NEHRU ARTS ANS SCIENCE COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION
FILM STUDIES
UNIT- I
A brief account of Indian cinema – Film as a medium of communication and social
change- Growth of Tamil cinema – contributions of Tamil cinema to social and political
awareness – Film industry status – Technologies in film production – Digital projection.
UNIT - II
Film audiences – Fantasy Vs reality in cinema – cinematic theme and elements – Film
culture – film genre – Popular, Parallel and Documentary films – concepts in film.
UNIT- III
Film production: Theme and story line – script writing – characterization – visualization
– equipment and other inputs – Role and responsibilities of the Cinematographer and the
Director – problems of artists – financial management – editing studios – editing methods
– audio and video special effects.
UNIT- IV
Film appreciation – Film criticism - writing a film review – content analysis –
deconstruction of film – comparison of Indian and western films – the influence of
Hollywood on Tamil cinema.
Unit V
Regulations for the film industry – Problems of film industry: Piracy - Government’s
initiatives and policies – Film institutes and organizations: Children’s Film Society and
professional Associations – Film Clubs – International and National Film Festivals and
Awards – Award winning films- a review.
Reference:
Ashish Rajadhyasha, Paul Wileman, 2005. Encyclopedia of Indian cinema. Oxford
University Press. New Delhi.
Rabiger, Michael. 2004. Directing the Documentary. 4th edition. Oxford. Focal press.
Proferes, Nicholas. 2001. Film Directing Fundamentals. Oxford: Focal Press.
Mamer, Bruce. 2000. Film Production Technique. 2nd Edition. Belmont Wadsworth
Publication.
Nelmes, Jill. 1996. Introduction to film studies. Routledge. London.
Edited by Gerald Mast, Cohen Marshall and Braudy Leo. 1992. Film Theory and
criticism: Introductory Readings. 4th Edition. Oxford University Press. New Delhi
SECTION-B
1. Why make a storyboard?
Creating a storyboard will help you plan your animation out shot by shot. You can make changes
to your storyboard before you start animating, instead of changing your mind later. You will also
be able to talk about your animation and show your storyboard to other people to get feedback on
your ideas.
2. What is Narrative Structure?
Narrative structure is about two things: the content of a story and the form used to tell the
story. Two common ways to describe these two parts of narrative structure are story and
plot.
Story refers to the raw materials of dramatic action as they might be described in
chronological order. Plot refers to how the story is told — the form of storytelling, or the
structure, that the story follows.
If we want to analyze narrative structure, we can use “who,” “what,” and “where”
questions to look at the story or content of a movie. “How” and “when” questions are
used to examine plot structure.
Conventionally, both story and plot are described in terms of how a character’s life is
can take many forms, be it emotional, interpersonal, or even
between the character and his/her physical environment.
3. What is Ideology?
Ideology translates to the science or study of ideas. However, ideology tends to refer to
the way in which people think about the world and their ideal concept of how to live in
the world. This is slightly different from philosophy in the sense that ideology
encompasses the concept that one’s ideals are the best way.
Philosophy on the other hand may examine the way ideology affects others from a more
distant perspective. Philosophy however may become ideology when a philosopher sets
forth ideal concepts for the way people should live. Plato’s Republic, for example, is his
ideology of the best way to proceed in life.
The term ideology also may be used to describe the shared beliefs of a group of people,
for example a nation, a sect of a religion, or a group of theorists. The term was most
likely coined first by the French philosopher, Count Destutt de Tracy, who used the term
in the 1700s to describe the more specific definition of the science of ideas.
Today the term ideology is used in so many ways, that it is often difficult to know how to
describe it. In some ways, the common, shared beliefs of a community may be considered
its common sense ideology. For example, a group of people living near the wilderness
might share the ideology that it is not wise to venture into the bush alone and at night.
Conversely, city people, for the most part, might believe that it make sense to look both
ways before crossing a street. Common sense ideology often concerns the protection of
the individual and community as a whole.
Ideology can be used in a more specific sense to differentiate between different groups of
thought. The ideological differences between Sunni and Shiite factions of Islam are a
subject of great debate. Understanding these competing ideologies allows one more
insight into how to address cultures with which one has either hostile or peaceful contact.
In US politics, the term ideology may separate the difference between Democrat and
Republican, and those sharing the ideology of one group over another are likely to vote
accordingly. Usually a culture has multiple political ideologies, with some less popular
than others.
Many have difficulty seeing past the two competing ideologies to examine other political
ideologies present in the culture. For example, few Libertarians, Green Party Members,
or Peace and Freedom ideologists are elected, since most think in terms of democrat and
republican candidates only.
SECTION-C
1. Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art (such
as a novel, play, or film). Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr, the earliest use
in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after
its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor"
developed.
Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the
illusion of being a human person." Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase "in
character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the
19th century, the art of creating characters, as practised by actors or writers, has been
called characterisation.
A character who stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people
isknown as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully
individualised. The characters in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1891) and August
Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are representative of specific positions in the
social relations of class and gender, such that the conflicts between the characters reveal
ideological conflicts.
The study of a character requires an analysis of its relations with all of the other
characters in the work. The individual status of a character is defined through the network
of oppositions (proairetic, pragmatic, linguistic, proxemic ) that it forms with the other
characters. The relation between characters and the action of the story shifts historically,
often miming shifts in society and its ideas about human individuality, selfdetermination, and the social order.
Types of characters
Characters may be classified by various criteria:
 Antagonist
 Protagonist
 Hero
 Anti-Hero
 Tragic Hero
 Villain
 Foil
 Main character
 Minor character
Characterization –Staging of actors
Camera angles and blocking and staging the actors
In addition to the coverage angles listed in the previous section there are many additional aspects
of camera angles that influence an audience's understanding of what they are watching. Proper
blocking and staging of the actors is required for the cinematographer to be able to capture
effective images. The following are some of the most common techniques you can use.
 In countries where people read from left to right, the audience will generally scan an
image from left to right. If you place a character at the left of the frame, that character
will be seen first and will seem to be more important.
 Because "tall" usually equates with "powerful" a character that is visually higher in the
frame will seem stronger than a character that is low in the frame.
 The eye is drawn to brightness, therefore if one actor is more brightly lit than others in an
image the audience's eye will be drawn to that actor and s/he will seem more important.
 In a multi-actor image the actor facing more toward the camera will seem more
dominating.
See how the face of the man on the left draws your eye and dominates this image where we have
taken advantage of all of the factors of character placement and lighting within the camera frame.
Angling upward from a low position makes an actor seem taller and more powerful as in the next
image. In any scene the most powerful character should be placed in the highest position in the
frame, and the weaker characters lower in the frame. In a courtroom scene the judge sits on the
highest bench. The powerful, evil villain should be higher in the frame than the hero to
emphasize the challenge facing the hero to overcome the villain.
Shooting the actor from a high angle makes them look weak and vulnerable. We also shot from
farther away to make the actor look smaller and we placed the image lower in the frame to
accentuate the appearance of weakness and loneliness. Compare this image to the previous
image.
As a general rule, unless you are trying to make a special point, you should have the camera at
about shoulder height of the actors in your scene. If the actors are sitting then bring the camera
down to the height of their shoulders as they are sitting.
You need to carefully consider the background of a shot to be sure the angle you are shooting the
background is the most interesting and appropriate and not distracting. It is almost never good to
shoot the flat surface of a background such as a building. The following frame has everything
wrong with it. The actors are too far apart and too much in profile. The building is shot face on
and a light pole seems to be growing out of the woman's head.
This shot uses a perspective angle looking down a tree lined walk to give depth and interest to
this image.
Always shoot what is in the background from an angle to give depth and a sense of dynamics to
your images.
The growth of Indian Cinema in the world Film Market
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, including the cinematic
culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab,
Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and the Middle East. As cinema
as a medium gained popularity in the country as many as 1,000 films in various
languages of India were produced annually.
Expatriates in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States continued to
give rise to international audiences for Indian films of various languages especially
Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu.
In the 20th century, Indian cinema, along with the American and Chinese film industries,
became a global enterprise. Enhanced technology paved the way for upgradation from
established cinematic norms of delivering product, radically altering the manner in which
content reached the target audience.
Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.
The country also participated in international film festivals, especially Satyajit Ray
(Bengali), Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Malayalam), K. Viswanath (Telugu), Mani Ratnam
(Tamil), Girish Kasaravalli (Kannada).
Indian filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta etc. found success
overseas. The Indian government extended film delegations to foreign countries such as
the United States of America and Japan while the country's Film Producers Guild sent
similar missions through Europe.
Sivaji Ganesan, and S.V. Ranga Rao won their respective first international award for
Best Actor held at Afro-Asian Film Festival in Cairo & Indonesian Film Festival in
Jakarta for the films Veerapandiya Kattabomman & Narthanasala in 1959 & 1963,
separately.
India is the world's largest producer of films. In 2009, India produced a total of 2961
films on celluloid, that include a staggering figure of 1288 feature films.
The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market
attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Warner
Bros.
Prominent Indian enterprises such as Zee, UTV, Suresh Productions, Adlabs and Sun
Network's Sun Pictures also participated in producing and distributing films. Tax
incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many as 30
film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India,
making the commercial presence of the medium felt.
The Indian diaspora consists of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made
available both through mediums such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country
of residence wherever commercially feasible.
These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a mainstream
film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema, the net worth of
which was found to be US$1.3 billion in 2000.
Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights
alone accounting for 4–5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India.
Film theory and Criticism
Film theory.- Film theory is everything we think and talk about films. As every theory it
has been created in the course of its history, in this case, with more than a hundred years
of life, it has been feed by several opinions, theories and movements that step by step
have built a consistent theoretical frame. Read more about film theory
The film criticism.- It consists on analyzing, evaluating, and meditate about the movies,
ask questions about them, try to understand its essence and try to understand what they
show us, its purposes, meanings and senses, those which the conscious or unconsciously
director describes in his work. Read more about film criticism
Representation
Representation describes the signs that stand in for and take the place of something else.
It is through representation people know and understand the world and reality through the
act of naming it. Signs are manipulated in order to make sense of the world.
For many philosophers, both ancient and modern, man is regarded as the
"representational animal" or homo symbolicum, the creature whose distinct character is
the creation and the manipulation of signs – things that "stand for" or "take the place of"
something else.
Representation has been associated with aesthetics (art) and semiotics (signs). Mitchell
says "representation is an extremely elastic notion, which extends all the way from a
stone representing a man to a novel representing the day in the life of several Dubliners".
The term representation carries a range of meanings and interpretations. In literary theory
representation is commonly defined in three ways.
1. To look like or resemble
2. To stand in for something or someone
3. To present a second time to re-present
Film culture
Harvie Conn has described film as a "cultural mirror," a valuable reflection of
contemporary attitudes, philosophies, values, lifestyles. Others, such as Michael Medved,
have placed more emphasis on the idea of film as a former of culture.
As I see it, both emphases are true. The relation between film and culture is a chickenand-egg relationship. Film is of course a product of culture, for the makers of films are
people of their own time. On the other hand, within their own culture, filmmakers are
often atypical.
They tend to be more liberal politically, less inclined to practice religion, more open
to radical social attitudes and movements, than the general population. Thus their films
tend more often than not to support radicalism and to subvert traditional, especially
Christian, values. When those filmmakers answer criticisms of the content of their films
by saying "we are only reflecting the broader culture," they are either being naive or
dishonest.
In the broader culture, there is far more interest in religion, far more family integrity, far
more clean language and honest work than one would ever guess from films.
In any case, it is important when we go to the movies to take with us some understanding
of what is happening in the general culture: both what is considered "traditional" and
what is considered "avant-garde."
One cannot adequately summarize the current cultural situation in a brief essay, but I will
offer a summary here simply to show the reader where I am coming from in my reviews.
As I see it, western culture has moved in the last three hundred years from a time of
Christian dominance to a time of anti-Christian secular dominance.
It is possible to overestimate the role of secular liberalism in contemporary society. From
the portrayals of the 1960s in popular media, especially film, one would get
the impression that everybody in the United States was "dropping out," taking drugs,
protesting the war, supporting radical leftist causes.
Perhaps that is what most filmmakers and their friends were doing. But most Americans
were fed up with all the protests, drugs, and pompous young moralizers. They
elected Richard Nixon president in 1968, and they overwhelmingly re-elected him in
1972, against George McGovern, who was the voice of the radical left.
Arguably, the populace continued to move rightward through the 1970s, resulting in the
election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. During the last thirty years, the only
Democrats elected president were men who persuaded the electorate of their moderation.
Overt liberals, McGovern, Mondale, and Dukakis were soundly defeated.
Film genre
In film theory, genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements
from which films are constructed. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary
genre criticism.
As with genre in a literary context, there is a great deal of debate over how to define or
categorize genres. Besides the basic distinction in genre between fiction and
documentary, film genres can be categorized in several ways.
Fictional films are usually categorized according to their setting, theme topic, mood, or
format. The setting is the milieu or environment where the story and action takes place.
The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around. The
mood is the emotional tone of the film.
Format refers to the way the film was shot (e.g., anamorphic widescreen) or the manner
of presentation (e.g.: 35 mm, 16 mm or 8 mm). An additional way of categorizing film
genres is by the target audience. Some film theorists argue that neither format nor target
audience are film genres.
Film genres often branch out into subgenres, as in the case of the courtroom and trialfocused subgenre of drama known as the legal drama. They can be combined to form
hybrid genres, such the melding of horror and comedy in the Evil Dead films.
There are other methods of dividing films into groups besides genre. For example auteur
critics group films according to their directors. Some groupings may be casually
described as genres although the definition is questionable.
For example, while independent films are sometimes discussed as if they are a genre inand-of themselves, independent productions can belong to any genre. Similarly, art films
are referred to as a genre, even though an art film can be in a number of genres.
Genre can also be distinguished from film style, which concerns the choices made about
cinematography, editing, and sound. A particular style can be applied to any genre.
Whereas film genres identify the manifest content of film, film styles identify the manner
by which any given film's genre(s) is/are rendered for the screen. Style may be
determined by plot structure, scenic design, lighting, cinematography, acting, and other
intentional artistic components of the finished film product. Others argue that this
distinction is too simplistic, since some genres are primarily recognizable by their styles.
Many film historians and film critics debate whether film noir is a genre or a style of
film-making often emulated in the period's heyday. Indeed, film noir films from the
1940s and 1950s were made in a range of genres, such as gangster films, police
procedural dramas, and thrillers
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as
an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian
cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the
social-political climate of the times.
This movement is distinct from mainstream Bollywood cinema and began around the
same time as the French New Wave and Japanese New Wave. The movement was
initially led by Bengali cinema (which has produced internationally acclaimed
filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, and others) and then gained
prominence in the other film industries of India.
Realism in Indian cinema dates back to the 1920s and 1930s. One of the earliest
examples was V. Shantaram's 1925 silent film classic Sawkari Pash (Indian Shylock),
about a poor peasant (portrayed by Shantaram) who "loses his land to a greedy
moneylender and is forced to migrate to the city to become a mill worker.
Acclaimed as a realistic breakthrough, its shot of a howling dog near a hut, has become a
milestone in the march of Indian cinema." The 1937 Shantaram film Duniya Na Mane
(The Unexpected) also critiqued the treatment of women in Indian society.
Imagination
Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images,
sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing
or other senses. Imagination is the work of the mind that helps create.
Imagination helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a
fundamental facility through which people make sense of the world,[1][2][3] and it also
plays a key role in the learning process.
A basic training for imagination is listening to storytelling (narrative), in which the
exactness of the chosen words is the fundamental factor to "evoke worlds." Imagination
is the faculty through which we encounter everything. The things that we touch, see and
hear coalesce into a "picture" via our imagination.
It is accepted as the innate ability and process of inventing partial or complete personal
realms within the mind from elements derived from sense perceptions of the shared
world. The term is technically used in psychology for the process of reviving in the mind,
percepts of objects formerly given in sense perception.
Since this use of the term conflicts with that of ordinary language, some psychologists
have preferred to describe this process as "imaging" or "imagery" or to speak of it as
"reproductive" as opposed to "productive" or "constructive" imagination. Imagined
images are seen with the "mind's eye."
Imagination can also be expressed through stories such as fairy tales or fantasies.
Mostfamous inventions or entertainment products were created from the inspiration of
someone's imagination.
