Last week we looked at jump cuts and how it’s a good idea to avoid them. Today, however, we’re going to look at how to avoid the jump cut by using the match cut.

     The match cut basically is the exact opposite of the jump cut. While the jump cut fails to connect two different scenes seamlessly, the match cut provides visual logic between two scenes by matching something in one scene with something in the next. The match cut’s job is to provide continuity and flow by following an action or character over multiple shots. 

     To do this, you must think in terms of the average viewer. If you see one character looking of screen, the next logical shot would be to show what that character was looking at. If you’ve done that, you’ve just created a small match cut shot.

     The best thing about match cuts is that although they are common in the film world and easy to make, they also have the potential to create great impact on scenes. This is because they can be used to create metaphors.

     Here is a good example of the match cut being a metaphor from 1971 dark comedy Harold and Maude (director Hal Ashby):

     See how the sequence of shots is a clear metaphor for standing out versus fitting in. Ashby does a good job connecting the importance of seeing yourself as an individual flower instead of lost in a sea of the same flower. Then the director takes it a step further by comparing the field of flowers to a field of unmarked headstones in a graveyard filled with people already forgotten. 

     Check back here next Friday at 7 pm for another lesson on the basics of script writing! 

     For today’s lesson: the dreaded jump cut. Oh, how filmmakers and film-viewers alike hate the jump cut! I mentioned this type of shot a few posts back, but it definitely warrants its own blog post because of how many beginning filmmakers make the mistake of incorporating jump cuts.

     

     What is a jump cut?

• A jump cut is when two or more chronological shots of the same character or action are taken and the shot only varies slightly, causing the elements inside the frame to “jump.” This confuses the audience and generally is just bad filmmaking.

     The first rule of jump cuts: never use them. Unless you are consciously trying to disorient the audience for some strange, aesthetic appeal, don’t ever use the jump cut.

     How to avoid jump cuts:

•        Zoom instead of cutting
•       Shoot from a different angle to make the frame of the two shots different.

     Here’s a good tutorial to wrap up any loose ends and for a better visual example of the jump cut:

     See you next Friday at 7 p.m. for another lesson on the match cut. If you have any comments or questions please let me know!

Hey there,

One shot that many beginning filmmakers tend to forget is the reaction shot. A reaction shot, like its name suggests, shows the reaction a character has to what is being done or said on screen. Whether it is drama or comedy, this is a vital concept that all genres of film must abide by. To do this, you should film the scene like you normally would, capturing the appropriate action and dialogue. For the best results, go back and shoot the scene again, this time focusing on one character’s reaction.

            The reaction should always tell the audience something so only use them when the situation calls for it. You don’t need a reaction shot for every line of dialogue. If you have a scene of a man ordering coffee in a café, chances are you don’t need a reaction shot of the waiter.

            If you’ve learned anything from the past posts I’ve done, it should be that everything in film relates back to the audience. This is why reaction shots are so crucial because it not only lets the viewers in on the mindset of your characters, but it can also tell the audience about the story as a whole.

            Here’s a pretty funny video I stumbled upon that is filled with that show the cause and effect nature of reaction shots from some of the best movies of all time. 

     See you all next Friday at 7 p.m. If you can think of any of your own favorite reaction shots let me know!

Hi all,

     I thought I’d diverge a bit from the structured material I normally post and discuss something a little more fun. Whether it be from special effects or picking the right song to go with a scene, one of the best parts about filmmaking is incorporating sound.

     Sound is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal because it directly taps into the viewer’s emotions. Films do this in a number of ways, but to demonstrate this best I’m going to introduce you to some awesome examples of music montages in film. The first is from Wes Anderson’s Royal Tenenbaums with the song Needle in the Hay by Elliot Smith.  

     Notice how even without context, the montage tells a story. Also note how the scene uses music to influence the viewer’s perspective of the mood of the film. It also makes good use of silence as a tool as well, which many films forget to do.

     Another classic example is from Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko with the song Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears.

     This montage is excellent for not only incorporating a fitting song that matches the pace of the plot, but it also advances the storyline as well.

     Music is a great way to connect with the audience and to create a better feel for your film. So next time you’re planning out a script, challenge yourself and put in a montage!

     If you guys have any of your own favorite montages in film, let me know! See you next Friday at 7 p.m. for a lesson on how to plan before filming.

