Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 2.22. Basic elements of theMaster Scene Method. Top is themaster shot. Second from the topis a loose over-the-shoulder of her.Third down is a tighter mediumover-the-shoulder. Fourth down isher close-up — in this case a choker.When you turn around to get thecoverage on him, these are theanswering shots. It is very importantthat the answering shots match thecoverage on her as closely as possible.Using the same focal lengthlens and the same focus distancewill ensure that they are both thesame image size, which will makethe edits much smoother and lessjarring.There is no need to be specific about the terminology when settingup a shot; it’s enough to just say, “let’s get an insert of that” however,inserts tend to fit into a few general categories: Informational inserts. A shot of a clock on the wall is a practicalinsert, as is reading the headlines on the newspaper or thename of the file being pulled from the drawer. These are mostlyabout giving the audience some essential piece of informationwe want them to know. Emphasis inserts: the tires skid to a halt. The coffee cup jolts ashe pounds the table. The windows rattle in the wind. Emphasisinserts are usually closely connected to the main action but notabsolutely essential to it. Atmosphere inserts: these are little touches that contribute to themood, pacing, or tone of a scene (Figures 2.15 and 2.20).Atmosphere inserts may have almost no connection to the sceneother than mood, tone, or a sort of symbolism or visual allegory.They are generally reserved for more stylized filmmaking. Theyshould be used with caution; such shots can easily be arch, heavyhandedand obvious.Connecting ShotsMost scenes involving two people can be adequately edited withsingles of each person; whether are talking to each other or one isviewing the other from a distance, such as a shot of a sniper takingaim at someone. This is sometimes called separation. There is alwaysa danger, however, that it will seem a bit cheap and easy and the factthat it is an editing trick might somehow undermine the scene. Anytime the scene includes people or objects that cannot be framed inthe same shot at some point in the scene, a connecting shot is called for.This applies especially to point-of-view shots where the characterlooks at something, then in a separate shot, we see what she is lookingat; but it also applies to any scene where two or more peopleare in the same general space, whether they are aware of each otheror not. A connecting shot is one that shows both of the charactersin one shot, often it is in the form of an over-the-shoulder or wideangle that includes both of them (Figure 6.57).Connecting shots just make a scene feel more complete and whole.The fragmentation of doing it all with POVs and reaction shots isafter all a cheat that calls upon movie magic to piece together thewhole scene. It works, but may not be as involving or emotionallysatisfying to the audience, especially if overused. A connecting shotis a way to tie things together in a way that clarifies and emphasizesthe physical, which are usually story relationships as well — clearly,one of the prime objectives of good directing and good shooting isto have the visual elements reinforce the narrative elements.PickupsA pickup can be any type of shot, master or coverage, where you arestarting in middle of the scene (different from previous takes whereyou started at the beginning as it is written in the script). You canpick it up only if you are sure you have coverage to cut to along thePU is added to the scene number on the slate so theeditor will know why they don’t have a complete take of the shot.Another use of the term is a pickup day. This is one or several days ofshooting after the film is already in editing. At this point the directorand editor may realize that there are just a few shots here and therethat they have absolutely must have in order to make a good edit.cinematography26