TFE Ch 4 Cinematography PDF

CHAPTER FOUR Cinematography: Framing What We See Key Objectives (1 of 2) Outline the development of the film image from a historical heritage of visual forms. Describe how the frame of an image positions our point of view according to different distances and angles. Explain how film shots use the de...

CHAPTER FOUR Cinematography: Framing What We See Key Objectives (1 of 2) Outline the development of the film image from a historical heritage of visual forms. Describe how the frame of an image positions our point of view according to different distances and angles. Explain how film shots use the depth of the image in various ways. Identify how the elements of cinematography—film stock, camera or lens type, color, lighting, and compositional features of the image—can be employed in a movie. Key Objectives (2 of 2) Compare and contrast the effects of different kinds of camera movement and lens adjustment. Introduce the array of techniques used to create special effects. Explore the impact of digital technology on the art and practice of cinematography. Describe prevailing concepts of the image within different cinematic conventions. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (1 of 11) Vision, perception of apparent motion, and image projection 1820s‒1880s: The Invention of Photography and the Prehistory of Cinema – – Among other nineteenth-century pre-cinema contraptions, the phenakistiscope and zoetrope allowed a person to view a series of images through a slit in a circular wheel, a view that creates the illusion of a moving image. In 1839, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre announced the first still photograph. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (2 of 11) 1820s‒1880s: The Invention of Photography and the Prehistory of Cinema – – In the 1880s, Étienne-Jules Marey and Eadweard Muybridge began using chronophotography, or a series of still images that record incremental movement. Muybridge’s Zoopraxiscope, introduced in 1879, projected moving images for the first time. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (3 of 11) 1890s‒1920s: The Emergence and Refinement of Cinematography – – The official birth date of the movies was December 28, 1895, when Auguste and Louis Lumière debuted their Cinématographe. Their work combined the key elements of the ability to record a sequence of images on a flexible, transparent medium, and the capacity to project the sequence. In 1891, W.K.L. Dickson developed the Kinetograph camera. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (4 of 11) 1890s‒1920s: The Emergence and Refinement of Cinematography – – – Eastman Kodak established itself as the primary manufacturer of film stock, which used a highly flammable nitrate base. Safety film, less flammable acetate-based film stock, replaced nitrate film in 1952. After some competition among technologies, the width of film (or film gauge) was standardized at 35mm in 1909. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (5 of 11) 1890s‒1920s: The Emergence and Refinement of Cinematography – – By the 1920s, the rate at which films were recorded and projected increased from 16 to 24 frames per second (fps). The silent film era brought with it developments such as mechanisms for moving the camera and varying the scale of shots, as well as the introduction of panchromatic stock, which became the standard for black-and-white movies after 1926. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (6 of 11) 1930s‒1940s: Developments in Color, Wide-Angle, and Small-Gauge Cinematography – – By the 1930s, color processes had evolved from handpainted frames or tinted sequences to the rich Technicolor process that dominated until the 1950s. The Wizard of Oz (1939) used Technicolor to highlight the spectacle of Munchkinland and contrast it with the drabness of Kansas. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (7 of 11) 1930s‒1940s: Developments in Color, Wide-Angle, and Small-Gauge Cinematography – New camera lenses with different focal lengths (the distance from the center of the lens to the point where light rays meet in sharp focus) created new possibilities for cinematographers.  The range of perspectives available with wide-angle and telephoto lenses allowed for better resolution, wide angles, more variation in perspective, and greater depth of field. – Handheld cameras were introduced and used widely during World War II. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (8 of 11) 1950s‒1960s: Widescreen, 3-D, and New Color Processes – Widescreen processes of the early 1950s altered the size and shape of the image, widening the aspect ratio of films.  The anamorphic lens was used to compress the horizontal axis of an image onto a projector that then “unsqueezes” it to produce a widescreen image. