Cinematography Basics and Craft

BY: CHELDY SYGACO ELUMBA-PABLEO,MPA;LLB
Mass Communication

IN FILMMAKING, the story is first
developed in the screenplay. Every
movie, short or feature, starts with a
script – the blueprint for the
construction of the motion picture.
THE SCREENPLAY furnishes the
framework for every movie
production; it is the basis for the
decisions made from the early stages
of pre-production to the final phase
of post-production.
SCREENWRITING BASICS
CHELDY SYGACO ELUMBA-PABLEO,MPA;LLB

Writing a screenplay is no easy task,
attempting to follow a current trend is
usually a big mistake and a waste of
time. “Today’s gold is tomorrow’s
trash.”
RULE #1-- IS TO BE TRUE TO
YOURSELF. Don’t write a screenplay
because you think it will sell, and you
need money. Write it because you love
the story and characters. Write it
because you want to entertain or
instruct or move an audience.
THE PROCESS

Screenwriting has no hard and fast rules, not
even the one mentioned above, so ignore it if
you want. Writing for the screen is a subjective
craft in which anything might work, but
probably nothing will.
William Goldman said: “Nobody knows
anything.”
That is the greatest truth in the business.
However, in filmmaking, THE MAIN
CONCEPTS ARE: the 3-act
structure and character arc. Those two are
standard in the industry, followed practically
by every movie, both commercial and
independent.
THE RULES

THE THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
Act I: Setup- the major
characters of the story are
introduced
Act II: Confrontation- the
challenge of keeping the story
moving forward and not boring
the audience
Act III: Resolution- Showdown of
the main character and the villain
ensues and then conclusion.
“They usually have beginning
that never stop beginning.”

CHARACTER ARC:
Because the Only Constant is Change
the notion that characters must
evolve, grow, learn, or change
as the plot unfolds. The
audience in general expects a
character to finish the movie in
a better position than that in
which he started because that is
what everyone strives for.
It will not save a terrible
screenplay, but it will make a
bad story better.

THE PREMISE IS THE BASIS
OF THE CONFLICT:
The premise must be clear to the
writer before he begins to write the
script, although it will not be stated in
the script.
EXAMPLES:
•What is the premise in King Lear?
Blind trust leads to destruction.
•What is the premise in Macbeth?
Ambition leads to its own
destruction
CONFLICT

The time lock adds suspense to
the basic conflict by adding a fight
against time.
•The bomb will explode at six
tonight.
•Unless the carrier is found by
two o’clock, the plague will
spread.
•Unless he is proven innocent
by midnight, he will be
executed.
LOCKING CONFLICT INTO A TIME
FRAME HEIGHTENS TENSION:

The details of the conflict need
not be stated, but the viewer
must know there there’s a
conflict and have some idea of
its nature.
EXAMPLES:
•A rally-it does not always mean
a chaotic one but could also be
a peaceful rally.
•A girl in worn clothes stares at
a “Help Wanted” sign.
CONFLICT NEED NOT BE LOCKED
BY VIOLENT ACTION:

Tragic action is often not against
enemy, or among neutrals, but
among friends or family.
EXAMPLES:
•Oedipus kills his father and
marries his mother.
•Blanche du Bois (A
Streetcar Named Desire) is
raped by her brother-in-law
and goes mad.
DOMESTIC CONFLICT IS THE MOST
UNIVERSAL OF CONFLICTS:

while violence makes for good
scripts, a script need not be violent,
not even emotionally violent to
work.
EXAMPLES:
•The failure of the father and
daughter to understand each
other On Golden Pond.
•The inability of Marty, an ugly,
36-year-old butcher, to get a
date.
CONFLICT IN DRAMA IS NOT
NECESSARILY VIOLENT:

“PLANTING AND PAYOFF,” it is a
highly effective plot device that helps
make the story feel more plausible.
James Bond movies contain classic
examples of foreshadowing.
The character Q, always present in
the set-up of the movie, introduces
gadgets, weapons, and cars to 007
(planting). In the first act, those gadgets
aren’t much needed. But towards the
end, Bond always uses them to fight
villains (payoff). Without the proper
foreshadowing in the beginning, the
audience would feel cheated and
confused.
FORESHADOWING

The villain is the only
character in the script that
may be “lucky.” The heroes
will suffer misfortune most
of the time, thus if he or she
has an object or a skill that
is vitally important in
killing the villain, planting
it early on is required.
AS A GENERAL RULE

WHAT TIES IT ALL
TOGETHER
If plot is what’s on the surface
of a film, easily visible to the
audience, then the theme is
what’s under the surface. It ‘s
kind of hidden like a secret
gem, waiting to be uncovered.
Themes are sometimes called
a life lesson or a message, and
the best ones are always subtle.
THEME

