Elements of Cinematography: Camera
Table of contents:
Intro |
In the editing phase, selected shots are assembled into a scene, scenes into the final piece. The editing is done in a such way that the story is told most effectively. A large amount of what’s recorded will not be included in the final edited work, not even the deleted scenes on DVDs!
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In 3D computer animation production, you *could* render each shot using multiple cameras and decide how to edit each scene later, but rendering would take a considerable amount of time, i.e. you would waste a lot of time and resources if you render frames without a good plan. Before you start animating or even start modeling, while you are in the pre-production stage,
Once you start animating, use hardware rendering, such as Maya's Playblast. Render, play and tweak your animation sequence over and over until you are satisfied with your characters’ actions and everything else in the animation and also find the best camera position for each shot, based on your storyboard. Before starting rendering full-size frames, do a pencil test by using a smaller frame size (e.g., 1/2 or 1/4 size of NTSC or HD) and rendering every other frame. At this point, make a 3D animatic by compiling pencil tested shots with the transitions and sounds. The main goal of making an animatic is getting timing right. Animatics also help you make the final determinations on which camera position to use for each shot. When you are ready to render full size frames, render each shot using only the selected camera. A good planning minimizes the production time and maximizes the amount of fully rendered frames that will be in the final animation. |
A shot is a continuous view filmed by one camera
without interruption. |
Two major categories of shots: Commonly used shot types in film, video, and animation can be categorized into two major groups: static shots and dynamic shots. In a static shot, the camera does not move or change its aim within the shot, although the camera may move from the shot to the next shot. In a dynamic shot, the camera moves or changes its aim within the shot. |
Static shots There are many types of static shots and can be categorized in multiple ways. We will see how static shots are identified by A) scale and then B) angle. And see C) the point of view shots, D) two shot sand over the shoulder shots. |
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Static shots: A) scale. One set of shots are identified by their scale or shot sizes. The shot size determines how large the area that’s visible within the frame. Among the following common shot sizes, the distance between the camera and subject varies:
The images are from "The Art of Technique: An Aesthetic
Approach to Film and Video Production" Indecisive cut and shock cut Watch indecisive cut and shock cut. |
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Static shots: B) Angle. Another set of shots are identified by their camera angles. Changing the camera angle changes the appearance and function of your shot. Horizontal camera angles. Moving the camera around the subject horizontally while aiming at the subject creates different camera angles below:
The images are from "The Art of Technique: An Aesthetic
Approach to Film and Video Production" Another type of an Indecisive cut: Watch indecisive cut and shock cut. |
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Static shots: C) Point of view shots. In a point of view (POV) shot, the camera is placed at the eye position of a character. (Birn, 8.2.4 POV Shots, pages 180-1) |
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Static shots: D) Two shot & over-the-shoulder shot
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Dynamic shots. The camera position is often animated in computer animation for no good reason or no reason at all simply because the virtual camera can be moved easily. If you must have dynamic shots, make the camera move realistic and effective. First, study popular types of possible camera moves with a real camera. Try the following:
Dolly vs. Zoom |
180
degree rule A common type of a line of action is an imaginary straight line between two characters
that are interacting. (See the figure below). Another type is the path which your character is traveling along. A line of action of the latter type can be a straight line or a curved line. (See the last figure in this section). No matter which type of a line of action you have in your scene, remember to place all the cameras on one side of the line of action.
The images are from "The Five C's of Cinematography" by
Joseph V. Mascelli
When your character travels either on a straight line or along a curved path in a scene, placing all the cameras on one side of the path (i.e., one side of the line of action) will create continuity in moving directions among all the shots in the scene. |
Composition
Rules: The followings are useful guidelines you can use when composing
a shot. The images are from "Digital Lighting and Rendering" by Jeremy Birn and "The Art of Technique" 2. Avoid tangent
3. Avoid frontal angle
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Safe
Areas
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