Film Studies
Techniques
Film Analysis
Much like how a writer uses stylistic devices to To analyse a film through critical viewing like
achieve specific effects in their writing, directors you do a text in critical reading, you must
use cinematic techniques in their films for understand the tools that filmmakers use to create
specific purposes. their visual masterpieces.
SHOTS and FRAMING, CAMERA ANGLES and
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
• All compare to how a writer uses POINT OF VIEW.
• Shot: a single piece of film uninterrupted by cuts.
• Of course, different shot types, angles and movements achieve
different effects.
• Basic Shot Types - YouTube
Example of Basic
shots
• ESTABLISHING SHOT - Often a long shot or a
series of shots that sets the scene; is used to establish
setting and to show transitions between locations.
• LONG SHOT – a shot from some distance. If filming
a person, the full body is shown. It may show the
isolation or vulnerability of the character.
• MEDIUM SHOT – the most common shot. The camera seems to be a
medium distance from the object being filmed. A medium shot shows
Basic Shots the person from the waist up. The effect is to ground the story.
• CLOSE UP – the image takes up at least 80 percent of the frame
Basic Shots
• EXTREME CLOSE UP – the image being
shot is a part of a whole, such as an eye or a
hand.
• TWO SHOT – a scene between two people
shot exclusively from an angle that includes
both characters equally. It is used in love
scenes where the interaction between two
characters is important.
Basic Shots
• EYE LEVEL – a shot taken from normal height;
that is, the character’s eye level. Ninety to ninety-
five percent of the shots seen are eye level, because
it is the most natural angle.
• HIGH ANGLE – the camera is above the subject.
This usually has the effect of making the subject
look smaller than normal, giving him or her the
appearance of being weak, powerless or trapped.
Basic Shots
• LOW ANGLE – the camera films subject
from below. This usually has the effect of
making the subject look larger than normal,
and therefore strong, powerful, and
threatening.
Camera • Pan – a stationary camera moves from side to
side on a horizontal axis.
Movements • Tilt – a stationary camera moves up or down
along a vertical axis.
• Zoom – a stationary camera where the lens
moves to make an object seems to move closer
or further away from the camera. *With this
technique, moving into a character is often a
personal or revealing movement, while moving
away distances or separates the audience from
the character.
Lighting
Compares to how a writer establishes tone and mood in their work.
Lighting creates significant emotional responses from the audience
based on what people associate with light and darkness.
Lighting effects clarity, realism and emotion.
• HIGH KEY – the scene is flooded with light; creating a bright
Lighting and open-looking scene.
Types • LOW KEY – the scene is flooded with shadows and darkness,
creating suspense and suspicion.
Lighting Types
• Bottom or Side Lighting – direct lighting
from below or the side, which often makes
the subject appear dangerous or evil.
• Front or Back Lighting – soft lighting on the
actor’s face or from behind which gives the
appearance of innocence or goodness, or a
halo effect.
• Compares to how a writer establishes tone
and mood in their work
• Diegetic – sound that can logically be heard
by the characters in the film (dialogue,
background noise, sound of things in the
Sound scene)
• Non-Diegetic – sound that cannot be heard
by the characters but is designed for the
audience reaction only (ominous music or
sounds)
• DIEGETIC AND NON-DIEGETIC S
OUND - YouTube
Mise-En-Scene and Cuts
• When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scene refers to everything that appears before the camera
and its arrangement. E.g. actors, lighting, props etc.
• Cut – two pieces of film are spliced together to “cut” to another image.
• Fade – can be to or from black and white; implies the passing of time or the end of a scene.
• Flashback – cut or dissolve to action that happened in the past.
• Cross-Cutting – cut into action that is happening simultaneously; creates tension or suspense and
creates a connection between scenes.
• Eye-Line Match – cut to an object, then to a person; can reveal a character’s thoughts
Apply it!
• We will watch this clip twice:
Rocky Music Video-Eye Of The Tiger - YouTube
• The first time I want you to count how many close-up or extreme
close-up shots are in the video.
• The second I want you to clap every time you see the cut.
