Introduction to Film Studies Mise-en-scène

Framing Camera height, distance, angle and level can be changed within the shot – mobile framing – a unique aspect of film The change of framing is achieved by moving the camera during filming. Several kinds of camera movement Pan, Tilt, Tracking, and Crane

Framing The pan turns the camera horizontally on a vertical axis - horizontal scanning of space pscycho The tilt moves the camera vertically up and down on a horizontal axis Rear Window Tilt up and tilt down

Framing In the tracking (dolly or trucking or traveling) shot, the camera as a whole change position Day for Night Pan & Travelling shot Day for Night In the crane shot, the camera moves above the ground level, being carried by a crane.

Framing Example of tracking shots Martin Scorsese’s Age of Innocence Behind the Scene Tracking shot

Dynamic crane shot in Luc Besson’s Leon

Framing Example of the combination of tracking and crane shot in Orson Welles’s A Touch of Evil Opening shot

Framing The shot size can be changed without moving the camera – zoom shot The zoom lens with adjustable focal length permits the photographer to change the shot size Impression of perspectival depth changes The Shining

Framing When zooming in, the depth of field become shallow and the perspective narrow, when zooming out, the depth deepens and the perspectives widens. Dolly zoom; or vertigo shot – zoom in and track out at the same time The Goodfellas Goodfellas

One more example of dolly zoom in Jaws Raft scene

Origin of dolly zoom – Vertigo effect Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo Vertigo effect

Introduction to Film Studies Montage

Montage The editor discards unwanted footage e.g. The editor of The Net (1995) dealt with 300 reels (3,000 minutes or 50 hours) and culled them to 12 reels (120 minutes or 2 hours) Then the editor joins the desired shots, the end of the one to the beginning of another. David Lean

Montage A shot is joined to another in various ways A Fade-out gradually darkens the end of a shot to black A Fade-in gradually lighten a shot from black Citizen Kane A dissolve briefly superimposes the end of shot A and the beginning of shot B, while shot A gradually gives away to shot B Citizen Kane In a wipe shot B replaces shot A by means of shot B moving across the screen Seven Samurai

Dimensions of Film Editing The film editor consider four aspects of editing 1. Graphic relations between shots 2. Rhythmical relations between shots 3. Spatial relations between shots 4. Temporal relations between shots Graphic Relations Editing permits the interaction, through similarity and difference, of the pictorial qualities of shots (lighting, setting, costume, behaviour, framing, photography, and camera movement)

Graphic Relations in Editing Montage connecting two shots with the same graphic quality – folded hands, hand of a Japanese lover and a hand of a former German lover in Alain Resnais’s Hiroshima mon amour 18.00

Graphic Relations in Editing The most bold graphic match: cut from a bone to a spaceship jumping millions of years over two shots. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, Space Odyssey bone and spaceship

Graphic Relations in Editing Cutting on action or matching on action – the editor cuts from one shot to another in the way that the action in the second shot matches the one in the first. A variation of the graphic match editing technique G.W. Griffith’s Orphans of the Storm 2.50

Graphic Relations in Editing Two people in conversation is typically filmed in one shot showing both without cut, or in shot-reverse-shot (a character shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character). The conversation without editing Play it Again, Sam

Graphic Relations in Editing Shot and reverse shot: two people in conversation shown not together but individually. Woody Allen’s Manhattan ending

Graphic Relations in Editing In a shot-reverse-shot adjacent shots do not have to be continuous graphically Mild discontinuity may appear in widescreen composition in shot-reverse-shot (shots showing characters facing each other) Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas

Birds Each shot centres on the action (the flaming trail and Melanie’s face), but movements thrust in different directions. Contrasts between stillness and movement

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Acceleration A group of people talking: 1,000 frames, 41 seconds Melanie looking out the window 309 fr. 13 sec. Exterior shot of a gas station: 55 fr. 2 1/3 sec Melanie joined by Mitch and the Captain: 35 fr. 1 ½ sec. The shot length subordinated to the internal rhythm of the dialogue and the movement in the images.

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Melanie’s horrified reaction to the racing flames 70 frames (Flaming car) – 20 frames – 18 frames – 16 frames – 14 frames – 12 frames – 10 frames – 8 frames – punctuate the scene by the two shots with the identical length - 34 frames (Cars at station explode) - 33 frames (Melanie covers her face) – a long shot of the city over 600 frames (pause or reverberation)

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Goodfellas Rhythmic factors include beat, accent and tempo and are supported by mise-en-scène and sound. The tempo of cutting is getting quicker and quicker as the day is getting more hectic in the helicopter sequence of Goodfellas. Jump cuts, rock music with strong beats, clock

Rhythmic Relations in Editing Tempo of cutting is slow matching the lugubrious and lethargic mood of the scene, the slow motion movements, and monotonous waltz music in Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love. Each shot is long lasting over 10 seconds – long take first encounter

Continuity Editing Graphic qualities must be kept continuous from shot to shot – once composition is fixed, it must be maintained; the overall lighting tonality must remain constant The rhythm of editing has its own rules: long shots are left on the screen longer than medium shots, and medium shots are left on longer than close-ups The aim of continuity editing is to create a smooth flow from shot to shot

The 180° system or rule ‘Axis of action’, the ‘centre line’ or the 180° line Only the shots taken from the camera placed in the 180° area on either side of the axis of action (the white area) must be edited together.

Continuity Editing Once the axis of action is established, the camera stays on the same side. Annie Hall

This ensures some common space from shot to shot. The 180° system ensures constant screen direction. Once upon a Time in the West

Continuity Editing Art gallery Eye-line Match - in one shot a person is shown seeing off screen in one direction and in the next what he/she is seeing is shown Dario Argento’s The Stendhal Syndrome a girl looks out of frame to her left, and there is a cut to the painting that she is supposed to be looking at.

Continuity Editing The 180° rule and the eye-line match are carefully observed and give the viewer consistent sense of direction in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Jeffrey is a photographer on wheelchair and kills his time by looking into the apartments across from his. Eyeline match

Continuity Editing Match on action or cutting on action – the first shot is cut to another shot in the way the action started in the former continues in the latter and matches the action in the latter. In Stephen Soderbergh’s Traffic, a man jumps in shot A and lands on the ground in shot B.

Continuity Editing In Bringing up Baby, the shot in which Katherine Hepburn strikes a match is cut to the shot in which she is lighting a cigarette. The action is continuous and matching.