Oh
welcome to the master course 欢迎来到场面调度和分镜头的高端电影大师课程
blocking and staging over the next 6
dvds our goal is to develop an all
inclusive language of camera work
in this entire course were blocking in
3d 3d is really the ideal environment
for experimenting with camera work
because it brings a level of clarity to
the blocking that we could never get
from live action and without having to
wrestle with diagrams or storyboards we
immediately get to see the results of
every technique the green objects are
cameras lot camera simply hang in the
air lens position tracking and training
is shown with a rig which we'll look at
in volume three and four in the
animations will see all cameras that are
in a scene simultaneously although it's
rare to shoot more than one or two
cameras at the same time the camera with
a green field of view is the active
camera as we cut to another camera we're
seeing that cameras field of view
instead throughout the course we're
blocking with mannequins are models
models are not just the most patient
actors to work with they're great for
blocking because they're completely
expressionless as we work with camera
moves in the body language between the
characters all emotional impact must be
coming from the camera work and not from
the actors by separating the camera work
from the acting performances it becomes
extremely clear how we attach thoughts
and feelings to the characters and how
integral camera work is to create
emotions on screen
this course is an ambitious undertaking
that is created with the highest goals
in mind the course is based on the
assumption that real mastery comes not
from knowing a few hot moves but from
having a deep understanding of every
single technique so what we'll try to do
over the next six volumes breakdown
camerawork into a simple components as
possible and then put it all back
together the difficulty in making a
course like this is that everybody knows
different techniques so in this course
will attempt to cover literally
everything there is to know about camera
work from the ground up
this means that there will undoubtedly
be plenty in here you already know
especially in the beginning when that's
the case simply take it as a refresher
the course was originally intended is
simply collection of every conceivable
technique the one can watch again and
again to make every technique completely
automatic and second nature often as
soon as we're on the set confusion takes
over in the blocking becomes reduced to
a series of scattered cameras that we
hope to stitch together and editing in
order to avoid this blindness at the
last minute we need to not only know
every technique but to know them so well
that we can use them without really
thinking about it
so after watching the course is
suggested to watch it over and over with
or without sound to hammer and
techniques until they become automatic
on volume 1 and 2 were dealing with
stationary blocking we will try to do
everything we can without moving the
camera on volume 3 and 4 we work with
the moving camera and develop a
comprehensive language of camera moves
on volume 5 & 6 we develop an effective
blocking method that produces excellent
results for the vast majority of scenes
and put everything to use by staging a
lot of scenes the ultimate goal of this
course is to make directing is intuitive
and playful as possible which is
ironically best achieved by having
extremely strong technique far beyond
what is necessary
the purpose of this course is never to
create a rigid or boring set of rules
that must be followed but to get the
power that comes from knowing literally
every technique and depth the underlying
assumption is that you'll take
everything in here and use it how you
want with that said let's start by
running down some basics
during the next number of chapters will
go over some basics of composing shots
starting with shot sizes the various
sizes go by names that are meant to make
them easier to communicate the full shot
includes the feed-in the frame the
medium full shot is a title shot that
crops around the knees the Cowboys shot
is frame to include Cowboys gun a
carryover from westerns the medium shot
cuts just below the waist
after this we have a couple of close
shots first the medium clothes shop
which cuts just above the waist and then
the clothes shop which cuts by the
characters breast area above this we
have a number of close-ups first the
wide close-up then the full close-up
then the medium close-up and finally the
extreme close-up
too much credit is given these names
because they aren't exact and most
people don't agree on what they mean or
even use the same words and if the
character needs to move which he usually
does the terms become meaningless so all
shot sizes are short of here we're sort
of in a medium close a quicker and more
precise way to communicate shot sizes is
to simply walk over to the character and
physically show the top and bottom of
where the frame should crop
when picking shot sizes a useful
convention is to avoid cropping
characters and leg joints here we're
cutting him off at the knees which can
make him look amputated
so let's drop them in the middle of the
thighs if we need to be any wider it's
better to go to a full shot because
cropping them in the middle of the CAF
tends to make him look like he's
standing in something and the same
happens when cropping at the ankles when
we have the choice this whole area is
the least forgiving place to crop and
make sense to avoid we simply pick shot
sizes based on how identified our
intimate we want to be with the
character if she's deeply personal and
open about her feelings we don't want to
be this wide and if she's talking about
something ordinary we don't want to be
this close unless it has very personal
meeting being too close can feel severe
if we don't know a character because
intimacy takes time in the course of his
story we start out not knowing the
characters so in the beginning will lean
towards full shots and medium shots
moving onto closer shots as we gradually
get to know the characters we can better
except going closer without feeling
forced we can then save extreme
close-ups for late in a story where
relationship with them has become
personal
moving out from full shots we become
less and less intimate with the
character as she gets smaller in the
frame with more space around her she
begins to appear lonely or insignificant
to quickly run down the basic shot types
this is a single shot
this is a two-shot this is a three-shot
and so forth and insert is a close-up on
a part of the scene a POV or point of
view is seeing the scene from the
character's perspective
the most basic dialogue setup is to
matching over-the-shoulder shots and two
matching close-ups and all two cameras
on each character the technical names
for these pairs or internal and external
reverses because the close-ups are
inside the space between the characters
and the over the shoulders are outside a
normal editing pattern is to cut between
the external shots and then at some
point is we get deeper into the dialogue
to move in and cut between the internal
shots if we want to become less personal
again we can go back to the external
shots
we can easily have different shots sizes
on each character here were more
identified with a woman unless with a
man if we turn that around we are now
more identified with a man and less with
the woman another way to control our
level of identification with the
characters is with our distance to the
eyeline with a camera out here we're
very far away from the eyeliner more
detached from the dialogue is the camera
gets closer to the eyeline we become
more involved the further we are from
the eyeline more objective and
impersonal the shot is as we get closer
to the eyeline we become more involved
saving rubbing against the eyeline for
very personal scenes an elegant
technique can be to place close up
closer to the eyeline then over the
shoulders so starting in an
over-the-shoulder that's further away
from the eyeline as we cut close we're
also moving closer to the eyeline and
becoming more personal
with several cameras on the character
the shot sizes need to be different
enough to avoid a jump cut here the
cameras are too similar as we cut from
the wide camera to the closer camera we
get a jolt because the shots aren't
different enough so let's make the wide
shot wider starting in the wider shot
they cut his smooth because we
understand it is a cut cutting from shot
sizes that are very different can also
be jumpy but doesn't come across as a
mistake
starting a very wide shot the closest
startling but still makes sense visually
it's fine to place cameras on a
character at different angles but his
shot sizes need to be different enough
