/ Three key shooting terms Shot – one continuous capture of a span of action by a motion picture camera; a finished film is made up of a series of shots, of varying length, that ultimately tell the story; the building block of cinema; may be storyboarded first Take – the number of times a particular shot is taken Setup – one camera position and everything associated with it; crew may shoot a number of different shots from one position; new setups require rearranging the camera, etc. Film (analog) vs. digital Changes in technologies bring changes in cinematography and to a film differences in the look of film versus digital recording subtle distinctions in the various film stocks and manufacturers, as well as the different types of digital sensors that come with different camera systems aesthetic differences between shooting on film and shooting on digital, but economics rules in favour of digital cinematography Film stock early film stock made of nitrate, which was highly flammable (hence, many early films lost in fires); today, made of plastic coated with light-sensitive crystals called silver halide; when light hits the crystals, they darken; a chemical bath enhances that reaction to light, making a negative image that can then be projected purchased by the foot; expensive Decisions to be considered: careful selection of shots to avoid wasting material because of costs types – black and white or colour film gauge (aka formats); each size renders a different look, with more or less detail once enlarged. – 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, 35mm (standard), 65mm, 70mm, IMAX sensitivity to light: fast film can film at night and in low-level light but loss in resolution; slow film, crisper images but needs more light the manufacturer, the process Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash Digital cinematography Most films today are shot digitally Viewing technologies are digital, so even films made with film stock, most people view them through digital technologies Began in 1970s; widespread in 1990s Advantages: digital data cheap to store; settings are adjusted easily; allows for easy post- production manipulation (e.g. colour balances, characters’ bodies and faces); cameras are lightweight Digital cinematography is identical [very similar] to analog film cinematography –– with one important difference: the light passing through the lens hits a digital image sensor instead of a strip of plastic film; the sensor captures fragments of images as digital pixels; resolution –the detail in an image -- determined by the number of pixels in each frame; high resolution 1080p The sensor uses software to analyze and convert the light bouncing off its surface into a series of still images (just like film stock) [stored as binary code on hard drives or other storage media/technologies] Camera lens Two main types of lenses: prime (focal length is fixed), which is the standard; and zoom (focal length can be adjusted);zoom lens provides the illusion of camera movement Lens choices: wide-angle lens; normal; telephoto Cinematographer Tom Sigel: “The visual power of any given shot or scene is determined by three principal factors: 1. Composition 2. Lighting 3. Camera movement Lens choice affects each one of these.” (Sigel, video embedded in Sharman Ch. 5) Lenses allow the cinematographer to control depth of field, the range of distance in front of the camera in which subjects are in sharp focus. See the examples of narrow depth of field aka shallow focus (focus is only on one plane, on something specific, isolated from anything else in the frame) and deep focus (everything in the frame, background and foreground, is equally in focus) in Sharman’s Ch. 5.  rack focus or pull focus A cinematographer can change the depth of field within a shot to shift our attention from one subject to another. Alternates what is in focus and blurred Example from Pariah, 2011, dir. Dee Rees The focus shifts to and from Alike/Lee and their girlfriend Bina as they walk along the sidewalk in Brooklyn.  Black and white to colour cinematography Colour movies before 1960s were technically elaborate productions evolution of colour images, 1903 – 1939: hand-coloring, drawing colour directly on the processed film; tinting, soaking the film in dye; toning, a chemical process to colour dark areas of the film; two-color additive color process, usually red-orange and blue-green Full-scale colour production began in early 1930s; next, three-color subtractive colour system, the foundation of contemporary colour cinematography First feature film in Technicolor was Becky Sharp, 1935, dir. Rouben Mamoulian Expensive, cost 30% more; Technicolor camera shot three strips of film at one time; needed a great deal of light; special Technicolour makeup that didn’t melt under the hot lights; film had to be processed at Technicolor’s labs. Technicolor films became mainstream; used in a spectacle fashion, e.g., Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, 1939 Early 40s technicolor system replaced by less expensive multilayered color film stocks (Barsam and Monahan) Today, colour in film can be digitally altered and enhanced post-production; known as color grading Q: Why did Hitchcock choose to shoot Psycho in black and white? (DP John L. Russell) Photo: IMDb  “Colour profoundly affects our experience and Black and white understanding of a film shot. Even black-and- white films use contrast and gradations to create atmosphere or emphasize certain motifs.” Tim Corrigan and Patricia White Evokes a certain period; emulates “old” movies Audiences link it to realism Contrast: the comparative difference between light and dark; can look stark, somber, elegant, abstract, or different from the norm Often used to convey dreams, memories, flashbacks, historical events Movies shot in B&W can have moral or ethical connotations Foregrounds performances; Director Orson Welles once said black and white was the actor’s friend because every performance is better without the distraction of color. Passing. 