Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

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Available Light WindowsWindow light can be some of the most beautiful light of all, if youuse it right (Figure 7.23). Windows can be disastrous — for example,if you place an actor against a window and the camera is placed sothat the actor is in front with the view out the window behind them.In normal daylight conditions, this will produce a very high-contrastsituation, and you have to choose between having the outside viewproperly exposed and the actor in complete silhouette or exposingfor the actor and having the window view overexposed and blownThere are work arounds, of course. One is to use a big light on theactor to bring up their exposure. This generally requires a very largeunit and it can be difficult to make it look natural; also, the lighthas to be daylight balance. The other alternative is to bring downthe exposure of the window. The easiest way to do this is to gel thewindow with ND (neutral density gel), which can reduce the lightcoming through the window by one, two, three, or even four stopsIf you want to use tungsten balance lights inside the room, you canalso add 85 gel, which converts daylight (5600K) to tungsten balance(3200K). Or you can use gel that combines them: 85N3, 85N6, etc.But there is another alternative: change the shot. This not only makeslighting easier, but it will generally produce a better-looking shot. Ifthe director is flexible about the staging, you’ll get a better imageby placing the camera so that the actor is beside the window and thebackground of the shot is no longer the view out the window, butrather something inside the room. This not only solves the exposureimbalance, but it also gives the actor soft window light from the side.This can be some of the most beautiful lighting there is.What makes window light so beautifully soft? We have to distinguishbetween window light, sky light, and sunlightSky light is the light coming from the sky itself, which is a huge radiatingsource and thus very soft. Also coming through a window mightbe sun bounced off neighboring buildings, the ground, clouds, etc.Figure 7.24. This dark, moody sceneis lit primarily from the window withfour MaxiBrutes through a 12x12Hilight diffusion, supplemented bythe library lamps on the table. Avery slight smoke effect is added foratmosphere.lighting basics119
Figure 7.25. (top) For this re-creationof a noir look, his key is just abounce off the paper in the typewriter.Figure 7.26. (bottom) The overallsetup is very simple: a Tweeniebounces off the typing paper, aBetweenie gives him a backlight/kicker, and another Betweenie addsa slight glow to the map. The practicallamps have very little influenceon the scene; they are mostly justprops.MOTIVATED LIGHTLight in a scene may come from many sources, including lights thatare actually in the frame such as practicals, windows, skylights, signs,and so on. In some cases, these sources are visible but do not provideenough output for proper exposure. In this case, the sources mayonly serve to motivate additional lighting that is off-screen. Somecinematographers and directors prefer that most or all lighting in ascene be motivated in this way — that the viewer somehow understandswhere the light is coming from. In these frames from Honeydripper(Figures 7.29 and 7.30), the light is motivated by the lamps, butthe actual illumination comes from sources not shown in the frame.cinematography120
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cinematographytheory and practiceim
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cinematographytheory and practiceim
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contentsIntroductionThe Scope of th
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lighting sources 129The Tools of Li
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Video Exposure 198The Tools 199The
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optics & focus 269Physical Basis Of
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INTRODUCTIONTo a great extent the k
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writing with motion© 2012 Elsevier
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Figures 1.2 through 1.5. Visual ele
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a T-shirt, even though it hardly se
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factors involved: contrast and shar
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TextureThese days, we rarely shoot
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Figure 1.24. (top) This scene fromC
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Film is a dream — but whose?Bruce
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Figure 2.2. To convey the sense oft
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The Shots: Building Blocks of a Sce
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Figures 2.5 and 2.6. Ever the maste
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Close-upsClose-ups are one of the m
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Figure 2.15. (above) An atmospheric
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InsertsAn insert is an isolated, se
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Figure 2.23. A master shot fromRoni
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Overlapping or Triple-Take MethodTh
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Shooting the Freeform MethodHere’
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INVOLVING THE AUDIENCE: POVRecall t
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More subjectiveMore subjectiveMore
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visual language© 2012 Elsevier Inc
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Figure 3.3. (top) Balance plays a r
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Texture tors,texture gives
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Left/RightLargely a result of cultu
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FORCES OF VISUAL ORGANIZATIONAll of