so two angles if we're cutting to a
camera only a slightly different angle
we get the same type of jump as before
the rule of thumb is that shot sizes
wrangle should be at least twenty
percent different but that's a little on
the low end master shots have several
meanings
the first is a wide shot that record the
entire scene
so we'll start the scene in the master
then cut to the external shot on the man
the internal shot on the red woman and
the external shot on the blue woman the
women walk out and we cut back into the
Masters he remains alone in the room we
can place the master anywhere we want as
long as we stay on the same side of the
action is the other cameras but we have
potential continuity problems coming
back into a master because the actors
performances changed during the day
which is easier to hide in closer shots
it's also a waste of film and the actors
energy to shoot masters that were only
going to use the beginning or end so
instead of shooting long masters which
is the convention let's treat it is
simply another wide shot and concentrate
on the part we know we want to use the
second meaning of a master is a camera
to right angle to a reverse shot setup
if a POV is seeing the scene in the
first person and over the shoulder would
be singing it in the second person a
right angle masters then the third
person in editing much of what we're
doing is controlling how we're
identifying with the characters it can
be very useful to have a neutral camera
that attaches from them both the third
meeting of a master is a carefully
choreographed camera that moves through
the scene is the action envelops it in
this shot from a later chapter we push
into the scene as characters and extras
weave around the camera here we're
counting on the master being the main
and perhaps only coverage for the scene
shot size comes from either the distance
between us and the characters are from
the focal length focal length resume is
the angle of you in this over simplified
drawing light enters the lens and is
projected onto a frame of 35 millimeter
film when we zoom in what we're really
doing is moving the lens further away
from the film which narrows the angle of
view so this is called a long lens a
wide angle is created by moving the lens
closer which widens the angle of view so
this is called a short lens if we're
fairly close to the character with a
short lens we can produce the same shot
size by setting up the camera further
back and using a longer lens
as we cut between these two cameras the
shot sizes identical but the perspective
is very different focal length makes an
enormous difference in the relative
sizes of characters are objects here in
a regular over-the-shoulder but as we
pull back and zoom in the perspective
becomes much flatter and the characters
seem to have the same size
this is called compression of space and
is this fundamental choices shot size in
the closer shot with a wide lens the
distance between the characters is the
same as the distance from the red man to
the camera with the camera further back
in a longer lens the distance between
the characters is only a fraction of the
distance that the camera
so in comparison to the distance of the
camera the distance between the
characters is almost nothing
the first thing focal length does
control the closeness between the
characters
this is a sliding scale if we zoom out
and move closer the characters seem
further apart if we move far back and
zoom in the characters seem closer
together
secondly it allows us to see the world
in a different way than the human eye
does if we want a shot to look like
reality will use the lens that has the
same angle of view is the human eye
which on 35 millimeter film is around 50
millimeters but we make shots much more
interesting by deliberately staying away
from lenses the mimic the human eye here
we're using a 25 millimeter lens which
creates more distance between everything
in the scene and the illusion of a
larger location here we're using a
hundred and twenty millimeter lens which
creates a tighter atmosphere and singles
out the characters were interested in
being wider longer than reality is the
easiest way to create production value
because the image becomes an
interpretation instead of a recording
thirdly long focal length suppress our
understanding of the layout of the scene
which can be an effective storytelling
tool here we're using regular lens and
it's very easy to make out the spatial
relationships between the characters
here were further back using a 200
millimeter lens which flattens the
perspective it makes the layout of the
scene harder to understand this either
makes the situation more disorienting or
it makes a single around arbitrary
surroundings disorientation is sometimes
a goal because the seam loses its
mystique as soon as we know the entire
layout in choosing focal lengths for
normal dialogue or regular lens tends to
create too much difference in size
between the characters if we pull back
and use a longer lens the sizes of the
characters even out more and the
atmosphere becomes more intimate so the
over-the-shoulder is really out here in
close-ups irregular lens can put us
uncomfortably close to the character and
it can feel like we're shooting up her
nose will again make the shot slightly
longer from further back giving us a
flatter perspective in a more forgiving
shot cutting back and forth between the
two versions the difference in
perspective is very clear
this puts the close-up by the blue
woman's shoulders so will sometimes need
to cheat her position cutting between
cameras that are very different focal
lengths usually doesn't work well as we
cut from a regular lens to a long one
the mood changes very abruptly which is
more parents in live action than on the
simple 3d set as we pan with the
characters in a very tight shot with a
long lens the cut to a regular lens
seems strange because we're cutting from
a compressed an intimate shot to an
ordinary one
the exception to this is that shorter
lenses come more naturally to wider
shots because we want to capture more of
the scene and longer lenses come more
naturally to closer shots because our
goal is to become more involved so going
from a master that might be a 30
millimeter to get more the scene the cut
to an 80 millimeter close-up doesn't
feel like a sudden change in focal
length because it happens for a reason
it's really not necessary to go around
thinking in millimeters except to
remember that 50 millimeters is about
the same as the human eye that higher
numbers are longer and lower numbers
shorter but it's useful to notice that
the angle of view skyrockets is the lens
becomes shorter so there's an enormous
difference between a 20 millimeter lens
and attend but almost no difference
between a hundred 90 millimeter and a
200
in this chapter we'll look at a couple
of basic framing techniques that are
worth making into a habit
the first is dividing the frame in
thirds in this external shot there's
given no priority to any character and
we're spending a good portion of the
frame shooting the back of the man's
head so let's divide the frame into
thirds and give two-thirds to the woman
and one-third to the man will do the
same in the matching reverse as we cut
back and forth the character and focus
as the major part of the frame in
close-up or internal shots will again
give two-thirds of the frame to the
character and focus but instead leave a
third of empty space in front as we cut
back and forth between all four cameras
the framing is balanced dividing the
frame in thirds a carryover from
paintings and is not as much a rule is a
helpful guide line to create pleasing
framings
placing characters at the center looks
like a vacation photo because the only
goal is to get a picture of the person
framing in thirds or at least placing
the characters off-center is instantly
more picturesque but since we're keeping
the characters off-center let's look a
little more closely at the effect of
which side of the character we put the
empty space on first of all characters
seem were open are available when they
have more space in front of them if we
frame our like this instead the frame
cuts off for personal space and we're
not being let in
here the frame cuts off the man space so
we're again not being let in
if we frame like this instead he might
be turned away from the other character
but we're being led into a space that's
one way to look at it but another way is
to see it is it for framing either for
the shared space between the characters
for the private space behind them
framing for the space between the
characters creates intimacy as we cut
between the man and the woman they seem
normally involved with each other if we
frame for the space behind the woman she