Rule of Thirds

Hey guys,
     Sorry this is a few days late. I thought I had is set on automatic post for Friday at 7, but it didn't seem to go through.

     We’ve got an important topic to cover today — the rule of thirds! Most people’s first impression of a shot is to make everything in the shot front and center, but normally this isn’t the case. In film, you want the subjects in your shot to be a little off kilter.

     You do this by imagining your shot is broken up into thirds, hence the title “rule of thirds.” To do this, imagine there is an invisible grid of lines running over the shot, cutting your shot into nine equally sized squares. For further emphasis, here is an embarrassing childhood photo of my brother and I that we can use as a demonstration: 

     Imagine this is your shot. Now you’ve broken the shot into nine squares so the “weight” of the shot is focused on the bottom, right third of the shot. By putting your shot off balance, it makes it more interesting and dynamic. A straight on shot is often boring and predictable.

     Check in next week for a post on interesting ways to use sound in your film. See you all next Friday at 7 p.m.

Hi guys,

     Today, I want to talk a little bit about the importance of including entrance and exit shots. A common mistake that beginning filmmakers make is that they do not include their subjects entering a scene or leaving a scene. Without these, the often-dreaded “jump cut” tends to happen, in which characters seem to have been magically placed in a scene or magically disappear from one. You want to avoid this. It’s confusing for the viewers to follow and just isn’t good visual story telling.

     It’s simple. Say you would like to show your character in one location, and then you want to take that character to another:

1.     Take a shot of your subject walking out of the shot. It does not always have to be the subject physically exiting a door, but you want them to walk out of the frame.

2.     Leave the scene “empty,” or devoid of the character, for a few seconds so the viewers know that they’ve made their exit.

3.     Now, show your subject entering a scene at another location by having the character walk into the frame. This way it doesn’t appear like they’ve teleported themselves there.

     Check out this site for some great visual tutorials on how to accomplish exit and entrance shots successfully.

     It does not always have to be this cut and dry. Once you get a handle on the basics, you can try to get a little more creative, like this scene from one of the greatest iconic movies of all time, Dazed and Confused:

     Notice how the camera follows their car into the shot and then the scene cuts to a straight-ahead shot of them walking into the Emporium. It's clean and concise. This is a creative way to show a exit and entrance scene.

    Have a great weekend! And tune in next Friday at 7 p.m. to learn about the rule of thirds in film. 

Cutaway Shot

Hi All,

     Welcome back for a lesson on the cutaway shot. This technique is used to cutaway from the main action, hence the title “cutaway” shot. For example, two people are sitting in a park, feeding pigeons and talking. The first few shots obviously would be on the character that is doing the talking. To make things a little more visually appealing to the audience, you would use the cutaway shot to do a close-up on the pigeon or maybe a child chasing a Frisbee through the park. This way the audience now has a better grasp on the point of view of the main subject, on what the main subject is seeing. You are trying to make sure your audience is as closely emerged into the character’s surroundings as possible.

Cutaway shots can also be used to:

• Show action: say a character is talking on his cell phone through New York and up a head he spots someone being mugged. The camera does a cutaway shot to show the action that is taking place.
• Show reactions: the character is breaking the news to her husband that she is dying of cancer. This is a serious moment that demands a cutaway shot of her husband’s shocked and devastated face.
• Fix mistakes: say the audio of a character is still intact, but the shot is messed up for some reason, you could do a cutaway shot (possibly over-the-shoulder) of another’s reaction to cover-up the mistake.

Here is a good example of the cutaway shot that cuts away from the main scene and introduces a new plot point:

     Notice how Ted’s voice carries over into the next shot, but you don’t actually see him delivering the lines. For all you know, he could be recording them in the studio. Also note how they use the cutaway shot to tell a short recap of a story and then cut back to the main action.

     See you all back here next Friday at 7 p.m. for a lesson on filming exit and entrance shots! 

