Visual Text
Visual text is 1.2 AS90850, 2.2 AS91099 or 3.2 AS91473.
While the visual text you study will differ, the visual features you need to understand are the same. Think of these as the language features of a film.
While the visual text you study will differ, the visual features you need to understand are the same. Think of these as the language features of a film.
Cinematography
Cinematography can be broken down into:
Shot type:
Establishing shot:
Usually a long shot, it gives an overview of a scene so the audience is not confused about what is happening and where.
Extreme long shot (ELS):
Extremely wide shot - shot with a wide-angle lens.
Long shot (LS):
A shot from a distance - it shows a person from head to foot, and perhaps just a little more than this.
Mid shot (MS):
Medium shot. A shot somewhere between a long shot and a close up. Usually from around the middle of a person.
Close up (CU):
Focuses on detail / expression / reaction. Person shows either the head or head and shoulders.
Note: Sometimes the head and shoulders shot is referred to as Medium Close Up (MCU)
Extreme close up (ECU):
Shows part of an object in extremely close detail. For a person, this may be their eye or part of the face.
Camera angles:
Low angle (LA):
Camera shoots the subject from below them. Used to increase size, power or status of the subject.
High angle (HA):
Camera shoots the subject from higher than them. Used to increase vulnerability, powerlessness or decrease size.
Aerial shot / Bird's eye view:
A shot taken from directly above the subject.
Framing:
The way the subject is placed within the screen.
Tight framing:
Subject constrained by edges.
Loose framing:
"Free" space between the subject and the edge of the frame.
Open framing:
Subject set in space that appears unbounded (extending beyond the screen).
Closed framing:
Subject enclosed by a frame within the screen eg arch, door etc.
Symmetrical:
Subjects are balanced within the frame.
Asymmetrical:
Subjects are unbalanced or uncentred.
Rule of thirds:
The screen is divided into three parts along two vertical and two horizontal axis (Imagine a big game of tic-tac-toe placed over the screen). It is pleasing to the eye to have the subjects placed along the axis. Deliberately not placing the subject on the axis may be a deliberate act.
Out of frame:
Deliberate misframing a subject to create a sense of unsettledness.
Camera movement:
Pan:
The movement of the camera when it swivel from left to right, or right to left. Short for panorama.
Tilt:
The stationary camera starts at the top of an object / figure and scans downwards to the bottom (tilt down) or at the bottom and scans to the top (tilt up)
Only the lens moves. When the whole camera is lifted vertically that is called a crane shot.
Zoom in / Zoom out:
A lens that can be adjusted from "wide angle" to "telephoto". The camera seems to move in towards the subject / object or out away from the subject / object.
Handheld:
The camera is sometimes held in the hand, even though a tripod gives smoother results.
Tracking / Dolly:
When the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken.
Lighting:
Lighting strongly influences the way a film looks and feels. Lighting effects are created by the use of artificial lights, natural lighting and reflection, and the use of color filters.
- Shot types
- Camera angles
- Framing
- Camera movement
- Lighting
Shot type:
Establishing shot:
Usually a long shot, it gives an overview of a scene so the audience is not confused about what is happening and where.
Extreme long shot (ELS):
Extremely wide shot - shot with a wide-angle lens.
Long shot (LS):
A shot from a distance - it shows a person from head to foot, and perhaps just a little more than this.
Mid shot (MS):
Medium shot. A shot somewhere between a long shot and a close up. Usually from around the middle of a person.
Close up (CU):
Focuses on detail / expression / reaction. Person shows either the head or head and shoulders.
Note: Sometimes the head and shoulders shot is referred to as Medium Close Up (MCU)
Extreme close up (ECU):
Shows part of an object in extremely close detail. For a person, this may be their eye or part of the face.
Camera angles:
Low angle (LA):
Camera shoots the subject from below them. Used to increase size, power or status of the subject.
High angle (HA):
Camera shoots the subject from higher than them. Used to increase vulnerability, powerlessness or decrease size.
Aerial shot / Bird's eye view:
A shot taken from directly above the subject.
Framing:
The way the subject is placed within the screen.
Tight framing:
Subject constrained by edges.
Loose framing:
"Free" space between the subject and the edge of the frame.
Open framing:
Subject set in space that appears unbounded (extending beyond the screen).
Closed framing:
Subject enclosed by a frame within the screen eg arch, door etc.
Symmetrical:
Subjects are balanced within the frame.