seems to reject being part of the shared
space while the man is still part of the
shared space if we also frame him for
the space behind him there now both
rejecting being part of the shared space
directing whether we're framing for the
space inside or outside the dialogue can
create very effective emotional
statements center framing works best
when a character is supposed to be head
on and on the frame here the man is very
direct and center stage so the most
meaningful place to put them is dead
center
another good reason to place a character
in the center is when he's a neutral
third party here we're cutting between
the women and each have part of the
shared space in their shot as we cut to
the man he's equally part of both their
spaces
vertical framing for characters simply
involves keeping a bit of empty space
above the head as we get closer we'll
have less space above her head than
wider shots in close shots it's more a
matter of where to place the eyes here
can still work to frame in thirds in
which case we'll place arise on the
third line
the concern is visual gravity if we put
too much space above the characters the
framing can seem to light if we put too
little space above the characters the
framing can seem too heavy a little bit
of space tends to feel at ease here the
frame is top-heavy by having the
contents gravitate towards the bottom we
get a more relaxed and settled framing
another factor in framing is perspective
there's lots of Therion perspective but
to make a long story short leaning lines
in the image create a sense of depth
here the angle on the boxes causes
plenty of Leaning lines both into the
depth of the frame and also over on the
left
if we instead move over here we're
shooting flat against the boxes all the
lines are completely horizontal and we
have no sense of depth so shooting flat
against any surface is something to
avoid when we can lines in the image
create perspective when they're moving
towards the vanishing point here the
vanishing point is inside the frame
which creates the hardest perspective a
more relaxed perspective is created by
placing the vanishing point outside the
frame causing the lines to lean in that
direction so if we want to shoot a
dialogue scene between these two rows of
crates this way of setting it up will
give us almost no perspective since the
cameras are not angle completely flat on
the crates were getting a bit of
perspective but only a little bit
however as we rotate the entire setup to
get more perspective we're running into
a typical problem one of the cameras now
has more perspective but the other one
is shooting directly into the wall
in this scene and obvious way to get
perspective in both cameras is to place
the characters parallel to the crates
now we're getting perspective in both
shots another convention from painting
is the perspective lines geigi through
the frame here the lines lead us towards
the man
nothing makes this clear then placing
the character dead center in the frame
with all perspective lines symmetrical
around him since photography is about
forcing a three-dimensional world onto
two-dimensional film it's important that
we do everything we can to retain a
sense of perspective if we take out what
creates the perspective lines we remove
any sense of depth
one last consideration is where to place
the horizon line which is the ultimate
vanishing point not all shots have a
clear horizon line so it doesn't always
apply but when there is one the
photographic convention is to place it
on one of the vertical thirds either
here or here depending on what's
important in the shot in this chapter
we'll look at the effects of camera
height it's a common notion that placing
the camera lower makes a character look
bigger superior and placing the camera
higher makes the character looks smaller
inferior that's generally true at least
when we're around I level placing the
camera much lower we understand it is
being low so we don't receive him as
necessarily being big but instead
perceive it as a creative choice
shooting down on characters we
understand our higher vantage point so
it doesn't make them look small
instead being higher up causes us to
detach from the scene in this angle were
completely aloof let's look at a couple
of important considerations when
choosing a camera height
the first is that if the set doesn't
have a ceiling it's very easy to shoot
off the edge of the set if we plant a
shot like this but not ask for a ceiling
it's too late to put one in your one
solution is to shoot where the ceiling
is not an issue maybe closer to a wall
we're looking at this because shooting
upwards can produce problems that don't
show up until the last minute so we need
to plan ahead when you're outdoors
exposure is an issue shooting against
the sky which is much brighter it's very
hard to get good exposure on the
character if we expose for him this guy
burns out completely
if we put more light on him to balance
the exposure he can have trouble keeping
his eyes open
here we may want to shoot in front of
something less brighter something we can
control which of course is easier to
find if we stay at eye level
secondly we need a reference to really
know that were higher low here were
above eye level as we move to waist
level the perspective change on the man
himself is unremarkable and we're
actually judging our height by the
position of the far wall as soon as we
put in something to cause perspective
lines we get a much clearer idea of our
height moving back to eye level the
perspective tells us much more than the
elevation itself so the more perspective
we can create the more we get out of
choosing a height another way to bring
in a references with foreground as soon
as we put the woman in the foreground
our highest ten times as clear as we
move to around I level the thing to
notice is that the man looks virtually
the same so we're getting our height
from the foreground here we're at waist
level it's not until we're very low that
the perspective on the man himself is
noticeably different here the foreground
and the Leaning lines together create
very powerful perspective
one last way to judge our height is by
the horizon line if we have one if we're
looking up honor the horizon line will
be lower in the frame if we're looking
down honor the horizon line will be
higher the effect of this is that when
the horizon line is above the icy appear
submersed or suppress when the horizon
line is below the eyes she looks freer
and more in command
in choosing a camera height I level is
naturally most like reality but it also
produces very ordinary and documentary
images so that in itself can be reason
to stay away from my level
but if we're at eye-level were also
always building downwards here were pure
I level but in order to put her eyes
higher in the frame we have to tell down
a little
so seen from the side were shooting
downwards in order to more naturally
place arise higher in the frame we
should be lower and more level
so let's nudge a little under eye level
in this over-the-shoulder were again at
eye-level angle downwards but let's
against enter a little lower placing us
beneath I level the further we get away
from the characters the more we should
gravitate towards waist level here again
I level produces very objective framing
being lower relaxes the perspective
which creates a more filmic image and
also makes more sense to a theater
audience which is seated lower than the
screen
finally can be effective to adjust for
the perspective lines that go from i to
i inch into chin if we need a little
lower the perspective leaves more
elegantly from face-to-face staging
upwards and downwards is really the same
as staging with level characters except
that we need to make choices about
camera height we could just go ahead and
shoot by the eyeline as usual
this results in shooting hard down on
one character and hard up on the other
which makes one character look superior
in the other inferior the completely
neutral way of shooting this is to
simply level each camera with the
character leveling with the characters
is more relaxed to look at gives them
equal power but it puts us further away
from the eyeline and further outside the
dialogue the way to get a little bit of
both is to place the camera halfway in
between I line and level this lets us be
part of the dialogue without having to
do hard angles
perhaps even more useful in close shots
it allows us to be fairly close to the
eyeline without making one character
superior to the other
there's nothing that stops us from
mixing heights here we're shooting hard
up on the man but we're level on the
woman so she seems relaxed and detached
from the conversation while he takes it