Split-Screen Technique

     The split-screen technique can be done in post-editing and it literally creates a visible divide in the screen (normally in half), showing two different points of view or images. It can be a fun, easy way to be a little more creative with your film. It’s only easy, however, when you do the necessary planning beforehand. The split-screen scene actually has to have significant meaning. Doing a split-screen just to do one isn’t going to cut it. There must be a purpose. Otherwise, the technique falls flat and becomes confusing to the audience. There are many advantages to the split-screen method:

• To create a foil between two subjects, such as showing two characters’ lives that contrast each other.
• To give different points of view at the same time, much like telling two sides of a story
• Aesthetic appeal
• To duplicate an actor (think Parent’s Trap with Lindsey Lohan playing both parts of the twins)

There are also some setbacks:

• They often become confusing. To avoid this, think of how it will look beforehand — always plan ahead!
• They become repetitive so use them sparingly. Surprise the audience — let it be your wildcard, not your calling card.
• They disrupt “reality,” or the natural flow of the film. This isn’t always bad, but if done too often, it can take the viewers away from the world you’re trying to create with your film.

     With these tips in mind, try your hand at a split-screen shot and see how it turns out. The key to success in film is practice, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t turn out how you pictured it — keep trying.

     Here’s an awesome example of a split-screen shot that falls heavily under the aesthetic appeal category mentioned above:

Here’s one that tells a story:

     Let me know what you think! Comment or email me at ljm7686@truman.edu. Like always, I’ll see you next Friday at 7!

     Next time: learn all about the cutaway shot!

Stop Motion!

Hi again! Ready to learn all about stop motion? Then you're in the right place—

     Stop motion is a style of film that entails physically manipulating everything within a scene so that it appears to be moving on its own. This takes a lot of time and a lot of patience because each object has to be moved in tiny increments and you must record each movement by taking many photographs. While stop motion usually involves some form of clay figures, it can be done with just about anything. And for those people like me, who don’t have the time, money or skill (yet!) to create a masterpiece such as Nightmare Before Christmas, we can start off small. To do this, you can create a short film much like this one: 

     Notice how in only three minutes they managed to convey a small story line without changing sets. The key to stop motion like this one is creativity. Without a specific idea in mind, it won’t work out. That’s why planning beforehand is the most important part in attempting a short like this.

     Hopefully, after testing the waters by making your own stop motion short, you can see if you’d want to undertake a much more highly orchestrated operation like Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop motion animation film that was directed and written by Wes Anderson. This is possibly my favorite film of all time, stop motion or otherwise. There is such painstaking attention to detail and the amount of work that would have gone into just one snapshot must have been unbelievable. From every angle, the film truly is fantastic.

     Here’s a clip from one of my favorite scenes:

     For a better understanding on how they make this type of film, check out this video:

     For next time, be ready to delve into split-screen shots! As always, feel free to comment or email me at ljm7686@truman.edu

     See you here next Friday at 7 p.m.

High, Low, Eye-level and the Bird's-Eye View Shots

Hi there!

     Here’s yet another tutorial on how to use different camera angles such as the high and low angle, the eye level angle and the bird’s-eye view angle. All of these shots are used to connect directly to the viewers. It’s important to understand that what the camera sees is effectively the same point of view as the audience. This way, you can use these angles to your advantage while filming to influence your audience’s emotions as they watch.

     The bird’s-eye view angle is shot from above the action, giving the audience an almost “god-like” feel while watching the scene. This happens at the beginning of many movies during the opening credits to set the location of the story. It can also be used to track a character’s journey from a distance to show how far they’ve come and how far they still need to go.

     It’s also common to use the bird’s-eye view in battle sequences to emphasize the incredible size of the armies. Here’s a good example of how this angle works:

     The high angle shot is when you film slightly above the character. In this case, the character is almost looking up into the shot. This is used to make the character seem small and vulnerable.

     The low angle shot, as you would guess, is the opposite of the high angle shot. The low angle shot is when the camera is looking up at the character. This often makes the character seem powerful and superior.

     Both of these shots can be exemplified in this clip: 

     The eye-level view is perhaps the most common because of its neutrality. Unlike the high and low angle shot, the eye-level shot does not try to exaggerate the qualities of a character. Instead, the camera is placed at eye-level with the subject so the audience feels like they are on equal footing with them.

     Here’s an example of the eye-level shot, which also will be a nice teaser until next Friday’s lesson on Stop Motion — so get excited!

     See you next week — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel (Friday at 7 p.m.)!

Tracking Shots

Hi there, welcome back to another lesson on how to best use the tracking shot!

     Unlike setting up the camera and waiting for the action to pass in front of you, a tracking shot is where you literally track your subject’s movement with the camera. This either can be in front of the character or following behind the character. Because the point of view of the camera is virtually the same point of view as the audience, these are best used to help the viewers feel like they are apart of the action that is taking place on screen.

