Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

PLANNING THE SCENE 265
which can cause such trouble. Unless full-frame follow-focus is
used it cannot be determined for sure that this will not happen.
And even when it is used it is not always certain since the picture
is seen in the view finder in color and the differentiation in appearance
due to the use of color separates the objects which form
an unfortunate blend with the performers. But when viewed in
black and white on the television screen two things may have
the same monochrome value and result in a very humorous effect.
In most cases, eyes should be in the top part of the frame, un-
less the person is looking up at someone. In this case it is quite
possible that the higher object may appear in the corner of the
frame to aid the illusion. Big close-ups, or one-shots, should never
be set dead in the center of the frame. This is static and lacks
drive. It has the same effect as a vertical dividing line which
merely splits the picture into two parts. The subject is presumably
looking at something or someone, so why not allow space in the
direction in which he is looking so that the object of his eyes might
have room to materialize. It is not often that a charac-
conceivably
ter looks squarely out of the screen into the faces of the viewers.
One of the rare cases where this might happen would be a horror
film where a grim figure is suddenly found and looks into the
eyes of the camera.
The use of color is a mixed blessing in composing scenes.
When viewed by the naked eye, a scene may appear perfect due
to the power of the human eye to resolve the different colors. If
the story is shot in Kodachrome or any other color film and re-
produced in color also the odds are that it will be perfect. But
should black and white be used for the original filming or for
making the duplicates for television use, there may be some lack
of difference between the various objects in the picture, and the
color balance may be all wrong.
When setting the mood of a scene the skilful producer can do
much to help his scenery artists by proper arrangement of props
and players; a short course of architecture would be helpful for
many. It is well known how the human mind reacts to the lines of
a church or other beautiful, austere building. Tall, graceful, Gothic