10.10.2023 – Cinematography part2
Mise-en-scene
: The arrangement of everything that appears in the frame, such as actors, lighting, location, set design, props, costume, etc. A French term that means “placing on stage”. It is the filmmaker’s design of every shot, every sequence and ultimately the film. It is the tool filmmakers use to convey meaning and mood.
One of the most important aspects of the mise-en-scene is composition. Composition is the creative and purposeful placement of every element in the shot.
Every composition decision starts with the dimensions and proportions of your frame which is called as Aspect ratio. 2.35:1 is the standard of most films.
Every frame is basically two dimensional with the X, Y axis, but the Z axis can be shown as depth of the frame. To emphasize the Z axis could create depth and make the screen less boring and flat.
Rule of thirds is one of the conventions used to create a harmonious composition. It helps balance the frame and people pay attention to the size of the elements in the frame.
High angle: when the camera is placed above the eye line, it makes the subject look powerless and weak.
Low angle: when the camera is placed below the eye lien, it makes the subject look confident, powerful and in control.
The four attributes of light
Intensity: The brightness of the light. The measurement establishes our exposure settings in camera which we set in F-stops.
Quality: Soft/Hard light. Shadows are key to understanding quality of light.
Hard light will produce harsh shadows with defined edges and little fall-off. The source of it could be the sun, candles or light bulbs.
Soft light spreads very quickly and produces soft-edged shadows. The source of it could be over casted skies or windows.
Three factors can control either hard or soft.
- Size of source: small sources make hard light and big sources make softer light.
- Distance from subject: the further away from the subject, the harder the light. The closer to the subject, the softer the light.
- Filtering: filtering light through a diffuser or bouncing it off a surface makes it soft.
Angle: The foundation lighting set up used in filmmaking is Three points lighting.
The convention tells us to put a main light (Key light) 45-degree angle towards the subject, a second auxiliary light (Fill light) at 45-degree angle opposite the key light and a third light behind the subject (Backlight).
Colour: Every light has its own native colour temperature or colour cast.
Colour grading is the process of manipulating the colour and contrast of images or video to achieve a stylistic look. There are colour schemes for colour grading
- Complementary colours
- Analogous colours
- Triadic colours
- Monochromatic colours