Children often use narratives or pretend play in order to exercise their imagination. When
children create fantasy they play at two levels: first, they use role playing to act out what
they have created with their imagination, and at the second level they play again with
their make-believe situation by acting as if what they have created is an actual reality that
already exists in narrative myth.
Reality
Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may
be thought to be. In its widest definition, reality includes everything that is and has being,
whether or not it is observable or comprehensible.
Historically, philosophers have sometimes considered reality to include nonexistent
things such as "gold mountains" in a sense referred to as a subsistence, as well. By
contrast existence is often restricted solely to being (compare with nature).
The term reality first appeared in the English language in 1550, originally a legal term in
the sense of "fixed property". It originated from the Modern Latin term realitatem, which
was from Late Latin realis; the meaning of "real existence" is from 1647 onwards.
Cinema & Cultural Studies
The program in Cinema and Cultural Studies looks at film as a form of representation in
and of itself and in relation to other disciplines such as literature, art, and theater.
The CCS program is designed to show how cultural forms such as cinema and the other
arts develop and interact with each other and with social, historical, and economic forces
by emphasizing the emerging discipline now known as Cultural Studies.
The program's core courses place strong emphasis on writing skills and critical thinking
about film and other cultural forms. Students will also be taught "media literacy," the
ability to read the many images we encounter every day in an age when images are being
used for manipulation as never before.
Students may have the opportunity to put their knowledge to practical use outside the
classroom through internships in the film and advertising industries or through
independent research.
What is a storyboard?
Once a concept or script is written for a film or animation, the next step is to make a storyboard. A
storyboard visually tells the story of an animation panel by panel, kind of like a comic book.
Your storyboard will should convey some of the following information:




What charaters are in the frame, and how are they moving?
What are the characters saying to each other, if anything?
How much time has passed between the last frame of the storyboard and the current one?
Where the "camera" is in the scene? Close or far away? Is the camera moving?
How do I make a storyboard?
Most commonly, storyboards are drawn in pen or pencil. If you don't like to draw you can also
take photos, cut out pictures from magazines, or use a computer to make your storyboards. Keep
in mind that your drawings don't have to be fancy! In fact, you want to spend just a few minutes
drawing each frame. Use basic shapes, stick figures, and simple backgrounds. If you draw your
storyboard frames on index cards, you can rearrange them to move parts of the the story around.
Storyboard Language
CLOSE-UP SHOT: A close range of distance between the camera and the subject.
DISSOVLE: A transition between two shots, where one shot fades away and simultaneously
another shot fades in.
FADE - A transition from a shot to black where the image gradually becomes darker is a Fade
Out; or from black where the image gradually becomes brighter is a Fade In.
HIGH CAMERA ANGLE: A camera angle which looks down on its subject making it look
small, weak or unimportant.
JUMP CUT: A rapid, jerky transition from one frame to the next, either disrupting the flow of
time or movement within a scene or making an abrupt transition from one scene to another.
LEVEL CAMERA ANGLE: A camera angle which is even with the subject; it may be used as a
neutral shot.
LONG SHOT: A long range of distance between the camera and the subject, often providing a
broader range of the setting.
LOW CAMERA ANGLE: A camera angle which looks up at its subject; it makes the subject
seem important and powerful.
PAN: A steady, sweeping movement from one point in a scene to another.
POV (point of view shot): A shot which is understood to be seen from the point of view of a
character within the scene.
REACTION SHOT- 1.: A shot of someone looking off screen. 2.: A reaction shot can also be a
shot of someone in a conversation where they are not given a line of dialogue but are just listening
to the other person speak.
TILT: Using a camera on a tripod, the camera moves up or down to follow the action.
ZOOM: Use of the camera lens to move closely towards the subject.
Visualization Process
FILM, VISUALIZATION, NARRATIVE
Introduction
learn from this?
Mise en scène
(Germany, 1920)
 Mise-en-scène "placing on stage") is an expression
used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film
production, which essentially means "visual theme" or
"telling a story" —both in visually artful ways
through storyboarding, cinematography and stage
design, and in poetically artful ways through
direction. Mise-en-scène has been called film
criticism's "grand undefined term."
 When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to
everything that appears before the camera and its
arrangement—composition, sets, props, actors,
costumes, and lighting. Mise-en-scène also includes
the positioning and movement of actors on the set,
which is called blocking.
 In modern filmwork, these are all the areas overseen
by the director, and thus, in French film credits, the
director's title is metteur en scène, "placer on scene."
During the 1920s through the 1940s, these areas were
typically overseen by the producers, titled variously
as the producer, the production designer, the art
designer, or the art director.
Set design
An important element of "putting in the scene" is set
design—the setting of a scene and the objects (props)
therein. Set design can be used to amplify character
emotion or the dominant mood of a film, or to establish
aspects of the character.
Lighting
The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting have a
profound effect on the way an image is perceived. Light
(and shade) can emphasise texture, shape, distance,
mood, time of day or night, season, glamour; it affects
the way colors are rendered, both in terms of hue and
depth, and can focus attention on particular elements of
the composition.
Space
The representation of space affects the reading of a film.
Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the places and
objects in a film can be manipulated through camera
placement and lenses, lighting, set design, effectively
determining mood or relationships between elements in the
story world.
Costume
Costume simply refers to the clothes that characters
wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in
narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to
make clear distinctions between characters.
Acting
There is enormous historical and cultural variation in
performance styles in the cinema. Early melodramatic
styles, clearly indebted to the 19th century theater, gave
way in Western cinema to a relatively naturalistic style.
Cinematography
 Cinematography (from Greek: kinema - "movement"
and "to record"), is the making of lighting and camera
choices when recording photographic images for the
cinema. It is closely related to the art of still
photography.
 Many additional issues arise when both the camera
and elements of the scene may be in motion, though
this also greatly increases the creative possibilities of
the process.
History
 The first attempt at cinematography can be traced
back to the world's first motion picture film,
Roundhay Garden Scene. It was a sequence directed
by Louis Le Prince, French inventor and showman,
on October 14, 1888 in the garden at Oakwood
Grange in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire,
England.
 This groundbreaking event happened seven years
before the Lumière Brothers' made the first paid
exhibition on December 28, 1895 at Le Grand Café,
in Paris, France.
 This date is known as the birth of cinema since it was
the first time the cycle of production-distributionexhibition happened. The European city soon became
the motion picture capital of the world.
 Cinematography is an art form unique to motion
pictures. Although the exposing of images on lightsensitive elements dates back to the early 19th
century (Canadian Geographic), motion pictures
demanded a new form of photography and new
aesthetic techniques.
 In the infancy of motion pictures, the
cinematographer was usually also the director and the
person physically handling the camera.
 As the art form and technology evolved, a separation
between director and camera operator emerged. With
the advent of artificial lighting and faster (more light
sensitive) film stocks, in addition to technological
advancements in optics and various techniques such
as color film and widescreen, the technical aspects of
cinematography necessitated a specialist in that area.
Cinematography was key during the silent movie era - no
sound apart from background music, no dialogue - the films
depended on lighting, acting and set.
 In 1919, in Hollywood, the new motion picture
capital of the world, one of the first (and still existing)
trade societies was formed: the American Society of
Cinematographers (ASC), which stood to recognize
the cinematographer's contribution to the art and
science of motion picture making. Similar trade
associations have been established in other countries,
too.
Aspects of cinematography
Numerous aspects contribute to the art of cinematography.
They are :
Film stock
 Cinematography can begin with rolls of film or a
digital image sensor. Advancements in film emulsion
and grain structure have provided a wide range of
available film stocks.
 The selection of a film stock is one of the first
decisions they must make during any film production.
 Aside from the film gauge selection — 8 mm
(amateur), 16 mm (semi-professional), 35 mm
(professional) and 65 mm (epic photography, rarely
used except in special event venues) — the
cinematographer has a selection of stocks in reversal
(which, when developed, create a positive image) and
negative formats along with a wide range of film
speeds (varying sensitivity to light) from ISO 50
(slow, least sensitive to light) to 800 (very fast,
extremely sensitive to light) and differing response to
color (low saturation, high saturation) and contrast
(varying levels between pure black (no exposure) and
pure white (complete overexposure).
 Advancements and adjustments to nearly all gauges
of film created the "super" variety wherein the area of
the film used to capture a single frame of an image is
expanded, although the physical gauge of the film
remains the same. Super 8 mm, Super 16 mm and
Super 35 mm are all formats that utilize more of the
overall film area for the image than their "regular"
non-super counterparts.
The larger the film gauge, the higher the overall image
resolution clarity and technical quality.
 The techniques used by the film laboratory to process
the film stock can also offer a considerable variance
in the image produced. By controlling the temperature
and varying the duration in which the film is soaked
in the development chemicals and by skipping certain
chemical processes (or partially skipping them),
cinematographers can achieve very different looks
from a single film stock in the laboratory. Some
techniques that can be used are push processing,
bleach bypass and cross processing.
Filters
 Filters, such as diffusion filters or color-effect filters,
are also widely used to enhance mood or dramatic
effects. Most photographic filters are made up of two
pieces of optical glass glued together with some form
of image or light manipulation material between the
glass.
 In the case of color filters, there is often a translucent
color medium pressed between two planes of optical
glass. Color filters work by blocking out certain color
wavelengths of light from reaching the film. With
color film, this works very intuitively wherein a blue
filter will cut down on the passage of red, orange and
yellow light and create a blue tint on the film.
 In black and white photography, color filters are used
somewhat counter intuitively; for instance a yellow
filter, which cuts down on blue wavelengths of light,
can be used to darken a daylight sky (by eliminating
blue light from hitting the film, thus greatly
underexposing the mostly blue sky), while not biasing
most human flesh tone.
Lens
Lenses can be attached to the camera to give a certain look,
feel, or effect by focus, color, etc.
 As does the human eye, the camera creates
perspective and spatial relations with the rest of the
world. However, unlike one's eye, a cinematographer
can select different lenses for different purposes.
Variation in focal length is one of the chief benefits.
 The focal length of the lens determines the angle of
view and, therefore, the field of view.
Cinematographers can choose from a range of wide
angle lenses, "normal" lenses and telephoto lenses, as
well as macro lenses and other special effect lens
systems such as borescope lenses.
 Wide-angle lenses have short focal lengths and make
spatial distances more obvious. A person in the
distance is shown as much smaller while someone in
the front will loom large. On the other hand, telephoto
lenses reduce such exaggerations, depicting far-off
objects as seemingly close together and flattening
perspective.
 The differences between the perspective rendering is
actually not due to the focal length by itself, but by
the distance between the subjects and the camera.
Therefore, the use of different focal lengths in
combination with different camera to subject
distances creates these different rendering. Changing
the focal length only while keeping the same camera
position doesn't affect perspective but the angle of
view only.
 A Zoom lens allows a camera operator to change their
focal length within a shot or quickly between setups
for shots. As prime lenses offer greater optical quality
and are "faster" (larger aperture openings, usable in
less light) than zoom lenses, they are often employed
in professional cinematography over zoom lenses.
 Certain scenes or even types of filmmaking, however,
may require the use of zooms for speed or ease of use,
as well as shots involving a zoom move.
As in other photography, the control of the exposed image is
done in the lens with the control of the diaphragm aperture.
For proper selection, the cinematographer needs that all
lenses be engraved with T-Stop, not f-stop, so that the
eventual light loss due to the glass doesn't affect the exposure
control when setting it using the usual meters.
The choice of the aperture also affects image quality
(aberrations) and depth of field (see below).
Depth of field and focus
 A deep focus shot from Citizen Kane (1941): everything,
including the hat in the foreground and the boy in the
distance, is in sharp focus.
 Focal length and diaphragm aperture affect the depth
of field of a scene — that is, how much the
background, mid-ground and foreground will be
rendered in "acceptable focus" (only one exact plane
of the image is in precise focus) on the film or video
target.
 Depth of field (not to be confused with depth of
focus) is determined by the aperture size and the focal
distance. A large or deep depth of field is generated
with a very small iris aperture and focusing on a point
in the distance, whereas a shallow depth of field will
be achieved with a large (open) iris aperture and
focusing closer to the lens.
 Depth of field is also governed by the format size.
70 mm film has much more depth of field for the
same focal length lens than does 35 mm. 16 mm has
even less and most digital video cameras have less
depth of field than 16 mm.
 But if one considers the field of view and angle of
view, the smaller the image is, the shorter the focal
length should be, as to keep the same field of view.
 Then, the smaller the image is, the more depth of field
is obtained, for the same field of view. Therefore,
70mm has less depth of field than 35mm for a given
field of view, 16mm more than 35mm, and video
cameras even more depth of field than 16mm.
 As videographers try to emulate the look of 35 mm
film with digital cameras, this is one issue of
frustration - excessive depth of field with digital
cameras and using additional optical devices to
reduce that depth of field.
 In Citizen Kane (1941), cinematographer Gregg
Toland and director Orson Welles used tighter
apertures to create very large depth of field in the
scenes, often rendering every detail of the foreground
and background of the sets in sharp focus.
 This practice is known as deep focus. Deep focus
became a popular cinematographic device from the
1940s onwards in Hollywood. Today, the trend is for
more shallow focus.
To change the plane of focus from one object or character to
another within a shot is commonly known as a rack focus.
Aspect ratio and framing
 The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of its width to
its height. This can be expressed either as a ratio of 2
integers, such as 4:3, or in a decimal format, such as
1.33:1 or simply 1.33.
Different ratios provide different aesthetic effects. Standards
for aspect ratio have varied significantly over time.
 During the silent era, aspect ratios varied widely,
from square 1:1, all the way up to the extreme
widescreen 4:1 Polyvision. However, from the 1910s,
silent motion pictures generally settled on the ratio of
4:3 (1.33).
 The introduction of sound-on-film briefly narrowed
the aspect ratio, to allow room for a sound stripe. In
1932 a new standard was introduced, the Academy
ratio of 1.37, by means of thickening the frame line.
 For years, mainstream cinematographers were limited
to using the Academy ratio, but in the 1950s, thanks
to the popularity of Cinerama, widescreen ratios were
introduced in an effort to pull audiences back into the
theater and away from their home television sets.
These new widescreen formats provided
cinematographers a wider frame within which to
compose their images.
 Many different proprietary photographic systems
were invented and utilized in the 1950s to create
widescreen movies, but one dominates film today: the
anamorphic process, which optically squeezes the
image to photograph twice the horizontal area to the
same size vertical as standard "spherical" lenses.
 The first commonly used anamorphic format was
CinemaScope, which used a 2.35 aspect ratio,
although it was originally 2.55. CinemaScope was
used from 1953 to 1967, but due to technical flaws in
the design and its ownership by Fox, several thirdparty companies, led by Panavision's technical
improvements in the 1950s, now dominate the
anamorphic cine lens market.
Changes to SMPTE projection standards altered the projected
ratio from 2.35 to 2.39 in 1970, although this did not change
anything regarding the photographic anamorphic standards;
all changes in respect to the aspect ratio of anamorphic
35 mm photography are specific to camera or projector gate
sizes, not the optical system.
After the "widescreen wars" of the 1950s, the motion-picture
industry settled into 1.85 as a standard for theatrical
projection in the United States and the United Kingdom. This
is a cropped version of 1.37. Europe and Asia opted for 1.66
at first, although 1.85 has largely permeated these markets in
recent decades. Certain "epic" or adventure movies utilized
the anamorphic 2.39.
In the 1990s, with the advent of high-definition video,
television engineers created the 1.78 (16:9) ratio as a
mathematical compromise between the theatrical standard of
1.85 and television's 1.33, as it was not practical to produce a
traditional CRT television tube with a width of 1.85. Until
that point, nothing had ever been originated in 1.78. Today,
this is a standard for high-definition video and for widescreen
television. Some cinema films are now shot using HDTV
cameras.
Lighting
Light is necessary to create an image exposure on a frame of
film or on a digital target (CCD, etc.). The art of lighting for
cinematography goes far beyond basic exposure, however,
into the essence of visual storytelling. Lighting contributes
considerably to the emotional response an audience has
watching a motion picture.
Camera movement
One aspect of cinematography that strongly separates it from
still photography (aside from having a moving subject) is the
ability to move the camera, which represents the audience's
viewpoint or perspective, during the course of filming. This
movement plays a considerable role in the emotional
language of film images and the audience's emotional
reaction to the action on the screen.