Asymmetrical:
Subjects are unbalanced or uncentred.
Rule of thirds:
The screen is divided into three parts along two vertical and two horizontal axis (Imagine a big game of tic-tac-toe placed over the screen). It is pleasing to the eye to have the subjects placed along the axis. Deliberately not placing the subject on the axis may be a deliberate act.
Out of frame:
Deliberate misframing a subject to create a sense of unsettledness.
Camera movement:
Pan:
The movement of the camera when it swivel from left to right, or right to left. Short for panorama.
Tilt:
The stationary camera starts at the top of an object / figure and scans downwards to the bottom (tilt down) or at the bottom and scans to the top (tilt up)
Only the lens moves. When the whole camera is lifted vertically that is called a crane shot.
Zoom in / Zoom out:
A lens that can be adjusted from "wide angle" to "telephoto". The camera seems to move in towards the subject / object or out away from the subject / object.
Handheld:
The camera is sometimes held in the hand, even though a tripod gives smoother results.
Tracking / Dolly:
When the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken.
Lighting:
Lighting strongly influences the way a film looks and feels. Lighting effects are created by the use of artificial lights, natural lighting and reflection, and the use of color filters.
Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is the way that all the elements you can see and hear in the scene work together to tell the story.
Mise-en-scene can be broken down into:
Dialogue:
What the characters say, and how they say it.
Silence:
What the characters don't say (can often highlight a reaction)
Diegetic sound:
Sound associated with the 'world' of the film.
As well as adding to the illusion of reality, diegetic sound adds to the mood of the scene. We react to quiet, pleasant sounds in one way and to sudden, loud and ugly sounds in another. We suddenly pay attention when the background noise stops, as when a crowded room falls silent. Sometimes diegetic sound is reproduced louder than in real life to enhance its effect on us, like the turning of a lock when someone is imprisoned. Sometimes music is a diegetic sound effect eg a radio is playing or a band is playing onscreen. This can be used to create a sense of period: jazz, rock and roll, hip-hop etc belonging to quite specific tiime slots. it can also create a sense of place using elements like country and western or Maori music.
Ideas can be linked through music, as when the condemned man in The Gren Mile, whose last request was to see 'a flicker show', saw Top Hat and quietly sang its theme song, "I'm in heaven", while being strapped into the electric chair. He was 'in heaven' both because he was about to die (although he was in fact, innocent) and because he wanted to die. Obviously music can be use ironically to make a comment on the action.
Non-Diegetic sound:
Technically this is post-production, but we have included it here to all the sound things are together.
Music / Voice over / Sound effects
Sound that has been added or is extra to the 'world' of the film to create mood. The sound that we hear, but the actor in the scene does not.
Sounds can be dubbed onto the soundtrack to create many fo the same effects as diegetic sound. In addition, they can dd to the impact of unreal things, such as computer-generated dinosaurs by giving them roars and thumping footfalls. They can suggest the strangeness of different mental states: fever,hallucination, fantasising, madness, dreams.
The Green Mile opens with a nightmare, and the soundtrack as well as the picture track is slowed. This adds to its awfulness as human and dog cries are stretched.
Another important effect is foreshadowing, like when danger, victory, love etc can be heard in the music before the visual image appears. Variation in mood is important and even a serious film can use music to lower tension to show another side of characters or even to mock them affectionately.
The terrible things that happen in The Green Mile are relieved by the comic charm of the mouse, Mr Jingles. His theme music is light, quick and perky, made by plucking violin strings instead of bowing them (pizzicato). The march of the guards to catch him in his hiding place is presented humorously by using military drum beat. When the Mr Jingles music is repeated when he reappears, it becomes a theme as well as affecting our feelings. When the theme sound is repeated every time a theme or character appears, it is called leitmotif. It begins to suggest ideas about the mouse, who does become a symbol in the film. Less subtly, the use of music with lyrics enables the director to put key ideas across in words as well.
Music:
How do we describe music in the film?
Tempo:
How fast is the music?
Slow or fast
Pitch:
What pitch does the music have?
High or low
Rhythm:
What note pattern does the music have?
Complicated or simple
Timbre:
What tone color or quality does the music have?
Dark or bright
Dynamics:
What is the volume of the music?
Loud or soft
Texture:
What texture or how many layers does the music have?
Dense or thin
Tonality:
What key is the music set in?
