Film Language

In today lesson we learnt about that goes into making a film-

• Camera
• Sound
• Editing
• Mise en scene

Camera   

Frame- Theses are the six main frames while shooting a film

Angle -

Worms Eye View (Low Angle)

Level (point Of View)

Birds Eye View (Hight Angle) 

Movement- 

• Pan Left/ Right (on tripod)
• Tilt Up/Down (on tripod)
• Tracking shot - follows something 
• Steady cam- Makes the camera look like it is gliding or floating, smooth shot.
• Handheld- shaky cam for fights. makes it look gritty, more real, movement with object

Sound-

Dialogue- what is being said and how it affects the scene.

Music- digetic ( what is recorded in the scene) or Non-diegetic ( what put on top of a scene) Parallel  (music goes with scene) or counter parallel( when music doesn't go with the scene)

Editing-

Transitions-can add to pace of movie or add to the cinematic artsy part of the movie

Order of Narrative - Mixing a story up to get interest, so using a bit from the future at the beginning as the first seen part of the film this would gauge interest with the watcher asking questions etc

Pace - How fast or slow you want a scene to be i.e a love scene slow and intimate pace, fighting scene fast pace to add to confusion and intensity of scene etc

SFX - Sound Effects added in after filming to add more to a scene like creaking floor boards for a horror film.

Mise En scene-

(Meaning- All the major things what are in a scene and make it)

Costume- Georgian suits = Georgian Period 

Lighting- The time of day, 

Actors- Class, gender, voice, appearance and body language.

Makeup- Sci-fi Characters, Fantasy Characters, dead characters etc.

Props- uses in the background, The meaning it has that to that character.

Setting- The set of where the filming is taking place e.g. School, Space, war-zone etc.

Film language - Boys n the hood

Camera:

There are three main aspects for camera. Frame, Angle and Movement. There are several types of frame shots, here is the list from closest to furthest away. You can have extreme close ups, close ups, mid shots, medium long shots, long shot and extreme long shot. These are all used to show effect and they are helpful on describing a situation with these different frames, for example if you shoot a close up, you would want to capture facial expressions to help connote what the character is feeling/thinking. Secondly, the angle of the camera is very important in film because it shows all different types of the filming situation and you can choose a type of angle which sets the scene best. The types of angles are worms eye view, birds eye view, level shot/POV. Last of all, movement is key for the camera, it can keep up with the situation to control action packed scenes, or the movement could be quite acute but it still is very effective. The types of movements are panning right and left, tilting up and down, tracking shots and stedicam- handheld filming/amateur.

Editing: 

Editing is important because you can cut out all of the bad scenes and outtakes and you can cut the best scenes into one brilliant end product. There is a very helpful acronym for Editing:

Transitions

Order of narratives

Pace

Sound effects.

Mise en scene

These are all of the background necessities you need to cast a film. Without Mise en scene, you couldn't possibly have a film or storyline. I also have a helpful acronym for Mise en scene:

Costume

Lighting

Actors - class, age, gender, ethnicity, body language.

Makeup

Props

Setting

Sound

Sound is key for films can it highlight and express themes through the type of music, or it can be the everyday background music that you can hear.

Firstly, parallel/contrapuntal sound is fairly random, it is when music doesn't go with what you are doing. Secondly, Diegetic sound is the sound actors would hear, for example, this would be background music. Non diegetic sounds is the opposite to Diegetic and it is usually put in for effect, such as narrations/voiceovers and soundtracks. Dialogue is the last type of sound, it is the type of music which makes you think what/how, it can help complement confusing parts in films.

The opening of Boyz n the hood shows a lot of these film language very effectively.