Techniques range from the most basic movements of panning
(horizontal shift in viewpoint from a fixed position; like
turning your head side-to-side) and tilting (vertical shift in
viewpoint from a fixed position; like tipping your head back
to look at the sky or down to look at the ground) to dollying
(placing the camera on a moving platform to move it closer
or farther from the subject), tracking (placing the camera on a
moving platform to move it to the left or right), craning
(moving the camera in a vertical position; being able to lift it
off the ground as well as swing it side-to-side from a fixed
base position), and combinations of the above.
Cameras have been mounted to nearly every imaginable form
of transportation.
Most cameras can also be handheld, that is the camera
operator literally holds the camera in their hands and moves
from one position to another while filming the action.
Personal stabilizing platforms came into being in the late
1970s through the invention of Garrett Brown, which became
known as the Steadicam. The Steadicam is a body harness
and stabilization arm that connects to the camera that allows
the operator to move naturally while completely isolating the
movements of their body from the movements of the camera.
After the Steadicam patent expired in the early 1990s, many
other companies began manufacturing their concept of the
personal camera stabilizer.
Special effects
The first special effects in the cinema were created while the
film was being shot. These came to be known as "in-camera"
effects. Later, optical and digital effects were developed so
that editors and visual effects artists could more tightly
control the process by manipulating the film in postproduction.
For examples of many in-camera special effects, see the work
of early filmmaker Georges Méliès.
Frame rate selection
Motion picture images are presented to an audience at a
constant speed. In the theater it is 24 frames per second, in
NTSC (US) Television it is 30 frames per second (29.97 to
be exact), in PAL (Europe) television it is 25 frames per
second. This speed of presentation does not vary.
However, by varying the speed at which the image is
captured, various effects can be created knowing that the
faster or slower recorded image will be played at a constant
speed.
For instance, time-lapse photography is created by exposing
an image at an extremely slow rate. If a cinematographer sets
a camera to expose one frame every minute for four hours,
and then that footage is projected at 24 frames per second,
the event that took four hours to record will now take 10
seconds to present (1 frame per minute for 4 hours equals 240
frames, projected at 24 frames per second equals 10 seconds).
This compresses the event that took place in four hours into
just 10 seconds. At this speed, one can present the events of a
whole day (24 hours) in just one minute.
The inverse of this, if an image is captured at speeds above
that at which they will be presented, the effect is to greatly
slow down (slow motion) the image. If a cinematographer
shoots a person diving into a pool at 96 frames per second,
and that image is presented back at 24 frames per second, it
will take 4 times as long to watch the dive as it did for it to
actually happen.
Taken to extremes, capturing many thousands of frames per
second can allow visual representation of events normally
invisible to the human eye, such as bullets in flight and
shockwaves travelling through media, a potentially powerful
cinematographical technique.
In motion pictures the manipulation of time and space is a
considerable contributing factor to the narrative storytelling
tools. Film editing plays a much stronger role in this
manipulation, but frame rate selection in the photography of
the original action is also a contributing factor to altering
time.
Speed ramping, or simply "ramping", is a process whereby
the capture frame rate of the camera changes over time. For
example, if in the course of 10 seconds of capture, the
capture frame rate is adjusted from 60 frames per second to
24 frames per second, when played back at the standard film
rate of 24 frames per second, a unique time-manipulation
effect is achieved.
For example, someone pushing a door open and walking out
into the street would appear to start off in slow-motion, but in
a few seconds later within the same shot the person would
appear to walk in "realtime" (normal speed). The opposite
speed-ramping is done in The Matrix when Neo re-enters the
Matrix for the first time to see the Oracle.
As he comes out of the warehouse "load-point", the camera
zooms into Neo at normal speed but as it gets closer to Neo's
face, time seems to slow down, perhaps visually accentuating
Neo pausing and reflecting a moment, and perhaps alluding
to future manipulation of time itself within the Matrix later
on in the movie.
Role of the cinematographer
In the film industry, the cinematographer is responsible for
the technical aspects of the images (lighting, lens choices,
composition, exposure, filtration, film selection), but works
closely with the director to ensure that the artistic aesthetics
are supporting the director's vision of the story being told.
The cinematographers are the heads of the camera, grip and
lighting crew on a set, and for this reason they are often
called directors of photography or DPs.
Directors of photography make many creative and
interpretive decisions during the course of their work, from
pre-production to post-production, all of which affect the
overall feel and look of the motion picture. Many of these
decisions are similar to what a photographer needs to note
when taking a picture: the cinematographer controls the film
choice itself (from a range of available stocks with varying
sensitivities to light and color), the selection of lens focal
lengths, aperture exposure and focus. Cinematography,
however, has a temporal aspect (see persistence of vision),
unlike still photography, which is purely a single still image.
It is also bulkier and more strenuous to deal with movie
cameras, and it involves a more complex array of choices. As
such a cinematographer often needs to work co-operatively
with more people than does a photographer, who could
frequently function as a single person. As a result, the
cinematographer's job also includes personnel management
and logistical organization.
Evolution of technology: new definitions
Traditionally the term "cinematography" referred to working
with motion-picture film emulsion, but it is now largely
synonymous with videography and digital video due to the
popularity of digital cinematography.
Modern digital image processing has also made it possible to
radically modify pictures from how they were originally
captured. This has allowed new disciplines to encroach on
some of the choices that were once the cinematographer's
exclusive domain.
Types of Camera Angles
Objective
 As opposed to subjective, objective shots are not seen
from anyone (or anything's) eyes, but rather from an
'observer's' point of view. This supposed observer is,
as far as the narrative is concerned, not actually there;
that is, the characters cannot see or interact with the
camera. (It can therefore, for example, pass through
the glass of a window without hindrance, though this
would require special effects.) The majority of shots
taken in film are objective.
Subjective
 Subjective shots are taken from someone or
something's point of view. It might, for example,
display what one of the characters can see. Truly
subjective (rather than Point of View) shots are rarely
used, as they can be disorientating or alienating to the
audience, especially if a character looks at or speaks
to the camera. They are, therefore, generally only
used when the effect it creates is explicitly desired.
 A popular device in horror films is to use subjective
shots from the monster or adversary's point of view.
This makes it possible to let the audience know what
the monster is doing, without revealing any
information about the nature of the adversary, which
heightens the tension.
 A very good example of subjective shooting is in the
film "Cloverfield" by J.J. Abrams. The entire film is
shot from a subjective point of view, an observers
video camera.
Point-of-view
 Sometimes abbreviated to POV, a point-of-view shot
is when the camera is positioned to record what a
character in the film would be seeing from his
perspective.
Cutting
 Cutting is another word for editing which means
assembling the film from all of the raw footage shot
during production. Aside from assembling shots into
scenes, editing also includes significant audio work,
including redubbing dialogue (when required), adding
music and adding sound effects.
Composition
Examples of shot size (in one filmmaker's opinion)
 Composition refers to the arrangement of visual
elements within a shot. The three basic shot
compositions in filmmaking are long-shot, mediumshot, and close-up.
 The long-shot typically shows a significant amount of
the setting or shooting environment. If the performers
are seen in a long-shot, they are typically small within
the frame.
 The medium-shot is perhaps the most commonly
used shot and typically includes one or two
performers. Often, a medium shot of a single
performer will show from their waist upward.
 The close-up shows one particular detail, often a
performers face, although it may show an object, like
a clock. Whatever is shot, a close-up fills the screen
with that image.
There are no strict dividing lines between these kinds of
composition. The image to the right is just one example.
 Composition in filmmaking has many elements in
common with composition in painting and still
photography -- line, tone, color, texture, shadow -although cinematography is unique in that the
composition may change during the shot. During the
shot the camera may move, the lens may be adjusted,
the performers may move -- all of which will change
the composition of the shot. A performer, for
example, might start in a medium shot, but then walk
toward the camera, ending in a close-up.
Continuity
 Continuity is the characteristic of a scene whereby
the action seems fluid and continuous, even though it
is composed of a number of shots.
 There are many ways that continuity can be broken -which can be noticeable and therefore distracting to
an audience. For example, if the hero's clothes are
dirty and bloody as he is walking through the
doorway, but clean as he emerges from the building,
that is a continuity error.
 Another kind of continuity error can be caused by
poor editing. For example, a character might move to
a chair and sit down in a long shot, and then we cut to
a close-up and see the end of the character's sitting
movement.
 Depending on how these two shots are edited, it will
either look like a continuous motion (good
continuity), or you might see repeated action or a gap
in action (poor continuity). Many people enjoy
picking out continuity errors in movies.
 Continuity errors are often the result of cutting for
performance, where the editor pieces together shots
that form the desired feel of the scene with little or no
attention paid to background objects or actions that
cause the errors.
Film Production Cycle: Issues that can be
discussed - Presentation Transcript
1. FILM PRODUCTION CYCLE:
2.
3. PRODUCTION Stage 1: Development, planning + preproduction Stage 1: Development, planning + pre-production
Development: Before green lighting a film project:
4. 8 factors to take Planning > pre-production: into account
Putting together the technical crew
5.
6. 1. Story Booking the locations
7. 2. Appeal Building the sets
8. 3. Genre Costumes
9. 4. Past experience H+S, insurance, permissions, legal stuff
10. 5. Budget Preparing the shooting schedule- usually non
chronological to save time
11. 6. Castability Planning a detailed budget
12. 7. Marketability Overall organisation
13. 8. Payability Creation of sets Development of the script –
14.
15. director and script editor Accommodation Putting together 'the
package' - script, director, actor(s) Travel Agreeing a
finance/distribution deal Planning the look Working out a
budget Decisions about film technology/equipment needed to
create the look Casting the film Booking the Producer,
Cinematographer, Production and Location Managers,
Prod,designer, Asst Directors and Editor Stage 3: Postproduction Harnessing the technology Stage 2: Production
Developing the story Many choices and options - which shots,
what order Turning the script into a shot list - creative choices
and Finalising the music decisions Cutting the film down from
initial 'construction' Location management/challenges 1st
assembly edit - what to take out or leave in Managing the
team/relationships Development of the final cut Creation of a
style - naturalistic, realism, historical Previews/test screenings
Creation of a look - mise-en-scene, aesthetics Responding to
feedback Working with the technology/technical challenges
Locking the picture Adapting the script Grading Sticking to the
budget - balancing costs and creativity Delivery of the film to
the distributor Minimising risk Also stills / featurettes / cast
interviews / making of Logistics of filming in a studio and on
location Weather complications Preparing the call sheet
Making compromises - usually because of time/cost Postproduction
16.
17. FILM PRODUCTION CYCLE:
18.
19. DISTRIBUTION Part1: Part 2: Part 3: Production company:
choosing a distributor The business side of the Planning the
film's theatrical Relationship between director, production co.
creative film making process release - where + when and
distributor Working closely with the film's Dating a film
Vertical integration - distribution via one producer –
intervention if Knowing your audience, reaching institution
required your audience Advantages/disadvantages of the
backing of a Sticking to the Dealing with exhibitors major
schedule/ensuring the film is Planning a local, national or
studio compared to raising the finances delivered on time
international release independently Testing the film prior to
grading, Marketing the film Financing a film, agreeing a
budget, tailoring re-editing if Marketability + Payability the
budget to the audience audience feedback suggests Investment
opportunity/consideration of risk changes are needed
Recouping costs, making a profit, showing a return to investors
Part 6: Part 4: Part 5: Judging the success of a Costs of each
print film Agreeing distribution deals/distribution rights
Advantages of D-Cinema to the distributor Advantages of the
web - Weekend box-office Choosing the right distribution
takings and screen channels/outlets - more legal distribution
channels - mo ways to reach the audience > averages
theatrical, festivals, dvd, web, tv Success compared to Selling
the film across a range of platforms - greater profits
Disadvantages of the web - illegal downloading other films
theatrical, Competition from similar dvd, web, tv rights
Opportunities offered by converged/ portable technology providing films DVD shelf space or online sales Box office
takings and Effects of the recession on DVD sales more and
diverse ways to reach the audience DVD sales compared to
Classification costs and issues the film's budget Use of data
20. FILM PRODUCTION CYCLE:
21.
22. MARKETING Part 1:
23. Part 2: Who is the audience? Marketing to a specific audience
Who and what is being marketed - promoting Audience appeal
- uses and gratifications more than just the film How an
audience judges a film Branding How marketing works on the
audience Construction of a narrative image Testing the film
and tracking audience recollection Deciding the film's USP
Marketability Payability Deciding on the marketing budget
Part 4: The official website - downloads, merchandise,
interactivity Trailers Part 3: Posters TV spots Synergy - using
one product to sell another Internet Horizontal integration - all
content produced under one Reviews roof-film, CD
soundtrack, dvd Word of mouth - fan sites Symbiosis -
mutually beneficial licensing deals Special articles, featurettes,
teasers, Web based marketing log lines, exclusives Viral/
interactive marketing Planning the premiere, creating a buzz,
360 degree marketing strategy front page Stealth marketing
photos 3 stages of film marketing DVD cover Broad/ niche
tactics - placement of marketing Press release Festivals creating an identity for the director as well as the film
24.
25. FILM PRODUCTION CYCLE:
26.
27. EXHIBITION Pros of changing technology for cinemas Local
competition – O2 Vue, eg D-Cinema and broadband, satellite
Greenwich Odeon, Bexleyheath Cons of changing
technologies eg piracy Cineworld, Greenwich Picture House,
dish, web and email direct marketing and illegal downloading,
increased etc opportunities, booking online, more competition
choice and diversity for the audience Awareness of audience
needs + audience expectations, targeting the Differences
between independent audience and multiplex cinemas pros and
The need to constantly update, expand and cons Use of
research to determine the diversify to remain competitive and
provide local audience and track changes in the audience with
a special experience Laws and legal factors, local demography
Licensing Act, regulation Finding new ways to retain and
widen appeal - cafe-bar, clubs, special screenings, Marketing
and promotion satellite link-ups, festivals etc Alternative forms
of online exhibition - pros and cons for the audience and
Audience - pros and cons of the industry - eg streaming sites,
legal different forms of exhibition and illegal downloading
available Exhibition via portable converged Industry - pros and
cons of the technology, exhibition 'on the go', different forms
of exhibition DVD, Multi-channel Digital TV available
Film making
.
Filmmaking (often referred to in an academic context as film
production) is the process of making a film, from an initial
story idea or commission, through scriptwriting, shooting,
editing, directing and distribution to an audience. Typically, it
involves a large number of people, and takes from a few
months to several years to complete. Filmmaking takes place
all over the world in a huge range of economic, social, and
political contexts, and using a variety of technologies and
techniques. Technically, the art and science of recording
images to film differs significantly from that of recording
images to video. Thus, by definition, a "filmmaker" captures
images on film, and not video.
Film production occurs in five stages:




Development—The script is written and drafted into a
workable blueprint for a film.
Pre-production—Preparations are made for the shoot,
in which cast and crew are hired, locations are selected, and
sets are built.
Production—The raw elements for the finished film are
recorded.
Post-Production—The film is edited; production sound
(dialogue) is concurrently (but separately) edited, music
tracks (and songs) are composed, performed and recorded, if
a film is sought to have a score; sound effects are designed

and recorded; and any other computer-graphic 'visual' effects
are digitally added, all sound elements are mixed into
"stems" then the stems are mixed then married to picture and
the film is fully completed ("locked").
Sales and distribution—The film is screened for
potential buyers (distributors), is picked up by a distributor
and reaches its cinema and/or home media audience.
Development
In this stage, the project's producer finds a story, which may
come from a book, play, another film, a true story, original
idea, etc. After identifying a theme or underlying message, the
producer works with writers to prepare a synopsis.
Next they produce a step outline, which breaks the story down
into one-paragraph scenes that concentrate on dramatic
structure. Then, they prepare a treatment, a 25 to 30 page
description of the story, its mood, and characters. This usually
has little dialogue and stage direction, but often contains
drawings that help visualize key points.
Another way is to produce a scriptment once a synopsis is
produced.
Next, a screenwriter writes a screenplay over a period of
several months. The screenwriter may rewrite it several times
to improve dramatization, clarity, structure, characters,
dialogue, and overall style.
However, producers often skip the previous steps and develop
submitted screenplays which investors, studios, and other
interested parties assess through a process called script
coverage. A film distributor may be contacted at an early stage
to assess the likely market and potential financial success of
the film. Hollywood distributors adopt a hard-headed business
approach and consider factors such as the film genre, the target
audience, the historical success of similar films, the actors who
might appear in the film, and potential directors.