more personally here we're shooting
level on the man but down on the woman
and close to the eyeline so she's more
directly affected
well he's more detached most people are
familiar with a line or the hundred and
eighty degree rules so let's look at it
for the record simply put once we pick a
side of the action to be on all cameras
to cover that action need to be on that
side the line can be the eyeline but not
necessarily here one character is facing
away so the eyeline doesn't apply
instead will say that the line is
created by attention either between
characters or between characters and
objects honoring the line is essential
to maintaining the understanding of
seeing geography that's created in the
viewers mind when we cut between shots
and it's a rule that it almost never
works to break
so let's look at what happens if we do
it wrong we'll put one of the cameras on
the other side so that we're jumping the
line every time we cut starting in this
camera we're fine but as we cut to the
other camera the characters are flipping
positions and we've lost all orientation
expecting action to be covered from the
same side is so ingrained for all of us
that one of the only uses for jumping
the line is to deliberately trick the
audience here the woman hears someone by
the door so our attention goes in that
direction putting the line here
well then set up another camera on the
other side to cover the man walking over
is the woman looks were expecting the
man to be entering from the left but as
we pan with him over to the woman
finding ourselves on the other side of
the line is startling with only a couple
of characters and no movement it's easy
enough to know which side of the line
were on so let's turn up the heat to see
why line management is so important in
this scene which is not unrealistic we
have a lot of dialogue crisscrossing the
scene as well as several characters
moving around
first the red man talks to the blue
woman so we'll put into cameras on this
side of the line then he talks to the
red woman so we'll put into cameras here
we're in this cameras he walks to the
red woman so this camera is now on the
wrong side of the line is the man in the
suit joins the conversation the cameras
we put in for that have to be on the
side were already on where in this
cameras the red man turns his attention
to the blue woman so staying on the same
side we're currently on will create an
internal reverse on her as she turns her
attention to the man in the suit this
camera is still good and these cameras
just became valid again but we can't cut
to any of these cameras as we go on we
have more and more lines to be aware of
in each line decides which cameras we
can and can't cut to as we had moving
cameras to the equation the scene can
potentially become uncomfortable unless
we develop a keen awareness of where the
line is at all times we need to be able
to solve situations like this at the
snap of a finger so we'll were quite
heavily with line management on these
first two volumes
for now let's take a quick look at the
major techniques for managing the line
and then cover them later in more detail
the first important distinction is that
the only problem is cutting across the
line
it's fine across the line as long as we
see it happening there are really only
two ways to see a line cross happening
either by moving the characters or by
moving the camera as the man walks he
takes the line with him in the line
crosses us most character movement
forces line crosses which in turn to
size where other cameras need to be so
unless the scene is extremely simple
this is something we need to deal with
the other way is by camera movement
anytime we do a camera move it's very
likely that we cross the line in the
process here we're simply tracking
across the line
it's important to be aware of which side
of the line we end up on because it
would be impossible to cut to any camera
on the other side afterwards often both
happened at the same time as we track
with a man over to a right angle master
he causes a line cross as well as us or
here is the woman walks to a numark we
help with the line cross by nudging in
the other direction
an important technique that allows us to
cut across the line is called hinging in
this scene we have two sets of dialogue
first between the man in the blue woman
which is covered in these two matching
reverses and second between the man and
the red woman which is covered in these
two verses we can't just cut between the
cameras at random
if we're cutting dialogue between these
two cameras cutting to this one would
cross the line so to activate the other
line we hinge the cutting on the camera
for the new dialogue that's already on
our current side of the line now on the
other line we can cut to the reverse to
get back we again go through the hinge
Cameron were free to cut to either
camera on the original line the hinge
cameras are bridge to the other line and
we need to go through it to get back and
forth here we've been cutting between
the man and the blue woman as we cut to
the his camera we activate the other
line and then travel out the line to the
reverse we then go back into the hinge
camera and hinge back onto the original
line a less useful but still noteworthy
way of cutting across the line is to cut
through a camera that's placed exactly
on the line as soon as we're directly on
the line we've lost any reference to
which side we were on so either of these
cameras is a good cut
starting to left we cut to the camera
exactly on the line since we're now
neutral we can cut to any camera
a distinction that perhaps goes without
saying is that we only need to manage
the line within the scene if we're on
this side and then cut away to a
different scene when we return we're
free to start on either side of the line
but then of course have to stick to that
side besides using these techniques the
easiest way to make line management
simpler is to clean up as much as
possible before we even get started the
first way to do that is to filter out
the characters we don't care about as
soon as the view is less cluttered it
becomes much easier to keep track of
which lines we need to be concerned with
and it's usually fewer than it looked
like before the second way is to decide
on a major coverage angle if we don't do
that will basically have to put in
cameras for every position of every line
throughout the scene
deciding to generally cover the scene in
this direction increases the likelihood
of a camera staying useful as the line
moves around the extreme of this is
sitcom or soap opera blocking we're all
cameras are outside the same pointed in
more or less the same direction which of
course is not our goal but first
deciding on a general shooting direction
is much easier to build from getting
coverage is the process of putting in
cameras for everything we're interested
in or might be interested in when
editing the simplest form of coverages
to starting a master to establish
geography and then putting cameras for
everything we know or suspect we'll need
an editing here we're covering the
characters but we could also pick shots
for the phone for body language or for
any other part of the scene starting the
master every subsequent cut is really an
insert on part of the scene as we cut
between the characters were depending
more or less on the scene geography we
got from the master
if we hadn't done a master their
locations and relationships could be
hard to work out but covering seen as
inserts of a master can make a scene see
more stitch together unless fluid
still it's a very normal way to get
coverage though perhaps not the most
interesting this step up from this is to
add two shots three shots and reverses
to get variety into quickly shift
perspective or scale to the parts of the
scene that are interesting or important
at the moment but as we start doing
combinations like this it's clear that
we could easily cover the scene in a
hundred cameras at the same time wearing
down the actors and shooting rolls and
rolls of film will never use so let's
look at some tools to narrow down the
choices
in placing cameras for dialogue the
number of cameras we need first of all
depends on the length of the scene if
the scene is long we need more shots
sizes to keep it interesting and to tell
a story and editing if it's short we can
get away with only a couple and having
lots of shots sizes can actually be
distracting
it's a common conception the reverse
shots have to match but this is really
an unnecessary creative limitation so
let's take complete Liberty in staging
this scene will start by leaving one
external reverse intact but placing the
other one much lower you be the judge of
what it means
perhaps the further distance from the
eyeline gives us more secret and