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear
Window (1954) tells the story of a
handicap photographer (James
Stewart) who suspects a murder
has happened in his apartment
complex after noticing abnormal
events unfold from his living
room window.
This is the forefront of the movie;
its plot. Nobody gets out of the
theatre not knowing that.
THEME AS UNITY

WHAT DOES A
CINEMATOGRAPHER DO?
Have you ever watched a movie and
stumbled upon a shot that was so
breath-taking you thought to
yourself, "Wow, that was gorgeous!"?
Well, behind that gorgeous angle
was a cinematographer. Perhaps not
necessarily operating the camera but
at least "painting" the look.
CINEMATOGRAPHY

HERE'S WHAT THE CINEMATOGRAPHER DOES
The cinematographer
or director of
photography (DP) is the
person in charge of actually
shooting the film.
He is the head of the
camera and lighting
departments, and as such
he has a big role in the
making of any movie..

These are just some of the questions
cinematographers have to deal with, and
usually they don’t ‘t make these decisions
alone.
The DIRECTOR is still the “creative tyrant”
who has to oversee and approve of any aspect
of the production.
But on a set, director and cinematographer
are like best friends. One supports the other,
and together they should be a well-oiled
machine, so efficient that they can, when the
planets align, read each others’ mind.

Let us remember that movies are not
plays. The power of cinematography
consists of evoking emotions of delight,
sadness, humor, and fear through the
mastery of a cinematic syntax that has
been developed for more than a
century. Shot sizes, angles, and
movements are the heart of an
exceptional camerawork, which,
combined with a lighting crafted to
enhance emotions, form the essence of
cinematography

AS SEEN AT THE MOVIES
Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella, 1997,
Roberto Benigni) is a great example of
a movie that incorporates two very
different looks. If you don’t know the
movie, suffice to say for our purposes
that the story takes place during the
World War 2 in Italy.
The first half of the movie takes place
before Guido’s family is sent to
concentration camps. You can see in
the frame below how the look is
predominantly bright and colorful during
this first half: CHELDY SYGACO ELUMBA-PABLEO,MPA;LLB

In contrast, the look of the film after
Guido’s family is sent to concentration
camps becomes predominantly darker
and more monochromatic as shown in
the frame
The difference in tone and feel are also
rooted in the production design of
these
two shots. Notice that the first frame is
more embellished with colorful and
comic elements
such as the rain, the red pillow, the car
on the steps. Although the director has
to approve of
all these elements, the
cinematographer can always
recommend them.

comes from the Greek roots:
kinema (movement)
and graph (writing).
CINEMATOGRAPHY

A good CINEMATOGRAPHER
does more than merely light a
scene or move the camera. He
studies the script and creates an
elaborate lighting setup and
camerawork that provoke
emotions and strengthen the
plot. He communicates a
character’s dream, hope, despair,
or joy based on where camera
and lights are placed.
CINEMATOGRAPHERS CRAFT

THE DIRECTOR OF
PHOTOGRAPHY is often called
a painter, and his canvas is the
screen. His “brush” are the
actors, the lights, the location,
the set, the props, etc. These are
the elements the DP can control
to make each and every shot
from the smallest unit of the film,
the building .
CINEMATOGRAPHERS CRAFT

WRITERS work with scene units in what’s call the
Master Scene format, CINEMATOGRAPHERS work
with the shot. Each shot is paramount, which is why
they print out a shot list to make sure all the
principals are recorded.
it starts with the shot size and angle: is the camera
going up here or down there? But if they have
enough time (and budget), the best DPs will get nit-
picky about every little thing in their shots. They will
move all the light fixtures one inch to the left if they
perceive some improvement. It seems overkill, but
that’s what makes the movies awesome. Every
professional is in charge of their own universe.

CINEMATOGRAPHER
have the biggest crew on set,
especially during principal
photography but he also has to
be in continuous communication
with the director and
the production designer in
order to make sure that they
are all on the same page in
regards to how the film will
look.

DIRECTING
WHAT DO FILM DIRECTORS DO?
The film director’s primary task is to
interpret the screenplay and translate it
visually.
He is the creative mind behind the aesthetic
and technical choices that drive the film. To
succeed in this mission, the director is
involved from the early stages of pre-
production all the way to the final phase of
post.

Even though directors must oversee the several stages of
production, during principal photography everything could
get exponentially hectic. Everything revolves around the
production schedule.
At daytime, they shoot.
At night, they rewrite the script.
During breaks, they rehearse. Lights, costumes, décor,
props, camera, actors are all supervised by the director,
who’s often multitasking and micromanaging everything.
Directing movies requires extensive command of the craft,
and a complete understanding over every facet of
filmmaking.

