Formal and Technical Considerations
I. The Shot
- long shot (establishing shot?)
- close-up (normal/extreme)
- medium shot ("plan americain")
- low or high angle
- insert shot
- cut-away shot
- reaction shot
- shot/counter shot
- zoom (fast/slow/in/out)
- freeze frame
- slow or fast/reserve motion
- soft focus
- sharp focus
- deep focus
- superimposition
- special effects
- computer-generated images
- grainy or sharp texture
- distorting lens
- filtered lens
- odd point-of-view or angle
- subjective shot
- point-of-view shot
- special other kinds of shots
II. Camera Movement
- stationary camera
- camera on fixed axis: pan (horizontal) or tilt (vertical)
- moving shot (from above/below; inside/outside)
- dolly, tracking, trucking shots
- crane shots
- zoom (often a low-budget dolly)
- hand-held camera or steady-cam
- mixture of pans and tilts, tracking and zooms, etc.
III. Lighting
- back-lighting
- front-lighting
- high-lighting
- various different sources of lighting
- natural vs. artificial sources of light
- black/white contrast (chiaroscuro)
- "unrealistic" lighting
- flat lighting
- light/shadow distribution
- harsh/soft, cold/warm lighting
- high key, low key lighting
- tone and intensity of light (for color as well)
IV. Composition
- position of characters in frame (in foreground/background; center/off-center; near top/bottom of frame; close to edges; cut off; partial view; only certain fragments of a body, face, etc.)
- view of character (unobstructed, hidden, profile, silhouette, linked visually to another or object)
- decor and setting as mood-setter or commentary
- relationship of a character to landscape (does s/he control the space by virtue of his/her position or does the space visually overwhelm the humans?)
- composition/design/visual rhythm/spacing between objects and persons
- symmetrical/asymmetrical
- cluttered/empty
- absence/excess
- balanced/unbalanced
- dominant contrasts (light/dark, distant/close, big/small, square/circle, etc.)
- arrangement of shapes (lines, texture, color)
- masking and matting (circular, oval, diagonal, etc.)
- iris (in/out)
- use of frame: open (frame is de-emphasized and is a fluid space, allowing relative freedom of movement) or closed (frame is a distinct limit, a self-enclosed miniature world, highly structured and carefully controlled)
V. Editing
- pace, tempo
- rhythm (a sense of spacing, a rate of change and motion, of correlation and interdependence of parts within a larger whole)
- disjointed/continuous
- types of continuity (shot/counter shot, matching cuts, invisible editing, flow cutting)
- dissolve
- fade-in or -out
- iris in or out
- cross-cut
- jump cut
- flip, wipe
- flashback or flashforward
VI. Sound
- dialogue
- music
- sound effects
- off- and onscreen sound
- diegetic and nondiegetic sound
- voice and sound editing
- silence
© Anton Kaes, used by permission.