This document provides an overview of key concepts in filmmaking related to shots, framing, and camera techniques. It defines what a shot is and common film frame rates. It also describes different shot sizes, angles, types of camera movement, compositional styles, and other techniques used to construct visual narratives in film. Learning activities like storyboarding and shot listing are also mentioned.

1. Episode
9:
Calling
the
Shots
KRIZTINE
ROSALES-­‐VIRAY

2. Concept
Catcher
• Shot
-­‐-­‐
smallest
unit
of
the
visual
narrative.
It
can
be
as
short
as
a
single
frame.
• Most
feature
films
are
projected
at
a
rate
of
24
frames
per
second
(fps).
• For
video
NTSC
(National
Television
System
Committee)
there
are
29.97fps
or
30fps.

3. !
• For
PAL
(Phase
Alteration
by
Line)
there
are
25fps
!
• For
SECAM
(Systeme
Electronique
Coloure
Avec
Memoire)
there
are
25fps.
!
• NTSC,
PAL
and
SECAM
are
the
three
Main
Analog
Video
Standards
used
around
the
world.

4. Series
of
Shots
Series
of
Scenes
SEQUENCES
WHOLE
NARRATIVE

5. SHOT
ZONES
• Foreground
!
• Middle
ground
!
• Background
!
• These
areas
may
contain
actor,
props,
background
setting,
nature,
etc.
These
areas
exist
simultaneously
although
they
may
not
all
appear
in
a
single
shot.

7. FOREGROUND
MIDDLE
GROUND
BACKGROUND

8. Four
Framing
Elements
• SHOT
SIZE
!
• Angle
of
the
Shot
!
• Camera
Movement
!
• Compositional
Style

9. SHOT
SIZE
• Refers
to
the
dimension
of
the
screen
border
that
contains
actors,
props,
etc.
• Sizes
ranges
from
establishing
shot,
long
shot,
close-­‐up,
extreme
close-­‐up,
to
a
variety
of
in-­‐between
sizes
such
as
the
Medium
shot,
medium
long
shot,
medium
head
shot,
etc.

11. SHOT
ANGLES
• Described
as
the
incline
or
perspective
taken
by
the
cameraman
when
shooting
a
subject.
• The
most
basic
angles
are
related
to
height.
• High
and
low
angle
are
also
known
as
the
bird’s
eye
view
and
worm’s
eye
view,
respectively.

13. Camera
Movement
• There
are
2
kinds
of
Camera
Movement:
• Apparent
• It
stimulates
the
actual
movement
of
the
camera
!
• Physical
• There
is
a
physical
movement
of
the
camera

14. !
• Zoom
is
an
example
of
an
apparent
movement.
Shot
sizes
before
and
after
the
motion
is
to
be
considered.
The
technique
known
a
RACK
FOCUS
or
PULL
FOCUS
manipulates
the
change
in
shot
zones
by
manually
shifting
the
camera
lens
from
foreground
to
background
or
vice
versa.

15. • Physical
movements
include
PAN,
TILT,
CRANE,
DOLLY
and
TRACKING
• Combination
of
movements
can
also
be
done
to
create
new
and
varied
results.
The
best
example
is
Alfred
Hitchcocks’s
signature
move
known
as
the
VERTIGO
EFFECT–
a
combination
of
a
simultaneous
zooming
in
and
tracking
out.

16. DOLLY
&
TRACKING

17. PAN
&
TILT

18. RACK
FOCUS

21. Composition
Style
• Some
basic
framing
and
composition
style:
!
• 1.
Rule
of
thirds
–
subjects
are
placed
off-­‐
center.

22. RULE
OF
THIRDS

23. 2.
Leading
Lines
–
the
illusion
of
a
vanishing
point
or
the
use
of
perspective
lines
to
draw
attention
to
a
subject
in
the
frame.

24. LEADING
LINES

25. • 3.
Frame
within
a
frame
–
use
of
objects,
natural
borders
and
other
manufactured
items
to
surround
or
outline
the
main
subject
in
a
shot.

26. FRAME
WITHIN
A
FRAME

27. • 4.
Deep
Focus
-­‐-­‐
use
of
all
three
shot
zones.
All
areas
are
in
sharp
focus.

28. • 5.
Deep
space
–
the
use
of
all
three
shot
zones.
Action
is
staged
in
all
three
areas,
however
not
all
zones
may
be
in
focus.

29. • 6.
Balanced
Shot
-­‐-­‐
symmetrical
framing
using
either
screen
subjects
of
the
same
height,
weight
or
volume.
The
use
of
lines,
shapes
and
patterns
are
also
used
to
maintain
equilibrium.

30. BALANCE

31. • 7.
Shallow
depth
of
field
-­‐-­‐
foreground
is
focused
while
background
is
blurred.

32. 8.
Avoiding
growths
and
joints
–
set
limits
to
the
borders
of
your
composition.
!
9. Headroom
–
avoid
too
much
space
on
top
so
as
not
to
dwarf
areas
in
the
shot.
!
10.Look/Walk/Talk
room
-­‐-­‐
establish
a
sense
of
space
in
your
shots
by
leaving
just
the
right
amount
of
space
to
the
right
or
left
side
of
your
subject
to
indicate
that
s/he
is
interacting
with
someone
off
screen,
or
is
preparing
to
go
toward
that
direction
in
the
succeeding
shots.

33. Learning
activity
• Storyboard
–
illustration
that
usually
show
visually
the
flow
of
the
story
from
beginning
to
end.
!
• Shot
list
-­‐-­‐
acts
as
guide
for
the
director
during
filming.
Usually
follows
the
Master
Shot
Sequence.

34. • Master
Shot
Sequence
–
essentially
shooting
the
scenes
in
descending
order,
from
wide
shots
to
narrow
shots.
Actor
repeatedly
does
his
work
from
start
to
finish
for
every
shot
size
or
angle
require
by
the
boards.
• Master
shot
–
is
a
wide
enough
shot
that
covers
the
entire
scene
from
start
to
end,
allowing
all
important
actions
to
be
seen.
This
serves
as
a
safety
shot
for
the
entire
film.

35. Brainstorm
• In
doing
your
30
seconder
values
formation
video,
create
a
storyboard
and
shot
list
that
shall
be
used
as
your
guide
in
directing
the
video.

36. 36
Next:
Episode
10:
Rules
of
Engagement