The Camera
Introduction
The camera is one of the main tools that film makers have at their disposal to tell a story. The following are some important points to keep in mind when analysing other people’s films or making your own.
Framing
This refers to what is included in a shot. There are various types of shots:
- Long shot or establishing shot – this is generally used to introduce a film or a sequence because it shows a large area and sets the scene.
- Midshot – shows moderate detail and is the most commonly used shot.
- Close-up – shows a small area in great detail and is particularly useful for showing emotion in characters by focussing on the face.
- Extreme close-up – fulfills a similar function to the close-up but shows even greater detail for heightened impact.
Movement
Cameras can rotate or move through space and this capacity is often used to enhance a film’s capacity to tell a story:
- Panning – the camera rotates on the stand much like your head revolves on your neck.
- Tracking – the camera is laid on small train tracks and is able to follow the action.
- Crane shot – the camera is placed on a crane which gives enormous capacity to move through space.
- Steady cam – allows for a camera person to follow action in a naturlistic way without the camera bouncing around with the normal movement of the body.
Camera Angles
The camera’s “perspective” has significant implications for how one perceives a subject:
- Low camera angle – the camera “looks up” at the subject making the subject appear powerful or dominant in some way.
- High camera angle – the camer a “looks down” at the subject making the subject appear weak or insignificant.
- Neutral camera angle – the camera uses eye level, you probably won’t even notice this perspective as it is our “normal” point-of-view on the world.
Point of View
One must think about the camera’s point of view as this has a major impact on how a story can be told:
- If the camera looks at world through the “eyes” of a character, then all that can be shown is what that character can see.
- If the camera has no specific point of view, there is greater flexibility with what can be shown. This approach is essentially the same as the perspective of an omniscient narrator in a novel.
Focus
Focus is an important part of visual story telling:
- Depth of field – it is possible to vary the depth of field which varies from forground and background being in focus to only the foreground being in focus and the background being out of focus and appearing flat. The latter is refered to as shallow depth of field. It is a technique which forces the viewer to focus on the main point of action.
- Pull focus – used particularly when characters are talking to each other, one character talks and is in focus while the listening character is out of focus. When the second character begins talking they are pulled into focus while the first character is pulled out of focus.