Camera Angles shots and Editing Mass Media Rule

Camera Angles, shots, and Editing Mass Media

Rule of Thirds p. A composition theory based on dividing the screen into thirds vertically and horizontally, and the placement of the main subject along those lines.

Headroom p The space between the top of a subject’s head and a monitor’s upper-screen edge. Too much headroom makes the subject appear to fall out of the frame.

Leadroom p The area in front of the moving object. The camera leads rather than centers or follows activity of the person in the shot.

Noseroom This area dictates a substantial area in front of a person in full or partial profile. Lets the person in the shot “look” across the screen. Also, called “look room”

Camera Angles p. Straight p. High p. Low p. Canted/Dutch

STRAIGHT p Camera on same level as subject p Shows equality with audience p Allows audience to make judgments

HIGH ANGLE p Camera positioned higher than subject p Conveys smallness, insignificance, or submissiveness

LOW ANGLE p Camera positioned lower than subject p Conveys largeness, superiority, or importance

CANTED/DUTCH p Camera held at angle to subject’s vertical center p Conveys uneasiness or foreboding

Camera Shots

EXTREME LONG SHOT p A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very small; a building, landscape, or crowd of people will fill the screen. p Usually the first or last shots of a sequence, that can also function as establishing shots. .

LONG SHOT p A framing in which the scale of the object shown is small; a standing human figure would appear nearly the height of the screen. p It makes for a relatively stable shot that can accomodate movement without reframing

MEDIUM LONG SHOT p Framing such an object four or five feet high would fill most of the screen vertically. p Also called plain américain, given its recurrence in the Western genre, where it was important to keep a cowboy's weapon in the image.

MEDIUM CLOSE-UP p A framing in which the scale of the object shown is fairly large; a human figure seen from the chest up would fill most of the screen. p Another common shot scale.

CLOSE-UP p A framing in which the scale of the object shown is relatively large. p In a close-up a person's head, or some other similarly sized object, would fill the frame.

EXTREME CLOSE-UP p A framing in which the scale of the object shown is very large; most commonly, a small object or a part of the body usually shot with a zoom lens. p Again, faces are the most recurrent images in extreme close-ups

CRANE SHOT p A shot with a change in framing rendered by having the camera above the ground and moving through the air in any direction. p It is accomplished by placing the camera on a crane (basically, a large cantilevered arm) or similar device.

HANDHELD CAMERA, STEADYCAM p The use of the camera operator's body as a camera support, either holding it by hand or using a gyroscopic stabilizer and a harness. p Used by newsreel and wartime camera operators. Recently, they are extensively used in music videos and in the films of the Dogme movement

PAN p Camera body turning to the right or left. On the screen, it produces a mobile framing which scans the space horizontally. p A pan directly and immediately connects two places or characters, thus making us aware of their proximity. The speed at which a pan occurs can be exploited for different dramatic purposes.

TILT p The camera body swiveling upward or downward on a stationary support. Scans the space vertically. p A tilt usually also implies a change in the angle of framing; p High angle view – inferior p Low angle – superior

TRACKING SHOT p A mobile framing that travels through space forward, backward, or laterally. Usually follows a character or object as it moves along the screen

JUMP CUT p An elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of a single shot. p Either the figures seem to change instantly against a constant background, or the background changes instantly while the figures remain constant

Storyboard p A storyboard visually tells the story of an animation panel by panel, kind of like a comic book

Storyboard • • It’s a graphic organizer such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of previsualizing a motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity Developed at the Walt Disney studio during the early 1930 s

Storyboard p Acts as a preview and as a visual script for … n n n Camera angles Lighting Sound effects Actor arrangement Prop arrangement Narrative development and continuity