Minor - sad. Major - happy. Acutal - no key.
Mood:
What feeling is developed by the music?
Happy, sad, mysterious etc
Style:
What era does the music come from? What sort of music is it?
Contemporary, classical, jazz, rock, pop etc
Instrumental:
What instruments are used?
Strings, drums, bass
Melody:
What melody is there?
Interesting, unmelodic, simple, singable, complex
Lighting:
Lighting is an important source of meaning and creator of mood. Certain genres are defined by their use of lighting, for example the horror genre with its general gloom and creation of shadows.
Key light:
Key lighting is lighting from above, creating the normal shadows that the sun or ordinary overhead lamps would do. If this light is bright and there is no other lighting, the effect is harsh.
Fill light:
Fill lighting is from a lower angle than key light, so that is lights areas that would have otherwise been in shadow and creates a softer look.
Bright light:
Bright light can suggest that the lit subject is something special, glamorous or charismatic.
Warm lighting:
Warm lighting can suggest romance or tenderness through a pink or golden hue.
Backlight:
Lighting from behind the subject or object can produce a bright halo-like outline around a person to make him or her look special. If the backlight is the strongest light the character will appear as dark and shadowy - frightening, because we can't see facial expression or other detail. If the backlighting is softer and compliments the key light, the subject can look angelic or innocent.
Spotlighting:
Spotlighting draws attention to the key person or object in a scene.
Underlighting:
Low angle lighting, or lighting from below reverses the normal patterns of shadows on the face. This is strange and unsettling, creepy.
Light and dark:
Light and dark easily become symbolic of good and evil. In The Green Mile, the miracles of healing are accompanied by a kind of radiance and hate and disease are symbolised by a dark cloud of black insects.
Color filters:
Gels and special film stock can alter the quality of light preserved on film. In The Piano a blue filter was used to create a mood of physical and emotional cold.
Mise-en-scene can be broken down into:
- Dialogue
- Silence
- Diegetic Sound
- Non-Diegetic Sound
- Music
- Lighting
Dialogue:
What the characters say, and how they say it.
Silence:
What the characters don't say (can often highlight a reaction)
Diegetic sound:
Sound associated with the 'world' of the film.
As well as adding to the illusion of reality, diegetic sound adds to the mood of the scene. We react to quiet, pleasant sounds in one way and to sudden, loud and ugly sounds in another. We suddenly pay attention when the background noise stops, as when a crowded room falls silent. Sometimes diegetic sound is reproduced louder than in real life to enhance its effect on us, like the turning of a lock when someone is imprisoned. Sometimes music is a diegetic sound effect eg a radio is playing or a band is playing onscreen. This can be used to create a sense of period: jazz, rock and roll, hip-hop etc belonging to quite specific tiime slots. it can also create a sense of place using elements like country and western or Maori music.
Ideas can be linked through music, as when the condemned man in The Gren Mile, whose last request was to see 'a flicker show', saw Top Hat and quietly sang its theme song, "I'm in heaven", while being strapped into the electric chair. He was 'in heaven' both because he was about to die (although he was in fact, innocent) and because he wanted to die. Obviously music can be use ironically to make a comment on the action.
Non-Diegetic sound:
Technically this is post-production, but we have included it here to all the sound things are together.
Music / Voice over / Sound effects
Sound that has been added or is extra to the 'world' of the film to create mood. The sound that we hear, but the actor in the scene does not.
Sounds can be dubbed onto the soundtrack to create many fo the same effects as diegetic sound. In addition, they can dd to the impact of unreal things, such as computer-generated dinosaurs by giving them roars and thumping footfalls. They can suggest the strangeness of different mental states: fever,hallucination, fantasising, madness, dreams.
The Green Mile opens with a nightmare, and the soundtrack as well as the picture track is slowed. This adds to its awfulness as human and dog cries are stretched.
Another important effect is foreshadowing, like when danger, victory, love etc can be heard in the music before the visual image appears. Variation in mood is important and even a serious film can use music to lower tension to show another side of characters or even to mock them affectionately.
The terrible things that happen in The Green Mile are relieved by the comic charm of the mouse, Mr Jingles. His theme music is light, quick and perky, made by plucking violin strings instead of bowing them (pizzicato). The march of the guards to catch him in his hiding place is presented humorously by using military drum beat. When the Mr Jingles music is repeated when he reappears, it becomes a theme as well as affecting our feelings. When the theme sound is repeated every time a theme or character appears, it is called leitmotif. It begins to suggest ideas about the mouse, who does become a symbol in the film. Less subtly, the use of music with lyrics enables the director to put key ideas across in words as well.