individual angle on him but it cuts just
as well here we are normal on the man
but we're at a right angle on the woman
so the shot on her is further away from
the eyeliner more separate here we are
again in a low angle in this reverse and
behind the man's shoulder in this
reverse the point is that getting
perfect matching angles is not
necessarily a big deal and this can help
us save some cameras if we make it a
goal that instead of covering every
possible combination we select fewer
shots to capture more of the action
the coverage is not only more optimized
it's easier to deal with here we could
easily cover the scene in 10 to 15
cameras
let's instead place for cameras first an
internal reverse on the blue man then an
external reverse on the red woman shot
that frames the blue man with a man in
the suit and the shot that frames the
two women this is extremely compact
staging the shots are framed ideally
quote unquote but there's plenty of
coverage to cut a scene from and there's
more information in each shot so the
camera stay interesting for longer
foreclosed upon the red woman were using
this shot which serves double duty for
later to include the man in the suit
were keeping the blue man in the
foreground as well for the blue womens
dialogue we're using the same shot as
before keeping the red woman in the
foreground the scene cuts just as easily
as if we were covering it by the book
and it might in fact be more interesting
a powerful way to select shots by
grouping characters to emphasize
relationships by grouping we shows
together and who's not which brings
meaning to the coverage in this scene
where in a negotiation the man in the
suit is a businessman the blue
characters are a married couple
the red man is the attorney for the
businessman and the red woman is
attorney for the couple
since when a negotiation that first of
all creates two very clear groups made
up of each team on opposite sides of the
negotiating table so let's start by
Framing one camera for the businessman
and his attorney and another for the
couple and their attorney cutting
between them we show the members of each
group together in that group and
opposite the others every shot can be a
different grouping of the same
characters if we want to show the couple
is a unit will make them into a group
for this shot if the blue woman in the
attorney have a small exchange will make
that into a group as well
grouping characters together shows
relationship whether it's a positive or
a negative one
let's say that during the negotiation
the businessman begins revealing a
secret he knows about the blue woman
that creates a relationship here which
will cover into over the shoulders the
blue man is disheartening to hear the
truth so let's create a shot to group
him by himself
let's create another single shot on the
businessman as he enjoys his victory
grouping to show relationships is not a
lot because sometimes we just want a
three-shot if that's where the action is
but it can be a helpful and quick way to
get meaningful coverage and fewer
cameras after the opening will cut
between the group on the couple and the
group on the businessman at some point
the blue woman consults the attorney
meanwhile the businessman in the blue
man continued the negotiation the blue
woman comes back with a remark the
businessman then turns his attention to
her and begins revealing a secret she
hasn't told her husband about we go back
and forth for a while
the couple's attorney objects but the
truth is out and we cut to the blue man
as he takes it in
we cut to the businessman as he enjoys
his victory we could go on and create as
many relationships as we need maybe some
bickering between the attorneys but the
important thing is that instead of
having covered the scene from every
conceivable angle and hoping to work out
the meaning later we've chosen the
meeting going in
we don't cover everything and we don't
need to spatial continuity is the
technical name for the understanding of
the scenes layout that's created in the
viewers mind when we cut between shots
from the various cameras to make up the
coverage the viewer depends on being
able to mentally stitch the scene
together here the two shots glue
together and create the illusion of
continuous space with a woman to the
left and the amount of the right but in
this case the choice of angles made us
construct the wrong mental model of the
scene the characters are really seated
back-to-back so let's look at some ways
to create spatial continuity the easiest
ways to start a master coming from a
complete overview of the scene the
geography is so clear that it almost
doesn't matter what we do afterwards we
can sometimes even cross the line
that's the classic reason for starting a
scene in a master but starting a master
has some significant drawbacks which
we'll look at in the next chapter
honoring the line can by itself be
enough for the spatial orientation to
make sense when we cut two different
cameras on this side it only takes a
moment to deduct from our mental model
where we've moved to so let's look a
little more closely at why the line
works no matter where we place cameras
on this side the red men will always be
the left and the blue woman will always
be to the right even cutting between
tight over the shoulders where our angle
is changing nearly a hundred and eighty
degrees the man is to the left and the
woman is to the right so the mental
model is really made up of knowing
what's to the left and right
the problem is that if we're suddenly on
the other side of the line the
management of the right and the woman to
the left in the few seconds it takes us
to rotate our model and figure out where
we are we're not paying attention to the
story and we experienced distracting
jolt but in the first example we were
honoring the line yet we still
misunderstood the geography the reason
is that we were keeping the space in
front of the characters even though they
were seeded back-to-back we've come to
automatically expect the space in the
shot to be part of the shared space
between the characters and since we
didn't know better this led us to assume
that they were sitting in front of each
other if we instead frame the shots like
this the space really is the shared
space and the sea makes perfect sense
without any other eight an effective way
to maintain spatial continuity is to
create overlapping groups here will
create one shot the group's the man in
the red woman and another the group's
the red man in the blue woman when the
shots we pick contain elements that are
visible and other shots as well it's
very easy to mentally piece together the
scene
this is called pivoting because the
editing revolves around a character or
an object here we're using the plan is a
pivot so it's visible both in this shot
and in this shot and again as we get to
the woman in the middle so the layout of
the scene is reasonably clear here we're
pivoting on characters in the background
with reference in the first shot it's
fairly easy to deduct where we are in
the second hopefully we concluded that
the characters are stage like this in
this scene will again for going master
and first pivot around the blue man to
this shot then pivot around the woman to
this shot and then to this shot as we
play through it again even though we're
zigzagging through the scene the layout
is clear because when characters always
the common denominator it works the same
backwards with no other references in
the scene the spatial continuity is
coming directly from the pivoting
depending on how we place the cameras
pivots behave in two very different ways
that are important to recognize when
we're pivoting around an object or a
character in the middle that object will
jump from side to side in the frame here
the object is an inconspicuous plan but
if there were a large object that could
get annoying here we're pivoting around
the character in the middle
he also jumps from side to side but
since we're clearly going between two
groups it seems to happen for a reason
when rotating around a character were
more inclined to keep them in the same
part of the frame here the blue man
stays in the right side here the woman
stays in the left side when we have the
choice it's better to have the character
stay in the same part of the frame
because it takes less effort to make
sense of
returning to the discussion on hinging
hinges nearly always also a pivot
starting on the first line as we hinge
on to the second line the man stays in
the same part of the frame
after having travel out the second line
we're back in the hinge camera as we
hinge back on the first line we can
pivot around the man on our way back the
line is here so pivoting into this
camera is technically a line across