TRAITS OF A DIRECTOR
The director must be a tyrant and a
democrat, a dreamer and a realist, a rebel
and a loyalist.
He has to give orders and follow them. He
has to demand and obey.
He has to be the most snobbish and most
sociable person on set.
He is the manager, the judge, the
president. A friend. He is all of those and
much more.

the director assumes very many
roles. Besides mastering the
production process and
storytelling techniques, he has to
be aware of cultural and political
issues that surround his movie.
He has to be sensible of possible
implications that any elements in
his picture may cause.
Well-rounded, the director must
know, for instance, that the color
red means danger and emergency
DURING A FILM PRODUCTION

In the exceptional example of Psycho (1960),
Alfred Hitchcock foresaw the encroaching
revolution of the 1960s and took advantage
of it. Being entrepreneurial, he purchased
the rights to the novel of same title and even
bought copies to obscure the ending.
Hitchcock was so sure that the picture
would be a hit that he even deferred his
director’s salary in order to get some
support by the studios. By noticing the
approaching revolution, he knew he could
have Janet Leigh in her underwear in the
bedroom and naked in the shower. The
picture became the highest grossing film of
Hitchcock’s career, a box office triumph,
earning $11,200,000. CHELDY SYGACO ELUMBA-PABLEO,MPA;LLB

part of the post-production of a film.
Usually, it begins immediately after
principal photography, when all the
shots are recorded. The resulting
footage is given to the editor and his
team. By then, the director’s favorite
takes would be circled in the camera
report, a document also given to the
editor to help him choose the best takes.
EDITING
The job of an editor is much more than
cutting and splicing footage.

Editing is the art
of assembling shots together to
tell the visual story that is films.
An editor is an important crew
member in any film because he
will give final shape to the
project. They are called the third
storytellers of a movie because,
after the writer and director, the
editor will construct (or de-
construct) the narrative and truly
define the story that audience will
see.

Each frame counts. The
addition or removal of one
frame may break or make a
scene, by supporting or
shattering the illusion
intended. Therefore, editors
work diligently to maintain
the viewers’ suspension of
disbelief.

Quentin Tarantino on film
editing:
“For a writer, it’s a word. For
a composer or a musician, it’s
a note. For an editor and a
filmmaker, it’s the frames.
The one frame off, or two
frames added, or two frames
less… it’s the difference
between a sour note and a
sweet note. It’s the difference
between a clunky clumsy
crap and orgasmic rhythm.”

An editor has to have a good instinct for
the length of each shot. As Tarantino
mentioned, a few frames off can make a
difference.
A great way to be aware of the length of
shots is to watch a film you like on mute.
Without sound and music to hide the
cuts, you will get to experience each and
every cut in a way you hadn’t before. And
that’s important because cuts is what
editors do. Also ask yourself why did the
editor made a cut when he did it. What
was he trying to convey or provoke? You
will soon notice that a horror scene is cut
differently from a humorous scene.
WHAT TO DO TO BE A FILM EDITOR?

REMEMBER: making the
cut is easy. The hard part is
knowing where the cut goes.
Because the editor is dealing with
images and selecting the strongest
footage, he also has to understand
the basics of
cinematography, specifically shot
sizes. Reaction shots, for instance,
can make a scene stand out like it’s
nobody’s business. It’s your job to
know where to insert them, and
for how long.

Additionally, an editor
has to be computer savvy
and incredibly organized.
The computer is your
primary editing tool, and
you will be playing with
programs, codecs, file
formats, and plugins to
obtain your desired
effects.

“Sound design is the process
of specifying, acquiring,
manipulating or generating
audio elements. It is employed
in a variety of disciplines
including filmmaking,
television production, theatre,
sound recording and
reproduction, live
performance, sound art, post-
production, and video game
software development.
SOUND DESIGN IN FILM

In filmmaking, the most
important audio element is You
guessed it:
DIALOGUE. Dialogue is big
part of the narrative and the
actor’s performance. It is the
dialogue, unlike music and
sound effects, that hooks the
audience and carry the story
forward, so a lot of emphasis
and money is placed in getting
the audio recorded in optimal
quality.
SOUND EFFECTS

How Can You Do A Professional Sound Design?
HERE ARE A FEW REMINDERS:
DURING LOCATION SCOUT (that’s before principal photography),
take a sound expert with you to focus exclusively on the sound qualities
of your potential set.
Rent or buy a boom microphone.
Hire a dedicated boom operator and sound mixer.
Don’t count on ADR to fix your sound in post. Get it right during
principal photography (if you can).
These are tips to get you in good shape for the production phase. Post-
production is a whole other game that also fall under the umbrella of
Sound Design. Some sound elements that are exclusive to post-
production are:
FOLEY SOUNDS: sounds created in post-production to mimic an
action in the footage.
MUSIC scores used to augment emotions
SOUND EDITING: the process of editing and mixing several sound
components to form the final soundtrack of a film.

THANK YOU FOR READING!
CHELDHAYE

Cinematography Basics and Craft

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