电影制作英文版说明.doc

ABC of Movie MakingShots1. Definition of shotsFilm is a predominantly visual art. Its basic unit of construction is the shots. A shot is what is recorded between the time a camera starts and the time is stops, that is, between the directors call for “action” and the call to “cut”. The average film is about 100 minutes, with about 600 shots.2. Types of shotsThere are six kinds of shots, which are commonly used in the cinema. They are: (1) the extreme long shot, (2) the long shot, (3) the full shot, (4) the medium shot, (5) the close-up and, (6) the extreme close-up.The deep-focus shot is usually a long or extreme long shot, consisting of a number of focal distances and photographed in depth. Sometimes called a wide-angle shot because it requires a wide-angle lens to photograph, this type of shot captures objects at close, medium and long ranges simultaneously, all of them in sharp focus. Generally, camera, like our eyes, travel from a close range to a medium to a long or vice versa. The most frequently used shot is the medium shot, which puts the spectator in the most natural position for watching the event unfold. The chief value of the long shot is to give the setting of an event. For example, in this scene of The Patriot where Bens riding a horse far away, we could only see the shape of him, but we could feel his power deeply. Its beautiful and inspiring. The chief purpose of the close-up is to call your attention to some otherwise unnoticed object, person, or action. The close shot is unique technique of film art. When the director wishes to call your attention to something in the picture that does not loom large and may otherwise be unnoticed, he uses a close-up. The movie close shots can penetrate the soul and reveal the emotional intensity of their characters. A close-up of an actors face should be used only when necessary to see it at close range in order to understand his thought or action. The good director will use a variety of shots- long, medium, and close-up. For example, in a scene of The Patriot, the camera begins with a close shot of Gabriels back in the room, the slowly pulls out through the window, revealing the open field where the Bluecoats and Redcoats are fighting.3. Contents and photographyMost cinematographers believe that aesthetic elements of a film should be maximized-beautiful pictures with beautiful people is the goal. Such views are not wrong. But it must be noted that the style of the photography should be geared to the story, theme, and mood of the film. Contents always determine form, and form should be the embodiment of content. To develop your enjoyment and understanding, you should know the basic knowledge of photography, and have a better idea about the shots and their functions. Movie is a predominantly visual art. Director of photography plays a very important role in making of film. The aesthetic of a film is in photography.Camera AnglesCamera angle is the direction and height from which the camera takes the scene. The relationship between the camera and the object being photographed gives emotional information to an audience, and guides their judgment about the character or object in shot. There are 5 basic angles in the cinema as shown above: (1)The Birds-Eye view,(2)the High Angle,(3)the Eye-Level shot,(4)the Low Angle,(5)the Oblique/Canted Angle. Now lets look at this picture, and Ill give you some concrete and concise concept of camera angles.1) The Birds-Eye view. This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things.2) The High Angle. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. A high-angle shot positions the camera above eye-level, looking down on the subject, which consequently appears insignificant, weak, helpless, or small according to how extreme the angle is.3) The Eye Level. At eye-level, the impression is neutral. the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that the actors heads are on a level with the focus. 4) The Low Angle. A low-angle shot has the camera looking up at the subject, which then appears important, powerful, or domineering, again depending on how exaggerated the angle is. These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise). 5) The Oblique/Canted Shot. Sometimes the camera is tilted (it is not placed horizontal to floor level), and this suggests imbalance, transition and instability (e.g. Titanic!).LightingPhotographer doesnt work without lighting. There are a number of different styles of lighting. Usually designated as a lighting key, the style is geared to the theme and mood of a film, as wel as its genre. Comedies and musicals tend to be lit in high key, with bright event illumination and few conspicuous shadows, such as in The Sound of Music. Tragedies and melodramas are usually lit in high contrast, such as in Hamlet and The silence of the Lamb, where the white one-piece dress, red blood and green grass give us a strong visual shock. Mysteries and thrillers are generally in low key, with diffused shadows and atmospheric pools of light, such as in Rebecca and The Godfather. Mr. Wills is arguably the most respected of American cinematographers, a specialist low-key lighting style. He photographed all three of Francis Ford Coppolas Godfather films. Most of the interior scenes are very dark, to suggest an atmosphere of evil and secrecy. All cinematographers agree that the style of the Photography should be geared to the story, theme, and mood of the film. But there are far more films in which the only visual images largely as related to the art and technology of cinematography. That shows what important role the cinematographer takes in a filmCamera Movement A director may decide to move the camera with the action, and the moving camera is widely used in making of movie. There are 7 basic moving camera shots:1) Pans. When the camera stays in the same position but turns left or right, this is panning. Often, a moving object is kept in the middle of the frame.2) Titles. When the camera stays in the same position but turns up or down, this is known as tilting. It scans a scene vertically.3) Dolly Shots. Sometimes they are called Trucking or Tracking shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley (It sounds a good method for independent film-makers looking to save a few dollars). 