All these factors imply a certain appeal of the film to a possible
audience and hence the number of "A.I.S." (or "Asses in
Seats") during the theatrical release. Not all films make a profit
from the theatrical release alone, so film companies take DVD
sales and worldwide distribution rights into account.
The producer and screenwriter prepare a film pitch, or
treatment, and present it to potential financiers. If the pitch is
successful, the film receives a "green light", meaning someone
offers financial backing: typically a major film studio, film
council, or independent investor.
The parties involved negotiate a deal and sign contracts. Once
all parties have met and the deal has been set, the film may
proceed into the pre-production period. By this stage, the film
should have a clearly defined marketing strategy and target
audience..
Pre-production
In pre-production, the video is designed and planned. The
production company is created and a production office
established. The production is storyboarded and visualized
with the help of illustrators and concept artists. A production
budget is drawn up to plan expenditures for the film.
The producer hires a crew.
The nature of the film, and the budget, determine the size and
type of crew used during filmmaking. Many Hollywood
blockbusters employ a cast and crew of hundreds, while a lowbudget, independent film may be made by a skeleton crew of
eight or nine (or fewer).
These are typical crew positions:
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The director is primarily responsible for the
storytelling, creative decisions and acting of the film.
The assistant director (AD) manages the shooting
schedule and logistics of the production, among other
tasks. There are several types of AD, each with
different responsibilities.
The casting director finds actors to fill the parts in the
script. This normally requires that actors audition.
The location manager finds and manages film
locations. Most pictures are shot in the controllable
environment of a studio sound stage but occasionally,
outdoor sequences call for filming on location.
The production manager manages the production
budget and production schedule. They also report, on
behalf of the production office, to the studio executives
or financiers of the film.
The director of photography (DoP) is the
cinematographer who supervises the photography of
the entire film
The director of audiography (DoA) is the audiographer
who supervises the audiography of the entire film. For
productions in the Western world this role is also
known as either sound designer or supervising sound
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editor.
The production sound mixer is the head of the sound
department during the production stage of filmmaking.
They record and mix the audio on set - dialogue,
presence and sound effects in mono and ambience in
stereo. They work with the boom operator, Director,
DoA, DoP, and First AD.
The sound designer creates the aural conception of the
film, working with the supervising sound editor. On
some productions the sound designer plays the role of a
director of audiography.
The composer creates new music for the film. (usually
not until post-production)
The production designer creates the visual conception
of the film, working with the art director.
The art director manages the art department, which
makes production sets
The costume designer creates the clothing for the
characters in the film working closely with the actors,
as well as other departments.
The make up and hair designer works closely with the
costume designer in addition to create a certain look for
a character.
The storyboard artist creates visual images to help the
director and production designer communicate their
ideas to the production team.
The choreographer creates and coordinates the
movement and dance - typically for musicals. Some
films also credit a fight choreographer.
Production
 In production, the video/film is created and shot. More
crew will be recruited at this stage, such as the property
master, script supervisor, assistant directors, stills
photographer, picture editor, and sound editors.
 These are just the most common roles in filmmaking;
the production office will be free to create any unique
blend of roles to suit the various responsibilities
possible during the production of a film.
 A typical day's shooting begins with the crew arriving
on the set/location by their call time. Actors usually
have their own separate call times. Since set
construction, dressing and lighting can take many hours
or even days, they are often set up in advance.
 The grip, electric and production design crews are
typically a step ahead of the camera and sound
departments: for efficiency's sake, while a scene is
being filmed, they are already preparing the next one.
 While the crew prepare their equipment, the actors are
wardrobed in their costumes and attend the hair and make-up
departments.
 The actors rehearse the script and blocking with the
director, and the camera and sound crews rehearse with
them and make final tweaks. Finally, the action is shot
in as many takes as the director wishes. Most American
productions follow a specific procedure:
 The assistant director calls "picture is up!" to inform
everyone that a take is about to be recorded, and then
"quiet, everyone!" Once everyone is ready to shoot, he
calls "roll sound" (if the take involves sound), and the
production sound mixer will start their equipment,
record a verbal slate of the take's information, and
announce "sound speed" when they are ready.
 The AD follows with "roll camera", answered by
"speed!" by the camera operator once the camera is
recording. The clapper, who is already in front of the
camera with the clapperboard, calls "marker!" and slaps
it shut. If the take involves extras or background action,
the AD will cue them ("action background!"), and last
is the director, telling the actors "action!".
 A take is over when the director calls "cut!", and
camera and sound stop recording. The script supervisor
will note any continuity issues and the sound and
camera teams log technical notes for the take on their
respective report sheets.
 If the director decides additional takes are required, the
whole process repeats. Once satisfied, the crew moves
on to the next camera angle or "setup," until the whole
scene is "covered." When shooting is finished for the
scene, the assistant director declares a "wrap" or
"moving on," and the crew will "strike," or dismantle,
the set for that scene.
At the end of the day, the director approves the next day's
shooting schedule and a daily progress report is sent to the
production office. This includes the report sheets from
continuity, sound, and camera teams.
 Call sheets are distributed to the cast and crew to tell
them when and where to turn up the next shooting day.
Later on, the director, producer, other department
heads, and, sometimes, the cast, may gather to watch
that day or yesterday's footage, called dailies, and
review their work.
With workdays often lasting 14 or 18 hours in remote
locations, film production tends to create a team spirit. When
the entire film is in the can, or in the completion of the
production phase, it is customary for the production office to
arrange a wrap party, to thank all the cast and crew for their
efforts.
Post-production
Here the video/film is assembled by the video/film editor. The
modern use of video in the filmmaking process has resulted in
two workflow variants: one using entirely film, and the other
using a mixture of film and video.
In the film work, the original camera film is developed and
copied to a one-light workprint (positive) for editing with a
mechanical editing machine. An edge code is recorded onto
film to locate the position of picture frames. Since the
development of non-linear editing systems such as Avid,
Quantel or Final Cut Pro, the film workflow is used by very
few productions.
In the video workflow, the original camera negative is
developed and telecined to video for editing with computer
editing software. A timecode is recorded onto video tape to
locate the position of picture frames. Production sound is also
synced up to the video picture frames during this process.
The first job of the film editor is to build a rough cut taken
from sequences (or scenes) based on individual "takes" (shots).
The purpose of the rough cut is to select and order the best
shots. The director usually works with the editor to ensure the
envisioned shots are selected.
The next step is to create a fine cut by getting all the shots to
flow smoothly in a seamless story. Trimming, the process of
shortening scenes by a few seconds, or even frames, is done
during this phase.
After the fine cut has been screened and approved by the
director and producer, the picture is "locked," meaning no
further changes are made. Next, the editor creates a negative
cut list (using edge code) or an edit decision list (using
timecode) either manually or automatically. These edit lists
identify the source and the picture frame of each shot in the
fine cut.
Once the picture is locked, the film is passed into the hands of
the postproduction supervising sound editor of the sound
department to build up the sound track. The voice recordings
are synchronised and the final sound mix is created by the rerecording mixer.
The sound track and picture are combined together, resulting in
a low quality answer print of the film. There are now two
possible workflows to create the high quality release print
depending on the recording medium:
1. In the film workflow, the cut list that describes the
film-based answer print is used to cut the original color
negative (OCN) and create a color timed copy called
the color master positive or interpositive print. For all
subsequent steps this effectively becomes the master
copy. The next step is to create a one-light copy called
the color duplicate negative or internegative.
2. It is from this that many copies of the final theatrical
release print are made. Copying from the internegative
is much simpler than copying from the interpositive
directly because it is a one-light process; it also reduces
wear-and-tear on the interpositive print.
3. In the video workflow, the edit decision list that
describes the video-based answer print is used to edit
the original color tape (OCT) and create a high quality
color master tape. For all subsequent steps this
effectively becomes the master copy. The next step
uses a film recorder to read the color master tape and
copy each video frame directly to film to create the
final theatrical release print.
Finally the film is previewed, normally by the target audience,
and any feedback may result in further shooting or edits to the
film.
There are two ways that film can be put together. One way is
linear editing and the other is non-linear editing.
Linear editing uses the film as it is in a continuous film. All of
the parts of the film are already in order and need not be
moved or any such thing.
Conversely, non-linear editing is not subject to using the film
in the order it is taped. Scenes can be moved around or even
removed.
Distribution and exhibition
This is the final stage, where the film is released to cinemas or,
occasionally, to consumer media (DVD, VCD, VHS, Blu-ray)
or direct download from a provider. The film is duplicated as
required for distribution to cinemas. Press kits, posters, and
other advertising materials are published and the film is
advertised. film companies usually release a film with a launch
party, press releases, interviews with the press, press preview
screenings, and film festival screenings. Most films have a
website. The film plays at selected cinemas and the DVD
typically is released a few months later. The distribution rights
for the film and DVD are also usually sold for worldwide
distribution. The distributor and the production company share
profits.
Independent filmmaking
Filmmaking also takes place outside of the mainstream and is
commonly called independent filmmaking. Since the
introduction of DV technology, the means of production have
become more democratized. Filmmakers can conceivably
shoot and edit a film, create and edit the sound and music, and
mix the final cut on a home computer. However, while the
means of production may be democratized, financing,
traditional distribution, and marketing remain difficult to
accomplish outside the traditional system. In the past, most
independent filmmakers have relied on film festivals to get
their films noticed and sold for distribution. However, the
Internet has allowed for relatively inexpensive distribution of
independent films. As a result several companies have
emerged to assist filmmakers in getting independent movies
seen and sold via mainstream internet marketplaces, oftentimes
adjacent to popular Hollywood titles. With digital self
distribution, independent filmmakers who fail to garner a
traditional distribution deal now have the ability to reach
global audiences.
Movie Making
Manual/Cinematography/Ca
mera angles and composition
Shot, Scene and Sequence
Shot
A shot is the basic unit of a film and refers to one length of
continuous (unedited) action.
While shooting, a shot is created when you turn the camera on
(begin recording) and then turn it off. Often, a director will
record multiple takes (attempts) of each shot in order to get
one perfect take to be edited into the final film.
While editing, a shot refers to the action between two adjacent
edit points.
A shot can be as short as a single frame of film (1/24th second)
to many minutes long -- both extremes are uncommon. Action
sequences tend to use many short-duration shots to increase the
sense of excitement, while dramatic scenes tend to use longerduration shots.
The components or elements of a shot can be divided into two
categories: cinematography and mis-en-scene.
Cinematography is the way the shot is recorded by the camera,
including such factors as lens selection, focus setting, depth-offield, zoom, camera movements, etc. Mis-en-scene refers to
everything seen or heard within the shot: the performances,
lighting, the set or envrionment, wardrobe, etc.
Scene
A scene is action that takes place at a certain place and time in
the story. If a film starts with a conversation in the kitchen and
then cuts to the subway, the kitchen is one scene and the
subway is another. A scene can be composed of one shot or
any number of shots. When shooting, a director will often
record a master shot which captures the entire scene in a
single shot, and then record additional shots (e.g., close-up's,
cut-ins and cut-aways) to be edited into the scene.
Sequence
When a number of scenes can be considered as a unit where
the action continues or progresses along each of the scenes,
then it is considered a sequence.
Points of Confusion
Scene and shot are sometimes used interchangably. This will
mean that in the script, individual shots may be referred to as
scenes. Production staff may refer to a single take as a shot but
refer to the shot by its scene number. So don't be too confused
when production staff flip back and forth when describing a
scene or a shot.
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective (from Latin perspicere, to see through) in the
graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate
representation, on a flat surface (such as paper), of an image as
it is seen by the eye. The two most characteristic features of
perspective are that objects are drawn:
A cube in two-point perspective.
Rays of light travel from the object, through the picture plane, and to
the viewer's eye. This is the basis for graphical perspective.
Linear perspective works by representing the light that passes
from a scene through an imaginary rectangle (the painting), to
the viewer's eye. It is similar to a viewer looking through a
window and painting what is seen directly onto the
windowpane. If viewed from the same spot as the windowpane
was painted, the painted image would be identical to what was
seen through the unpainted window. Each painted object in the
scene is a flat, scaled down version of the object on the other
side of the window. Because each portion of the painted object
lies on the straight line from the viewer's eye to the equivalent
portion of the real object it represents, the viewer cannot
perceive (sans depth perception) any difference between the
painted scene on the windowpane and the view of the real
scene. All perspective drawings assume the viewer is a certain
distance away from the drawing. Objects are scaled relative to
that viewer. Additionally, an object is often not scaled evenly:
a circle often appears as an ellipse and a square can appear as a
trapezoid. This distortion is referred to as foreshortening.
Perspective drawings typically have an -often implied- horizon
line. This line, directly opposite the viewer's eye, represents
objects infinitely far away. They have shrunk, in the distance,
to the infinitesimal thickness of a line. It is analogous to (and
named after) the Earth's horizon.
Any perspective representation of a scene that includes parallel
lines has one or more vanishing points in a perspective
drawing. A one-point perspective drawing means that the
drawing has a single vanishing point, usually (though not
necessarily) directly opposite the viewer's eye and usually
(though not necessarily) on the horizon line. All lines parallel
with the viewer's line of sight recede to the horizon towards
this vanishing point. This is the standard "receding railroad
tracks" phenomenon. A two-point drawing would have lines
parallel to two different angles. Any number of vanishing
points are possible in a drawing, one for each set of parallel
lines that are at an angle relative to the plane of the drawing.
Perspectives consisting of many parallel lines are observed
most often when drawing architecture (architecture frequently
uses lines parallel to the x, y, and z axes). Because it is rare to
have a scene consisting solely of lines parallel to the three
Cartesian axes (x, y, and z), it is rare to see perspectives in
practice with only one, two, or three vanishing points; even a
simple house frequently has a peaked roof which results in a
minimum of six sets of parallel lines, in turn corresponding to
up to six vanishing points.
In contrast, natural scenes often do not have any sets of parallel
lines. Such a perspective would thus have no vanishing points.
History
Early history
The earliest art paintings and drawings typically sized objects
and characters hieratically according to their spiritual or
thematic importance, not their distance from the viewer, and
did not use foreshortening. The most important figures are
often shown as the highest in a composition, also from hieratic
motives, leading to the "vertical perspective", common in the
art of Ancient Egypt, where a group of "nearer" figures are
shown below the larger figure or figures. The only method to
indicate the relative position of elements in the composition
was by overlapping, of which much use is made in works like
the Parthenon Marbles.
15th century illustration from the Old French translation of William
of Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer. There is clearly a general attempt to
reduce the size of more distant elements, but unsystematically.
Sections of the composition are at a similar scale, with relative
distance shown by overlapping, foreshortening, and further objects
being higher than nearer ones, though the workmen at left do show
finer adjustment of size. But this is abandoned on the right where the
most important figure is much larger than the mason. Rectangular
buildings, and the blocks of stone are shown obliquely.
Present : Computer graphics
3-D computer games and ray-tracers often use a modified
version of perspective. Like the painter, the computer program
is generally not concerned with every ray of light that is in a
scene. Instead, the program simulates rays of light traveling
backwards from the monitor (one for every pixel), and checks
to see what it hits.
In this way, the program does not have to compute the
trajectories of millions of rays of light that pass from a light
source, hit an object, and miss the viewer.
CAD software, and some computer games (especially games
using 3-D polygons) use linear algebra, and in particular
matrix multiplication, to create a sense of perspective.
The scene is a set of points, and these points are projected to a
plane (computer screen) in front of the view point (the viewer's
eye). The problem of perspective is simply finding the
corresponding coordinates on the plane corresponding to the
points in the scene. By the theories of linear algebra, a
matrix multiplication directly computes the desired
coordinates, thus bypassing any descriptive geometry
theorems used in perspective drawing.
Types of perspective
Of the many types of perspective drawings, the most
common categorizations of artificial perspective are one-,
two- and three-point. The names of these categories refer to
the number of vanishing points in the perspective drawing.
One-point perspective
One vanishing point is typically used for roads, railway tracks,
hallways, or buildings viewed so that the front is directly
facing the viewer. Any objects that are made up of lines either
directly parallel with the viewer's line of sight or directly
perpendicular (the railroad slats) can be represented with onepoint perspective.
One-point perspective exists when the painting plate (also
known as the picture plane) is parallel to two axes of a
rectilinear (or Cartesian) scene — a scene which is composed
entirely of linear elements that intersect only at right angles. If
one axis is parallel with the picture plane, then all elements are
either parallel to the painting plate (either horizontally or
vertically) or perpendicular to it. All elements that are parallel
to the painting plate are drawn as parallel lines. All elements
that are perpendicular to the painting plate converge at a single
point (a vanishing point) on the horizon.
