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Welcome to DIRECT. This magazine is a token of the small contribution that we can make to the film and video industry and especially to those of you who are interested in video production directing and do not have the means to enroll at a film school.
Our contributing writers are:
Johnny Taute - Editor
You might even enjoy amateur video making or need some tips for a school project. We are the personnel from iLine Films, a production company in South Africa and we have walked the hard road of on the job training and reading books and magazines. i – LINE FILMS was founded by Johnny Taute in 2003, primarily to specialize in entertaining, informing and equipping the people of South Africa. The production company is situated in Pretoria, South Africa and delivers video productions for the Broadcast, Documentary and Corporate markets.
Dirk Pieters - Photography
i-Line Films delivers from concept to final mix and supplements the video facility with Photography as well. We deliver on the following Solutions: Pre production Script writing
Jean Pohl – Audio & Video
Productions for the Corporate, Training and Broadcast spheres Post production services Audio production Corporate & Magazine Photography Our production team is the main contributor to this magazine and we hope the articles inspire you to grow and learn more about the exciting world of video production.
Shani Kuhn – Video production & Editing
Contact info: www.iline.co.za
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In This issue: ™ FRAME SIZE ™ LINE OF ACTION
Composing Shots. As filmmakers we talk of the long shot, medium shot and close up and it is used to create a consistent spatial and chronological order. These terms are used to describe spaces large and small according to the frame size we select because shots are scaled to the subject we film and related proportionally to one another. But there are no hard and fast rules and your terms may vary. The change of shots is limited by identification only as long as you know that every shot is an overlapping part of the wide shot and that the change in scale is permissible but must take editing styles in consideration. Visual recognition between shots, however, is only half the strategy of the continuity style. Most often the connection between shots is one of conclusion or suggestion. When you cut from a wide shot of a woman with a handbag to her hand taking keys out of the bag you conclude it makes logical sense that it is her hand and her bag in the same time and space. Narrative logic and visual connection between shots
cooperate to create a sense of continuous space. This pair of ideas, cause and effect and spatial recognition, provide the organizational basis of the continuity style. The long shot, medium shot and close up describes many scenes and is most often used to describe the human figure and we have fine tuned the scale of change even more as seen in this image:
Close up: When you shoot for TV it is both effective and cost efficient to shoot within the medium to close ranges. This means building smaller sets and easier light control. The eyes of your characters will be the best tools to employ to bring your message across. There is a complete range of powerful gestures in winks, tears and glances. The eyes are the most expressive feature of 3
humans and animals, communicating silently as the mouth deliver the dialogue. Just like a camera, the eye-line of the character determines spatial relations in the scene space. The audience is sensitive to incongruities in the sight line between characters that are looking at one another. The audience will pick it up if the line is even slightly off. Close ups expose the intimate relationship between your subjects and the audience. This capacity for “intruding” violates the character’s privacy by forcing a degree of intimacy that should only be shared through consent. But as the camera does not need consent, partially because it is fitted with a telephoto lens and so it sees beyond social distances which force us to react as well. The close up makes us feel like intruders when the subject opens up and becomes vulnerable. We become detached or emotionally involved through the manipulation of space by the camera’s lens.
The following frames are printed in pairs as they appear in a sequence because the balance/ imbalance of frames are dependent on the footage that is placed ahead and after it. In these frames the subjects are positioned dead center. If you move your eyes over these images from left to right, as if “reading” them, you find no rhythm in the shot change since your eyes stay focused on the center of the screen.
Compare this with the following 2 frames:
Choose your close-up framings from the following x:y aspect ratios: • • • •
4:3 aspect ratio which is the same as 16mm and TV’s 1:33:1 HD video 16:9 (1.78:1) Wide screen aspect ratio (1.85:1) Anamorphic Cinemascope (2.39:1)
The off-center composition of these alternating close-ups creates that left to right eye movement that is vibrant and will become more distinct as the size of the screen escalates.
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Below is a good example of sequential art, since compositions are not judged individually but by how they unite in a sequence.
The routine solution is to leave looking room (side of the screen the character is looking) and more room at the base of the screen than at the top, but you can manipulate the frame as you require. Unconventional POV’s and shot sizes can be applied to add interesting story elements. You can adjust the frame to emphasize elements or features such as a close up of the eyes to enhance the character’s fear or the ears to stress the fact that your subject hears that he is being followed.
cutting of medium and close-up shots is more involved. When the long shot is combined with the two tighter framings, the editing pattern seldom returns to the full shot. While the medium and long shots can fulfill the narrative, a closeup generally must be accompanied by other close-ups, medium or full shots to fulfill the narrative requirements of a scene. Although the full shot allows the actor to use body language, this physical expression could slow the tempo of the film down. Even the way dance is photographed in musicals, rarely show the full figure in extended shots as the filmmaker tries to speed up the dance tempo. The long shot of a single character offers many compositional opportunities for asymmetrical framing. The following two full shots illustrate frame balance. Slightly off-centered framing is nearly as powerful as a drastically off-centered composition.