2021. Rebecca Starring Ruth Negga (Claire) and Tessa Thompson (Irene) https://mashable.com/article/passing-tessa-thompson-movie- review Colour cinematography Most films today shot in colour Film artists carefully manipulate colors for various effects and moods (e.g. painterly shades, vibrant intense saturation; high contrast-dramatic; soft wash, etc.) Colour is co-expressive with other aspects of cinematography and cinematic elements. Colour can arrest and guide the viewer’s eye to important parts of the frame. Colours signify. The effect: emotional expressive quality Noni; still from YouTube clip Alike is a chameleon, and all of the camera movement and production design around her serves to heighten that. We used lighting in such a way that Alike is "painted" with whatever colors are predominating at the moment in her environment. In the nightclub, she's "purple;" on the bus, she's "green;" in the bathroom, she's "orange," et cetera. She's only "white" towards the end; she's "sunlight" in the final scene of the film. ‘Alike is a chameleon, and all of the camera movement and production design around her serves to heighten that. We used lighting in such a way that Alike is "painted" with whatever colors are predominating at the moment in her environment. In the nightclub, she's "purple;" on the bus, she's "green;" in the bathroom, she's "orange," et cetera. She's only "white" towards the end; she's "sunlight" in the final scene of the film.’ Dee Rees “ Transforming Passion into Pariah” Filming skin colour Skin is a colour; skin comes in many tones; skin tone affects lighting choices Until the mid-1990s, colour film processing, film stock, and digital cameras privileged white skin. Skin tones were measured and calibrated against “Shirley cards,” which used white models as the standard. Until recently, due to a light-skin bias embedded in colour film stock emulsions and digital camera design, the rendering of [non-white] skin tones was highly deficient and required the development of compensatory practices and technology improvements to redress its shortcomings.” Lorna Roth, 2009. “ Looking at Shirley, the Ultimate Norm: Colour Balance, Image Technologies, and Cognitive Equity” Early colour film was predicated on white skin: in 1977, when Jean-Luc Godard was invited on an assignment to Mozambique, he refused to use Kodak film on the grounds that the stock was inherently "racist". The light range was so narrow…that "if you exposed film for a white kid, the black kid sitting next to him would be rendered invisible except for the whites of his eyes and teeth". It was only when Kodak's two biggest clients – the confectionary and furniture industries – complained that dark chocolate and dark furniture were losing out that it came up with a solution.(Adam Broomberg cited in “Racism of Early Colour Photography,” The Guardian, 2013) See the short video Color film was Built for white people. Here’s what it did to dark skin. 2015. Example of structural racism in film “Over the past ten years I’ve technology: power relations of white skin as the frequently screened the 1967 film standard/Other skin colours subordinate. When Guess Who’s Coming to Dinn actors of multiple skin colours were in a frame, light er in my film analysis classes, was calibrated according to the white-skinned often at the behest of my actors. students. The second or third time I watched the film on a larger screen I noticed something peculiar: the Black characters and the white characters are lit using a completely different aesthetic. Differences in skin tone are barely distinguishable between the Black actors, hotspots are often visible in their shots, and there are few nuances in the ways they are lit. In fact, once I started pulling stills and comparing the characters side by side, it was obvious that in the majority of the shots Still from Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? 1967. dir. featuring Black actors, Stanley Kramer overexposure seemed to be the aesthetic.” Compare cinematographer Bradford Young’s filming of skin in Pariah vs that of the DP in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? https://femfilmrogues.blogspot.com/2017/09/revisiting-pariah-must- see-that.html Composition: Aspect ratio aspect ratio, the width of the frame relative to its height before composing a shot, a cinematographer must decide on the shape of the frame the proportions of the rectangle (the frame) will dictate how people, objects and setting are arranged within it current standard for motion pictures is 16:9, or 1.78:1, a rectangle that is almost twice as wide as it is tall. in the early days of cinema, the standard was much closer to a square, 4:3, sometimes called the academy ratio. Some filmmakers opt for a much wider frame, as wide as 2.35:1. See the examples in