Media Language

Media Language

The term ‘micro’ elements refers to:

• Cinematography
• Sound
• Mise - en - scene
• Editing 

Use of camera

• Camera shot
• Camera movement 
• Camera angles
• Extreme close up
• Close up
• Long shot
• Wide shot
• Medium shot
• Point of view
• Low angle
• High angle
• Over the shoulder
• Birds eye view
• Worms eye view

Camera Movements

• Panning
• Tilt
• Crane shot
• Tracking shot
• Rolling shot
• Steadicam
• Crane shot

Steadicam can be more useful than dolly’s as a dolly is on a set track, whilst steadicam is easier to follow people around get into tight angles and you can’t see the tracks in the background.

Also Dolly tracks can get expensive so if you’re planning on having a long shot, a long dolly track can be really expensive.

Editing - Introduction

There are two key areas to concentrate on with editing

1. Speed of editing
2. Style of editing

Speed of editing

• In a film, each scene may last a matter of seconds, or it could continue for minutes
• The length of each sequence established the pace of the film moving the action along

Creating pace:

If filmmakers want the audience want to feel anxiety and suspense, the editing will be quick - the scenes/shots changing frequently

If a relaxed mood is desired, the scenes last longer and change less frequently. For example in a romantic comedy

Nevertheless a film need not have any editing. Russian Ark was filmed in one take using a steadicam and digital camera. The required split-second timing and organisation

Scenes at the beginning of a film - as it begins to tell its story - must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on. It is also slow to introduce the main character(s)

As the film progresses, scenes may become shorter as the editing cuts between telling two more storylines at the same time

Style of editing

• How shots are linked together
• The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition
• Basic transitions include:
• Straight cut
• Fade
• Dissolve
• Wipe

Straight cut

Most common and ‘invisible’ form of transition

One shot moves instantaneously to the next without attracting the audiences attention

Straight cuts help retain reality. They do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief

Fades

A gradual darkening or lightening of an image until the screen becomes completely black or white

Used to: Indicate the beginning or end of a particular section of time within the narrative

Can show the passing of time

Dissolves

Dissolving one shot off the screen while another shot is fading in - NO FADING TO BLACK/WHITE

The audience will be able to see both shots on the screen at the mid-point of the dissolve

Used: If the film maker wants to show a connection between two characters, places or objects

Wipes

One image is pushed off the screen by another

Images can be pushed left or right

Used to: Signal a movement between different locations that are experiencing the same time

For example used extensively in starters

Cross cutting:

To cross-cut is to edit together two sequences that the audience need to know are connected in some way

Something is happening at the same time in different locations

A character reliving memory

Cross cutting can be used to very effectively develop a sense of drama. It can be used to create tension, increase anxiety, direct emotion, make subtle links between characters or provide further information (dramatic irony)

Continuity Editing

Eye-Line match - We see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut to a shot of what they are looking at.

Match-on-action - We see a character start an action in one shot and then see them continue it in the next

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other

If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line

Shot/Reverse shot

Used to show conversations/arguments, but also helps to establish relationships

Psycho Questions

1. Before the attack - Around 15-20.
2. After the attack - Too many to count.
3. Its very sudden and hectic just like the actions going on in the screen. She’s getting attacked so the fast shots reflect how tense and scary the situation in.
4. Leaves visuals up to the imagination which may make it more horrific - also they may not of had the SFX and makeup advancements back then and censorship laws.

Mise-en-scene

• This is a French term meaning: ‘in the scene or frame’

1. Settings and props
2. Facial expressions and body language
3. Costume, hair and make-up
4. Lighting and colour
5. Positioning of characters and objects in the frame

Colour

From the 1930s to the 1940s black and white represented reality and colour represented fantasy and spectacle

Often in contemporary films, use fo black and white is used to suggest realism or a documentary type of effect

Colour: Denotation and Connotation

Denotation and Connotation

Denotation - the literal description of an idea, concept or object

Connotation - What we associate with a particular idea, concept or object

Colour works on the subconscious mind to create mood

Example - the colour red

Denotation - a particular wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum 

Connotations - anger, danger, romance, blood etc

Positioning of characters and objects within a frame

Where objects and characters are positioned is very important

Objects and characters can be in the foreground, middle-ground or background

This can emphasise the relative importance of the object or character

If characters or objects are positioned evenly within the frame this will give a balanced feel

If the characters are positioned at the outside edges of the frame then this indicates a distance between the characters

Lighting 

The Key light is the brightest and most influential 

The back light helps counteract the effect of the key light or creates an outline or silhouette 

The filler light helps to soften harsh shadows that the use of key back lights create

Under-lighting is when the main source comes from below the subjects. Used in thrillers and horror films