4) Zoom Shots or Zoom Lenses. Even when the camera is stationary and not turning, it can appear to move closer to or further from its subject; by using a special ring or lever on the lens, the camera person can zoom in or out.5) Crane Shots. Basically, it is dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it.6) Hand-held Shots: The hand-held camera (despite its name, a heavy, awkward piece of machinery which is attached to its operator by a harness) was invented in the 1 950s to allow the camera operator to move in and out of scenes with greater speed. It gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds with the organized smoothness of a dolly shot, and is favored by filmmakers looking for a gritty realism.7) Aerial Shots: It is usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. The pull-back dolly or crane shot begins with a close view of a subject, then withdraws to reveal the larger context. In a famous scene of “Gone with the Wind”, the camera begins with a close shot of Scarlet, then slowly pulls back, revealing the wounded bodies of hundreds of soldiers and stopping finally at a distant long-shot range, in front of high flagpole, the tattered Confederate flag blowing in the wind like a shredded remnant. EditingIn a simple word, editing is the joining of one shot with another; in Europe, editing is called montage. In editing shots are appropriately joined. Shots before being assembled are called footage. It is through editing that a film tells a story, from the best viewpoints, that is, sometimes from long shots, sometimes from medium shots, sometimes from close-ups. Simulations actions, occurring different places, can be narrated by cutting back and forth from one to the other. Relations can be conveyed by contrast (shots of starvation cut in with shots of gluttony) and by symbolism (in Pudovkins Mother, shots of an ice floe melting are cut into shots of a procession of workers, thereby suggesting that the workers movement is a natural force coming to new life). Editing is the process, according to film theorist Sergei Eisenstein, of linking two separate ideas together, creating a new meaning through the edit. Once the idea and script have been developed, pre-production planned, and production accomplished, all of the footage will be edited together to create the final product in post-production. Shots are joined into scenes. On the most mechanical level, editing eliminates unnecessary time and space, and preserves the fluidity of an event without literally showing all of it. All the necessary details are provided by close-ups and montage. The foundation of film art is editing. There are three main effects of editing: selecting and ordering the shots; joining the shots; tell the story. So we have to say that footage is just something, editing is everything. One shot shows the boy, shot two shows the girl, and by editing them together, the film editor has created a personal relationship, even if in reality the two never met.Montage is a synonym for editing, also an approach to editing developed by the Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s such as Eisenstein; it emphasizes dynamic, often shots are put together so that audiences have to make their own connections between the images. Sergei Eisenstein, in particular, developed a complex theory of montage that included montage within the shot, between sound and image, multiple levels of overtones, as well as in the conflict between two shots. The Russian theorist represented by Sergei Eisenstein called the process of building by quick cuts “montage.” The theory held that shots, when placed together, add up to more than the sum of parts. To them montage made a film a work of art, though French writers use the term to denote cutting.Two of the most common types of editing are Continuity Editing and Montage Editing. Continuity Editing orders shots so that actions move seamlessly from one point to the next, keeping a logical and continuous sequence of events in scenes and between scenes. Examples of editing techniques include transitions such as:(1) A Straight Cut - a strip of film being spliced to another, resulting in an instantaneous transfer from one shot to the nest,.(2) A Dissolve. The shot dissolves while a new shot appears to emerge from beneath it, there being a moment when we get a superimposition of both scenes.(3) A Fade, In the fade-out the screen growing darker until black, in the fade-in the screen growing lighter until the new scene is fully visible. In doing on the camera is saying “Let us now leave A and turn to B.” or “Two years later.” The dissolve and the fade are rather unfashionable now. (4) Wipe. Even older methods are the wipe, when a sort of windshield wiper crosses the screen, wiping off the first scene and revealing the next.