Some examples:
Two-point perspective
Walls in 2-pt perspective.
All vertical beams are parallel.
Two-point perspective can be used to draw the same objects as
one-point perspective, rotated: looking at the corner of a house,
or looking at two forked roads shrink into the distance, for
example. One point represents one set of parallel lines, the
other point represents the other. Looking at a house from the
corner, one wall would recede towards one vanishing point, the
other wall would recede towards the opposite vanishing point.
Two-point perspective exists when the painting plate is parallel
to a Cartesian scene in one axis (usually the z-axis) but not to
the other two axes. If the scene being viewed consists solely of
a cylinder sitting on a horizontal plane, no difference exists in
the image of the cylinder between a one-point and two-point
perspective.
Two-point perspective has one set of lines parallel to the
picture plane and two sets oblique to it.Parallel lines oblique to
the picture plane converge to a vanishing point,which means
that this set-up will require two vanishing points.
Three-point perspective
Three-point perspective is usually used for buildings seen
from above (or below). In addition to the two vanishing
points from before, one for each wall, there is now one for
how those walls recede into the ground. This third vanishing
point will be below the ground. Looking up at a tall building is
another common example of the third vanishing point. This
time the third vanishing point is high in space.
Three-point perspective exists when the perspective is a view
of a Cartesian scene where the picture plane is not parallel to
any of the scene's three axes. Each of the three vanishing
points corresponds with one of the three axes of the scene.
Image constructed using multiple vanishing points.
One-point, two-point, and three-point perspectives appear to
embody different forms of calculated perspective. The
methods required to generate these perspectives by hand are
different. Mathematically, however, all three are identical:
The difference is simply in the relative orientation of the
rectilinear scene to the viewer.
Four-point perspective
Four point perspective, also called infinite-point perspective, is
the curvilinear variant of two-point perspective. As the result
when made into an infinite point version (i.e. when the amount
of vanishing points exceeds the minimum amount required), a
four point perspective image becomes a panorama that can go
to a 360 degree view and beyond - when going beyond the 360
degree view the artist might depict an "impossible" room as the
artist might depict something new when it's supposed to show
part of what already exists within those 360 degrees. This
elongated frame can be used both horizontally and vertically
and when used vertically can be described as an image that
depicts both a worms and birds eye view of a scene at the same
time.
As all other foreshortened variants of perspective (respectively
one- to six-point perspective), it starts off with a horizon line,
followed by four equally spaced vanishing points to delineate
four vertical lines created in a 90 degree relation to the horizon
line.
The vanishing points made to create the curvilinear
orthogonals are thus made ad hoc on the four vertical lines
placed on the opposite side of the horizon line. The only
dimension not foreshortened in this type of perspective being
the rectilinear and parallell lines at a 90 degree angle to the
horizon line - similar to the vertical lines used in two-point
perspective.
Zero-point perspective
Because vanishing points exist only when parallel lines are
present in the scene, a perspective without any vanishing
points ("zero-point" perspective) occurs if the viewer is
observing a nonlinear scene. The most common example of a
nonlinear scene is a natural scene (e.g., a mountain range)
which frequently does not contain any parallel lines. A
perspective without vanishing points can still create a sense of
"depth," as is clearly apparent in a photograph of a mountain
range (more distant mountains have smaller scale features).
Other varieties of linear perspective
One-point, two-point, and three-point perspective are
dependent on the structure of the scene being viewed. These
only exist for strict Cartesian (rectilinear) scenes. By inserting
into a Cartesian scene a set of parallel lines that are not parallel
to any of the three axes of the scene, a new distinct vanishing
point is created. Therefore, it is possible to have an infinitepoint perspective if the scene being viewed is not a Cartesian
scene but instead consists of infinite pairs of parallel lines,
where each pair is not parallel to any other pair.
A: No perspective foreshortening, and B: Perspective
Foreshortening
Foreshortening refers to the visual effect or optical illusion that
an object or distance appears shorter than it actually is because
it is angled toward the viewer.
Although foreshortening is an important element in art where
visual perspective is being depicted, foreshortening occurs in
other types of two-dimensional representations of threedimensional scenes. Some other types where foreshortening
can occur include oblique parallel projection drawings.
Figure F1 shows two different projections of a stack of two
cubes, illustrating oblique parallel projection foreshortening
("A") and perspective foreshortening ("B").
Foreshortening is an effect which also occurs on American and
Canadian automobile Wing mirrors, see Objects in Mirror Are
Closer Than They Appear. Foreshortening also occurs when
imaging rugged terrain using Synthetic Aperture Radar
systems.
This technique was often used in Renaissance painting.
Open and Closed Framings
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How much you reveal the
information/forces people
to pay attention.
Open Framings- limit what
audience can, create
mystery intrigue and
questions.
Closed Framing- is
obvious, answers, often
used in establishing shots
Open to Closed framing
equals dramatic
storytelling…
Decides the cutting order
of the scene or you can
play on assumptions
Master shots are usually
closed framing
Masters convey a lot of
information quickly or can
be used to close a scene.
Open framing is more
interesting because it
creates a more dynamic
feel
Using perspective lines
that off the edge of the
frame to make it look more
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dramatic
Open framing can make a
few people look like a lot.
Open and Closed framing
can be used in
combinations
UNIT – III
Montage
Parallels to musical counterpoint have been developed into a
theory of montage, extended from the complex
superimposition of images in early silent film[citation
needed] to even more complex incorporation of musical
counterpoint together with visual counterpoint through mise
en scene and editing, as in a ballet or opera; e.g., as
illustrated in the gang fight scene of director Francis Ford
Coppola’s film, Rumble Fish.
Film criticism
 Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation
of films. In general, these works can be
divided into two categories: academic
criticism by film scholars and journalistic film
criticism that appears regularly in newspapers
and other media.
 Film critics working for newspapers,
magazines, and broadcast media mainly
review new releases. Normally they only see
any given film once and have only a day or
two to formulate opinions. Despite this, critics
have an important impact on films, especially
those of certain genres. Mass marketed action,
horror, and comedy films tend not to be
greatly affected by a critic's overall judgment
of a film. The plot summary and description
of a film that makes up the majority of any
film review can still have an important impact
on whether people decide to see a film. For
prestige films such as most dramas, the
influence of reviews is extremely important.
Poor reviews will often doom a film to
obscurity and financial loss.
Film industry
 The making and showing of motion
pictures became a source of profit
almost as soon as the process was
invented. Upon seeing how successful
their new invention, and its product,
was in their native France, the
Lumières quickly set about touring the
Continent to exhibit the first films
privately to royalty and publicly to the
masses.
 In each country, they would normally
add new, local scenes to their catalogue
and, quickly enough, found local
entrepreneurs in the various countries
of Europe to buy their equipment and
photograph, export, import and screen
additional product commercially.
 The Oberammergau Passion Play of
1898[citation needed] was the first
commercial motion picture ever
produced. Other pictures soon
followed, and motion pictures became a
separate industry that overshadowed the
vaudeville world.
 Dedicated theaters and companies
formed specifically to produce and
distribute films, while motion picture
actors became major celebrities and
commanded huge fees for their
performances. Already by 1917,
Charlie Chaplin had a contract that
called for an annual salary of one
million dollars.
 Profit is a key force in the industry, due
to the costly and risky nature of
filmmaking; many films have large cost
overruns, a notorious example being
Kevin Costner's Waterworld. Yet many
filmmakers strive to create works of
lasting social significance.
 The Academy Awards (also known as
"the Oscars") are the most prominent
film awards in the United States,
providing recognition each year to
films, ostensibly based on their artistic
merits.
 There is also a large industry for
educational and instructional films
made in lieu of or in addition to lectures
and texts.
 Associated fields
 Further information: Film history, Film
criticism, Film theory, Product
placement, and Propaganda
Film editing
 Film editing is the process of selecting and
joining together shots, connecting the
resulting sequences, and ultimately creating a
finished motion picture. It is an art of
storytelling. Film editing is the only art that is
unique to cinema, separating film-making
from other art forms that preceded it (such as
photography, theater, dance, writing, and
directing), although there are close parallels to
the editing process in other art forms like
poetry or novel writing. Film editing is often
referred to as the "invisible art" because when
it is well-practiced, the viewer can become so
engaged that he or she is not even aware of
the editor's work.
On its most fundamental level, film
editing is the art, technique, and
practice of assembling shots into a
coherent whole. A film editor is a
person who practices film editing by
assembling the footage. However, the
job of an editor isn’t simply to
mechanically put pieces of a film
together, cut off film slates, or edit
dialogue scenes. A film editor must
creatively work with the layers of
images, story, dialogue, music, pacing,
as well as the actors' performances to
effectively "redirect" and even rewrite
the film to craft a cohesive whole.
Editors usually play a dynamic role in
the making of a film.
Censorship in India
Censorship in India mainly targets religious issues. The
Constitution of India guarantees freedom of expression but
places certain restrictions on content, with a view towards
maintaining communal and religious harmony, given the
history of communal tension in the nation.
The report Freedom in the World 2006 by Freedom House
gave India a political rights rating of 2, and a civil liberties
rating of 3, earning it the designation of free.
The Central Board of Film Certification, the regulatory film
body of India, regularly orders directors to remove anything
it deems offensive, including sex, nudity, violence or subjects
considered politically subversive.
In 2002, the film War and Peace, depicting scenes of nuclear
testing and the 11 September atrocities, created by Anand
Patwardhan, was asked to make 21 cuts before it was allowed
to have the certificate for release. Patwardhan objected,
saying "The cuts that they asked for are so ridiculous that
they won't hold up in court" and "But if these cuts do make it,
it will be the end of freedom of expression in the Indian
media." The court decreed the cuts unconstitutional and the
film was shown uncut.
In 2002, the Indian filmmaker and former chief of the
country's film censor board, Vijay Anand, kicked up a
controversy with a proposal to legalise the exhibition of Xrated films in selected cinemas across the country, saying
"Porn is shown everywhere in India clandestinely... and the
best way to fight this onslaught of blue movies is to show
them openly in theatres with legally authorised licences".[6]
He resigned within a year after taking charge of the censor
board after facing widespread criticism of his moves.[9]
In 2003, the Indian Censor Board banned the film 'Gulabi
Aaina (The Pink Mirror)', a film on Indian transsexuals
produced and directed by Sridhar Rangayan. The censor
board cited that the film was 'vulgar and offensive'. The
filmmaker appealed twice again unsuccessfully. The film still
remains banned in India, but has screened at numerous
festivals all over the world and won awards. The critics have
appluaded it for its 'sensitive and touching portrayal of
marginalized community'. BBC, YIDFF, Queer India
In 2004, the documentary Final Solution, which looks at
religious rioting between Hindus and Muslims, was banned.
The film follows 2002 clashes in the western state of Gujarat,
which left more than 1,000 people dead. The censor board
justified the ban, saying it was "highly provocative and may
trigger off unrest and communal violence". The ban was
lifted in Oct.'04 after a sustained campaign.
In 2006, seven states (Nagaland, Punjab, Goa, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh) have banned the release or exhibition of the
Hollywood movie The Da Vinci Code (and also the book),[13]
although India's Central Board of Film Certification cleared
the film for adult viewing throughout India. However, the
respective high courts lifted the ban and the movie was
shown in the two states.
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of
films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues,
usually in a single locality. The films may be of recent date
and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can
include international releases as well as films produced by
the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a
focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or
subject matter (e.g., gay and lesbian film festivals). A number
of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its
defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual
events.
The first major film festival was held in Venice in 1932; the
other major film festivals of the world (Berlin, Edinburgh,
Cannes, Moscow, and Karlovy Vary) date back to the 1930s,
1940s and 1950s.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK was
established in 1947 and is the longest continually running
film festival in the world. Raindance Film Festival is the
UK's largest celebration of independent film-making and is
taking place in London in October.
The first North American high film festival was the
Columbus International Film & Video Festival, also known
as The Chris Awards, held in 1953. According to the Film
Arts Foundation in San Francisco, "The Chris Awards (is)
one of the most prestigious documentary, educational,
business and informational competitions in the U.S; (it is) the
oldest of its kind in North America and celebrating its 54th
year."
It was followed four years later by the San Francisco
International Film Festival held in March 1957 whose
emphasis was on feature-length dramatic films. The festival
played a major role in introducing foreign films to American
audiences. Among the films shown in its founding year were
Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather
Panchali.
Today there are thousands of film festivals around the world,
ranging from high profile festivals such as Sundance Film
Festival (Park City, UT) to horror festivals such as Terror
Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA).
Digital feature film distribution began in 2005, along with the
arrival of the world's first online film festival, the GreenCine
Online Film Festival, sponsored by DivX
Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film
award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it is
administrated by the Indian government's Directorate of Film
Festivals since 1973.
Every year, a national panel appointed by the government
selects the winning entry, and the award ceremony is held in
New Delhi, where the President of India gives away the
awards. This is followed by the inauguration of the National
Film Festival, where the award-winning films are screened
for the public. Declared for films produced in the previous
year across the country, they hold the distinction of awarding
merit to the best of Indian cinema overall, as well as
presenting awards for the best films in each region and
language of the country. Due to the national scale of the
National Film Awards, it is considered to be the equivalent of
the American Academy Awards
UNIT - IV
Photography
Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures by recording
radiation on a radiation-sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an electronic sensor.
Photography uses foremost radiation in the UV, visible and near-IR spectrum.[1] For common
purposes the term light is used instead of radiation. Light reflected or emitted from objects form
a real image on a light sensitive area (film or plate) or a FPA pixel array sensor by means of a
pin hole or lens in a device known as a camera during a timed exposure. The result on film or
plate is a latent image, subsequently developed into a visual image (negative or diapositive). An
image on paper base is known as a print. The result on the FPA pixel array sensor is an electrical
charge at each pixel which is electronically processed and stored in a computer (raster)-image
file for subsequent display or processing. Photography has many uses for business, science,
manufacturing (f.i. Photolithography), art, and recreational purposes.
Lens and mounting of a large-format camera.
A historic camera: the Contax S of 1949 — the first pentaprism SLR.
Nikon F of 1959 — the first 35mm film system camera.
Late Production Minox B camera with later style "honeycomb" selenium light meter
A portable folding reflector positioned to "bounce" sunlight onto a model
As far as can be ascertained, it was Sir John Herschel in a lecture before the Royal Society of
London, on March 14, 1839 who made the word "photography" known to the whole world. But
in an article published on February 25 of the same year in a german newspaper called the
Vossische Zeitung, Johann von Maedler, a Berlin astronomer, used the word photography
already.[2] The word photography is based on the Greek φῶς (photos) "light" and γραφή (graphé)
"representation by means of lines" or "drawing", together meaning "drawing with light".[3]
Function
The camera or camera obscura is the image-forming device, and photographic film or a silicon
electronic image sensor is the sensing medium. The respective recording medium can be the film
itself, or a digital electronic or magnetic memory.
Photographers control the camera and lens to "expose" the light recording material (such as film)
to the required amount of light to form a "latent image" (on film) or "raw file" (in digital
cameras) which, after appropriate processing, is converted to a usable image. Digital cameras use
an electronic image sensor based on light-sensitive electronics such as charge-coupled device
(CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The resulting digital
image is stored electronically, but can be reproduced on paper or film.
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs
on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the
movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an
intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific
speed, called the "frame rate" (number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and
brain merge the separate pictures together to create the illusion of motion.[5]
In all but certain specialized cameras, the process of obtaining a usable exposure must involve
the use, manually or automatically, of a few controls to ensure the photograph is clear, sharp and
well illuminated. The controls usually include but are not limited to the following:
Control
Focus
Description
The adjustment to place the sharpest focus where it is desired on the subject.
Adjustment of the lens opening, measured as f-number, which controls the amount
of light passing through the lens.
Aperture
Aperture also has an effect on depth of field and diffraction – the higher the fnumber, the smaller the opening, the less light, the greater the depth of field, and the
more the diffraction blur. The focal length divided by the f-number gives the
effective aperture diameter.
Shutter
speed
Adjustment of the speed (often expressed either as fractions of seconds or as an
angle, with mechanical shutters) of the shutter to control the amount of time during
which the imaging medium is exposed to light for each exposure. Shutter speed may
be used to control the amount of light striking the image plane; 'faster' shutter
speeds (that is, those of shorter duration) decrease both the amount of light and the
amount of image blurring from motion of the subject and/or camera.