     Normally, a tracking shot involves mounting your camera on a dolly (a platform with wheels), which is designed to move your camera smoothly from one direction to another.  Since these can be pricey and we are not professional filmmakers (yet!), you’ll have to make do with a very steady hand while holding the camera.

     Using the tracking shot can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like. If you just want a short clip of your character walking to class, talking to a friend, you could track their movement by walking a little in front and to the side of them. This would be a simple tracking shot.

     More complicated ones can track the action for whole minutes. Before committing to a highly orchestrated tracking shot, make sure you’ve done all the necessary planning because they can be a lot of hard work getting all of the desired elements and timing down.

     Here are some examples of the best tracking shots in film today: 

Note that this almost tells a story and it gives you greater insight on the character’s lives and routines.

     Notice how all of this had to be perfectly planned before shooting because, otherwise, there would be no way to juggle around that many extras for one shoot.

     Here are some other great examples of tracking shots: http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2007/09/the-ten-best-tracking-shots-ever/

     Stay tuned for next week where you’ll learn all about different camera angles (high, low, eye-level etc.).

    Like always, feel free to leave comments or suggestions below or email me at ljm7686@truman.edu

See you all next Friday at 7 p.m.!

Long, Medium and Close-up Shots

Welcome back,

     Let’s jump right in! The three most basic shots that make up all film scenes are the long, medium and close-up shot.

     The long shot (or wide shot) is mainly used to give the viewer context by showing what’s going on around the subjects. For example, if you want to film a soccer match, you’d most likely want to include a few long shots that encompass the whole game, instead of following around just one player. 

     The long shot is often used to set up a location so the audience is aware of where the upcoming scene will be taking place. This is called an establishing shot. Think of all the times you’ve seen shots of the exterior of Monk’s Café from Seinfeld or the Central Perk coffee house from Friends. These are all examples of long, establishing shots.

     An extreme long shot, which can be shot from distances of over a quarter of a mile away, are used to emphasize the vastness of a region or show large-scale action scenes. One of the best examples of this is in Lord of the Rings, which is compromised of many long shots to show not only massive battles sequences, but also to show the enormity of the landscape in comparison to the size of the characters:

     Medium shots are by far the most common shots in film. While it can be difficult to distinguish between a medium shot and a close-up shot, the general rule of thumb is that a medium shot shows the full-length view of the subject. These shots are often used in simple dialogue scenes between characters and to emphasize body language.

     Here is an example (from one of the best movies of all time!) of a medium shot to help you gauge what the proper distance should be between the camera and the subject:

     Close-ups are used mainly used to express emotion during a dramatic scene. In this case, the emphasis is on the character. Close-ups can also be used to emphasize something of great importance in a scene. These shots mainly appear mere inches from the subject and are called extreme close-up shots. This is the cue to the audience that this object will be significant to the plot.

     For example, in Lord of the Rings, the camera does many extreme close-ups on the ring to bring the reader back to its importance. Here is an example of a scene from Requiem for a Dream with shots ranging from regular close-ups to extreme close-ups. Note how the emphasis is on the characters and the emotion between the two:

     If you have any questions or thoughts feel free to comment or email me at ljm7686@truman.edu. Tune in next Friday at 7 p.m. to learn all about tracking shots!

Welcome!

     So you want to make movies? If the answer is, yes, then this is the place for you. This blog aims to teach all you new, aspiring filmmakers the basics of filmmaking, including different shots and techniques that all beginners should know before taking their script to screen. 

     My name is Laurie Mattson and I plan to be your guide during your explorations of the world of cinematography. I'm currently a senior at Truman State University and President of Truman State Filmmaker's Club. While I have made some short films in the past, I, too, am a beginning filmmaker. That being said, I aim to learn just as much from this blog as hopefully you all will. 

     After a while, I hope that you'll start thinking in screen shots. Every room you walk into and every person you meet, I want you to ask yourself, "What is the best, most creative shot I can get out of this?" That's what being a filmmaker is all about. 

     To learn more about film techniques, check out this blog every Friday at 7 p.m.
     To tide you over, here is the trailer for one of my favorite films in terms of cinematography, Requiem for a Dream:

     Start exploring on your own now: check out http://www.empireonline.com/ for the latest movie news.