Sharman, Ch. 5 Composition Is technical and expressive How the elements inside the frame are positioned and exhibited to the viewers Framing the shot is really about directing our attention, showing us where to look in the shot or scene, and ultimately how to feel about it. Every act of framing creates relationships among things seen Also suggests what is not in the frame - “offscreen space”; can create suspense and surprise; viewers imagine things happening outside the frame Compositional balance, proportion, and symmetry rule of thirds (9 rectangles), quadrant system (4 rectangles) (watch the short clip embedded in ch. 5); triangular composition; framing and movement; frames within frames A filmmaker can also “break” the rules of balance and proportion for a desired effect. For example, if a cinematographer intentionally creates an asymmetrical, unbalanced image, it will likewise make the viewer feel uneasy and off balance. Or they can compose the image so the main subject is isolated and small relative to the rest of the frame, creating what is known as negative space. This can help communicate a character’s isolation or powerlessness in a scene. rule of thirds, triangular composition, or quadrant system? Still from Rhymes Open frame and closed frame Film theorist Leo Braudy: open frame and closed frame are two ways to perceive the relationship between cinematic arrangement and viewer perception Open frame designed to depict a world where characters move freely within an open, recognizable environment Closed frame designed to imply that other forces (social, economic, repressive) restricts characters from their ability to move and act freely (e.g. the pitbull in Kitbull is closed in by a fence and held back by a chain, trapped by its violent owner, suggesting animal abuse is normal; Badlands opens with Holly contained by her bed and family home) Distance: proximity of the subject to camera Extreme long shot XLS, human figure is tiny or lost; emotional distance Long shot LS, background dominates but figures are apparent; one or more full figures; often used as establishing shots Medium long shot MLS, humans from the knees up with some background Medium M, waist up Medium close-up MCU, mid-chest up. Close-up CU, head, face, hands, object; intimacy Extreme close-up XCU, singles out a portion, isolates Screen shot from A Clockwork Orange, 1971. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Implied proximity (LS); camera angle (eye level), depth of field (distance in front of the camera and subjects in sharp focus), POV: omniscient (what the camera sees); colour: blue and black, cold and hard, like the bruises the gang of thugs inflicts on others; lighting source: backlighting, casts long ominous shadows like bats, ghouls, vampires; framing: left and right sides symmetrical but horizontally cut with the bottom half stretched out; focus is on the four tiny men silhouetted at the top of the frame who are horrifically violent. Camera movement Is motivated; why move the camera? For what effect? Can be smoothly moving or create visual instability: shaky, jittery and jumpy (1950s-60s cinema verité style of handheld or shoulder held cameras ) body-mounted cameras Steadicam, harness device with weights Crane shot: camera on an elevated arm; can be attached to a dolly; camera can seem to float or glide; camera moves above ground, rises or descends, or may move vertically or on an angle forward and back Hand-held shots used for the crowd scenes create the POV that the viewer is in the crowd watching Noni: “After reading the script, we [Tami Reiker, the DP, and Gina Prince-Bythewood] were exactly on the same page. I was like, ‘I think it should all be hand-held.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah! Yes! That’s exactly what I want!’ And so we immediately had the same vision of the film. This feeling where it needs to feel almost-docu, you know? We’re peering in on her world. No fancy dolly moves, no helicopter or cranes or anything like that. The only part that would be was when it is a TV camera shooting the award show, like the VMAs but otherwise it feels very real.” (from “‘Beyond the Lights’ DP Tami Reiker on the struggle of being a female cinematographer.”) image: https://slate.com/culture/2014/11/gugu-mbatha-raw-in-beyond-the-lights-reviewed.html  Camera movement Pan shot (short for panorama, the pan scans space horizontally; the camera “looks” side-to-side); makes viewers aware of characters and relationships, allows us to follow people or objects, replicates how humans survey a scene (e.g. establishing shot of Psycho, the pan scans the city of Phoenix) Tilt shot (as if the camera’s head were swiveling up or down, vertically) (e.g. establishing shot of Kitbull cuts to the Mission Fish sign then a tilt down to the ground and the kitten emerges from hiding) Dolly shot aka tracking shot; camera is on a wheeled dolly (camera as a whole changes position, traveling in any direction along the ground; forward: dolly-in, camera moves to a stationary object; backward: dolly-out; diagonally; in a circle or from side to side) (e.g. Pan’s Labyrinth: after the shots of the inside of Carmen’s womb, the camera arcs back into the bedroom); Spike Lee dolly shot: character put on the dolly and moved with it Camera movement Camera movement may be simulated (CGI, animation) Mobile framings may be combined (e.g. track and pan, crane up and zoom out) Tracking