Medium Shot The medium shot is employed to frame your character’s body language, gestures and movements and even for facial expressions. You would also compose most of your dialogue shots within the medium shot range. This includes the 2-shot, 3-shot up to the 5-shot group. More than 5 would need a full shot. Full Shot You would normally apply the full shot to establish your characters in relation to their environment and each other or to set the scene with panoramic vistas. The 5
Line of Action The basic rule of camera placement is that the continuity structure observes a line of action. The purpose of this line of action is quite simple: It organizes camera angles to preserve consistent screen direction and space. Think of the line of action as an imaginary line running through the space in front of the camera. It is to ensure that multiple angles of a scene can be cut together without a confusing reversal of left and right screen space. This way, subjects moving through the frame in one shot continue in the same direction in a subsequent shot. The line of action is also called the “180 degree rule” or the “axis of action.”
The screen direction of any shots obtained from one side of the line will be consistent with each other.
The illustration above shows the shots obtained with 2 cameras. The camera position that is outside the working space is “across the line.” The result is that the man is
To maintain consistent screen direction of the two people seated at the table, the continuity system proposes that an imaginary line of action be drawn.
looking in the same direction as the woman (he now looks away from her.)
Frame balance. The direction of the line is anywhere you choose, usually the line of sight between subjects in a scene. Once the line is determined the working space of 180 degrees (the semicircle) is established.
The Triangle System Another way of describing the line of action is to envision it as the triangle system of camera placement.
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All your scenes can be filmed from 3 points within the 180-degree work space. PROFILE SHOTS The last setup within the triangle method is profile shots employing
shot joins the two lines of action. Once your new line of action (X) has been set, the camera can move across the old line of action anywhere within the new working space as long as the sight line remains with the two blue characters. The easiest way to cross the old and establish a new line of action is to place the camera on a track and dolly it around or use a jib. To film the red character again you might need to locate the camera according to the old line of action (Y) and film a reestablishing shot.
cameras A to C. The exact angles of your frames, compositions and sizes are infinite within the triangle as long as the line of action is not crossed. The only time your camera is permitted to cross the line of action is when a new line is established. One way to do this is shown below.
A new line of sight establishes a new line of action and a corresponding 180-degree working space for the camera. The old line (Y) is established between the characters at the table. Another character joins the table and the seated characters turn their attention to him. This pivot
Reinforce the lines of action through repetition until the basic editing pattern and shot geography has been established. Modern viewers catch up easily to where the characters are placed on screen because we are more accustomed to film and television (especially music videos and ads.) We are able to interpret unconventional editing patterns with relative ease and more vibrant results can be obtained if the line is crossed. A second method of establishing a new line is to have the actor in a scene cross his own line of action. Here the actor simply gets up from the table and moves to a new position over the line. (As per the illustration.) Not only can a character cross the line and establish a new one, but your camera can pan, dolly or jib to a new line of action as long as
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the camera movement is uninterrupted. You can also place the cameras in the position of the actors to get them to play into camera and give you the feeling that the camera’s POV is now that of the viewer.
Cutaways or Bridge Shots You may even cross the line by interrupting the geography of a sequence with a shot that is related to the action, but not the geography of the scene.
The Line of Action in Action Sequences Continuity editing is not the only way of arranging film images: Other methods, such as kinetic or logical editing, may be in conflict with strict continuity rules and yet provide more creative scenes. In action sequences there is usually no line of sight to establish the line of action. The line of action follows the dominant motion of the subject. Let look at a car chase: The line is the path of the cars. If the two cars are alongside each other, an additional line of action can be established between the cars and the cars become the symbols of the drivers and their line of sight. Both these lines are filmed from mutual sides of the line of motion to result in a reversal of screen direction when cut together.
If none of the previous strategies will work within scene you can film a close-up of pertinent detail. This cutaway serves as your pivot shot. When you return to the scene’s action, a new line is established.
The implied sight line is a special case and only overrides the line of motion temporarily.
This is a quick fix in the editing process when problems of continuity arise.
While this seems like the type of situation that the 180-degree rule has to prevent, it can be employed as an editing pattern.
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The closer the camera is to the line of action, the more complicated it is to detect when the camera crosses the line. When actually filming, it generally turns out that it is rarely necessary to go through elaborate staging to find a way of establishing a new line of action.
If you understand cinematic geography, have a good overview of the scene, kept thorough notes on what you need to film, and then you will not face major obstacles with continuity.
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