Film shots 01

http://ccavisualstory.blogspot.com/2012/10/film-compositions-1.html

line and shape

Line and Shape

edge, contour, closure, intersection of planes, imita- tion through distance, axis, and track.

Edge - edge of a 2d surface creates the line. Only visible if there is tonal or color contrast to pop it out.

examples: sheet of white paper against black, shadows cast on wall

Contour - the apparent line around the border of a 3d object

Closure - connect the dots, etc. Viewers create lines through connecting dots on screen

Intersection of planes - When two planes meet, they appear to form a line

Imitation through distance - complex objects recede into lines at a distance

Axis - invisible axis that runs through people, objects, etc

Track - the path an object makes as it moves across the screen

Linear motif - any pic can be reduced to simple lines. A pic's linear motif can be circular, straight, horiz, vert, or diagonal, or any combination of.

Horizontal - calming, least intense of all line motifs

Verticial - authoritarian, more intense

Diagonal - dynamic, most intense of all line motifs

Straight lines:

• direct

• aggressive

• bland

• honest

• industrial

• ordered

• strong

• unnatural

• adult

• rigid

Curved lines:

• indirect

• passive

• natural

• childlike

• romantic

• soft

• organic

• safe

• flexible

• Actors - when reduced to silhouette, what are the basic shapes?

• Scenery

• Set dressing - furniture, etc

• Simplify

Shapes:

2D:

3 basic shapes - circle, square, equilateral triangle

3D:

3 basic shapes - sphere, cube, 3 sided pyramid

All objects/shapes can be reduced to these basic shapes

Circle - benign, innocent, cute

Square - less cute than circle, rigid

Triangle - most dynamic of the shapes, because:

1. contains diagonal

2. Can be used to POINT in a direction - it's an arrow!

triangles often are described as bold, aggressive, dynamic, angry, menacing, scary, chaotic, disorienting, and unorganized

Contrast and affinity - circle and triangle have maximum contrast

Creating a linear motif storyboard to help discover/plan contrast/affinity in your shots

The 180 degree rule

Ways to safely cross 180:

1. Camera crosses the line
2. Actor crosses the line
3. New actor enters the scene and establishes new line

Creating and re-establishing new 180 lines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTIc6y5mojw&feature=share&list=PL8F3444EC493C0C85


180 degree triangle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFgCZDRkacU&feature=share&list=PL8F3444EC493C0C85

180 degree rule CAN be broken intentionally...

The Matrix subway fight (0:00 - 1:50)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMx-Az5Da4M

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180-degree_rule

http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles/60379.aspx

Paprika explains the 180 degree rule:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9xD_YYZrbA&feature=share&list=PLIxpDLIQpXvN5tJaBijnngE25u305l-hU

finding tone in your drawings

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2010/09/quick-primer-on-values.html

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2012/01/tones-values-and-using-them-and-your.html

http://evanerichards.com/2012/2794

http://evanerichards.com/2012/2789

http://evanerichards.com/2012/2736

Space in film

SPACE

• Deep
  • offers illusion of 3d depth on a 2d screen
  • no real depth in screen space, illusion is conveyed through depth cues
    • perspective - 1, 2, and 3 point (draw buildings)
      • perspective creates VANISHING POINTS and LONGITUDINAL PLANES
      • Audience's eye will be usually drawn to and on-screen vanishing point (
        • draw railroad tracks)
        • draw two vanishing planes, with actor on outside, then actor on inside, at VP. Compare the two.
    • size difference
      • separating objects/actors into FG, MG and BG helps create depth
    • movement
      • moving parallel to the picture plane:
        • objects further away will appear to move slower across screen
        • objects closer will appear to move faster
        • draw track runners to demonstrate
      • moving perpendicular to picture plane
        • objects appear to move faster the closer they are to the camera
    • camera movement
      • dolly in/out = moving camera closer or farther from the subject
      • draw scene with FG actor and two BG actors, then dolly in
      • FG actor will get larger faster
      • tracking shot - camera dollies left/right
      • with one FG and three BG actors, FG actor appears to move faster horizontally in screen space.
      • crane shot - camera is moved vertically up or down.
      • same FG/BG actor combo - FG actor will drop out of frame faster than BG guys
    • Textural diffusion
      • objects that are closer to the camera will have more visible texture
    • Arial diffusion
      • fog
      • must have objects affected and unaffected in both the same shot in order to be an effective depth cue
    • Tonal separation
      • light objects generally appear closer, dark objects generally recede
      • can also be reverse, depending on lighting and arial diffusion
    • Color seperation
      • warm colors generally appear to be closer
      • cool colors generally appear to be further away
    • Up/Down position
      • objects lower in the frame appear to be closer than objects higher in the frame (maybe because they appear more accessible?)
    • Overlap
      • overlapping objects in the frame create depth
    • Focus
      • blur vs sharp
• Flat
  • emphasizes the 2d aspects of the screen space
  • flat cues:
    • frontal planes and NO LONGITUDINAL PLANES
    • size consistency
    • movement
      • movement parallel to picture plane = good
    • camera movement - pans, tilts and zooms
      • help emphasize flat space because the relative distance between/size of objects does not change in the shot.
    • textural affinity
      • same amount of textural detail
    • reduced tonal seperation
    • reduced color separation (affinity of color)
    • reduced overlapping shapes
    • inverted depth cues
      • inverting or reversing depth cues can help flatten deep space
        • tone: placing brighter obis in the BG and darker ones in the FG
        • color: warm BG, cool FG
        • textural diffusion: make BG obis have more texture and FG ones have less
        • size difference: place larger objs farther away, and small ones closer.
• Limited
  • combo of deep and flat space cues
• Ambiguous
  • occurs when viewer is unable to understand the actual size/spatial relationships between objects in the frame
    • lack of movement -
    • objects of unknown size or shape
    • tonal and textural camouflage
    • mirrors and reflections
    • disorienting camera angles

• DEEP SPACE
  • dramatic
  • exciting
  • edgy
  • can be used to release tension
• FLAT SPACE
  • calming
  • comedic
  • disarming
  • can be used to build tension/claustrophobia and awkwardness
  • wes anderson!
• LIMITED
  • combo of both
• AMBIGOUS
  • mysterious
  • disorienting
  • chaotic