Music:
How do we describe music in the film?
Tempo:
How fast is the music?
Slow or fast
Pitch:
What pitch does the music have?
High or low
Rhythm:
What note pattern does the music have?
Complicated or simple
Timbre:
What tone color or quality does the music have?
Dark or bright
Dynamics:
What is the volume of the music?
Loud or soft
Texture:
What texture or how many layers does the music have?
Dense or thin
Tonality:
What key is the music set in?
Minor - sad. Major - happy. Acutal - no key.
Mood:
What feeling is developed by the music?
Happy, sad, mysterious etc
Style:
What era does the music come from? What sort of music is it?
Contemporary, classical, jazz, rock, pop etc
Instrumental:
What instruments are used?
Strings, drums, bass
Melody:
What melody is there?
Interesting, unmelodic, simple, singable, complex
Lighting:
Lighting is an important source of meaning and creator of mood. Certain genres are defined by their use of lighting, for example the horror genre with its general gloom and creation of shadows.
Key light:
Key lighting is lighting from above, creating the normal shadows that the sun or ordinary overhead lamps would do. If this light is bright and there is no other lighting, the effect is harsh.
Fill light:
Fill lighting is from a lower angle than key light, so that is lights areas that would have otherwise been in shadow and creates a softer look.
Bright light:
Bright light can suggest that the lit subject is something special, glamorous or charismatic.
Warm lighting:
Warm lighting can suggest romance or tenderness through a pink or golden hue.
Backlight:
Lighting from behind the subject or object can produce a bright halo-like outline around a person to make him or her look special. If the backlight is the strongest light the character will appear as dark and shadowy - frightening, because we can't see facial expression or other detail. If the backlighting is softer and compliments the key light, the subject can look angelic or innocent.
Spotlighting:
Spotlighting draws attention to the key person or object in a scene.
Underlighting:
Low angle lighting, or lighting from below reverses the normal patterns of shadows on the face. This is strange and unsettling, creepy.
Light and dark:
Light and dark easily become symbolic of good and evil. In The Green Mile, the miracles of healing are accompanied by a kind of radiance and hate and disease are symbolised by a dark cloud of black insects.
Color filters:
Gels and special film stock can alter the quality of light preserved on film. In The Piano a blue filter was used to create a mood of physical and emotional cold.
Post-production
Post production happens after the film has been shot. The way that the shots are put together and edited help to tell the story.
Post production can be broken down into:
Editing:
The process of selecting, arranging and trimming the various shots to make up a film.
Editing sequences work because we naturally attempt to link each shot to the one before and the one after. It's natural because it's what we do in real life: every time we move our eyes, it's a new shot
Cut:
The place where one shot has been spliced to another.
Cross-cutting:
Alternation of shots from two different actions. it suggest simultaneous action / creates tension / suggests relationship between them - eg. contract, cause, developing a thinking, feeling response / one sequence illustrates the ideas of the other.
Cutaway:
Short shot interupting an action that would take too long to show in real time. After the interruption we return to the action at a later stage. This way a jump cut is avoided. The cutaway shot enhances our response to the main action eg through a reaction shot.
Fade in / Fade out:
An image appears out of the blackness gradually brightening to full strength. In a Fade Out the image gradually fades to black.
Dissolve:
One image fades in while another fades out so that they are superimposed for a few moments. It takes longer and looks stranger than an ordinary cut so we accept that the new shot is different in its setting or in some other way. This editing technique is often used to mark a dream sequence or a flash back.
Eyeline Match:
Sometimes Point of view sequence. First, there is a shot of a character looking at something (which may be out of frame). Second, there is a shot of what the character sees. Third, there is a reaction shot of the character. The sound track links the three shots and give the sequence a suitable tone. For the lengths of the sequence we share tat character's experience.
Jump cut:
If the film of an action (like a train approaching a car stalled on the railway line) has its middle section cut out and the ends of the film joined, the audience sees the train 'jump' towards the car. This is usually bad editing, but it can be deliberately used to startle the audience and dramatically create an effect of speed or urgency. Think weeping angels (Don't blink!).
