In this lesson, let's talk about narrative and cinematography.
Narrative means having clarity
about the story we want to tell
and cinematography means how we can tell this story
through images. Let's start.
Let's quickly analyze this image
We're going to ask
which of these three definitions corresponds to this image.
So, what do we see?
A creature, we had already seen it in another lesson,
round in its form, in the finishes of its face
in the general pose of its body,
and this Roundness seems to echo
the natural flow of the elements within this swamp.
Vertical and curved. Vertical and curved.
It seems that he and the swamp are one.
And, against this, we have the rigid
geometric and diagonal shapes pointing towards it from the vehicle.
This is what we can see. There's another thing I would like you to see
and it's these elements of the character.
It is the element that I find more fun, original and well thought out
of this image. A rich chela or a coffee.
you have in your hands, you can see here, it's a glass.
And he's hanging on this branch.
Without explaining or telling them more, I let you play this game a little bit.
Which of these three definitions is a correct summary of this image.
A creature discovers a car in a swamp.
A car is sinking front of a monster in a swamp.
A creature reacts to the arrival of a car sinking into its swamp.
The one that I consider the only one that defines well this image is the last one.
A creature reacts to the arrival of a car sinking into its swamp.
Even though they look similar, the three definitions are different in the order
of the elements and in
who puts the center of the definition.
If we put the car first,
a car is sinking front of a monster in a swamp,
pretend that the car is the center of the image,
is the protagonist of the image; However, if we put this image
in black and white and if we reduce, as we have already done,
the tones, we see that the car almost disappears, actually ,
the monster is the visual center of this image.
So, our definition has clearly to set
which is the history of it, in priority,
with elements that are articulated around.
It seems a subtlety or, maybe, an excess
of being picky on my part,
sorry for not saying it better; however, it is very important,
clearer the definition of our image before we start it
more success we will have.
If I make this image and I think the car
is the protagonist, that is the story of the car,
and that the creature is a secondary element in the story
of the car, then, I'm going to tend to favor it.
So, highlight more or have more visibility,
but, right now, the image rotates around the creature.
It's the story of the creature and his reaction
that's why we emphasize about his body posture,
and his expression, the expression on his face,
reacting, yes to the secondary element, which is the car
sinking in its swamp.
And this, the language of form tells us.
Here is an opposition relationship
between a character and his environment
and an intruder, but the protagonist,
the first element of the definition in our story
is this character and that is the most important thing
because the clarity in the definition of their images guarantees them
one, the success, that their images really reflect
what they mean and, two, avoid frustrations
because the more ambiguous our definition
more we lose time and get frustrated
because we are not achieving what we want.
In general, it is not that we do not know how to do
but that we have not raised it well.
So, we are in a limbo
where, even though we continue to dedicate time
to an image, it is going to be frustrating
because we do not get to the definition of our phrase.
Not because we do not know how to do but because we do not know
what this phrase is, we do not know what the in this image.
Let's analyze some shots from the movie The Incredibles.
I invite you, in addition, to this small analysis that we are going to do.
Go visit an article incredibly well done
of this site called Flooby Nooby that I'm putting right now,
called The Cinematography of The Incredibles
excellent article where thoroughly down
the main rules of the cinematography
of the movie "The Incredibles".
With cinematography, we understand how we make images,
both with light and with frames,
we are going to focus much more on framing,
to be able to tell a story with our images.
We started the first images of "The Incredibles"
itself this movie is amazing in terms of narration, according to me
but the first elements are basically the zero point.
Regarding cinematographic narrative, what is an interview.
The movie starts with a camera at the height of the characters
that is not telling us anything about what they are,
their level of power or things that we're going to see right after,
but nothing else focuses on them.
It's pretty good as intro because is the story of these characters,
they are the protagonists and their situation
is what we are interested in throughout this movie.
After this, you do not have necessarily chronological order,
I'm just going to show you types of shots,
and where they are inserted in a story, in a narrative project
and what is its function above all.
After having the interview that almost does not have cinematography.
However, it is a cinematographic decision not to have cinematography
nor to put the character in any situation
or position of power or weakness,
we have the "establishings", which are more open shots
with a slightly more neutral camera
This, for example, is a "establishing" a little more active,
where we are already inside the street, but, in general, they are shots
by far that are destined to establish
a place and the size ratio
or the position that the character within this place.
Here we establish nothing more than the calm of this day,
to be able to generate the contrast with the car of Mr. Incredible
that arrives at full speed.
The "establishing" is a tool to put the character in context
or to talk about a context in general.
