Rumour
8th December 2005, 03:44
Animation Mentor is an online Animation school.
This article can be found in their latest newsletter http://www.animationmentor.com/newsletter/1205/feature_film.html It is reproduced here for your information only.
Coverage
By: Patrick Kriwanek
Coverage
Coverage is the term we use in the film business to describe the choices we make in the positioning of the camera: choices we make in each setup.
These choices include basic framing, composition, lens choice, camera height, shot size, screen direction, matching of shots between two people, continuity, camera movement and all the other elements which go into choosing "where we are" for the shot, and WHY.
These articles are designed to make you understand the WHY on these coverage choices, because there is a Language of Film, which has been created through more than 140 years of screen "conventions," and these conventions are what your audience expects you to pay attention to when you deliver your story to them.
Coverage is what I call Hollywood 101, because your audience has been watching these conventions for all of their lives, and they expect you to know them by heart. In fact, you have been watching them all of your lives as well, but you are probably not aware of the GRAMMAR which these shot setups and editorial choices really mean to an audience.
Let's get started with Shot Size.
Shots which are huge and show a lot of geography are called extreme wide angle shots.
Shots which show the full body of your character, with headroom above, and some room below the "feet" are called wide angle shots.
Shots which cut the character at the waist, and include the upper body and some headroom are called medium shots.
Shots which cut the character at the top of the sternum (collarbones) and include the head and some headroom are called medium close-ups.
Shots which include only the head are called close-ups, and
Shots which go even tighter on the face are called extreme close-ups.
Geography 101
Most of your new scenes will begin with wide angle or extreme wide angle shots.
These shots let the audience know where we are, they show us the scale, texture, weather, time of day, and degree of safety of the new environment. They are called, in the industry, "establishing shots." They "establish" where we are.
We usually move quickly to a closer shot, after as much time as you want to have the audience "feel" the new environment. It also shows us the direction the characters are moving in, (moving towards their goal).
This direction is called "screen direction" and it is important to "preserve" that direction in shot after shot, until we see the characters either reverse direction on screen, or stop at their goal.
After you have "established" your new setting, you will move in on your characters in a series of cuts, which will be determined by two key things:
Are they being physical, with their hands and bodies?
If they are, you will want to "frame" them with a shot which makes sure that all the hand and body gestures are in the frame, that these limbs do not (usually) go out of the frame, and the audience gets to see all the "body English" you want them to see.
Or are they being verbal, where their body movements have less importance to us than the words they are saying?
When they are being emotionally verbal, we usually use the framing which emphasizes the face, usually framing in medium, medium-close, or close-ups.
The frame will be dictated by how much upper body movement you still want to show, for example: if someone is verbal, and uses his/her hands a lot, you will often be using a medium shot to include all that good body information from your character.
But, there are certain moments when the body has almost completely stopped, and the words become very important, then you will probably want to use a medium-close-up, or a close-up, or an extreme close-up.
Think of Clint Eastwood's eyes in "A Fistful of Dollars," an extreme close-up which is so intense, that "the eyes" say it all with no dialogue.
So your shot choices are going to be driven by the physicality of your characters, and by the emotional content of the script, at any one moment.
Think of your "blocking" and make your storyboard according to the words or the physicality you are dealing with at that moment in the script.
If you follow these rules, you will be close to the expected "Hollywood 101" grammar of coverage.
This article can be found in their latest newsletter http://www.animationmentor.com/newsletter/1205/feature_film.html It is reproduced here for your information only.
Coverage
By: Patrick Kriwanek
Coverage
Coverage is the term we use in the film business to describe the choices we make in the positioning of the camera: choices we make in each setup.
These choices include basic framing, composition, lens choice, camera height, shot size, screen direction, matching of shots between two people, continuity, camera movement and all the other elements which go into choosing "where we are" for the shot, and WHY.
These articles are designed to make you understand the WHY on these coverage choices, because there is a Language of Film, which has been created through more than 140 years of screen "conventions," and these conventions are what your audience expects you to pay attention to when you deliver your story to them.
Coverage is what I call Hollywood 101, because your audience has been watching these conventions for all of their lives, and they expect you to know them by heart. In fact, you have been watching them all of your lives as well, but you are probably not aware of the GRAMMAR which these shot setups and editorial choices really mean to an audience.
Let's get started with Shot Size.
Shots which are huge and show a lot of geography are called extreme wide angle shots.
Shots which show the full body of your character, with headroom above, and some room below the "feet" are called wide angle shots.
Shots which cut the character at the waist, and include the upper body and some headroom are called medium shots.
Shots which cut the character at the top of the sternum (collarbones) and include the head and some headroom are called medium close-ups.
Shots which include only the head are called close-ups, and
Shots which go even tighter on the face are called extreme close-ups.
Geography 101
Most of your new scenes will begin with wide angle or extreme wide angle shots.
These shots let the audience know where we are, they show us the scale, texture, weather, time of day, and degree of safety of the new environment. They are called, in the industry, "establishing shots." They "establish" where we are.
We usually move quickly to a closer shot, after as much time as you want to have the audience "feel" the new environment. It also shows us the direction the characters are moving in, (moving towards their goal).
This direction is called "screen direction" and it is important to "preserve" that direction in shot after shot, until we see the characters either reverse direction on screen, or stop at their goal.
After you have "established" your new setting, you will move in on your characters in a series of cuts, which will be determined by two key things:
Are they being physical, with their hands and bodies?
If they are, you will want to "frame" them with a shot which makes sure that all the hand and body gestures are in the frame, that these limbs do not (usually) go out of the frame, and the audience gets to see all the "body English" you want them to see.
Or are they being verbal, where their body movements have less importance to us than the words they are saying?
When they are being emotionally verbal, we usually use the framing which emphasizes the face, usually framing in medium, medium-close, or close-ups.
The frame will be dictated by how much upper body movement you still want to show, for example: if someone is verbal, and uses his/her hands a lot, you will often be using a medium shot to include all that good body information from your character.
But, there are certain moments when the body has almost completely stopped, and the words become very important, then you will probably want to use a medium-close-up, or a close-up, or an extreme close-up.
Think of Clint Eastwood's eyes in "A Fistful of Dollars," an extreme close-up which is so intense, that "the eyes" say it all with no dialogue.
So your shot choices are going to be driven by the physicality of your characters, and by the emotional content of the script, at any one moment.
Think of your "blocking" and make your storyboard according to the words or the physicality you are dealing with at that moment in the script.
If you follow these rules, you will be close to the expected "Hollywood 101" grammar of coverage.