Match cut:
The new shot 'matches' the previous shot by showing a similar idea or image eg a health product ad shows a mannequin representing a healthy, strong, well-proportioned woman who has obviously benefited from the product. Cut to Bernice Mene shown the same size and position running while smiling towards the camera. This makes a strong implication about the product.
Montage:
A fast moving sequence in which many shots are combined to create a mood, or to sum up a long process and suggest connections. A series of short clips which add up to more than the sum of the whole. Compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images.
A sequence of very short takes using different subjects, shots and angles. Techniques like lighting or music help give the sequence a single overall feel. montage compresses narrative; we understand that time has passed.
Outpoint:
There is a lot of theory about where to cut the film in order to end a particular shot. Usually the cut is made on a frame that reflects what the audience should be feeling eg a reaction shot.
Pace:
A sequence of short shots creates an impression of speed and energy, possibly up to and including wild chaos. A sequence of long takes creates a slow, calm feeling.
Sound bridge:
Sometimes L-cut. Instead of the sound and the picture being cut at the same instant as usual, they may be deliberately out of sync. Most often the sound of the new shot can be heard while the images of the old shot are still onscreen. It makes the shots seem connected and the mind tries to 'see' the connection.
Special Effects (SFX):
Creating illusions by the use of trick photography, miniature models and various types of equipment. A bomb can explode! A flying saucer can appear! All thanks to SFX.
Post production can be broken down into:
- Editing
- Special effects (SFX)
Editing:
The process of selecting, arranging and trimming the various shots to make up a film.
Editing sequences work because we naturally attempt to link each shot to the one before and the one after. It's natural because it's what we do in real life: every time we move our eyes, it's a new shot
Cut:
The place where one shot has been spliced to another.
Cross-cutting:
Alternation of shots from two different actions. it suggest simultaneous action / creates tension / suggests relationship between them - eg. contract, cause, developing a thinking, feeling response / one sequence illustrates the ideas of the other.
Cutaway:
Short shot interupting an action that would take too long to show in real time. After the interruption we return to the action at a later stage. This way a jump cut is avoided. The cutaway shot enhances our response to the main action eg through a reaction shot.
Fade in / Fade out:
An image appears out of the blackness gradually brightening to full strength. In a Fade Out the image gradually fades to black.
Dissolve:
One image fades in while another fades out so that they are superimposed for a few moments. It takes longer and looks stranger than an ordinary cut so we accept that the new shot is different in its setting or in some other way. This editing technique is often used to mark a dream sequence or a flash back.
Eyeline Match:
Sometimes Point of view sequence. First, there is a shot of a character looking at something (which may be out of frame). Second, there is a shot of what the character sees. Third, there is a reaction shot of the character. The sound track links the three shots and give the sequence a suitable tone. For the lengths of the sequence we share tat character's experience.
Jump cut:
If the film of an action (like a train approaching a car stalled on the railway line) has its middle section cut out and the ends of the film joined, the audience sees the train 'jump' towards the car. This is usually bad editing, but it can be deliberately used to startle the audience and dramatically create an effect of speed or urgency. Think weeping angels (Don't blink!).
Match cut:
The new shot 'matches' the previous shot by showing a similar idea or image eg a health product ad shows a mannequin representing a healthy, strong, well-proportioned woman who has obviously benefited from the product. Cut to Bernice Mene shown the same size and position running while smiling towards the camera. This makes a strong implication about the product.
Montage:
A fast moving sequence in which many shots are combined to create a mood, or to sum up a long process and suggest connections. A series of short clips which add up to more than the sum of the whole. Compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images.
A sequence of very short takes using different subjects, shots and angles. Techniques like lighting or music help give the sequence a single overall feel. montage compresses narrative; we understand that time has passed.
Outpoint:
There is a lot of theory about where to cut the film in order to end a particular shot. Usually the cut is made on a frame that reflects what the audience should be feeling eg a reaction shot.
Pace:
A sequence of short shots creates an impression of speed and energy, possibly up to and including wild chaos. A sequence of long takes creates a slow, calm feeling.
Sound bridge:
Sometimes L-cut. Instead of the sound and the picture being cut at the same instant as usual, they may be deliberately out of sync. Most often the sound of the new shot can be heard while the images of the old shot are still onscreen. It makes the shots seem connected and the mind tries to 'see' the connection.
Special Effects (SFX):
Creating illusions by the use of trick photography, miniature models and various types of equipment. A bomb can explode! A flying saucer can appear! All thanks to SFX.