Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 6.50. A subjective POV or thelook. (top) We see him turn his head.Second from the top: his eyeline isset, so we know where he is looking.Third from the top: his subjectivePOV of the airplane. Its positionmatches his eyeline. In the bottomframe is a connecting shot that showsus both and clearly establishes hisrelationship to the airplane. A connectingshot is not absolutely necessarybut it is helpful.our story is based on him seeing a murder in the building oppositehim, but unfortunately, the building opposite our location isingacross the street will sell the concept that he can see the murder.As discussed in the chapter on Shooting Methods, it is easy to overto the extent that it makes the scenes artificial and empty. It is alwaysbest to get a connecting shot that ties it all together if at all possible.Like with cutaways and inserts, shooting a connecting shot is a goodsafety. Even if the script doesn’t call for one, it is one of those thingsthat the editor may thank you for later. Safety first — one the mostamateurish mistakes a director can make is to wrap a scene withoutgetting all the coverage that the editor will need to cut it smoothly.Executing a Subjective POV you must establish the person looking, or the audience will notSecondly, it is usually necessary to see that person “look” — oftenthis is done by showing them turn their head or in some other wayappear obviously appear to be looking at something. This part of thesetup is essential in letting the audience know that the next shot willingat. Generally this needs to be a somewhat normal lens because anextremely long lens or very wide lens would not represent normalhuman vision and wouldn’t look like someone’s point of view. Tofinish it off, many editors also use the shot of the character returningnot absolutely essential.The Match CutThe match cut is often used as a transitional device between scenes.An example from a western: the telegrapher sends the message thatthe governor has not granted a pardon; the hanging will go on asscheduled. From the telegrapher, we go to a shot of the telegraphpole (probably with an audio cut of the clicking of the telegraph).Then from the shot of the telegraph pole we cut to a shot of the gallows:a vertical pole approximately the same size, shape, and in thesame position as the telegraph pole. One image exactly replaces theother on screen.One of the most effective uses of a match cut is in Apocalypse Now,where Coppola cuts from the spinning blades of the ceiling fan inthe Saigon hotel room to the spinning blades of a helicopter deepin the combat zone. Great care must be taken in shooting both sidesof a match cut. It is not enough that the objects be similar in shape:the screen size (as determined by focal length) and the position inthe frame must also match. One method is to have a video of thepreviously shot scene and play it back on the director’s monitor. Forprecision work, a monitor with an A/B switch allows the image tobe quickly switched back and forth from the freeze frame of thevideo to the live picture from the monitor. As an additional guide,a grease pencil or china marker can be used to outline the object onthe monitor.cinematography100