however since we're pivoting on the man
to cut is smooth enough that it really
doesn't matter one of the most powerful
ways to make a scene interesting is to
control the order information is
presented in to do that let's first look
at the concept of open and close
framings an open framing is a framing
where we don't have everything we need
to understand what we're seeing the real
story the key information lies outside
the boundaries of the frame and we're
only seeing a small part of the bigger
picture that immediately makes us ask
questions like where are we
what are the papers scattered on the
table and whose hand is this by
suppressing that information for a short
while we pay more attention
a close framing is self-contained the
entire story is within the frame and we
have everything we need to understand it
so if an open framing creates questions
close framings create answers as soon as
the cats out of the bag we can't go back
to an open frame and expect the same
sense of mystery and curiosity
everything is now just an insert and the
long slow reveal from before is now lost
most of its punch because we already
know the larger hole it's part of any
time we can make a scene move from open
framings towards close framings the
scene is a hole becomes more interesting
than if we do it the other way around
and it's a very effective habit to
develop
on a slightly larger scale the logic of
open and close framing is key to
deciding the cutting order shots in the
scene here we're starting on a single
character and we don't know that this is
an open frame until we cut to reveal
another character also in the scene a
classic comical trick is to play on
assumptions is here where the man is
talking about something deeply personal
so we assume that he's maybe with a
therapist cutting to reveal them in the
center of the boardroom of a fortune 500
company completely changes the meaning a
master is usually very closed framing
while starting a scene in a master works
wonders for establishing geography it
eliminates any visual mystery right off
the bat but we don't need masters per se
because all we want is for the internal
geography between the characters to make
sense which we can easily achieve by
honoring the liner by creating
overlapping groups
masters work best for scenes where we
need to deliver a lot of information
quickly because one glance conveys the
whole situation a master close framing
also works great to wrap things up for
instance after we've been covering
intimate dialogue in close shots we've
been cut to a wide shot to close the
scene but regardless of whether or not
we use this to control the order of
information open framings tend to simply
be more interesting because they create
the feeling of shooting a small part of
a world that's much bigger
close framings on the other hand get the
feeling that the world has a definite
size in this scene were restricted by
the size of the set and whether we're on
a sound stage or on location the edge of
the set is a realistic concern so the
tendency is sometimes to just barely
squeeze the action into the set and
cover the widest possible shot to
capture the whole available scene but
after awhile we begin to feel confined
as if the world ends just to the left
and the right of the frame which is true
the slightest pan reveals the edge this
often makes asset look like a set what
we really want is the feeling of a world
that extends infinitely beyond the
boundaries of the frame and we're simply
capturing the part that happens to
intersect
so if we resist shooting the set as a
whole and we stick to more open framings
we of course don't get to see all the
production design but the characters
become much more part of a real
environment
but this doesn't have to exclude wide
shots we just have to make it appear
that the world continues outside the
frame by having the surrounding
environment spill into the frame so
we'll rearrange the set or deliberately
bring in things to be cropped starting
with the table a counter in the
background some foreground and by
placing some extras over the edge of the
frame making the scene part of the
limitless world
open framings are also useful when we
need to make a few characters look like
a lot here we want to make 15 extras
look like a crowd and using a slightly
wide angle lens the framing is about
closed with all the extras in the shot
we get the feeling we're seeing exactly
15 extras and not a crowd if we tighten
the shot they spill over the edge but it
still feels like we're seeing the whole
thing what we should do instead is
create an intensely populated shot with
enough spill over the edges that we
believe the environment looks the same
so we'll start by staging the characters
deeper and closer together and use a
longer lens which automatically makes
the frame or open at the same time
compressing the space we then make sure
to fill in any gaps around the edges so
the world is infinite with crowd sound
effects added this can be quite
convincing finally open and close
framings can effectively be mixed within
a single shot here the man is waiting to
talk to the woman about a serious Aaron
some paperwork so the framing is closed
on her in the papers but open on the man
and we don't know what state of mind is
in as we clean up we gradually find out
in the next number of chapters will run
down some simple geometric shapes to
align cameras and characters by these
shapes are not goals by themselves but
they can be an aid in structuring
coverage because once we spot a shape
and has seen we have a set of techniques
ready to go with that shape placing
cameras at right angles can be a useful
alternative to over the shoulders when
the characters are standing at angles to
each other as we cut between the cameras
each shot is a frontal view of the
character and focus and decide to go the
other making each shot personal to each
character putting the cameras out here
we're doing the same thing but from
outside the action the side view is now
the main view on each character whether
or not the station right angles is a
style choice but it can be effective
when characters are also arranged in
right angles this happens surprisingly
often hear the man is trying to
communicate with a woman but she's
keeping to herself so let's put in one
camera for her and a right angle camera
for them both
let's do a close shot version of the
last camera as well
starting in the single shot on the woman
this layout gives us very expressive
coverage to edit from the main benefit
of right angle cameras is that they very
naturally isolate characters and can
make shots more individual our cameras
are placing cameras outward from a
central point this can be manageable way
to cover scenes that easily have many
lines like this scene where the
characters are sitting around a table
the philosophy is to a mall cameras out
from the center but in reality will be
backing up most of the cameras to get a
better framing so starting with a shot
on the man in the suit will put in a
camera for the women and one for the men
let's also do a camera on the blue woman
and one on the blue man since we're
staying within all lines the coverage
makes sense at least in theory
practically cutting between 360 degrees
of cameras can sometimes feel like we're
twisting our next for that reason that
can be a good idea to limit the ark and
editing and never cut around in a full
circle so we'll avoid cutting from this
camera to this camera
instead will hinge on the man in the
suit to get back and forth as he seems
to be the moderator in the scene anyway
as in choosing a major coverage angle
starting coverage outward from a central
area is a good strategy because it
creates less line issues with parallel
cameras all cameras are shooting in the
same direction
this produces very two-dimensional
coverage that can be a style in itself
parallel cameras can work great on a
limited set that doesn't allow a lot of
freedom to pick angles here we really
only need a back wall but since every
shot is from the same angle spatial
continuity is harder to maintain
keeping the space consistently in front
of the characters helps we're keeping
the moderator in the center which also
helps we additionally set up some
cameras to create overlapping groups in
a scene like this where spatial
continuity is easily a problem it can be
a good idea to shoot a full master
because the ability to cut back into a
master at any time will be useful in
editing character arrangements often
naturally fall into shapes that resemble
letters of the alphabet like I ALU and
oh it's sometimes considered a rule to
actually staged characters according to
these shapes but that can sometimes seem
staged our goal here is merely to have a