and zooming in opposite directions evokes confusion, “warp-o-cam” (Sam Raimi) Often the camera is a substitute for the viewer, creating subjectivity. Often camera movement motivated narratively to represent what a moving character sees Patterns of camera movement can be a motif (Barsam and Monahan) On camera movement in Pariah “For over three years, [with cinematographer Bradford Young] we discussed and developed the language we wanted to use on Pariah, and as with Pariah we were shooting on 35-millimeter film. In closer angles on the characters, the camera is handheld so it becomes more kinetic and personal and ‘breathes’ with them. For wider angles, the camera is more omniscient and moves more subtly on dolly- mounted shots. Whether handheld or mounted, the camera is always moving with fluidity and motivated by the action that's occurring in the scene. This is particularly true for the coverage on Alike, which consists of a lot of ‘peeking’ or ‘eavesdropping’ camera movements behind or between objects with long lenses that further enhance the sense of her being secretive and hiding.” Dee Rees “Transforming Passion into Pariah” Duration of the shot: speed of motion Slow motion may mean a dream or fantasy, convey power (martial arts, superhero), or express a lyrical quality or dwell on a moment of spectacle Makes movement look more graceful Lends an ironic elegance to violence Suspends viewers in a moment that would be fleeting Emphasizes memory Fast motion an attention-grabber; accelerates the pace; can be used to convey volatility, unpredictable change Can be used for comic effect Speed of motion example See the fight scene outside of the bar in Rhymes See the axe battle scene in Snowpiercer It starts with movements slightly sped up for frenetic intensity, appearing even more violent, then slowed down for contrast; intensifies the effect; reveals the choreography; makes things appear graceful (hence, juxtaposed with violence, creates a disturbing feeling); plays with time by stretching it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zu306RsS_U&ab_channel=J ohnMaverick Duration of the shot: the long take A shot that continues for an unusually lengthy time before the transition to the next shot (not to be confused with a long shot which refers to distance) (see the video examples at the bottom of Ch. 5 Sharman) Can condense story duration or action of several hours into a short screen time (e.g. moving from night to morning) Can create parallels and contrasts between scenes and can have its own development of beginning, middle, and end. (e.g. the long take in the karaoke bar scene in Beyond the Lights contrasts with previous shots of Noni singing which are edited together with other shots) Sequence shot: when an entire scene is shot in one long take Long takes tend to be framed in medium or long shots Long takes allow the viewer agency but also force a deepened engagement (Barsam and Monahan) Duration of When the movement of the film appears to stop so that it appears like a photographic still (Corrigan) Underscores a piece of action or line of dialogue the shot: Suggests a character’s memory At the end, suggests action isn’t resolved freeze frame Imprints something on the viewer’s mind Last shot in Annemarie Jacir’s When I Saw You (2013) is a freeze frame; Tarek’s dream of returning to his occupied village in Palestine is unlikely as he will be killed by Israeli soldiers when he crosses over. But that is too grim to contemplate, so he’s shown frozen, his life and story ended. Camera angle and height use of angle: narrative function, stylistic function, to add visual interest, to create meaning eye-level (straight ahead; neutral view of action on-screen) ground-level (attention to ground level such as Kitty on the sidewalk) high angle shot: camera looks down from a high angle low angle shot: camera looks up from a low angle canted (Dutch angle; corruption of Deutsche or German): framing is tipped; effect: off-balance or misaligned, unnatural, chaotic, disoriented bird’s eye view (drone shot, overhead shot): directly overhead using cranes, drones, aircraft, extreme perspective of omniscience low angle shot, camera looks up https://365filmsbyauroranocte.tumblr.com/post/ 621080873592340480/in-this-corner-of-the-world- sunao-katabuchi high angle: camera angle looks down at Holly and Kit’s feet as they dance to “Love is Strange” in their hideaway (Badlands) First use of Dutch (Deutsche) angle, German Expressionist film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920. dir. Robert Wiene Combines with off-kilter set design  SFX (special effects) Elements of a film added to live action and conventional cinematography. Special effects are divided into two categories: mechanical effects which are produced on set and recorded by the camera; and visual effects, which are either produced in-camera during shooting (also sometimes referred to as trick photography, optical effects, or photographic effects) or added in post-production. Mechanical effects include the use of machines to create atmosphere and ambience (such as wind, fog, mist, rain, and snow), costume, makeup and prosthetics (for example, to create blood, wounds, or injuries), and the integration of models, paintings, puppets, and animatronics with live-action shooting. Special effects played a formative role in New Hollywood blockbuster film production (mid-60s to late-70s) (Kuhn and Westwell)