White
balance
On digital cameras, electronic compensation for the color temperature associated
with a given set of lighting conditions, ensuring that white light is registered as such
on the imaging chip and therefore that the colors in the frame will appear natural.
On mechanical, film-based cameras, this function is served by the operator's choice
of film stock or with color correction filters. In addition to using white balance to
register natural coloration of the image, photographers may employ white balance
to aesthetic end, for example white balancing to a blue object in order to obtain a
warm color temperature.
Metering
Measurement of exposure so that highlights and shadows are exposed according to
the photographer's wishes. Many modern cameras meter and set exposure
automatically. Before automatic exposure, correct exposure was accomplished with
the use of a separate light metering device or by the photographer's knowledge and
experience of gauging correct settings. To translate the amount of light into a usable
aperture and shutter speed, the meter needs to adjust for the sensitivity of the film or
sensor to light. This is done by setting the "film speed" or ISO sensitivity into the
meter.
Traditionally used to "tell the camera" the film speed of the selected film on film
cameras, ISO speeds are employed on modern digital cameras as an indication of
the system's gain from light to numerical output and to control the automatic
ISO speed exposure system. The higher the ISO number the greater the film sensitivity to light,
whereas with a lower ISO number, the film is less sensitive to light. A correct
combination of ISO speed, aperture, and shutter speed leads to an image that is
neither too dark nor too light, hence it is 'correctly exposed,' indicated by a centered
meter.
On some cameras, the selection of a point in the imaging frame upon which the
Autofocus
auto-focus system will attempt to focus. Many Single-lens reflex cameras (SLR)
point
feature multiple auto-focus points in the viewfinder.
Many other elements of the imaging device itself may have a pronounced effect on the quality
and/or aesthetic effect of a given photograph; among them are:
 Focal length and type of lens (telephoto or "long" lens, macro, wide angle, fisheye, or
zoom)
 Filters placed between the subject and the light recording material, either in front of or
behind the lens
 Inherent sensitivity of the medium to light intensity and color/wavelengths.
 The nature of the light recording material, for example its resolution as measured in
pixels or grains of silver halide.
Photo journalism
Assault landing One of the first waves at Omaha Beach as photographed by Robert F. Sargent.
Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of
news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is
now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to
video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches
of photography (such as documentary photography, social documentary photography, street
photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:
 Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of
events.
 Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation
of the events they depict in both content and tone.
 Narrative — the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to
the viewer or reader on a cultural level.
Like a writer, a photojournalist is a reporter but he or she must often make decisions instantly
and carry photographic equipment, often while exposed to significant obstacles (physical danger,
weather, crowds).
The impact of new technologies
Smaller, lighter cameras greatly enhanced the role of the photojournalist. Since the 1960s, motor
drives, electronic flash, auto-focus, better lenses and other camera enhancements have made
picture taking easier. New digital cameras free photojournalists from the limitation of film roll
length, as thousands of images can be stored on a single memory card.
Content remains the most important element of photojournalism, but the ability to extend
deadlines with rapid gathering and editing of images has brought significant changes. As recently
as 15 years ago, nearly 30 minutes were needed to scan and transmit a single color photograph
from a remote location to a news office for printing. Now, equipped with a digital camera, a
mobile phone and a laptop computer, a photojournalist can send a high-quality image in minutes,
even seconds after an event occurs. Camera phones and portable satellite links increasingly allow
for the mobile transmission of images from almost any point on the earth.
There is some concern by news photographers that the profession of photojournalism as it is
known today could change to such a degree that it is unrecognizable as image-capturing
technology naturally progresses.[9] Citizen journalism and the increase in user contribution and
submission of amateur photos to news sites is becoming more widespread. As early as the
Crimean War in the mid-19th century, photographers were using the novel technology of the box
camera to record images of British soldiers in the field. However, the widespread use of cameras
as a way of reporting news did not come until the advent of smaller, more portable cameras that
used the enlargeable film negative to record images. The introduction of the 35 mm Leica
camera in the 1930s made it possible for photographers to move with the action, taking shots of
events as they were unfolding.
The age of the citizen journalist and the attainment of news photos from amateur bystanders have
contributed to the art of photojournalism. Paul Levinson attributes this shift to the Kodak camera,
one of the first cheap and accessible photo technologies that “put a piece of visual reality into
every person's potential grasp.”[10] The empowered news audience with the advent of the Internet
sparked the creation of blogs, podcasts and online news, independent of the traditional outlets,
and “for the first time in our history, the news increasingly is produced by companies outside
journalism”
Photojournalists
Taking good journalistic pictures is far more difficult than simply snapping the shutter of a
camera. Good pictures take considerable knowledge, skill, and planning -- with a little luck
thrown in.
Photojournalists must understand the essentials of a good picture. Subjects should be expressive
and active. The framing and composition of the photo must present the subject in an
understandable and interesting way. The technical quality of the photo should be such that it
allows the viewer to see what the photographer wants to show. None of these is particularly easy
to achieve.
Photojournalists must begin their work with an understanding of what makes a good photograph
and how it is an essential part of journalism. They should also know their equipment well enough
to understand how they can use it to take good pictures. Finally, on any photo assignment they
have, they should do a lot of thinking and planning about how they will shoot that assignment.
Many of these qualities become instinctive for experienced photojournalists, but experience is
the key. Those who aspire to become
photojournalists should start taking pictures right
away.
Three shots. The chapter discusses three types of
photos based on how far away the photographer is
from the subject: establishing shots, mid-range
shots and close-ups. Students should know the
differences among the three and should understand
why each is important. The collage at the right
shows an establishing shot at the top, a mid-range
shot in the middle, and a close-up at the bottom.
The hardest shots to take for most students are the
close-ups. Beginning photographers often feel selfconscious about what they are doing and believe
they will irritate their subjects if they get to close.
They should work to overcome those feelings.
Cutlines. The book mentions cutlines at the end
of the chapter but because of space reasons does not
give any examples. Cutlines are sometimes hard to
construct, but they are very important.
Photographers do not always have to write the
cutlines for their pictures (although they should do
so whenever they get the chance). They should
always gather the information needed for a cutline,
including the names (spelled correctly) of the
people visible in their photos.
Planning. The chapter emphasizes the importance of planning for photographers. They should
think about what they will be doing at a news event – where they will be, what kind of shots they
will be taking, who will be in the pictures, what is likely to happen. Drawing a sketch of the
scene and making notes on it is a good idea. Discuss an upcoming news event at your school or
college and how a photographer might plan for it.
National News Photographers Association. For those interested in photojournalism,
this is one of the best organizations to be affiliated with. Visit the organization’s and find out
what’s required to join. You’ll also find a lot more there.
Digital manipulation. All good photojournalists want to protect the integrity of a
photograph. That is, they do not want to distort or photograph or change the content so that it is
not true to its subject. Unfortunately, digital photography and electronic editing make such
manipulation all too easy. That is a constant worry for photojournalists. The Associated Press has
issued guidelines on electronic handling of photographs that are well worth reading.
Key concepts and terms
• Despite the ease of the technology, taking a good picture – one that is worthy of good
journalism – is difficult; it takes both skill and planning.
• Three types of photos dominate photojournalism – establishing shots, midrange shots and
close-ups.
• Pictures can be inaccurate in that they can place information in an inaccurate context;
photojournalists must have the same commitment to truth and accuracy that other
photojournalists have.
• A pen and notebook are as important to the photojournalist as a camera.
• Three of the most important elements in making a good photograph are drama, emotion and
action.
• Mug shot – journalistic slang for a picture of a person’s head and shoulders.
• Cropping – in the photo editing process, eliminating unnecessary parts of a photograph.
• Scaling – changing the size of a picture to fit into a publication or web site.
• Proportionality – maintaining the relationship between the width and depth of a photograph
when it is being changed in size; the opposite of proportionality is distortion.
• Cutline – the words that explain what is in a photograph.
Photo essay
A photo essay (or "photographic essay") is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell
a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. A photo essay will often show pictures in
deep emotional stages. Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with
captions or small notes to full text essays with a few or many accompanying photographs. Photo
essays can be sequential in nature, intended to be viewed in a particular order, or they may
consist of non-ordered photographs which may be viewed all at once or in an order chosen by the
viewer. All photo essays are collections of photographs, but not all collections of photographs
are photo essays. Photo essays often address a certain issue or attempt to capture the character of
places and events. People who have undertaken photo essays include Bruce Davidson, W.
Eugene Smith and Walker Evans.
"After School Play Interrupted by the Catch and Release of a Stingray" is a simple time-sequence
photo essay
 An article in a publication, sometimes a full page or a two-page spread. Newspapers and
news magazines often have multi-page photo essays about significant events, both good
and bad, such as a sports championship or a national disaster.
 A book or other complete publication.
 A web page or portion of a web site.
 A single montage or collage of photographic images, with text or other additions,
intended to be viewed both as a whole and as individual photographs. Such a work may
also fall in the category of mixed media.
 An art show which is staged at a particular time and location. Some such shows also fall
in the category of installation art.
 A slide show or similar presentation, possibly with spoken text, which could be delivered
on slides, on DVD, or on a web site.
UNIT - V
common digital camera features
The directions that come with your camera should enable you learn a great deal. Read the manual!
Exposure Controls
When you take a picture, you "expose" a film or sensor to light. The two parts which work together to
control your exposure are the APERTURE and SHUTTER. Some "Point and Shoot" cameras select these
automatically, but more expensive digital cameras enable you to set these manually, or to "program" them
for certain shooting conditions.
APERTURE
The aperture is an opening that changes in size to admit more or less light (similar to the iris of an eye).
The numbers on the aperture control are called F-stops and referred to as F16, F11, F8, and so on.
Here's how it works:
The larger the F-stop number, the smaller the opening.
Each number higher lets in half as much light as one number lower.
For example, F5.6 admits twice as much light as F8, while F11 lets in only half as much.
The aperture doesn't work alone, however. The shutter speed is responsible for exposure, too. It controls
the amount of time light is allowed to reach the film or sensor.
SHUTTER
The shutter is a device that opens and closes at varying speeds to determine the amount of time the light
entering the aperture is allowed to reach the film or sensor.
Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. 125 means 1/125 of a second, 60 means 1/60.
Typical shutter speeds range from 1 second to 1/1000. A shutter speed setting for a bright, sunny day using an aperture of F11 - might be 1/125 second. A cloudy day might use 1/60 second with the same
aperture, exposing the film or sensor to light for a longer period of time.
The settings for a good exposure are determined by a light meter. (Most 35mm cameras have a built-in
light meter that shows you the appropriate settings, or automatically controls them.)
Aperture and shutter settings work together. Because the shutter (like the aperture) approximately halves
or doubles the light reaching the film or sensor with each change in setting, a number of different
combinations of settings can result in the same exposure.
Aperture F22 F16 F11
F8
F5.6
Shutter 1/30 1/60 1/125 1/250 1/500
Any of the combinations shown above would result in approximately the same exposure.
Camera
Cameras from large to small, film to digital
A camera is a device that records/stores images. These images may be still photographs or
moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura
(Latin for "dark chamber"), an early mechanism for projecting images. The modern camera
evolved from the camera obscura.
Cameras may work with the light of the visible spectrum or with other portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. A camera generally consists of an enclosed hollow with an opening
(aperture) at one end for light to enter, and a recording or viewing surface for capturing the light
at the other end. A majority of cameras have a lens positioned in front of the camera's opening to
gather the incoming light and focus all or part of the image on the recording surface. Most 20th
century cameras used photographic film as a recording surface, while modern ones use an
electronic camera sensor. The diameter of the aperture is often controlled by a diaphragm
mechanism, but some cameras have a fixed-size aperture.
The still camera takes one photo each time the user presses the shutter button. A typical movie
camera continuously takes 24 film frames per second as long as the user holds down the shutter
button, or until the shutter button is pressed a second time.

Image capture
19th century studio camera, with bellows for focusing
Traditional cameras capture light onto photographic film or photographic plate. Video and digital
cameras use an electronic image sensor, usually a charge coupled device (CCD) or a CMOS
sensor to capture images which can be transferred or stored in a memory card or other storage
inside the camera for later playback or processing.
Cameras that capture many images in sequence are known as movie cameras or as ciné cameras
in Europe; those designed for single images are still cameras. However these categories overlap
as still cameras are often used to capture moving images in special effects work and many
modern cameras can quickly switch between still and motion recording modes. A video camera
is a category of movie camera that captures images electronically (either using analogue or
digital technology).
Lens
The lens of a camera captures the light from the subject and brings it to a focus on the film or
detector. The design and manufacture of the lens is critical to the quality of the photograph being
taken. The technological revolution in camera design in the 19th century revolutionized optical
glass manufacture and lens design with great benefits for modern lens manufacture in a wide
range of optical instruments from reading glasses to microscopes. Pioneers included Zeiss and
Leitz.
Camera lens are made in a wide range of focal lengths. They range from extreme wide angle,
wide angle, standard, medium telephoto and telephoto. Each lens is best suited a certain type of
photography. The extreme wide angle may be preferred for architecture because it has the
capacity to capture a wide view of a building. The normal lens, because it often has a wide
aperture, is often used for street and documentary photography. The telephoto is useful for
sports, and wildlife but they are more susceptible to camera shake.
Focus
Auto-focus systems can capture a subject a variety of ways; here, the focus is on the person's image in the
mirror.
Due to the optical properties of photographic lenses, only objects within a limited range of
distances from the camera will be reproduced clearly. The process of adjusting this range is
known as changing the camera's focus.
There are various ways of focusing a camera accurately. The simplest cameras have fixed focus
and use a small aperture and wide-angle lens to ensure that everything within a certain range of
distance from the lens, usually around 3 metres (10 ft) to infinity, is in reasonable focus. Fixed
focus cameras are usually inexpensive types, such as single-use cameras.
The camera can also have a limited focusing range or scale-focus that is indicated on the camera
body. The user will guess or calculate the distance to the subject and adjust the focus
accordingly. On some cameras this is indicated by symbols (head-and-shoulders; two people
standing upright; one tree; mountains).
Rangefinder cameras allow the distance to objects to be measured by means of a coupled
parallax unit on top of the camera, allowing the focus to be set with accuracy. Single-lens reflex
cameras allow the photographer to determine the focus and composition visually using the
objective lens and a moving mirror to project the image onto a ground glass or plastic microprism screen.
Twin-lens reflex cameras use an objective lens and a focusing lens unit (usually identical to the
objective lens.) in a parallel body for composition and focusing. View cameras use a ground
glass screen which is removed and replaced by either a photographic plate or a reusable holder
containing sheet film before exposure. Modern cameras often offer autofocus systems to focus
the camera automatically by a variety of methods.
Exposure control
The size of the aperture and the brightness of the scene controls the amount of light that enters
the camera during a period of time, and the shutter controls the length of time that the light hits
the recording surface. Equivalent exposures can be made with a larger aperture and a faster
shutter speed or a corresponding smaller aperture and with the shutter speed slowed down.
Shutters
Although a range of different shutter devices have been used during the development of the
camera only two types have been widely used and remain in use today.
The Leaf shutter or more precisely the in-lens shutter is a shutter contained within the lens
structure, often close to the diaphragm consisting of a number of metal leaves which are
maintained under spring tension and which are opened and then closed when the shutter is
released.
The exposure time is determined by the interval between opening and closing. In this shutter
design, the whole film frame is exposed at one time. This makes flash synchronisation much
simpler as the flash only needs to fire once the shutter is fully open. Disadvantages of such
shutters are their inability to reliably produce very fast shutter speeds ( faster than 1/500th
second or so) and the additional cost and weight of having to include a shutter mechanism for
every lens.
The focal-plane shutter operates as close to the film plane as possible and consists of cloth
curtains that are pulled across the film plane with a carefully determined gap between the two
curtains (typically running horizontally) or consisting of a series of metal plates (typically
moving vertically) just in front of the film plan.
The focal-plane shutter is primarily associated with the single lens reflex type of camera's, since
covering the film rather than blocking light passing through the lens allows the photographer to
view through the lens at all times except during the exposure itself. Covering the film also
facilitates removing the lens from a loaded camera (many SLR's have interchangeable lenses).
Complexities
Professional medium format SLR cameras (typically using 120/220 roll film) use a hybrid
solution, since such a large focal-plane shutter would be difficult to make and/or may run slowly.
A manually inserted blade known as a dark slide allows the film to be covered when changing
lenses or film backs.
