Writing About Film: Terminology and Starting Prompts
Writing About Film: Terminology and Starting
Prompts
Writing
about what makes a film good or bad involves a similar analytical skillset as
writing about literature. However, because film is a medium that is newer and
more collaborative than literature, and because film production involves very
different technologies, film writing requires its own unique vocabulary. The
following terminology guide is not comprehensive, but it provides a strong
foundation for making sense of what you see on the screen.
TYPES OF SHOTS
A shot is
any continuous stretch of film occurring between cuts or edits.
The
camera’s point of view automatically tells you something about how a film’s
creators intend viewers to perceive a setting or subject. Below are terms to
describe a subject’s spatial relationship to the camera.
- Close-up: The camera is a very short
distance away from the subject. This is used to depict detail. Close-ups
of faces are common (usually to show an important expression or reaction),
but the term also applies when the camera is very close to any body part
or object.
- Medium
Shot:
The camera is a middle distance away from the subject, focusing on the
subject while still conveying contextual or background information. If the
subject is a person, the shot typically encompasses their head and
shoulders. This is often used in dialogue scenes.
- Long
Shot:
The camera is a long distance from any identifiable subject, or is
encompassing an overall view of a setting or scene. Long shots are often
used at the beginning of new scenes as establishing shots that
orient the viewer in a new setting. If the subject of the shot is a
person, their whole body is usually visible.
- High-Angle
Shot:
The camera looks down on a subject. Often used to make the subject appear
powerless, vulnerable, or overwhelmed by their surroundings.
- Low-Angle
Shot:
The camera looks up at a subject. Often used to make the subject appear
powerful or threatening, or otherwise increase their sense of
importance.
- Reverse
Shot:
The camera cuts from one shot to show the opposite view of the
previous shot. This is often used in dialogue sequences to track who is
speaking and put the viewer in the place of the interlocutor.
- Point
of View Shot:
The camera sees what a particular character sees.
- Static
Shot:
The camera is stationary for the entire length of the shot, performing
none of the movements discussed in the next section.
- Dynamic
Shot: At
some point in the course of the shot, the camera performs one of the
movements discussed in the next section.
CAMERA MOVEMENT
Dynamic
shots can make use of several different types of camera movement. Below is a
short list of the most common moves.
- Zoom: The camera stays
stationary, but the lens adjusts to move the viewer closer to or farther
away from the initial shot
- Pan: The camera stays stationary
but rotates horizontally
- Tilt: The camera stays
stationary but rotates vertically
- Dolly
Shot: The
entire camera moves to change the initial shot
- Tracking
Shot: The
camera follows a single subject or object as they/it move(s) out of the
initial shot
SHOT COMPOSITION
Many
decisions go into the construction of a shot beyond the camera’s position and
movement.
- Mise-en-scène: This theory, which literally
means “placing on stage,” assumes that everything that is placed before
the camera was intentionally put there and can be read for meaning.
Analyzing a shot for its mise-en-scéne involves looking at the background
setting, acting style, lighting, props, costuming, and choreography of the
scene.
- Focus: Refers to the depth of
field of a shot, or how many layers of a shot the viewer can easily
perceive.
- Deep
focus shots
make use of wide angle lenses so that the foreground, middle ground, and
background of a shot can all be easily seen.
- Shallow
focus shots
make use of narrow lenses so that only one layer of the shot can be made
out. Other layers remain blurry.
- Linear
Composition:
Shots composed largely of horizontal and vertical lines generally give
the impression of stability. Shots composed largely of diagonal lines
give the impression of stress, tension, or uncertainty.
CUTS & OTHER
POSTPRODUCTION TRANSITIONS
A cut is
a break between two shots. After filmmakers have gathered sufficient raw film,
in postproduction they choose which shots will make up the finished product,
and how to best transition between them. The term “cutting” comes from the old
process of physically slicing rolls of film. Much of this editing process
happens digitally today, but we still use the same terminology. Below is a
short list of some common types of postproduction edits.
- Jump
Cut: A
sudden or otherwise startling cut that provides a strong contrast to the
previous shot; this cut violates the 30 degree rule, thereby dirupting the
viewers' orientation and the shot's continuity.
- Fade
In / Out: A
shot gradually appears from a blank screen, or a shot gradually disappears
into a blank screen
- Dissolve
Edit: A
transition in which the old shot fades out while the new shot fades
in.
- Montage: Several disparate shots are
overlapped in editing so that they appear on-screen at the same time or in
sequence.
- Pacing: If a sequence makes use of
a lot of cuts in a short span of time, it’s considered fast-paced and
usually conveys the feeling that there’s a lot of action happening. On the
other hand, if a shot is not broken by a cut for a long stretch of time,
this can slowly build tension as the audience anxiously waits for a cut. A
shift between fast- and slow-paced sequences often marks an important
narrative or tonal shift.
STARTING PLACES FOR
WRITING ON FILM
- Describe
a shot, sequence, or scene that stands out to you. Sometimes just writing
a good, detailed description will indicate an argument about how the
filmmakers wanted us to see something in the world.
- Who
are the filmmakers, and how does the film you’re analyzing fit into their
career? Think of the directors, writers, actors, cinematographers, musical
score composers—everyone involved in the making of this film, and choose
the career of one to contextualize the film in. Is it typical of their
other work, or a notable break in some way?
- Is
the film often considered to be part of a wider historical or filmic
movement? How does it film illustrate or complicate a certain theory,
style, or genre?
- When
was the film made? How did that historical moment influence the production
of the film? Were the filmmakers responding to a specific historic event?
How does their depiction of that event encourage viewers to think of that
event, and in turn of their present historical moment?
- What
technology was used to create this film? Does the film innovate any new
uses of camera or editing technology? If so, how did this innovation
influence future filmmakers
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