Cinematography
Cinematography is important in film because it determines how the audience will perceive the film, as well as the main focus of the film.
The cinematographer is the one who decides which speed suits the film being made. They also decide which camera and lighting effects should be used while filming scenes in a movie or TV show. Take, for example, the funeral scene at the end of One Tree Hill season 6 episode 3. Watch how cinematographer, Peter B. Kowalski uses the slow motion technique to create a more dramatic effect when Jamie throws the cape over Quentin’s casket. Brooke, who is standing next to him, starts to cry. I got this scene from a YouTube called: ForeverNathanScott23. It is the One Tree Hill 6×03 Brooke and Jamie at the end of the funeral scene.
One Tree Hill 6×03 Brooke and Jamie at the end of the funeral https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNEOPfbuABU .
Another good example is the opening scene of the Titanic movie from 1997. Cinematographer, Russell Carpenter won the award for Best Cinematography for this film. I got this scene from a YouTube channel called: Jordan BL. It is the Titanic-I’m flying scene.
Titanic ‘ I’m flying scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB7-fpByIIw
Movement
Movement can alter the viewer’s perception of time and space and it allows them to follow the characters. It reveals information that was previously off-screen. For example, the scene in the film Titanic, approximately one hour, thirty-four minutes and twenty-six seconds, Murdoch tells the Helmsman, ‘Hard to Starboard!’ the camera pans swiftly to the left to reveal the Helmsman turning the ship’s steering wheel quickly to his left. This scene is also known as the ‘Titanic 1997 – Iceberg right ahead!’ scene. I referenced this directly from the movie.
Camera movement also emphasizes certain points of view and allows the audience to focus on specific details.
The movements of a camera are equivalent to moving one’s head up and down, left and right. They contribute to creating one shot.
Panning ‘ turns the camera left and right. This movement allows the audience to see objects, as well as other less-important characters that would not be seen in the original framing, which allows the viewers to see the character in a fully established environment of their own.
Pivoting ‘ moves the camera up and down. This movement is the equivalent of moving one’s head up and down. Pivots are also very commonly used when viewing a certain object from the character’s point of view. In this instance the camera would be behind the character, focused on whatever the character is looking at. Tilting is very similar to pivoting, but is more commonly used when filming from a higher stand point, or a lower stand point.
Very small tilts, pivots and pans are used to keep a subject in the desired part of the frame as they make small movements. This is often known as reframing. These movements are most easily spotted when looking at the corner of the frame. For example:
Zooming does not move the camera at all. However, it does allow the viewer to focus on one object or subject, being whatever or whoever is in the frame. This movement is used a lot in horror movies like the 2013 remake of the 70’s classic Carrie by Stephen King. Zooming was also used a lot in the movie Titanic.
Movement: The Film Shot, Camera Angles and Movement ‘ The Cinematheque:
thecinematheque.ca/education/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/LanguageofFilm06.pdf
Narrative
This is basically storytelling. Something we do every day that is of high value to us. This is determined by the amount of time we spend in front of a television set and cinema screen. We love to hear stories and tell them.
Narrative is important in film and television because it is the story of the film. The film’s narrative is the foundation for character development and film structure. The narrative determines who the characters are, good or bad, and how they came to be that way, or if they were always like that. It also determines if the audience will identify with the characters or not ‘ identification or alienation? Do the characters share traits or experiences with the audience? Will the audience be able to feel whatever the character feels?
https://www.google.co.za/search?q=character+identification+and+alienation+in+film&rlz=1C1GGRV_enZA783ZA783&oq=character+identification+and+alienation+in+film&aqs=chrome..69i57.17127j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
The narrative also determines the theme of the film. The theme is the central idea of the film. You need to know the plot of the film to be able to identify the theme. It cannot be expressed in words or as the moral of the story. I got some of this information from:
The Literary element of Theme : http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson800/theme.pdf .
The narrative of the film also determines how the editing will affect the film. You cannot film a movie, then decide to delete the most important scene, as then the movie narrative will be incomplete because important information would be missing.
