Lecture 3 - Summary (Cine-Speak)

Our third lecture consisted of an overview of the language of cinema – something we all enjoyed researching the previous day. Now, personally I am a bit of a film expert, I’ve done multiple film classes and I’m a movie buff. Yesterday I didn’t know what I was looking for, but when it was out in the open it was clear I was in the zone.

Our lecture entitled Cine-Speak gave us an overview of all the shot sizes as follows:

VLS/WS: Very Long Shot/Wide Shot
LS: Long Shot
MLS: Medium Long Shot
MS: Mid Shot
MCU: Medium Close Up
CU: Close Up
BCU: Big Close Up
ECU: Extreme Close Up

For a more indepth look into what each shot represents as well as a number of other film definitions, visit the following link.

http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~engl377/film.html

Or see http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/ for specifically detailed shot definitions.

Our main focus was on what each individual shot means and what question it serves to answer whether it be who, what, where, when, how or why? Though the relation between shots and questions was liquid it was said that a Close Up indicates who, a Mid Shot explains what, a Long Shot covers where, a Wide Shot or Close Up could indicate when, an Extreme Close Up can explain why by showing us some facial movement, thought or emotion, and finally a Medium Close Up or series of Close Ups can explain how.

While there was accuracy in these relations it was referring to in general. There are rules in cinema but it all comes down to the story a person wishes to tell, and framing shots (like building with lego blocks) is simply the most effective way of achieving the desired result.

The next major consideration in regards to framing was that the subject has enough headroom within the frame. However, it isn’t as simple as simply keeping the subject in the center of the frame without cutting off their head, talking room must also be taken into consideration. Talking room means the subject shouldn’t be too close to either edge of the frame, but in order to look effective should be moved slightly to the right of the center frame. This is so that when the character is speaking it comes across as natural and not as though they are talking to thin air. The rule of thirds also helps us position a subject by fitting the character’s focal points into cross-points within the shot.
Next we went over the 180 degree rule which suggests an invisible line between two subjects that the cameras may not cross between shot to shot without distorting people’s perception of space within the film.Lastly it was discussed that every shot in a film must be justified, whether it provides additional information in or outside of a scene or whether it drives the narrative forward or not. Unless a shot is answering one of the several questions who, what, where, when, how or why, then it does not belong.

The images provided come from the lecture’s presentation; they illustrate perfectly all the rules described.

I’m looking forward to when we start doing some filming.