Download Essentials of Cinematography and Scriptwriting for Filmmaking - Prof. Sarah Jo Bennett and more Study notes Production and Operations Management in PDF only on Docsity! Film 03/24/2010 Essentials of film to create an aesthetically engaging experience Film can engage the viewer due to the: Sensory pleasure o Mainly from the 5 c’s of cinematography o To enhance aesthetic experience: Cinematography aspects: lighting o Cinematographers “paint with light” o Natural or artificial light found in the scene o Direct focus, set mood and provide meaning Deep, hard-edged shadows, up-lighting add feeling of menace, fear, evil, mystery Soft, side-lighting, creating a gentle, fuzzy effect provides a sense of romance, melancholy, passage of time Cinematography aspects: Camera shot (camera angle and close-up) o Location and movement of camera and lens type used Close-up shot to focus on the actions or emotions of the actor Long shot, panning or use of wide-angle lens to understand context and interactions among characters Placement suggest relationship between characters: E.g. domineering or dominated Camera placement and movement can give the feeling you are in the scene Cinematography aspects: cutting or splicing o How the frames of film are cut and pieced together Creates a sense of relationship of events Provides tempo or movement of time Forms of cutting o Fade to black A shot dissolves to black then a new shot fades in o Dissolve A shot fades out and another image slowing fades in o Both give a more casual leisurely, or romantic feel & sense of passage of time or place o Jump cut One shot spliced together with another shot Provides a tension-filled, erratic or chaotic feeling The script o Should be written well; the plot or story should be comprehendible, mentally stimulating, unique Voluntary suspension of disbelief: willingness to accept the unlikely occurrences, goes to far Idiot plots detracts from the experience Character development o Characters should be multi-dimensional; have distinct facets and nuance to their personalities Stereotypical characters can detract from experience “dead teenager” films one dimensional, sex- crazed characters casting and acting o believability of the character nonverbal behaviors, physical characteristics, and accent/dialect/speech patterns of the character portrayed do not see the actor, but the character portrayed set/location and props/costume o create mood/meaning supporting the story line o reinforce image or personality of the characters symbolic reference: meaning of set/props provide irony and foreshadowing (clue of what is coming) music