Narrative is important in film because it determines the sequence of the scenes in the movie. It also determines how well that movie would do in the cinematic world and on the TV screen. Have you ever tried to watch a movie at home? For people who have, they would know how distracted they can get by other things besides the film, like cell phones. Watching a movie is so much easier in the cinema because, for one, phones must be turned off, and because the cinema is dark which allows the audience to concentrate on the cinema screen. The audience is less likely to talk to one another while watching a movie in the cinema because the film’s narrative usually takes over the audience’s attention. The film’s narrative also determines the sequencing of the scenes as each scene has to follow the story. These scenes may also be grouped into stages.
If you watch a movie, you would notice that most movies are acted out in three stages. The person who came up with this theory is Syd Field. He was an American screenwriter and he made a lot of money off this theory. The three acts also make the narrative of the movie easier to follow. The first act is obviously the setup of the film. Act two is the confrontation of the setup and act three is the resolution to the confrontation. For example, in the 2008 action-thriller film Taken, written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and directed by Pierre Morel, a former CIA operative, played by Liam Neeson, is on the hunt for the men who kidnapped his daughter and her friend while they were on vacation in France. The important stages in this film would be:
Act one: father lets his daughter and her friend go to France for a vacation. Daughter and friend are kidnapped by a man they met on the street.
Act two: Father flies to France and starts looking for the men who took his daughter. Father finds the men and the friend. The friend is dead, so father gets information from the men by torturing them. Father finds out that his daughter is being sold at auction. Father goes to auction and tries to buy his daughter back
Act three: after father loses his daughter to the highest bidder, he follows them to the buyer’s yacht, kills him, and gets his daughter back.
I got the description for Taken (2008) from: https://www.google.co.za/search?q=taken+movie&rlz=1C1GGRV_enZA783ZA783&oq=taken+movie&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.2839j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Editing and montage
Montage is a technique of editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time and information.
Editing is important in film especially when there are scenes that need to be removed from the film. It also helps if there are other scenes that need to be added into the film, either as new scenes or re-shoots of other scenes that were previously removed. The sound effects and music may also be added into the film during the editing stages.
I hope this essay is not too long and boring and that everyone can learn something from it.
Word count: 1324
References:
The importance of cinematography and cinematographer:
Gulsen, U., 2017. Importance Of Cinematography and Cinematographer ‘ Umit Gulsen ‘ Medium. Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@umitgulsen0/importance-of-cinematography-and-cinematographer-f16f9802ba32 [Accessed March 13, 2018].
Example 1 of cinematography in film:
ForeverNathanScott23, 2009. One Tree Hill 6×03 Brooke and Jamie at the end of the funeral. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNEOPfbuABU [Accessed March 13, 2018].
This scene also contains music. The song is 'Quiet in My Town' by Civil Twilight.
Movement: The Film Shot, Camera Angles and Movement ‘ The Cinematheque:
inPoint, TheFilmShotAndCameraAngles.indd: this was referenced from a PDF file.
Character identification and alienation:
Anon, Google Search. Available at: https://www.google.co.za/search?q=character%2Bidentification%2Band%2Balienation%2Bin%2Bfilm&rlz=1C1GGRV_enZA783ZA783&oq=character%2Bidentification%2Band%2Balienation%2Bin%2Bfilm&aqs=chrome..69i57.17127j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 [Accessed March 13, 2018].
Theme:
Anon, THE LITERARY SUPERPOWER TOOL OF THEME. www.readwritethink.org. Available at: http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=5273FD80C65F4462ABCD346D417482E5&CID=3F5B5FDD7EDC60A1115F546C7F736171&rd=1&h=n-xKxR0n1wB4ki-6xBisjoFCIqlJUzg0M_sD77PPzcI&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.readwritethink.org%2ffiles%2fresources%2flesson_images%2flesson800%2ftheme.pdf&p=DevEx,5067.1 [Accessed March 13, 2018].
This was referenced from a PDF file.
Taken (2008):
Anon, Taken (2008). IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/ [Accessed March 13, 2018].
.