BBFC Presentation

Understanding Camera Angles and Movements

Establishing Shot (EST)
- This establishes where the action takes place
- Setting the scene


Wide Shot (WS)
- Often used as establishing shot
- Used to show characters surroundings


Long Shot (LS)
- A shot which shows all or most of the fairly large subject e.g the characters.
- used to show surroundings but more portrait than landscape


Medium Long Shot (MLS)
- Knees to head with some background


Medium Shot (MS)
- Waist to head


Medium Close up (MCU)
- Head and shoulders


Close up (CU)
- Shows a character's face
- Used to show emotion


Extreme Close Up (ECU)
-A very tight shot, for example song's eyes or door handle


Over The Shoulder (OTS)- Used during a conversation
- Shot reverse shot

Overhead Shot (OH)
- Camera will be directly over the objects/actor


High Angle (HA)
- Could be used to make the object/person look powerless


Low Angle (LA)
- Could be used to make the object/person look powerful


Deep Shot (DS)
- When something is in the foreground and something else is in the background

Titles of Scott Pilgrim

Watch the opening here

The opening of Scott Pilgrim VS The World clearly displays the films comic book aesthetics and text box style introductions. Each character's name and age is show in a box floating near their head, as if taken straight out of the pages of a comic book (which it was). During all the credits, the main cast play over the top with their band, Sex Bob-omb, which is shows their one hobby around the house. The intro demonstrates the bland and simple student life they all live in the house and introduces almost the main characters.

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Preliminary Excercise

We included all 3 techniques that needed to be used:

• 180 degree rule: Rebecca constantly goes from left to right.
• Match on action: the camera zooms in on Rebecca's hand when she opens her locker.
• Shot/reverse shot: during the conversation at the end.

If I were to go back and change anything, I would reshoot Rebecca entering the room and the hallway as the camera was wobbly and she laughed.

Purpose and Convention

•The purpose: The purpose of a film opening is to show action and begin the viewers interest so they get immediately hooked into the film. The film opening will also clearly state the genre of the film, you will also most likely see either the protagonist or antagonist.
•Timing conventions: Most film openings are around 2 minutes long. However major blockbusters may be up to 5 minutes.
•Set the scene: year of setting, location etc.
•Introduce: Protagonist, Antagonist, sidekick,establishes scene.

•Key credits: such as production company, logos and director.
•Usually starts with equilibrium: A key event will occur.


Codes

Media students identify three categories of codes that may be used to convey meanings in media messages:

TECHNICAL CODES which include camera techniques, framing, depth of field, Mise en scene, editing, lighting and sound.

SYMBOLIC CODES which refer to objects, setting, body language, clothing and colour.

WRITTEN CODES in the form of headlines, captions, speech bubbles and language style.


Conventions

Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something, and in the case of media texts, they are generally accepted patterns of code that communicate a particular message. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific. For example, in Westerns fights scenes are generally shot from a low angle, the setting is usually dusty and desolate, and even the sounds used within the scene are conventional, such as castanets, or some sort of whistle.

Main Exercise

The title and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of 2 minutes.

Term Definitions

Term Definitions

Match on Action:

Match on Action is a continuity editing technique which can be used to portray a false sense of continuity to the viewer. As an example, it can feature a person opening a door in 3 shots: First, a wide shot showing the person walk towards the door, then a close up of their hand on the doorknob, then a final shot showing them walk through the other side. These shots are then edited togethor to make it look like a continuous motion and make the movement seem fluid and natural. This technique can be done using almost any action, like this scene from Star Wars.

Shot/reverse shot:

Shot reverse shot is also a continuity editing technique which can be used to portray a conversation between two people with the audience's attention constantly on one person at a time. It involves 2 camera angles, one over one characters shoulder and another over the other persons. These 2 shots will then be put togethor so that only one person's face is shown at once whilst it shows just the back of the other person's head.

180 degree rule:

The 180 degree rule is where you have a line of view and you are showing 2 characters in a scene. In this shot you have to keep the same side of the view line otherwise the audience's association with character and side of the screen with be broken along with 180 degree rule. It is another continuity technique which is used to keep the characters on their own side of the screen.