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (9 of 11) 1950s‒1960s: Widescreen, 3-D, and New Color Processes – Competition with television urged film producers to generate more spectacular displays, fueling the 3-D movie craze. – In the 1960s, Hollywood used filters, flares, zooming, and telephoto lenses to call attention to the image and court the youth market. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (10 of 11) 1970s‒1980s: Cinematography and Exhibition in the Age of the Blockbuster – – – The introduction of the Steadicam in the 1970s enhanced the flexibility of camera movement. IMAX, which achieves a larger film frame and higher resolution by running film through the camera horizontally rather than vertically, was also developed in the period. Video became a popular alternative to celluloid for television, documentary filmmakers, and artists, and eventually spread widely among consumers in the 1980s with the development of the camcorder. A Short History of the Cinematic Image (11 of 11) 1990s to the Present: The Digital Era – – – Digital cinematography, generated by binary code which allows for flexibility, manipulation, and identical reproduction, became a viable alternative to 35mm film. Some of the advantages of digital film include a sharpness of the image that suggests immediacy, and lightweight and mobile cameras which don’t require the large crew necessary for 35mm cinematography. Digital images are disadvantaged in that they depend more on familiarity with the camera’s capabilities and lack the grain-produced film emulsion. The Elements of Cinematography (1 of 6) Point of View – In cinematographic terms, point of view refers to the position from which a person, event, or object is filmed.  Subjective point of view re-creates a character’s perspective as seen through the camera.  An objective point of view represents the more impersonal perspective of the camera. The Elements of Cinematography (2 of 6) Four Attributes of the Shot – – – – The framing of a shot contains, limits, and directs the point of view. The depth of field is the range or distance in front of and behind the object of focus within which the object remains relatively sharp and clear. Color conveys aesthetic impressions as well as visual cues. The movement of a camera or lens following action or exploring a space is called a mobile frame. The Elements of Cinematography (3 of 6) Framing – Experiments and manipulation of the film frame for effect – Three dimensions of the film image    Height of frame Width of frame Depth of image – Aspect ratios – Masks: attachments to camera or lights to cut off portions of the frame – Composition: arrangement of pictorial elements within the frame – Camera distance and angles The Elements of Cinematography (4 of 6) Depth of Field – Layers of depth to shape understanding  Deep focus: multiple planes in the shot are all in focus simultaneously  Can be used to convey a subjective effect – Contrast and color  Used to create atmosphere or emphasize certain motifs  Hue, value, and intensity – Movement  Re-creates a part of the human experience  Pans and tilts, handhelds and Steadicams, zooms The Elements of Cinematography (5 of 6) From Special Effects to Visual Effects – Special effects have been employed since early cinema with basic techniques like slow or fast motion, color filters, and miniatures. Visual effects are special effects created in postproduction through digital imaging. – Other common visual effects include:  The process shot, which combines more than one shot into a single image  The matte shot, which combines two or more pieces of film that would be difficult to create all in one shot The Elements of Cinematography (6 of 6) From Special Effects to Visual Effects – Created for Lord of the Rings (2001‒2003), performance-capture technology was developed to incorporate an actor’s physical performance into the computer-generated character Gollum. This same technique was used in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), allowing for the production of the movie without any actual apes in filming. Thinking about Cinematography (1 of 3) The Image as Presentation and Representation – Image as presentation reflects our belief that film communicates the details of the world realistically (even if it shows us unrealistic situations). – The interpretive power of cinematography also allows an image to re-present reality and determine its meaning. Thinking about Cinematography (2 of 3) Traditions of Images – Conventions of presence imply a close identification with the image’s point of view, an emotional response to that image, and an experience of the image as if it were lived reality.  The phenomenological image in film approximates activity as we would experience it in the world.  The psychological image, in contrast, reflects the state of mind of the viewer or a more general emotional atmosphere. Thinking about Cinematography (3 of 3) The Image as Textuality – Textuality refers to a different kind of film image that demands emotional and analytical distance from the image, which is experienced as artifice or a construction to be interpreted intellectually.