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Figure 3.16. (top) The sinuous S an
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Open and Closed FrameAn open frame
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Figure 3.25. (above) The rule ofthi
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language of the lens© 2012 Elsevie
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Figure 4.3. The wide lens creates a
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shots and action sequences. The lim
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Manipulating PerspectiveThere are m
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Selective FocusThe characteristic o
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IMAGE CONTROL AT THE LENSSome techn
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Low AngleA low-angle shot can make
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visual storytelling© 2012 Elsevier
Page 84 and 85: penetrates the dusty darkness of ig
Page 86 and 87: Figure 5.6. The black-and-whitefilm
Page 88 and 89: Figure 5.11. (top) The Judge, themo
Page 90 and 91: Figure 5.21. (above) The momentbefo
Page 92 and 93: cinematic continuity© 2012 Elsevie
Page 94 and 95: As discussed in Shooting Methods, t
Page 96 and 97: over some of that move. To just ski
Page 98 and 99: Figure 6.14. The line established b
Page 100 and 101: audience. That is its only reason f
Page 102 and 103: Figure 6.22. In this scene of a cou
Page 104 and 105: Figure 6.25. The 20% rule and the30
Page 106 and 107: Prop Continuity in CoverageThe prin
Page 108 and 109: Look Establishes New LineIn a relat
Page 110 and 111: INTRODUCTIONSWhen you are bringing
Page 112 and 113: Figures 6.45. (top) A dramatic ands
Page 114 and 115: As discussed in Shooting Methods, s
Page 116 and 117: Figure 6.51 (top). In 2001: A Space
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Page 120 and 121: to a neutral card. This would likel
Page 122 and 123: Figure 7.5. (top) Lighting can crea
Page 124 and 125: Soft light: Light from a large sour
Page 126 and 127: Figure 7.11. (top) Flat front light
Page 128 and 129: — from very light, almost translu
Page 130 and 131: Figure 7.18. Blown out windows ands
Page 132 and 133: Ambient Plus Accentsevery corner of
Page 136 and 137: Carrying a LampOften we want the la
Page 138 and 139: Figure 7.31. (top) If the practical
Page 140 and 141: danger here is your background: sin
Page 142 and 143: Figure 7.36. (top) Direct sunlight
Page 144 and 145: lighting sources© 2012 Elsevier In
Page 146 and 147: BallastsAll HMIs require a ballast,
Page 148 and 149: Figure 8.6. Larry Mole Parker ofMol
Page 150 and 151: the holder. Contamination will incr
Page 152 and 153: TennersThe 10K tungsten Fresnel com
Page 154 and 155: go from a very wide beam to a very
Page 156 and 157: Figure 8.21. (top) Barger Baglights
Page 158 and 159: Cycs, Strips, Nooks and BroadsWhen
Page 160 and 161: Figure 8.28. (above) A Mini Musco i
Page 162 and 163: HD cinematography© 2012 Elsevier I
Page 164 and 165: 10075HighlightsFigure 9.2. An analo
Page 166 and 167: DIGITAL VIDEODigital video exists i
Page 168 and 169: Lossy and Lossless CompressionA los
Page 170 and 171: Figure 9.7. (top) SMPTE 75% colorba
Page 172 and 173: 104° Red61° Magenta167° Yellow0
Page 174 and 175: Video Noise and GrainMotion picture
Page 176 and 177: Figure 9.15. Component outputson th
Page 178 and 179: Figure 9.17. Blue-only color barssh
Page 180 and 181: Figure 9.21. (above) The Chromadu M
Page 182 and 183: The Decision MatrixHere’s an orga
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Figure 9.24. (top) The timecodepane
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TAPELESS PRODUCTIONOne advantage (i
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Cineon and DPX FilesOriginally crea
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Figure 9.30. (top) A gradient grays
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Figure 9.35. (top) Shot on thecamer
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CONTROLLING THE HD IMAGECertain bas
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exposure© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All r
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close down the iris to a small open
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The Bottom LineHere’s the key poi
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one whole f/stop, we double the qua
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the lower the light level the film
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Figure 10.14. The Hurter andDriffie
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Figure 10.16. Differences betweena
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The total brightness range of the s
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ABCDEFFigure 10.20. Exposure on fil
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more critical in video than in film
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“blinding white,” and so on. We
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Zones in a SceneExamine a typical s
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meter. The two readings should be t
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ViewfinderMirror(closed section)Ope
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camera movement© 2012 Elsevier Inc
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Figure 11.2. A Chapman Lenny Armrig
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Figure 11.3. A very simple pipe dol
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Circle Track MovesWhen ordering a d
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Dutch HeadDutch angle is when the c
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front wheels are locked in and func
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Crane/Jib ArmA crane is any camera
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CAR SHOTSCar shots have always been
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SteadicamThe Steadicam revolutioniz
