Mis-en-scne originated in theatre and its literal translation is putting on stage, the placing of the actors and

It transcended into film terminology and is used to

describe pretty much everything that appears and happens in front of the
camera, from what we place, such as subject matter, scenery and
lighting, to create the shot. Mis-en-scne is integral to how the audience
reads a film. We have all become accustomed to TV and film being a
large part of how we live, and certain things are cleverly placed within
shots that trigger our subconscious in understanding what is happening
within the scene. These things have become so ingrained in our
subconscious that we are not even aware that we are processing them.
props etc on the theatre stage.

Lets take a scene. In the first frame, there is a man sitting in a room. He
looks deep in thought, holding a leather book. We havent seen the title
of the film. What does this picture say to you? To be honest, it just says
that there is a man, deep in thought, holding a book. Now, imagine a
small crucifix on the wall behind the man. It automatically gives the shot
a religious feel to be specific, a Christian feel. We start to ask
ourselves deeper questions. What part of the Christian faith is he? Is he
praying? He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some rosary beads, so
now he becomes Catholic. Little identifiers are placed within the shot.
This is layering your film or photograph, making it dynamic and imparting
information. The shot may last only a few seconds, but our brain
processes everything in all of them. This applies to documentary film
making, too; indeed, all forms of visual art. In documentary, it is in the
way you film your subjects in their surroundings. Dont forget that the
shots you choose are the ones the audience watches. They are not
there when you shoot, so they are relying on you to show them what
happens. Every nuance of what you do is read by your audience; for
example, a wedding video would be very boring if you just had the bride
and groom in shot all the time. Your audience will probably want to see
who else was there, what was the church like, what the food was like,
what the cake was like etc. All of this may sound obvious, but
complacency breeds mistakes.Remember the who, what, where, when
and how from the February issue lesson. The way we read this layering
of the image is called semiology.

Camera angles are not only used to record the subject they are used
to reflect mood and tension, to create power relationships between your
subjects and environments. These are called power angles. They are not
just randomly selected, but usually thought out well in advance. This is
not only applicable in film, but all visual art forms, from recording or
painting an image to how you are going to display it. For example,
religious art is often placed high above the viewer, forcing them to look
up. This gives the viewer a feeling of awe, like a child looking up to its
parent; this is where semiology fits in. If you are interested in learning
more about reading images, the leading philosopher was Roland
Barthes, whose lifes work revolved around such topics. Many of his
published books and articles will inform you on what you are doing
visually, whether in film or photography.
When shooting a film, understanding camera angles and movement is
imperative. The choices you make when shooting will determine how
your film will look. These choices should create a coherent sequence of
images that give the meaning of the scene. Its just like writing a
coherent sentence, where you must order the words and punctuation
properly for it to make sense.Every camera operator will have their own
personal mental checklist that they go through before taking a shot. The
details below are a general guide to what the functions of shooting are,
because as film language has developed, some terminologies have
taken on different meanings to the original ones. The lines between, say,
a close-up and mid shot have become blurred. There is no bolted-down
standard dictionary of film terms, so, frustratingly, like a lot of film
students, you may get frustrated when researching camera work. But the
guide I have set will serve you in your need to shoot a well-ordered film
that makes sense to the audience.
When describing a shot, we have to use terms that indicate what the
audience will see. The field of view of the camera will be dictated by how
much subject matter is set within the frame, the choice of lens and what
distance you set the camera from the subject. Each type of shot has its
own purpose and function.

A wide establishing shot at the start of a scene is like the capital letter at the start of a sentence good
syntax.

Extreme long shot (AKA establishing shot) is generally the first shot of ascene which is usually outdoors and
establishes the setting.

Long shot (AKA wide shot) is a shot that usually shows the entire human figure, allowing the audience to
view the subject within the surroundings.

Medium (AKA 3/4 shot) frames from the waist up on the human figure, showing some background.

Close-up is where the subject or object is tightly framed to show details. Used as a cut-away from a medium
shot to show more detail such as the emotions of your character,

or for cut-aways from a mid shot when, for example, someone is doing something intricate with their hands.
Extreme close-up is used to get really close on a small part of the subject, such just the mouth in a face. There is no
background in this shot.

A two shot is when you frame for two people in a shot.

The angle of the shot

The camera angle will dictate powerful meanings of how the audience
observes the subject. Do we see them from a high or low angle? The
audience can be made to feel empowered by a high shot looking down
on a subject, while from a low angle we can be made to feel threatened
and insecure. Look at horror films you will see low-angled shots used,
to make the audience feel scared. The Shining is a good example.Birdseye view The scene is shown from overhead, often putting the audience
in a god-like position, viewing the action from above. You will see this
often in war films, when a character the audience has been made to feel
close to dies the camera will often lift up and pass over the fighting in
the battlefield as if the soul is leaving the body. This can give a feeling of
spirituality.
High angle

Not as extreme as the birds-eye view, but still gives an authority.

Looking down on a subject around the 45-degree angle makes the
subject seem smaller and insignificant.
Eyeline angle

This is the most common shot. The camera is positioned at the eyeline
of the subjects and their heads are in level with the focus. This is a fairly
neutral shot, which is why its the most common.
Low angle

The low-angle shot is the reverse of the high-angle shot. When the
camera is placed low and pointing up at around the 45 degree angle, it
gives a feeling of powerlessness, making you feel almost childlike. You

can be made to feel fear by the dominating appearance of a figure on

the screen.
Over the shoulder

The camera is positioned behind a subject, revealing their shoulder and

part of the head, while another subject is shown front-on in the
background. This is used to encapsulate the interactions between two
subjects. Dutch Tilt (AKA Dutch angle, oblique and canted angle) This is
where the camera is set on a diagonal axis, achieved by tilting the
camera to one side. It gives a feeling of uneasiness to the shot.
Point of view

Shot from the point of view of your subject. Horror films utilise this when
they cut to the POV of a murderer spying on their victim through a
keyhole, often giving you some idea of what is to come.
Is there any movement within the shot?

You have to decide what type of camera movement you intend on

making. This will depend on the location and equipment, the time you
will have to shoot and the pace of scene. Do you want to use lots of
quick shots to move you around the action? Or are you moving the
camera to match the motion? Quick, fast-paced shots are synonymous
with action. Moving the camera, such as for a tracking shot that needs a
few seconds on screen to be effective, will slow the scene down.
Tilting

This is a movement that scans on the vertical axis eg moving from

someones face to their hands.
Panning

This is where the camera moves from one place to another along the
horizontal axis eg moving across the horizon.
Tracking shots

The camera is placed on a dolly, a piece of equipment that allows you to

place a camera on wheels, and pushed along tracks to follow movement.
When I was a student film maker, we couldnt afford a track and dolly, so
we borrowed a wheelchair and used that instead! Theres always room
for improvisation.
WHITE BALANCE

White balance is usually the first thing that beginners in camera

operating ignore, but it is essential for creating films. Its a lot harder to

correct a colour imbalance in post production video than it is in

photography, due to the fact that you have to match colour from shot to
shot, not just a single photograph. Theres nothing worse than seeing a
shot in the middle of a sequence that is slightly too blue (cool) or orange
(warm). If you see this, it is down to the white balance when you shoot.
Our eyes naturally adjust to compensate for variations in colour
temperature, but a digital camera cannot. What is white outside in the
sun is completely different to what is white under artificial lighting.
Imagine you are shooting a wedding. The bride pulls up outside the
church and she is, more than likely, wearing a white dress. She looks
beautiful and you know its going to look good as you have already set
your white balance for the sun. Thats 5,600 kelvins for film and 6,300
kelvins for digital video. Then, you quickly run inside the church to set up
the camera for when she walks down the aisle. But oops! You forget to
set your white balance for Tungsten lights 3,200 kelvins and as the
bride walks into the church, she suddenly looks a bit orange. She wont
be happy to look like a tangerine in her wedding video, so it is ruined.
White balancing is basically telling the camera what is white. When
setting the white balance, you are removing any unwanted colourcast
from your shot. Its easy I simply use a white bit of card in the area
where I am shooting and white balance against that.
White balance tips

Only use the presets if you are in a rush. If you have the time, white
balance manually. Most, if not all, high-end digital cameras will have this
function. Check your user manual to find it. Learn it and then learn it
again. As with all the techniques I have shared with you, if you want your
films to be good, they need to be instinctive. Check online for colour
temperature cards there are hundreds out there. You will notice that
there are differences in each one, but they are handy just to look at and
get familiar with. Just remember: daylight/blue, tungsten/orange. You can
preset different functions on all digital cameras. Use them to your
benefit. Like the church scenario above preset your white balance
indoors and outdoors, so when the bride turns up and you move inside,
its just the matter of pushing a button.
DEPTH OF FIELD

As photographers, I think most of you will probably know what depth of

field is, but for those of you who dont, it is the amount of area within the
frame that is in focus. If you zoom in and open the aperture, you are
going to get a shallow depth of field. Camera operators will often refer to
this as blowing out the background. If you use a wide lens and stop
down a bit, you are going to get an almost infinite depth of field. Shallow
depth of field is used, generally, to isolate your subject. This is true in
film, too. Focusing only on an aspect of a persons face, we can make
the relationship between audience and subject more personal. Varying
depth of field through a sequence is an essential part of a
cinematographers arsenal. For example, we start off a sequence with a
wide shot of the inside of a waiting room in a hospital, with a very long
depth of field. We see people pacing up and down, hear the banging and
clattering of equipment. Cut to a mid shot of a man clutching a teddy
bear. The depth of field shuts down slightly, so only the things
immediately around him are in focus. Cut to a close-up. The only thing in
focus is his face. Every nuance, every twitch the man makes is
heightened by the closeness of the camera and the shallow depth of
field. We see a tear fall from his face and realise the pain that he is
suffering. Nothing has been said, its just all clever use of camera
techniques, including depth of field. You can see this mainly in dramas,
where they have painstakingly worked out each shot and its meaning,
guiding us into the emotional world of our subject. As a film maker, you
are in absolute control of what the audience sees and hears. Think about
what you are trying to say with each shot. Respect your subject matter
and it will pay dividends.
Rack focus/focus pull

What if there are two points of focus in a shot, and we only want one
point in focus at a time? This is where racking focus comes in. This
technique is a secret weapon of all cinematographers. In theory, this is
simple, but in reality it can be tricky, especially for first-time film makers.
It relies on your knowledge of depth of field and is purely used to switch
the audiences focus within the frame from one subject or object to
another without the use of a cut.
EXERCISE

The only real way to learn each of these shots and angles, coupled with
movement, is to practise. Make sure you have a sturdy tripod, and when
youre next out and about, go through the list above and just shoot.
Remembering composition rules from last month, practise panning with
people walking across frame or tilting from head to hands and back to
head again. Angles are best practised on stationary objects. Find a
statue and set the camera up and record it from different angles. You
can also practise close-up shots while panning and/or tilting. If you have
someone who can help you, get them to walk towards the camera as
you have it set at a low angle and notice how massive they look from
that point of view. When you have done that, find someone you know
who has an absorbing hobby, such as someone who likes train sets. Try
to show this without the subject telling you about their hobby, using only
images. Start off with a wide establishing shot of the person playing with
the trains. Then shoot close-ups and mid shots from varying angles to
show the interest. The only limit is your imagination. There are no right or
wrong combinations, just choices that read better on film. Using the
principles of the editing exercise from month one on Windows Movie
Maker, order the footage you have shot in different ways to see how they
read when you put it together.
EXERCISE

The best way to practise racking focus is by using inanimate objects, so

find a table and place two cups on it. Set the camera so it is at an
eyeline angle. Move the camera back as far as you can go and zoom in.
This will help narrow the depth of field. Place one cup to the right of
frame but close to the camera, then move the other cup back a couple of
feet and to the left-hand side of frame. Open up the aperture as wide as
you can. Focus on the distant cup. This should throw the closer cup out
of focus (you should now log the focal distance by writing it down). Then
focus on the closer cup. The farther cup should now be out of focus (log
focal distance again). Record what you are doing several times. Rack
focus at different speeds between the two focal distances to see what
effect this has when you view it back. You have probably noticed that, in
films of quality, this technique is used a lot. Sometimes a camera
operator has to rack focus several times in a shot, but when done right, it

really does make things look slick. Because it takes time to set up these
shots, you tend to see them in higher budget productions, but that
doesnt mean that you cannot achieve similar effects. Patience and
practice!