Let's see what we're going to go from the macro to the micro.
The "establishing" is the macro.
It's what allows us to set the general image
of the scene we're going to see.
Next, let's see the action shots.
The action shots in general are faster
in terms of changes, to "cuts", which are shots that last less time.
In general, the legibility is very clear
of what is or is happening
in general, there is a lot of action in the lines as we have seen
in the languages of form, justly to give dynamism.
In general, the flow is very moved
so, here we have this flow,
these lines, look at all the movement that there is in this image
nothing else to draw a couple of lines ; Those are action shots.
I show you all these shots so that we learn
to make them and so that when arrives at the next stage
which is to create the iconic image,
the "concept" of our history,
us know how to use this cinematographic language
or let us know at least what kind of images we are doing.
So, following, here we have the action shots,
are more free in the sense that can happen many things
since they are supported by the movement.
We can use cinematography to say something about the characters
and the power situation they are in.
In general, throughout the movie, but especially in the first part,
when he is at the peak of his power,
Mr. Incredible always is presented in cameras
they see from the bottom up,
we call contrapicado; So, we're seeing a little more
of the lower part of the nose, for example.
If you do not know if we are in a pitted or contrapicado,
in contrapicado, we see the lower parts of the pits,
the lower lip is revealed, the base of the nose also,
the base of the grid and the lower part of the roofs.
This means that we put in the
position of being a child in front of an adult.
We're looking from the bottom up. That's a resource to give power
to a figure, It's a little less exaggerated,
that is, we're not seeing so much the nose but we still see
the base of the nose. A neutral angle would be to put the camera
at eye level, but here we are not at eye level,
we are at the level of the hands, which are more or less at the level of the shoulders
which allows us to see from below
upwards, towards Mr. Incredible.
The fact that all lines
to the character, also gives him power.
The fact that he is in a centric position
in the shot, also gives him power.
The fact that the whole environment
seems to have been pushed aside
to let him clean the world.
Here around him we have nothing,
when they have a tree, when she is interrupted
by buildings, etc.
The fact that the lines made by the eyes of these characters
the same arm, the hat
all this, the same position of the cat
points exaggeratedly towards the hero, gives it strength.
Same thing here, although in the shot
this character is smaller than the other
actually, again
we're seeing from the bottom up,
the camera here is more or less on the floor
then, he is extolling this character.
Again here, all these diagonals that take us
directly to this character.
These different resources are to empower someone.
Here instead, we can see an inferiority relation
where we do have arrows that guide someone
but, two things:
the first thing is that this character it is small
front of all the other elements that seem to be on top of it
then, it is in a situation of weakness
but we are also looking down.
If we follow these lines of flight
the horizon is up.
A little bit lower because these lines have to converge.
So, more or less our horizon is here and it's already down,
we're looking at it as if we were the adult.
We're in a choppy situation
Same thing when the camera is at eye level
and is small in the frame and the other character is super big
then, here is a relationship of inferiority.
Here, again, same thing. We are looking down towards her.
It is worth mentioning that in the evolution of this shot, which is very interesting,
Elastic Girl uses her power to climb to the level of Mr. Incredible
and thus change this tendency that the We are looking from the bottom up.
This shot called "Over the shoulder"
is often used to give a relationship between two people.
And when a person is notoriously smaller than the other
in general, they go up, put them on a little box or go out like this,
so they do not feel so much this difference.
We continue with the relationship, but between an object and a character.
Here what we are going to do, by putting very close elements
in a plane and sizing them with the character
is to show the importance of one or another object.
In this case the child's boots are very important
they will be for the story.
In this case, the fact that the camera is inside the car
is to show us the screen of Mr. Incredible.
In this case, the fact that we are inside the car of the bad guys
is to show that we are seeing
the story from their point of view.
And here we show it too.
Finally, we have here this idea of relationship
with a shot between a character and his element,
then, here when changing the shot
we show the difference between Mr. Incredible little
before this event and the immense of what he faces.
Finally, we close with this: the language of form.
We can show the difference between two people
or their divergences or discrepancies
with languages of opposite form.
Again, I invite you to see this article
that I was telling you about Flooby Nooby.
Very good to know a little more of all this.
Here I gave you a very small summary
about what our tools to make images that make sense.
We have already come a long way in our project,
we have learned to make designs, and to capture them in images
even to make images that tell stories with the last lesson.
In the next lesson we are going to add a new layer, a new dimension
to our visual production.
Let's talk about color and how with it we can also tell stories.