(5) Iris. That is either the new scene first appears in the centre of the previous one and then expands, or it first appears along the circle and then the circle closes in one previous scene.Of course, editing is not essential to the construction of an effective video message. Sometimes the video makers choose not to edit their footage, allowing footage from a single camera to play in real time.Theme and Plot The theme is the central or dominating idea in a film. It provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols and other elements of a film are organized. It can be revealed by a character within the film. But more often, the theme is implied. It is fused into the elements of the film. Theme should not be confused with subject. They are not equivalent. Many films share same subjects, such as fate, death, innocence, youth, loneliness, racial prejudice and disillusionment. Yet, each film usually makes its own statement about the subject. The viewer is encouraged to interpret the meaning and state the theme of a film. If you can express the theme of a selection you have a good understanding of the film, you understand the events and their significance. And also, viewers have different response to life, so everyone may have different opinion. Some excellent movies contain one or more themes. A consideration of theme usually expands the possibilities for meaning rather than reducing them to categories such as “Right” or “Wrong”. It is hard to determine the theme of a film, because all the films elements may contribute its central idea. Anyway, the title of the film, the protagonist changes, narration and dialogues are helpful to understand the theme of the film. Ultimately, the theme is expressed by the film itself and is inseparable from the experience of viewing the film. There is no one way of stating the theme. Try to express the theme of a selection in your own words. Avoid using chinches or familiar sayings even when these may accurately express the gist of the film. Some excellent movies contain one or more themes. “Once upon a time in America” tells a story of four gangsters from New York City. They are childhood friends and merciless criminals in their youth. It is really hard to say what the theme of this film is. Someone say it is just a gangster movie like God Father. But we can find it is not only a film about violence and crime, but also a film about love and friendship. What the director hide behind these themes, may be something about the American dream.Plot is the filmmakers arrangement of incidents in a film. The plot is set in motion by a character with a problem, such as the hero, or main character. Events can be presented in a variety of orders. Here are three ways of showing a movies plot: Chronological arrangement, Narration interposed, Flashback. Chronological arrangement means a film has the same order as time. It is very typical and even tells the story second by second, such as in 24 hours. The story can begin with what happens first, then second, and so on, until the last incident is related, or begin at the end then lead up to why or how events worked out as they did. Film can also begin in the middle of things. They are just some basic methods, many movies mix them together. Narration interposed means a film begins in the middle, and there are stories either before or after this. Here is the famous Titanic. It begins with an old lady telling her story, and then is the main love story. In the end, she threw the diamond into the sea. Flashback means the storys order is opposite to the time order, such as in Memento. Theme and plot can either have similar meanings or different meanings. In Roman Holiday, they express the same thing. The plot is love, and the theme is love, too. But in Pearl Harbor, they are different. The plot is war, the theme is love.Character, Characterization, SettingCharacter is essential to plot. Without characters, nothing would happen in a film. Influenced by events, characters also shape events. They can give us an image of the event in our mind. The relationship between key characters in a movie often serve to movie the action forward: one person does or says something to another which sparks an entire chain of events. In some movies, several events seem independent, but by something one person says or does to another, we can suddenly find that these events are actually connected. The strong feelings the characters have for each other, either positive or negative, are usually fundamental to the story. For example in Forrest Gump, the brotherhood between Forrest and Bubba, the love between Forrest and Jenny are both fundamental to the movie. Without these two lines, there wouldnt be so many miracles, or even the whole story. And so is in The Patriot, the hatred between Benjamin Martin and the British colonel is also fundamental. Furthermore, the interaction between characters is one of the easiest ways of helping the audience to get to know the individual characters in movies, as in real life, our personal qualities are often revealed through the way we treat and respond to others. Take Shawshanks Redemption as an example. Andy dug a hole in the wall of the prison and became a free man. It is unbelievable and unreasonable if Red hadnt sold him a rock hammer. So the rock hammer sparks the entire chain of the events. The methods by which filmmakers create people in a film so that they seem actually to exist are called characterization. Good filmmakers give us the illusion that a character is real, but we should also remember that a character is not an actual person but instead has been created by the filmmakers. The Legend of 1900 tells a story about pianist who has spent his whole life on a ship. He was born there, and then died there. He is a legend, and we might never encounter a man like him in our life. But because the characterizations are so vivid and convincing, that we think he is real.Setting is the context in which the action of a film occurs. The major elements of setting are the time, place, and social environment that frame the characters. These elements establish the world in which the characters act. In most films they also