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color© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All righ
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Functions of the EyeThere are many
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creates white. The human eye has re
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Red/Blue Axis(Color Temperature)Neu
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Figure 12.19. Strong monochromaticc
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Figure 12.21. This shot from FightC
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STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH EXISTIN
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Table 12.5. Gels can be used to cor
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Figure 13.1. (previous page) CCE,a
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Push processing tends to increase c
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Skip BleachSkip-Bleach bleach
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Other Image Control TechniquesCross
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Figure 13.4. The distinctive lookof
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Output0255255255InputInput3D LUTsti
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Figure 13.10. (left) The image with
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Figure 13.18. (top, near right) The
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Figure 13.22. (top) An 85B.Figure 1
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Table 13.5. Effects of filters in b
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Figure 13.27. (top) Scene with nofi
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Figure 13.31. The distinctive looki
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Figure 14.1. (previous page)Extreme
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Figure 14.4. Refraction.FOCUSFocus
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Figure 14.6. How iris openingaffect
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Figure 14.8. Deep focus (extremedep
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Lens focus set at infinityHyperfoca
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Figure 14.11. (top) In both of thes
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Figure 14.15. A split diopter gives
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Figure 14.16. (top) A snorkle syste
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photographed by the video camera se
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Figure 15.1. (previous page) A typi
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Figure 15.3. DP Tom Denove usinga s
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Figure 15.5. (top) Attaching a filt
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Figure 15.8. (top) Types of toemark
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Figure 15.12. Timecode slating with
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Figure 15.14. SteadiCam or handheld
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Figure 15.16. When shooting out int
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Figure 15.18. Chief Lighting Techni
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Figure 15.20. A common slatingmista
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Figure 15.22. (top) A 40 foot light
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Figure 16.1. (previous page) A comp
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wave form of the power supply by sq
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SHOOTING PROCESS PHOTOGRAPHYGreensc
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Figure 16.3. (top) A large bluescre
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Figure 16.8. A very large bluescree
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completely independent of the frame
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Figure 16.9. The Photo-Sonics 4B,ca
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Figure 16.11. Without smoke andrain
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Figure 16.14. (above) The Thundervo
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consuming process. Also, a licensed
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Figure 16.18. The lighting effectsh
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Figure 16.19. A sun path chart fora
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Figure 16.20. A grayscale and color
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Figure 16.22. Framing chart forvide
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Figure 17.1. (previous page) AnImax
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Figure 17.9. A 2.20:1 widescreenasp
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Widescreen 1.85:1Cinemascope 2.35:1
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Figure 17.17. A graphic comparisono
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ibliographyAdams, Ansel. The Negati
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Best boy electric (second electric)
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Color temperature, 231, 235-237, 25
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Dolly left/right, 218Domino, 115Doo
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4K HMI units, 134400 Blows, The, 96
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Interframe compression, 153, 173Int
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diopters, 283-284exposure compensat
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Photopic (daytime) vision, 228-229P
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Sides, 304Signal, video, 160-162Sil
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Umbrellas, camera, 324Unbalanced fr
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Also by Blain Brownand available fr
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