library of possible camera plots ready
for when we find ourselves and shapes
that are close to them which happens
often the eye shape is the simplest one
and has the characters arranged in a
straight line to character dialog is
often automatically a nice shape and is
easily covered in this election of
reverse shots and perhaps a master when
more characters are added to the
straight-line the best approaches to
think in terms of creating various
groupings and pivoting on certain
characters to help blue the scene
together so let's create some groups
starting with the three shot here and
reverse three-shot to match let's also
create two over the shoulders here for
dialogue between the woman in the red
man at some point the woman turns and
we'll set up to reverse shots for this
dialogue as well let's also add a
close-up on her
we set up the camera so that the woman
can be used as a pivot as we cut between
the closer shot she's the common
denominator between the two major groups
it's a matter of taste how much coverage
to add this scene is over covered as it
is there's no formula for which groups
to create because it depends on what the
scene is about but the sooner we can
make the selection the less will have to
shoot the shape is the same regardless
which way the characters are facing so
if we face them outwards we should be
able to use the same coverage with no
change here we're first cutting back and
forth between the reverses in the first
group we pivot on the woman as we go to
the second group and the other reverse
the eye shape appears within most other
shapes so anytime we want some local
coverage we can treat that part of the
scene as such here the three lineup
characters are an obvious i shape so
we'll go in and create some subgroups of
the parts of the conversation that we're
interested in
whether or not to deliberately stage in
a shape like this is optional but doing
so makes planning shots extremely easy
here two characters are together in one
is at a distance
still we place them in a line to make
coverage very straightforward the a
shape consists of three characters
arranged in any kind of triangle and is
a shape that appears in one form or
another in the vast majority of scenes
so it's extremely useful to have camera
plots at hand for it the easiest way to
cover this is a series of reverse shots
in various sizes starting with an
external reverse covering all three and
a matching reverse here let's also do an
internal reverse on the woman an
internal rivers to shot on the men and a
close-up for each of the men four now
we're really only using one line and
since all the cameras are on the same
side we can cut freely between them
the only two cameras that don't cut well
together the close-ups on the men
because they're nearly identical we're
trying to distract attention from this
by having the background be different in
each shot but it's still a fairly jerky
cut simply bridging the cup with a
different shot solves it
so we're basically covering it is
regular dialogue except one side has two
characters but we don't have to be stuck
on one side of the line if the matter to
have dialogue will put in a reverse pair
for that which creates another line here
this camera is easy to get to because
it's out with the other cameras but
cutting to this camera across any number
of potential lines and we need to hinge
in and out of it
starting in the original cameras the
most logical choice is to hinge through
the reverse that's already on our side
of the current line as soon as we've cut
through it going to the Far camera seems
logical
for getting back out all of these
cameras are technically on the right
side of the new line but since we still
remember the previous line it's better
to hinge back as well
so starting in the Far camera we go back
to the hinge from where we can cut to
any of the original cameras but the
scene actually has some built-in hinges
already if we forget about the woman for
a moment both the internal two shot on
the men and each of the close-ups are
already in a master relationship to the
second line so for coming from external
dialogue and we want to go to the far
camera the two-shot could be just as
useful a hinge an issue here though is
that in this shot the line were coming
from is still fresh in our memory and we
need to wait a little as we get used to
the new line before cutting to the Far
camera
so using the new reverse to hinge is
still the better solution
with the a shape a little wider were
likely to want to do dialogue between
the central character in each of the
other characters the simplest way to get
them covered is to place three internal
cameras outward from the center which
will allow us to cut the scene in any
order but doing external reverse pairs
a little trickier will first put in a
pair for the red man and the woman
replacing the pair on this side of their
lines so the internal cameras can work
this close ups but also because it keeps
us inside the action if we put the
cameras out here we separate the two
characters in the dialogue would be more
private out here we wouldn't be able to
use the internal cameras
let's place another reverse for the two
men also inside the action the easiest
way to connect all the cameras and the
scene is to use the red man's clothes up
as a hinge from here we can get to all
the other cameras we get easily into the
external shot on the woman the reverse
on the and back into the
close-up we get easily into the external
shot on the Blue Man the reverse on the
red man and back into the close-up since
these two cameras are on the same side
of both lines we can also go directly
between them cutting between them the
red men switches sides in the frame but
since we understand it is to overlapping
groups it makes sense
going between the two other external
reverses naturally won't work starting
the first one the jump across two lines
is very distracting but let's go ahead
and look at what happens if we place one
of the reverse pairs outside the
dialogue here we have almost no way to
get into these reverses so this camera
is the only choice for a hinge from the
hinge let's look at the two only cutting
options starting with this one will then
be pivoting on the red men to the
similar reverse on the woman he stays in
the same part of the frame and the two
other characters simply replace each
other this can get jumpy if the shots
don't look different enough so let's
bring in some background giving back the
cut makes more sense but can still be a
little on the edge because the shots are
so similar hinging to the other reverses
a smoother cut but causes us to leave
around more which can sometimes be
startling as well
as we go from one reverse to one on a different line we're
still pivoting on the man there's no
preference here because both work and
it's a choice we can make an editing our
only concern when shooting is to make
sure to build in a hinge
if we want to master coverage of the a
shape thing that works great is to
place one line straight down the center
and position the master on it and also a
mirror on the other side cutting back
and forth both cameras are exactly
centered and each shot is a mirror of
the other which can be interesting
coverage by itself but the beauty is the
justice with a close-up on the man we
can get to and from any camera the scene
from these masters the l-shape is a
variation of the a shapewear two
characters are lumped together in one is
further away
given everything we've already looked at
this should be extremely easy to cover
with the main conversation being between
the women will put into reverses their
on this side of the line to be near any
conversation with the man this camera
will probably be are hints so we'll put
in an internal shot on the man on this
side of the line let's also create an
internal two shot on the women to mirror
when the conversation turns to the man
if the red woman is mainly doing the
talking will put into close-up on her to
marry his close-up directly if this is a
short scene we've already over covered
it but let's top it off with an external
reverse here and an external reverse
here
so starting in the external reverses
between the women were cutting back and
forth since this is the main dialogue
out in the hinge we suddenly cut to the
close-up on the man as he makes a
comment in the two-shot on the women
they turn to Him here we do a bit of
external reverse dialogue between the
two groups at some point the
conversation becomes more personal
between the man and the red woman so we
cut between his clothes up again and her
close-up back in this external reverse
the women stand for a bit then again
turn to each other we cut back into the
hinge and then the reverse on that line
back in the hinge we cut to the man's