A blind inside the camera covers the film prior to and after the exposure (but is not designed to
be able to give accurately controlled exposure times) and a leaf shutter that is normally open is
installed in the lens. To take a picture, the leaf shutter closes, the blind opens, the leaf shutter
opens then closes again, and finally the blind closes and the leaf shutter re-opens (the last step
may only occur when the shutter is re-cocked).
Using a focal-plane shutter, exposing the whole film plane can take much longer than the
exposure time. The exposure time does not depend on the time taken to make the exposure over
all, only on the difference between the time a specific point on the film is uncovered and then
covered up again. For example an exposure of 1/1000 second may be achieved by the shutter
curtains moving across the film plane in 1/50th of a second but with the two curtains only
separated by 1/20th of the frame width.
In fact in practice the curtains do not run at a constant speed as they would in an ideal design,
obtaining an even exposure time depends mainly on being able to make the two curtains
accelerate in a similar manner.
When photographing rapidly moving objects, the use of a focal-plane shutter can produce some
unexpected effects, since the film closest to the start position of the curtains is exposed earlier
than the film closest to the end position.
Typically this can result in a moving object leaving a slanting image. The direction of the slant
depends on the direction the shutter curtains run in (noting also that as in all cameras the image is
inverted and reversed by the lens, i.e. "top-left" is at the bottom right of the sensor as seen by a
photographer behind the camera).
Focal-plane shutters are also difficult to synchronise with flash bulbs and electronic flash and it
is often only possible to use flash at shutter speeds where the curtain that opens to reveal the film
completes its run and the film is fully uncovered, before the second curtain starts to travel and
cover it up again. Typically 35mm film SLR's could sync flash at only up to 1/60th second if the
camera has horizontal run cloth curtains, and 1/125th if using a vertical run metal shutter.
Film formats
A wide range of film and plate formats have been used by cameras. In the early history plate
sizes were often specific for the make and model of camera although there quickly developed
some standardisation for the more popular cameras.
The introduction of roll film drove the standardisation process still further so that by the 1950s
only a few standard roll films were in use. These included 120 film providing 8, 12 or 16
exposures, 220 film providing 16 or 24 exposures, 127 film providing 8 exposures (principally in
Brownie cameras) and 35mm film providing 12, 20 or 36 exposures - or up to 72 exposures in
bulk cassettes for the Leica Camera range.
For cine cameras, 35mm film was the original film format but 16mm film soon followed
produced by cutting 35mm in two. An early amateur format was 9.5mm. Later formats included
8mm film and Super 8.
Camera accessories
Accessories for cameras are mainly for care, protection, special effects and functions.
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Lens hood: used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order
to prevent glare and lens flare.
Lens cover: covers and protects the lens during storage
Lens adapter: sometimes called a step-ring, adapts the lens to other size filters
Lens extension tubes allow close focus in macro photography
Flash equipment: including light diffuser, mount and stand, reflector, soft box,
trigger and cord
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Care and protection: including camera case and cover, maintenance tools, and
screen protector
Large format cameras use special equipment which includes magnifier loupe, view
finder, angle finder, focusing rail /truck.
Battery and charger
Camera designs
Plate camera
The earliest cameras produced in significant numbers used sensitised glass plates and are now
termed plate cameras. Light entered a lens mounted on a lens board which was separated from
the plate by an extendible bellows. Many of these cameras, had controls to raise or lower the lens
and to tilt it forwards or backwards to control perspective . Focussing of these plate cameras was
by the use of a ground glass screen at the point of focus. Because lens design only allowed rather
small aperture lenses, the image on the ground glass screen was faint and most photographers
had a dark cloth to cover their heads to allow focussing and composition to be carried out more
easily. When focus and composition were satisfactory, the ground glass screen was removed and
a sensitised plate put in its place protected by a dark slide (photography) . To make the exposure,
the dark slide was carefully slid out and the shutter opened and then closed and the dark-slide
replaced. In current designs the plate camera is best represented by the view camera.
Large format camera
The large format camera is a direct successor of the early plate cameras and remain in use for
high quality photography and for technical, architectural and industrial photography. There are
three common types, the monorail camera, the field camera and the press camera. All use large
format sheets of film, although there are backs for medium format 120-film available for most
systems, and have an extensible bellows with the lens and shutter mounted on a lens plate at the
front. These cameras have a wide range of movements allowing very close control of focus and
perspective.
Medium format camera
Medium-format cameras have a film size somewhere in between the large format cameras and
the smaller 35mm cameras. Typically these systems use 120- or 220-film. The most common
sizes being 6x4.5 cm, 6x6 cm and 6x7 cm. The designs of this kind of camera show greater
variation than their larger brethren, ranging from monorail systems through the classic
Hasselblad model with separate backs, to smaller rangefinder cameras. There are even compact
amateur cameras available in this format.
Folding camera
The introduction of films enabled the existing designs for plate cameras to be made much
smaller and for the base-plate to be hinged so that it could be folded up compressing the bellows.
These designs were very compact and small models were dubbed Vest pocket cameras.
Box camera
Box cameras were introduced as a budget level camera and had few if any controls. The original
box Brownie models had a small reflex viewfinder mounted on the top of the camera and had no
aperture or focusing controls and just a simple shutter. Later models such as the Brownie 127
had larger direct view optical viewfinders together with a curved film path to reduce the impact
of deficiencies in the lens.
Rangefinder camera
As camera and lens technology developed and wide aperture lenses became more common,
range-finder cameras were introduced to make focussing more precise. The range finder has two
separated viewfinder windows, one of which is linked to the focusing mechanisms and moved
right or left as the focusing ring is turned. The two separate images are brought together on a
ground glass viewing screen. When vertical lines in the object being photographed meet exactly
in the combined image, the object is in focus. A normal composition viewfinder is also provided.
Single-lens reflex
Olympus E-420 Four Thirds entry-level DSLR.
In the single-lens reflex camera the photographer sees the scene through the camera lens. This
avoids the problem of parallax which occurs when the viewfinder or viewing lens is separated
from the taking lens. Single-lens reflex cameras have been made in several formats including
220/120 taking 8, 12 or 16 photographs on a 120 roll and twice that number of a 220 film.
These correspond to 6x9, 6x6 and 6x4.5 respectively (all dimensions in cm). Notable
manufacturers of large format SLR include Hasselblad, Mamiya, Bronica and Pentax. However
the most common format of SLRs has been 35 mm and subsequently the migration to digital
SLRs, using almost identical sized bodies and sometimes using the same lens systems.
Almost all SLR used a front surfaced mirror in the optical path to direct the light from the lens
via a viewing screen and pentaprism to the eyepiece. At the time of exposure the mirror flipped
up out of the light path before the shutter opened. Some early cameras experimented other
methods of providing through the lens viewing including the use of a semi transparent pellicle as
in the Canon Pellix and others with a small periscope such as in the Corfield Periflex series.
Twin-lens reflex camera
Twin-lens reflex cameras used a pair of nearly identical lenses, one to form the image and one as
a viewfinder. The lenses were arranged with the viewing lens immediately above the taking lens.
The viewing lens projects an image onto a viewing screen which can be seen from above. Some
manufacturers such as Mamiya also provided a reflex head to attach to the viewing screen to
allow the camera to be held to the eye when in use.
The advantage of a TLR was that it could be easily focussed using the viewing screen and that
under most circumstances the view seen in the viewing screen was identical to that recorded on
film. At close distances however, parallax errors were encountered and some cameras also
included an indicator to show what part of the composition would be excluded.
Some TLR had interchangeable lenses but as these had to be paired lenses they were relatively
heavy and did not provide the range of focal lengths that the SLR could support. Although most
TLRs used 120 or 220 film some used 127 film.
Ciné camera
A ciné camera or movie camera takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In
contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the ciné camera takes a
series of images, each called a "frame" through the use of an intermittent mechanism.
The frames are later played back in a ciné projector at a specific speed, called the "frame rate"
(number of frames per second). While viewing, a person's eyes and brain merge the separate
pictures to create the illusion of motion. The first ciné camera was built around 1888 and by
1890 several types were being manufactured.
The standard film size for ciné cameras was quickly established as 35mm film and this remains
in use to this day. Other professional standard formats include 70 mm film and 16mm film whilst
amateurs film makers used 9.5 mm film, 8mm film or Standard 8 and Super 8 before the move
into digital format.
The size and complexity of ciné cameras varies greatly depending on the uses required of the
camera. Some professional equipment is very large and too heavy to be hand held whilst some
amateur cameras were designed to be very small and light for single-handed operation. In the last
quarter of the 20th century camcorders supplanted film motion cameras for amateurs.
Professional video cameras did the same for professional users around the turn of the century.
Camera lens
Different kinds of camera lenses, including wide angle, telephoto and speciality
A Sigma 24mm f1.8, an example of a modern fast prime wide-angle lens
A simple lens cleaning kit, consisting of a detergent, microfiber cloth, and an anti-dust airbrush.
A camera lens (also known as photographic lens, objective lens or photographic objective) is
an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to
make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an
image chemically or electronically.
While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in practice a compound lens made up of a
number of optical lens elements is required to correct (as much as possible) the many optical
aberrations that arise. Some aberrations will be present in any lens system. It is the job of the lens
designer to balance these out and produce a design that is suitable for photographic use and
possibly mass production.
There is no major difference in principle between a lens used for a still camera, a video camera, a
telescope, a microscope, or other apparatus, but the detailed design and construction are
different.
A lens may be permanently fixed to a camera, or it may be interchangeable with lenses of
different focal lengths, apertures, and other properties.
Aperture and focal length
How focal length affects photograph composition: adjusting the camera's distance from
the main subject while changing focal length, the main subject can remain the same size,
while the other at a different distance changes size.
Large (top) and small (bottom) apertures on the same lens.
The two fundamental parameters of an optical lens are the focal length and the maximum
aperture. The lens' focal length determines the magnification of the image projected onto
the image plane, and the aperture the light intensity of that image. For a given
photographic system the focal length determines the angle of view, short focal lengths
giving a wider field of view than longer focal length lenses. The wider the aperture,
identified by a smaller f-number, allows using a faster shutter speed for the same
exposure.
The maximum usable aperture of a lens is specified as the focal ratio or f-number,
defined as the lens' focal length divided by the effective aperture (or entrance pupil), a
dimensionless number. The lower the f-number, the higher light intensity at the focal
plane. Larger apertures (smaller f-numbers) provide a much shallower depth of field than
smaller apertures, other conditions being equal.
Practical lens assemblies may also contain mechanisms to deal with measuring light,
secondary apertures for flare reduction, and mechanisms to hold the aperture open until
the instant of exposure to allow SLR cameras to focus with a brighter image with
shallower depth of field, theoretically allowing better focus accuracy.
Focal lengths are usually specified in millimetres (mm), but older lenses might be marked
in centimetres (cm) or inches. For a given film or sensor size, specified by the length of
the diagonal, a lens may be classified as a:
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Normal lens: angle of view of the diagonal about 50° and a focal length
approximately equal to the image diagonal.
Wide-angle lens: angle of view wider than 60° and focal length shorter than
normal.
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Telephoto lens or long-focus lens: angle of view narrower and focal length longer than
normal. A distinction is sometimes made between a long-focus lens and a true telephoto
lens: the telephoto lens has a telephoto group to reduce the physical length of the
objective.
Macro lens: special lens corrected optically for close-ups, e.g., for images to object ratios
ranging from about 1:10 to 1:1. and having a particularly flat image plane suitable for flat
images. A macro lens may be of any focal length, the actual focus length being determined by its
practical use, considering magnification the required ratio, access to the subject and illumination
considerations.
28 mm lens
50 mm lens
70 mm lens
210 mm lens
An example of how lens choice affects angle of view. The photos above were taken by a 35 mm
camera at a constant distance from the subject.
A side effect of using lenses of different focal lengths is the different distances from which a
subject can be framed, resulting in a different perspective. Photographs can be taken of a person
stretching out a hand with a wideangle, a normal lens, and a telephoto, which contain exactly the
same image size by changing the distance from the subject. But the perspective will be different.
With the wideangle, the hands will be exaggeratedly large relative to the head. As the focal
length increases, the emphasis on the outstretched hand decreases. However, if pictures are taken
from the same distance, and enlarged and cropped to contain the same view, the pictures will
have identical perspective. A moderate long-focus (telephoto) lens is often recommended for
portraiture because the perspective corresponding to the longer shooting distance is considered to
look more flattering.
The apparent influence of lens focal length on image perspective
Although in practice a photographer intuitively perceives a natural relation between perspective
and the focal lengths he is using, no such relation actually exists. The immediate reason for this
impression is that lenses of different angles of view may be used differently; wide-angle lenses
tend to be used close-up and telephoto lenses for photographing distant motives. Cameras or
lenses with tilt/swing facilities don't really change perspective, but rather distort the image by
oblique projection onto the image plane.
The only factor controlling the perspective is the distance from the motive to the lens' front nodal
point. Anyone can check this fact by doing some fundamental geometric sketching on a piece of
paper.
An example illustrating this is the "portrait" lens. It typically has a field of view that includes a
person's head and shoulder in the image at a favourable distance, e.g. ten feet or so. At such
distance, the features in the face are rendered in reasonable proportions, without too much
emphasis on any single feature, like the nose. The closer the camera gets, the larger the closest
features appear to be.
Photographing a distant scene with a wide-angle lens will yield exactly the same "compressed"
perspective associated with a telephoto lens; enlarging the same section of the wide-angle image
as that photographed with the latter will confirm this fact. When it comes to looking at a picture,
the distance from which it is viewed will also influence the way in which it is perceived. The
perspective in the image will determine the most agreeable viewing distance.
Number of elements
Distinct reflections are visible from the surfaces of different lens elements in this 45mm f/2 MD-Rokkor
lens. The lens contains 6 elements in 5 groups.
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The complexity of a lens—the number of elements and their degree of asphericity—
depends upon the angle of view and the maximum aperture, among other variables
including intended price point. An extreme wideangle lens of large aperture must be of
very complex construction to correct for optical aberrations, which are worse at the edge
of the field and when the edge of a large lens is used for image-forming.
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A long-focus lens of small aperture can be of very simple construction to attain
comparable image quality; a doublet (with two elements) will often suffice. Some older
cameras were fitted with "convertible" lenses of normal focal length; the front element
could be unscrewed, leaving a lens of twice the focal length and angle of view, and half
the aperture. The simpler half-lens was of adequate quality for the narrow angle of view
and small relative aperture. Obviously the bellows had to extend to twice the normal
length.
 Good-quality lenses with maximum aperture no greater than f/2.8 and fixed, normal,
focal length need at least three (triplet) or four elements (the trade name "Tessar" derives
from the Greek tessera, meaning "four"). The widest-range zooms often have fifteen or
more. The reflection of light at each of the many interfaces between different optical
media (air, glass, plastic) seriously degraded the contrast and color saturation of early
lenses, zoom lenses in particular, especially where the lens was directly illuminated by a
light source. The introduction many years ago of optical coatings, and advances in
coating technology over the years, have resulted in major improvements, and modern
high-quality zoom lenses give images of quite acceptable contrast, although zoom lenses
with many elements will transmit less light than lenses made with fewer elements (all
other factors such as aperture, focal length, and coatings being equal).
Lens mounts
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Many Single-lens reflex cameras, and some rangefinder cameras have detachable lenses.
A few other types do as well, notably the Mamiya TLR cameras. The lenses attach to the
camera using a lens mount, which often also contains mechanical or electrical linkages
between the lens and camera body.
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The lens mount is an important issue for compatibility between cameras and lenses; each
major camera manufacturer typically has their own lens mount which is incompatible
with others; notable exceptions are the Leica M39 lens mount for rangefinders, M42 lens
mount for early SLRs, the later Pentax K mount, and the Four Thirds System mount for
dSLRs, all of which are used by multiple camera brands. Most large-format cameras take
interchangeable lenses as well, which are usually mounted in a lensboard or on the front
standard.
Types of lens
Close-up and macro
 The conventional approach photographing small things, like a model railway, is to use a
macro lens on a 35mm SLR camera. Although this is a small format equipment, it has far
too big image sensor and much too long focal length, usually in the region of 100mm, to
obtain a realistic result. The depth-of-field is very narrow.
 The macro lens is primarily a sophisticated lens corrected for close focusing with a
particularly flat field of focus, suitable for flat objects like stamps. To actually go into the
miniature model and photograph realistically one needs photo equipment reduced to the
same scale as the model subject. This becomes possible as smaller high quality image
sensors become available, using lenses of only a few millimetres focal length: Short focal
length lenses for small environments.
 Another point to consider is the actual focal length when taking a picture. This is not the
parameter the designer decides upon at the outset calculating the lens, assuming the
image is far away and all light rays entering the lens is parallel, this is an ideal situation
and seldom the actual case. The photographer moves the lens back and forth to obtain
what he reckons to be the best position to render the image sharp, in doing so he uses the
lens at a different focal length than that which is inscribed on the lens itself.
 However, it is not only the focal length that changes, but the effective aperture as well; it
is the ratio between the lens opening diameter and the actual focused distance. When
using bellows extension or intermediate rings between the lens and the camera, the focal
length may be much longer, resulting in a much smaller maximum lens aperture, and a
much narrower angle of view. A 50mm f/2.8 macro lens extended to 1:1 reproduction
ratio has an effective focal length of 100mm and a maximum aperture of 5.6.
 This leads to the effect the lens aperture has on the depth of field, the range in the motive
rendered sharp in the image: the larger the aperture the narrower is the depth of field. It is
especially useful to consider this effect in close-up photography since the consequence is
that short focal length lenses give deeper depth-of-field at larger relative apertures: An
80mm lens at f/8 gives same depth-of-field as a 14mm lens at f/1.4. Stopping the 14mm
lens down to f/8 gives an even greater depth-of-field, which is very useful in close-up
photography imaging miniature models.[12][13]
Zoom lens
 Some lenses, called zoom lenses, have a focal length that varies as internal elements are
moved, typically by rotating the barrel or pressing a button which activates an electric
motor. Commonly, the lens may zoom from moderate wide-angle, through normal, to
moderate telephoto; or from normal to extreme telephoto.
 The zoom range is limited by manufacturing constraints; the ideal of a lens of large
maximum aperture which will zoom from extreme wideangle to extreme telephoto is not
attainable. Zoom lenses are widely used for small-format cameras of all types: still and
cine cameras with fixed or interchangeable lenses. Bulk and price limit their use for
larger film sizes. Motorized zoom lenses may also have the focus, iris, and other
functions motorized.
Special-purpose
A tilt/shift lens, set to its maximum degree of tilt relative to the camera body.
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Apochromat (APO) lenses have added correction for chromatic aberration.
Process lenses have extreme correction for aberrations of geometry (pincushion
distortion, barrel distortion) and are generally intended for use at a specific distance.
Process and apochromat lenses are normally of small aperture, and are used for
extremely accurate photographs of static objects. Generally their performance is
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optimized for subjects a few inches from the front of the lens, and suffers outside this
narrow range.
Enlarger lenses are made to be used with photographic enlargers (specialised projectors),
rather than cameras.
Lenses for aerial photography.
Fisheye lenses: extreme wide-angle lenses with an angle of view of up to 180 degrees or
more, with very noticeable (and intended) distortion.
Stereoscopic lenses, to produce pairs of photographs which give a 3-dimensional effect
when viewed with an appropriate viewer.
Soft-focus lenses which give a soft, but not out-of-focus, image and have an
imperfection-removing effect popular among portrait and fashion photographers.
Infrared lenses
Ultraviolet lenses
Swivel lenses rotate while attached to a camera body to give unique perspectives and
camera angles.
Shift lenses and tilt/shift lenses (collectively perspective control lenses) allow special
control of perspective on SLR cameras by mimicking view camera movements.
Photographic film
 Photographic film is a sheet of plastic (polyester, nitrocellulose or cellulose acetate)
coated with an emulsion containing light-sensitive silver halide salts (bonded by gelatin)
with variable crystal sizes that determine the sensitivity, contrast and resolution of the
film. When the emulsion is sufficiently exposed to light (or other forms of
electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays), it forms a latent (invisible) image. Chemical
processes can then be applied to the film to create a visible image, in a process called film
developing.
 In black-and-white photographic film there is usually one layer of silver salts. When the
exposed grains are developed, the silver salts are converted to metallic silver, which
block light and appear as the black part of the film negative.
 Color film uses at least three layers. Dyes, which adsorb to the surface of the silver salts,
make the crystals sensitive to different colors. Typically the blue-sensitive layer is on top,
followed by the green and red layers. During development, the exposed silver salts are
converted to metallic silver, just as with black and white film. But in a color film, the byproducts of the development reaction simultaneously combine with chemicals known as
color couplers that are included either in the film itself or in the developer solution to
form colored dyes.
 Because the by-products are created in direct proportion to the amount of exposure and
development, the dye clouds formed are also in proportion to the exposure and
development. Following development, the silver is converted back to silver salts in the
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bleach step. It is removed from the film in the fix step. This leaves behind only the
formed color dyes, which combine to make up the colored visible image.
Newer color films, like Kodacolor II, have as many as 12 emulsion layers, with upwards
of 20 different chemicals in each layer.
Due to film photography's long history of widespread use, there are now around one
trillion pictures on photographic film or photographic paper in the world,[1] enough to
cover an area of around ten thousand square kilometres (4000 square miles), about half
the size of Wales.[2]
Film basics
There are several types of photographic film, including:
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Print film, when developed, turns into a negative with the colors (or black and white
values, in black and white film) inverted. This type of film must be "printed"—that is
either enlarged by projecting through a lens, or placed in direct contact as light shines
through it—onto photographic paper (which in turn is itself developed) in order to be
viewed as intended. Print films are available in both black-and-white and color. Color
print films use an orange color correction mask to correct for unwanted dye absorptions
and improve color accuracy.
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Color reversal film after development is called a transparency and can be viewed
directly using a loupe or projector. Reversal film mounted with plastic or cardboard for
projection is often called a slide. It is also often marketed as "slide" film. This type of
film is often used to produce digital scans or color separations for mass-market printing.
Photographic prints can be produced from reversal film, but the process is expensive and
not as simple as that for print film.
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Black-and-white reversal film exists, but is uncommon. Conventional black-and-white
negative stock can be reversal-processed, to give black & white slides, as by dr5 Chrome.
Some kits were available to enable B&W reversal processing to be done by homeprocessors, but most are discontinued. B&W transparencies can be produced from almost
all B&W films.
In order to produce a usable image, the film needs to be exposed properly. The amount of
exposure variation that a given film can tolerate while still producing an acceptable level of
quality is called its exposure latitude. Color print film generally has greater exposure latitude
than other types of film. Additionally, because print film must be printed to be viewed, after-thefact corrections for imperfect exposure are possible during the printing process.
The concentration of dyes or silver salts remaining on the film after development is referred to as
optical density, or simply density; the optical density is proportional to the logarithm of the
optical transmission coefficient of the developed film. A dark image on the negative is of higher
density than a more transparent image.
Most films are affected by the physics of silver grain activation (which sets a minimum amount
of light required to expose a single grain) and by the statistics of random grain activation by
photons. The film requires a minimum amount of light before it begins to expose, and then
responds by progressive darkening over a wide dynamic range of exposure until all of the grains
are exposed and the film achieves (after development) its maximum optical density.
Film speed
Film speed describes a film's threshold sensitivity to light. The international standard for rating
film speed is the ISO scale which combines both the ASA speed and the DIN speed in the format
ASA/DIN. Using ISO convention film with an ASA speed of 400 would be labeled 400/27°. A
fourth naming standard is GOST, developed by the Russian standards authority.
See the film speed article for a table of conversions between ASA, DIN, and GOST film speeds.
Common film speeds include ISO 25, 50, 64, 100, 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200.
Consumer print films are usually in the ISO 100 to ISO 800 range. Some films, like Kodak's
Technical Pan, are not ISO rated and therefore careful examination of the film's properties must
be made by the photographer before exposure and development.
ISO 25 film is very "slow", as it requires much more exposure to produce a usable image than
"fast" ISO 800 film. Films of ISO 800 and greater are thus better suited to low-light situations
and action shots (where the short exposure time limits the total light received). The benefit of
slower film is that it usually has finer grain and better color rendition than fast film.
Professional photographers of static subjects such as portraits or landscapes usually seek these
qualities, and therefore require a tripod to stabilize the camera for a longer exposure.
Photographing subjects such as rapidly moving sports or in low-light conditions, a professional
will choose a faster film. Grain size refers to the size of the silver crystals in the emulsion. The
smaller the crystals, the finer the detail in the photo and the slower the film.
A film with a particular ISO rating can be pushed to behave like a film with a higher ISO. In
order to do this, the film must be developed for a longer amount of time or at a higher
temperature than usual. This procedure is usually only performed by photographers who do their
own development or professional-level photofinishers. More rarely, a film can be pulled to
behave like a "slower" film.
Special films
Instant photography, as popularised by Polaroid, uses a special type of camera and film that
automates and integrates development, without the need of further equipment or chemicals. This
process is carried out immediately after exposure, as opposed to regular film, which is developed
afterwards and requires additional chemicals. See instant film.
Films can be made to record non-visible ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation. These films
generally require special equipment; for example, most photographic lenses are made of glass
and will therefore filter out most ultraviolet light. Instead, expensive lenses made of quartz must
be used. Infrared films may be shot in standard cameras using an infrared band- or long-pass
filter, although the infrared focal point must be compensated for.
Exposure and focusing are difficult when using UV or IR film with a camera and lens designed
for visible light. The ISO standard for film speed only applies to visible light, so visual-spectrum
light meters are nearly useless.
Film manufacturers can supply suggested equivalent film speeds under different conditions, and
recommend heavy bracketing. e.g. with a certain filter, assume ISO 25 under daylight and ISO
64 under tungsten lighting. This allows a light meter to be used to estimate an exposure.
The focal point for IR is slightly farther away from the camera than visible light, and UV slightly
closer; this must be compensated for when focusing. Apochromatic lenses are sometimes
recommended due to their improved focusing across the spectrum.
Film optimized for sensing X-ray radiation is commonly used for medical imaging by placing the
subject between the film and a source of X-rays, without a lens, as if a translucent object were
imaged by being placed between a light source and standard film.
Film optimized for sensing X-rays and for gamma rays is sometimes used for radiation dosimetry
and personal monitoring.
Film has a number of disadvantages as a scientific detector: it is difficult to calibrate for
photometry, it is not re-usable, it requires careful handling (including temperature and humidity
control) for best calibration, and the film must physically be returned to the laboratory and
processed.
Against this, photographic film can be made with a higher spatial resolution than any other type
of imaging detector, and, because of its logarithmic response to light, has a wider dynamic range
than most digital detectors. For example, Agfa 10E56 holographic film has a resolution of over
4,000 lines/mm—equivalent to a pixel size of 0.125 micrometres—and an active dynamic range
of over five orders of magnitude in brightness, compared to typical scientific CCDs that might
have pixels of about 10 micrometres and a dynamic range of 3-4 orders of magnitude.
Special films are used for the long exposures required by astrophotography.
Types of Photography
Photography is an expansive art form that includes more than just portraiture, landscape or
glamour photography. Both professional and amateur photographers may favor specific types of
photography over others. While a professional photographer may work in photojournalism, an
amateur may be particularly interested in macrophotography. Read on to learn more about the
various types of photography.
Photojournalism
Although amateurs may break into this field without formal training, photojournalism
is often limited to professionals. One reason photojournalism is generally practiced
by professionals is that serious photojournalists must be sure that their shots maintain
the integrity of the original scene.
Photojournalism requires the photographer to shoot only the facts: no alteration or embellishment
of the photo is permitted. Photojournalism pictures are often powerful images that engage the
viewer with the news story. Knowing how to take such shots to capture the original emotion is
often learned only through years of practice and experience.
Documentary Photography
Documentary photographs tell stories with images. The main difference between
photojournalism and documentary photography is that documentary photography is
meant to serve as a historical document of a political or social era while
photojournalism documents a particular scene or instance.
A documentary photographer may shoot a series of images of the inner city homeless or
chronicle the events of international combat. Any topic may be the subject of documentary
photography. As with photojournalism, documentary photography seeks to show the truth
without manipulating the image.
Action Photography
While professionals who take action shots may specialize in a variety of different
subjects, sports photography is one of the fastest and most exciting types of
photography. As with any action shot, a good sports photographer has to know his or
her subject well enough to anticipate when to take pictures. The same rule goes for
photographers taking action shots of animals in nature or of a plane taking off.
Macrophotography
Macrophotography describes the field of photography in which pictures are taken at
close range. Once restricted to photographers with advanced and expensive
equipment, macrophotography is now easier for amateurs to practice with digital
cameras with macro settings. Macrophotography subjects may include insects,
flowers, the texture of a woven sweater or any object where close-up photography reveals
interesting details.
Microphotography
Microphotography uses specialized cameras and microscopes to capture images of
extremely small subjects. Most applications of microphotography are best suited for
the scientific world. For example, microphotography is used in disciplines as diverse
as astronomy, biology and medicine.
Glamour Photography
Glamour photography, sometimes confused with pornography, may be sexy and
erotic but it is not pornographic. Instead of focusing on nudity or lurid poses, glamour
photography seeks to capture its subject in suggestive poses that emphasize curves
and shadows. As the name implies, the goal of glamour photography is to depict the
model in a glamorous light. Consequently, many glamour shots carry flirtatious, mysterious and
playful tones.
Aerial Photography
An aerial photographer specializes in taking photos from the air. Photos may be used
for surveying or construction, to capture birds or weather on film or for military
purposes. Aerial photographers have used planes, ultralights, parachutes, balloons
and remote controlled aircraft to take pictures from the air.
Underwater Photography
Underwater photography is usually employed by scuba divers or snorkelers.
However, the cost of scuba diving, coupled with often expensive and unwieldy underwater
photography equipment, makes this one of the less common types of photography. Similarly, if
an amateur has the equipment and the scuba know-how, taking shots underwater can be
complicated, as scuba goggles are magnified and distort the photographer’s vision.
Art Photography
Artistic photography can embrace a wide variety of subjects. While a nature
photographer may use underwater photography to create an art show based on sea
life, a portrait photographer’s show may feature black and white artistic portraitures.
In all cases, the photographs must have aesthetic value to be considered art.
Portraiture
Portraiture is one of the oldest types of photography. Whether the subject is your
family or your pet, the goal of portraiture is to capture the personality of the subject
or group of subjects on film.
Wedding Photography
Wedding photography is a blend of different types of photography. Although the
wedding album is a documentary of the wedding day, wedding photos can be
retouched and edited to produce a variety of effects. For example, a photographer
may treat some of the pictures with sepia toning to give them a more classic, timeless
look.
In addition, a wedding photographer must have portrait photography skills. He may also have to
employ glamour photography techniques to capture the bride and groom at their best.
Advertising Photography
Because photography plays a vital role in advertising, many professional
photographers devote their careers to advertising photography. The need for unique
and eye-catching advertising copy means the photographer may work with multiple
types of photography, including macrophotography and glamour photography.
Travel Photography
Travel photography may span several categories of photography, including
advertising, documentary or vernacular photography that depicts a particularly local
or historical flavor. A travel photographer can capture the feel of a location with both
landscapes and portraiture.
New Trends in Photography
As technology evolves, so does photography. Thanks to more powerful computers, better
cameras and better software, photography is in a state of constant evolution. In recent years,
HDR took the world by storm. This article will focus on the new evolving trend of panographies.
Panographies are large panoramas, which are assembled to give a better representation of images
to what the eye really sees. The results are surprising and interesting. Panographies are visually
compelling and attract attention thanks to all of the details, which is a stark contrast to HDR.
HDR focuses on colors. Panographies focus on the details.
Panographies are almost akin to panoramas, but with a lot more images. The images have to be
shot manually, with custom white balance, shutter and aperture. This ensures that each shot isn’t
light-metered and differently exposed, therefore reducing the differences in contrast. Image sizes
and weight have to be carefully monitored so they don’t crash your computer system. It’s
recommended to reduce sizes about 800 pixels and add the images by groups of 5 to 10.
One panographer of note is German fashion photographer Mareen Fischinger. The viewpoints of
her photos and the collages that she creates are enrapturing.
Photo Reality
Viewing the world one click at a time…
Pure toilet water: flushing purity
Planes fly over: The world is below
Ghost moon: It comes from the sky
Ghost Eye Dances on water…
Ghost Photo
Indoor UFO: They are among us
Lime light surprise: a light in the night
Moon in storm: Object in the sky
Early morning over the water…
Rainbow over Washington…