LIGHTING, SPACE AND FRAMING

LIGHTING

THREE-POINT LIGHTING

• Standard lighting scheme in cinema
• A backlight picks out the subject from its background
• A bright key light highlights the object
• A fill light from the opposite side ensures that the key light casts only faint shadows

HIGH KEY LIGHTING

A lighting scheme where the fill light is raised to almost the same level as the key light

LOW KEY LIGHTING

• A lighting scheme where very little fill light is used, creating strong contrasts between the brightest and darkest parts of an image
• Often creating strong shadows that obscure parts of the principal subjects
• This lighting scheme is often associated with genres such as film noir

CONTRAST

• The ratio of dark to light in an image. If the difference between the light and dark areas is large, the image is said to be "high contrast". If the difference is small, it is "low contrast"
• Low contrast is mostly used to achieve a more naturalistic lighting. High contrast is usually associated with the low key lighting of dark scenes in genres such as the horror film and the film noir
• A common cliche is to use contrast between light and dark to distinguish between good and evil

Low Contrast

High Contrast

SPACE

DEEP SPACE

• A film uses deep space when significant elements of an image are positioned both near to and distant from the camera
• To map out distances involved between one location and another

SHALLOW SPACE

• The opposite of deep space, in shallow space the image is staged with very little depth
• The figures in the image occupy the same or closely positioned planes
• Shallow space can be staged, or it can also be achieved using a telephoto lens.This is particularly useful for creating claustrophic images, since it makes the characters look like they are being crushed against the background

TELEPHOTO SHOT

• A shot with an extremely long lens is called a telephoto shot
• The effect of using a long lens is to compress the apparent depth of an image

OFFSCREEN SPACE

• Space that exists in the diegesis but that is not visible in the frame
• Offscreen space becomes significant when the viewer's attention is called to an event or presence in the diegesis that is not visible in the frame
• Offscreen space is commonly exploited for suspense in horror and thriller

FRONTALITY

• Frontality refers to the staging of people so that they face the camera square-on
• Frontal staging is usually avoided by the invisible style of continuity editing, since it supposedly breaks the spectator's illusion of peeking into a separate world
• Some films may go even further and have the characters speak to the camera, in what is called a direct address or breaking the fourth wall

MATTE SHOT

A process shot in which two photographic images are combined into a single image using an optical printer. Matte shots can be used to add elements to a realistic scene or to create fantasy spaces

FRAMING

DEEP FOCUS

• Like deep space, deep focus involves staging of elements occupying widely separated planes in the image
• Unlike deep space, deep focus requires that elements at very different depths of the image both be in focus

DEPTH OF FIELD

• The distance through which elements in an image are in sharp focus
• Bright light and a narrow lens tend to produce a larger depth of field, so does using a wide-angle rather than a long lens
• A shallow depth of field is often used as a technique to focus audience attention on the most significant item in the scene without having to use a cut-in
• Depth of field is directly connected, but not to be confused, with focus. Focus is the quality and depth of field refers to the extent to which the space represented is in focus

SHALLOW FOCUS

• A restricted depth of field, which keeps only one plane in sharp focus; the opposite of deep focus
• Shallow focus suggests psychological introspection, since a character appears as oblivious to the world around her/him
• It is therefore often used in genres such as the melodrama, where the actions and thoughts of an individual are more important than everything else

EXPOSURE

• A camera lens has an aperture (a hole or an opening) that controls how much light passes through the lens and onto the film
• If the aperture is widened, more light comes through and the resultant image will become more exposed
• If an image is so pale that the detail begins to disappear, it is known as "overexposed". Whereas, a narrow aperture that allows less light through will produce a darker image, known as "underexposed"

Overexposed

Underexposed

RACKING FOCUS

• Where the focus of a lens changes from one item to another
• A more obvious way of guiding an audience through a scene, as well as linking two objects
• Racking focus is usually done quite quickly, to create the effect of a brief, fleeting glance that can be used to quicken the tempo or increase suspense

CANTED FRAMING

• Canted Framing is a view in which the frame is not level causing objects in the scene to appear slanted out of an upright position
• Canted framings are used to create an impression of chaos and instability
• Used to create frantic rhythms of action films
• Canted framings are also common when shooting with a Steadicam

CONTINUITY EDITING

• A system of cutting to maintain continuous and clear narrative action
• Continuity editing relies upon matching screen direction, position, and temporal relations from shot to shot
• Supports the viewer's assumption that space and time are continuous between successive shots

THE 180 DEGREES RULE

The 180 degree rule means that in a scene the camera can't pass the 180 degree line from the line of action. The reason for this is that the scene would not flow if the camera did cross the line.

Let's take the example of two women talking:

In the scene, the camera may cut to two mid-shots:

 

This is within 180 degrees, so is following the rule:

However, if the scene cut to mid-shots breaking the 180 degree rule:

  

This does not flow with the scene and looks odd, which is why you don't pass the 180 degree line of action: