Photography

The Shots
• Extreme Long Shot

• Characters are small in frame

• All or major parts of buildings
appear
• Use: establishes physical
context of action, shows
landscape and architectural
exteriors
 The Shots
• Long Shot

• All or nearly all of the standing

person
• Large parts of a building
• Use: Shows a large scale Eyes Wide Shut
action, whole groups of
people, displays large
architectural details

A Summer Tale
 The Shots
• Full Shot

• Contains the human body in

full
• Head near the top of the frame
and feet at the bottom

Saturday Night Fever

 The Shots
• Medium Shot

• Character shown from waist up

• Medium-sized architectural
details
12 Angry Men
• Use - Small groups such as
two or three people

Far from Heaven

 The Shots
• Two Shot/Medium
Long

• Character shown from waist up

• Medium-sized architectural Eyes Wide Shut
details
• Use - Small groups such as
two or three people

Almost Famous
 The Shots
• Over the Shoulder Shot

Citizen Kane

The Godfather
 The Shots
• Three Shot

• Beyond three people is

usually a Full Shot

Born Yesterday

Bringing Up Baby
 The Shots
• Close-up

• Head and neck of character;

objects: fills frame
• Use - focus on one character;
facial expression very
important

X-Men
 The Shots
• Medium Close Up

• Chest up: fills frame

• Use - focus on two characters;
facial expression very
important

Eyes Wide Shut

 The Shots
• Extreme Close-up

• The frame filled with just part

of a character or very small
objects
The Color of Paradise
• Use - facial features in a
character or small objects

Citizen Kane
 The Shots
• Deep Focus/ Wide-
angle Shot

• Objects at close, medium

and long ranges are in
focus
• Use a wide-angle lens

Citizen Kane
 The Shots
• Deep Focus/
Wide-angle Shot

• Objects at close,
medium and long
ranges are in focus
• Use a wide-angle lens

Schindler’s List
 The Angles
• Bird’s-eye View
• High Angle
• Eye-level
• Low Angle
• Oblique

Bringing Up Baby
 The Angles
Where the camera is placed

• Realist vs. Formalist

• Realism – Eye-level
• Formalism – calling attention to the
camera

A Summer Tale

Seconds
 The Angles
Bird’s-eye View

• Subject may seem

unrecognizable and/or abstract
• People are insignificant

Gold Diggers of 1933

 The Angles
High Angle

• General overview
• Reduce height of objects
• Motion is slowed – seems
tedious
• Includes ground (setting is
thus important)
• Reduces importance of subject
– people are harmless,
powerless or trapped

Citizen Kane
 The Angles
High Angle

• General overview
• Reduce height of
objects
• Motion is slowed –
seems tedious
• Includes ground (setting
is thus important)
• Reduces importance of
subject – people are
harmless, powerless or The Color of Paradise
trapped
 The Angles
High Angle

• General overview
• Reduce height of
objects
• Motion is slowed –
seems tedious
• Includes ground (setting
is thus important)
• Reduces importance of
subject – people are
harmless, powerless or
trapped
Lady from Shanghai
 The Angles
Low Angle

• Increase height of objects

• Motion is speeded up–
connotes confusion
• Includes sky or ceiling (setting
is minimized)
• Heightens importance of
subject – spectator feels
dominated

Seconds
 The Angles
Low Angle

• Increase height of objects

• Motion is speeded up–
connotes confusion
• Includes sky or ceiling (setting
is minimized)
• Heightens importance of
subject – spectator feels
dominated

Cape Fear
 The Angles
Low Angle

• Increase height of objects

• Motion is speeded up–
connotes confusion
• Includes sky or ceiling (setting
is minimized)
• Heightens importance of
subject – spectator feels
dominated

Out of the Past

 The Angles
Oblique Angle

• Lateral tilt
• Horizon skewed
• Suggest tension, instability,
impending movement
• Not the most common as their
usage is so specific

The Third Man

 The Angles
Oblique Angle

• Lateral tilt
• Horizon skewed
• Suggest tension, instability,
impending movement
• Not the most common as their
usage is so specific

The Third Man

 Light & Dark

• Three Point
Lighting
• High Key
• Low Key
• Contrast
• All are related
to genre
Full Metal Jacket
Light & Dark

Three Point Lighting

Light & Dark
Three Point Lighting
 Light & Dark
• High Key

• Bright, few shadows

• Comedies, musicals

Singin’ in the Rain

 Light & Dark
• High Key

• Bright, few shadows

• Comedies, musicals

Happy Gilmore
 Light & Dark
• Low Key

• Diffused shadows,
pools of light
• Mysteries, thrillers,
gangster

The Big Combo

 Light & Dark
• Low Key

• Diffused shadows,
pools of light
• Mysteries, thrillers,
gangster

Apocalypse Now
 Light & Dark
• Contrast

• High Contrast
• A lot of difference
between dark and light
w/little in-between
• Dramatic streaks & pools
of light

Citizen Kane
Light & Dark

Citizen Kane
Light & Dark

Mulholland Drive
Light & Dark

Red Eye
 Light & Dark

• Dark = evil,
unknown, fear
• Light = security,
virtue, truth, joy
• Related to genre
• Reverse
expectations

American Psycho
 Light & Dark

• Dark = evil,
unknown, fear
• Light = security,
virtue, truth, joy
• Related to genre
• Reverse
expectations

American Psycho
Color

The Godfather
 Color
• Hand tinting & tinted stock
(1900)
• 1936 – First 3 strip Technicolor
• Not perfected for “realism” until
the 1950’s
• Subconscious element
• Emotional response – moods,
symbolism
• Warm vs. Cool colors
• Saturated vs. Desaturated

Becky Sharp
Color

Moulin Rouge
 Color

Saving Private Ryan

 Color

Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver (1976)

Martin Scorcese’s Raging Bull (1980)

 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Camera is crude next to the
eye
• Depth of Field
• Lenses – focal length
• Filters
• Focus
• Fast and Slow Film Stock

The Godfather, Part II

 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Depth of Field
• The extent of
the space that
is in focus

Mulholland Drive
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Shallow Depth of Field
• Low light
• Long lens

The Asphalt Jungle

Lenses, Filters & Stocks
Greater Depth of Field

Sergeant York
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Telephoto Lens

• Long lens
• Can be various lengths
• Compresses depth
Lenses, Filters & Stocks

Payback
Lenses, Filters & Stocks

Payback
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Wide Angle

•Short length
•Wide angle of view
•Greater depth of field
•Can distort
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks

Filters

•Cosmetic purpose
•Change light
•Change color
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks

Filters

•Cosmetic purpose
•Change light
•Change color

The Postman Always Rings Twice

 Lenses, Filters & Stocks

Filters

•Cosmetic purpose
•Change light
•Change color

Star Filter
Lenses, Filters & Stocks

The “West Wing” Filter

 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Focus

• Rack Focus
• Selective Focus

The Graduate
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Focus

• Rack Focus
• Selective Focus

Jaws
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Stocks

• Fast – more
sensitive to
light
• More grain -
fuzzy
• Colors may
wash out

Barry Lyndon
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Stocks

• Slow– need up
to ten times as
much light as
fast stock
• Captures color
precisely
• Less grain

The Godfather
 Lenses, Filters & Stocks
• Stocks

• Fast – needs
less light
• More grain

Children of Men
 The Third Man
– 1949
– Director - Carol Reed
– Cinematographer - Robert Krasker (Won
the Oscar)
– Written By Graham Greene
– Actually filmed in bombed-out post WWII
Vienna
– Some of the sewer is real, some
constructed in England
– Anton Karas improvised the score while
watching a cut of the film
– Collaboration Between Brit Alexander
Korda and American David O. Selznick
but they never worked together again
because they hated each other
– Orson Welles did not direct himself but
did improvise some dialogue
– Stars Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton,
Alida Valli