close up again for a silent reaction
with the l-shape let's introduce a
unique way of cutting across the line
since the l-shaped closely resembles the
a shape the main difference is that the
dialogue centers around two characters
with the third occasionally
participating in this case the blue man
with two internal reverses on the red
man and woman will put a third camera
for the blue man out here still on our
side of the line and a close-up on him
as well obviously will be able to cut
between these three cameras bringing in
the blue man with this camera using that
as a hinge we can cut to the close-up
back into the hinge and out to the
reverse dialogue that's doing it by the
book but the unique thing about this
setup is that we don't need the hinge
starting a reverse dialogue between the
red man and woman will be skipping the
hinge and cutting straight to the
close-up on the blue man as we cut it
makes just as much sense as it would
have using a hinge even though we're
jumping the line cutting back in a
reverse dialogue the blue man was
looking at the red man so we'll cut back
to him
the reason it works is that in the
close-up we really don't know how far
back we are we could produce almost the
exact same shot by being back here with
a longer focal length so even though
we're jumping the mainline we don't
necessarily know it
this is useful because it allows us to
do close-ups on all the characters on
the other side of the line here we are
again cutting back and forth and reverse
dialogue between the red man and woman
but the close-up will be on the blue
woman deeper into the scene we cut to
her for a comment but the close-up is
likely to be perceived as being on our
even if it isn't it's close to
being legal and if we previously
established geography with
get away with it
this technique doesn't look pretty on
paper but it works and is invaluable
when we're dealing with a lot of
characters
in this chapter at the UW ino
shapes which are very similar and can be
handled using identical techniques the
u-shape has two rows of any number of
characters and one Center character to
complete the U
if we remove the center character we're left with tow II shapes
across from each other if we bring him
back and a character at the other end of
the table we have a full circle oro
shape the main difficulty here is that
we're dealing with a lot of characters
and with dialogue crisscrossing the
scene we need a way to manage what is
easily a very complex seen a thing to
notice is that it's generally easier to
cover the scene from inside and out
words if these three characters are
having dialogue this creates three lines
and staying within them we can cut back
and forth as we please
as soon as we move outside and do over
the shoulders will be crossing lines in
every cut and we'll have to work out a
plan for hinging
the second thing to notice is that with
a master of the scene getting coverage
and managing lines becomes much more
forgiving because the geography is fresh
in our minds and if we later find
ourselves entangled in lines or lost
orientation there's no faster way to get
out there with the master even if it
means crossing a line on the way out
the third thing to notice is the doing
groupings that include more than one
character is much better than doing
single shots on each character not just
because we have less cameras to shoot
but because overlapping characters and
scenery make spatial continuity easier
to maintain this means that even if the
red man is mainly doing the talking we
frame the shot to include the extra next
to him and this will also be her shot if
she is dialogue< last thing to notice is
that the dialogue is usually between
very few characters and the rest
function as extras so if we remove the
others we can easily cover the scene
using techniques we've already looked at
hear the dialogue centers around the man
in the suit and the blue woman with
occasional comments from the others
so let's try the line crossing l-shape
we looked at the last chapter will
simply put into reverses for them a
master and insert on the blue man in the
red woman and an insert on the red man
in the surrounding extras starting in
the Master will cut to one reverse on
the main dialogue and the other then
sneak across the line to this shot and
to this shot back in Reverse dialogue
and so on finding a shape based on the
characters that really matter quickly
give structure to the coverage and
adding all other cameras according to
these lines gives us more than enough to
cover most scenes with
but let's look at a different technique
that can handle anything regardless of
how complex it is when the dialogue is
all over the place and those simple
technique will solve it
the trick is to draw every conceivable lying
and then place cameras the work for as
many lines as possible
this will temporarily make the diagram
like overwhelming the obvious lines come
from dialogue here the CEO at the end of
the table talks with the blue woman he
also talked with a red man and with the
red woman who also talked with each
other at some point the blue woman
comments on something the red woman is
saying and at some point the blue man
comments and something the red man is
saying after which the CEO as a remark
other lines come from reactions or from
anywhere there's attention between
characters this extra will have a
reaction to something the red man says
which creates a line here and this extra
will have a reaction to something the
red woman says for the beginning of the
scene where this line is active we'll
start with a wide over-the-shoulder on
the woman a close-up honor and a
close-up on the CEO which we place like
this so it'll work for dialogue with the
other characters as well
for the main dialogue between the CEO
and the red man and woman which happens
within this triangle will add two more
outward cameras and all three will cut
smoothly as long as we're inside the
triangle
for the dialogue between the red man and
woman will also add a pair of external
reverses which will need to hinge in and
out of because we'll be crossing these
lines for the remaining cameras let's
try to be a little wider to build an
overview of the scene while the red man
is having dialogue with the red woman
the blue man makes a comment so that
camera will need to be between these two
active lines will put it far enough back
to capture the CEOs comments which
follow immediately after again back in
the dialogue between the red man and
woman the blue woman makes a comment and
with these two active lines the camera
will need to be somewhere in this area
will again make it wide enough to also
get some facial reaction from this extra
which would otherwise have been a
separate shot
finally this extra makes a few grimaces
during the conversation and since we're
coming from the red man's dialogue will
put a camera here on our side of both
lines
if we now take out the lines every
cameras carefully place to be as useful
as possible this staging layout is
completely tailor-made to the scene and
if the dialogue were different we have
to reblock it after we've cut dialogue
between the CEO and the blue woman the
CEO talks to the red man after which she
talks to the red woman the red man makes
a sudden comment and the woman turns her
attention after this we cut between the
external reverses which shows their
seating arrangements a little clearer
now we want to get back to the CEO is he
listens to their conversation but we
need to get back inside the main
triangle first the CEO listens and over
on the woman now the blue woman makes a
comment the red man says something to
the red woman now the Blue Man injects a
comment the red men turns torm in
response the extra shot from before
sends a secret signal to the Blue Man
the red man makes another comment the
extra at the end of the table frowns
from here the red woman makes another
comment
the CEO turns to the blue woman and on
it goes the technique of drawing all
lines in the scene and picking cameras
that fit with as many lines as possible
allows us to cover scenes with even an
absurd number of lines the u-shape is a
very typical shape but the way we
covered it had more to do with the fact
that we had a lot of characters
this is why if we take out the CEO and
are left with a double II shape another
typical shape the method is the same
or if we occupy both ends of the table in a
no shape when the characters are very
close together we have no choice but to
cover them from outside the action
what will look at here applies equally
well to any shape but will work with the
O'Shea because it's completely enclosed
if we removed one character it would be
u-shape and we would have a much
easier time getting inside the dialogue
maybe