Elements of Film Structure
Elements of Film Structure
• Structure—The audio-visual design of the
film and the tools needed to create that
design: camera, lighting, set, performance,
editing, sound.
• Content—The story, theme, and
characterizations.
The Film-making Process
Pre-production
Script (optioning,
writing, revisions
Production
Filming & Sound
recording of scenes
Post-production
Editing of sound &
film
Hiring of cast and crew Music scoring
Foley recording (sound
effects)
Design of
sets/costumes
ADR (automated
dialogue replacement)
Planning of
cinematography
Digital Effects
Rehearsals
Lab work and release
of prints
The director—coordinates and organizes the
work of the cast and crew.
The producer—has administrative control
over budget and schedule.
Time components of film
• Running time—the full duration of a film.
(Feature films are generally 90-120
minutes.)
• Story time—the amount of time the plot
covers. (Could be hours or centuries.)
• Internal structural time—the tempo of a
film, which is affected by length of shots
and editing of film.
• A shot is the time occurring between the
camera being turned on and shut off.
Spatial components
• Frame—the projected area on screen, but
also an individual image on a strip of film.
• Camera positioning—
– Long shot (often used as an establishing shot)
– Medium shot
– Close-up (may be used to show expressions)
• Camera angles
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Low (used to make figures appear to tower)
Medium (eye-level views)
High (used to diminish subjects in size)
Canted angle (gives an off-kilter effect)
Angles must be used in context with scenes.
Low angle
Medium Angle
High angle
• Focal length—the distance between the film
and optical center of the camera’s lens.
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–
–
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Normal range lens is 50mm
Telephoto lens has greater focal length
Wide-angle lens has shorter focal length
Zoom lens
• Depth of field—the amount of area from
near to far that will remain in focus. (Wideangles have greater depth of field than
telephotos.)
• Camera Movement
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–
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Pan and tilt
Dolly or tracking
Boom or crane
Steadicam
• Motion perspective—the changing distances of
framed objects due to the motion of a moving
camera, such as one with a zoom lens.
The Dolly Shot
The Zoom
Panning
Tilting
Creative choices
• Flashing—exposing film to a small amount
of prior to filming in order to mute color
and shadows.
• ENR (Ernesto N. Rico)—a developing
process that makes shadows darker and
edges crisper.
Perception of film
• Perceptual transformation—the ability of
the camera to show things in a way that
differs from human visual perception.
• Perceptual correspondence—the camera
showing things in a way common with
visual perception