欢迎来到“电影场景分镜头大师高端课程”
我们的目标是通过接下来的6 张DVD 开发一套完整的摄影机工作的镜头语言
我们在整个分镜头教学过程中采用三维动画
因为三维动画提供了 摄影机镜头语言实验的最理想的操作环境
它所表达的清晰度是我们无法从真实环境中获得
同时还使我们避开了和图表或故事板的纠缠
我们即刻就能看到每一种技术的结果
绿色的物体是摄影机 简单的悬挂锁定在摄影机的镜头位置
在第三和第四集
我们将在操作的环境中展示 轨道拍摄和升降拍摄的具体方法
在动画教程中 我们会看到许多台摄影机同时出现在同一场景中 这些只是表示摄影机的“机位”
在现实中我们通常只用一台或两台摄影机拍摄
镜头前面出现绿色扇状区域 表示该摄影机正在拍摄
当我们切换到另一台摄影机的时候 绿色扇状区域也随之切换 绿色扇状区域的角度代表摄影机的视角
我们用3D动画模特 贯穿分镜头和场景调度课程的始终
3D模特是与我们在进行场景调度和分镜头过程中 与之共事的最佳演员
他们不仅极具耐性而且面无表情
摄影机运动和人物之间的形体语言结合 所传达出的情感
肯定是来自于摄影机的作为而不会是来自人物
当把摄影机的工作和演员的表演分离之后
我们如何将思想和感情附加到角色身上
以及如何用摄影机的整体工作 在银幕上创造出情感就变得非常清楚了
这个课程是一个以最高目标 创造出来的的雄心勃勃的杰作
本课程是基于这样的假设 即“真正的掌握”不是来自于只知道一些热门的动作
而是来自对每一项技术的深刻理解
所以在接下来的六册中
我们将要做的就是将摄影机分解成 一个个简单的组件
然后再把它们重新组合在一起
制作这样的课程的难度 在于每个人所知道的技术都不尽相同
所以在这个课程中
我们将尝试从基础开始 涵盖文字上关于摄影机工作的所有知识
这意味着我们毫不怀疑你们已经知道了很多 特别是在开始的部分
如果是这种情况那么就当作是一次知识更新
该课程的初衷是 将所有可以想象得到的摄影机技术集大成
每个人都值得反复观看
以达到在驾驭每一项技术的时候 都能驾轻就熟 如同人的第二本能
通常我们一到现场就懵了
原先设计的分镜头计划 变成了一组松散混乱的镜头系列 然后就寄希望剪辑师能将镜头缝合
为了在最后的关键时刻避免这种盲目性 我们不仅需要知道每一项技术
并且要非常了解他们 以至于我们可以在不加思考的情况下 就能熟练地使用它们
所以建议看完本课程后 继续一遍又一遍地反复观看
带着声音或者关掉声音反复观看 直到将这些技术镌刻在意识中 直到自如驾驭的程度
第一和第二册 讲述的是固定机位的场景分镜头
我们将尽我们所能不移动摄影机
在第3和第4卷 我们使用摄影机运动技术 开发全面的摄影机运动语言
在第5和第6卷 我们开发了一种有效的方法
可以为绝大多数场景分镜头 和场面调度创造出色的效果
这个课程的最终目标 是尽可能使导演工作变得直观和有趣
略有讽刺意味的是
本课程所具有的非常强大的技术 远远超出了一般的需求范围
本课程的目的决不是要创造一套 必须遵循的僵化或乏味的规则
而是要对以往所有文字记载的镜头语言知识 的深入领会 从中获得力量
本课程的基本假设是： 你会将所有这些镜头语言的技术 创造性地运用到你的创作之中
让我们从基础知识开始吧
在接下来的几章中
我们将会介绍一些构成镜头的基础知识
从镜头的景别开始 各种景别都有相应的名字以便沟通
全景在画框中要包括脚
中全景比全景更紧 在膝盖附近裁剪
牛仔镜头来源与西部片 构图要包括牛仔挂枪的位置
中景 刚好在腰部以下一点的位置裁剪 之后就是几个近景镜头
首先是中近景 刚好在腰部上一点的位置裁剪
近景在人物的胸部位置裁剪
之后是几个特写镜头 首先是宽特写镜头 全特写
中特写镜头 最后是大特写镜头
镜头景别的名字太多 且含义又不确切
所以很多人并不认同 虽然大家都使用相同的词语 但是对其含义的理解却不尽相同
人物是经常移动的 那么这些词语就变得无意义了
所有的镜头景别都是个大概 这里我们以中近景为例
表达对镜头景别要求的更快，更精确的方式 是简单地走到角色跟前
直接指示构图的位置
当选择构图景别时 按照惯例要避免在腿部关节处裁剪
这个构图正好在膝盖处剪裁
看起来像是被截肢了
所以我们要在大腿中间位置裁剪
如果我们需要宽一点最好用全景
因为在小腿处剪裁 看上去好像是站在什么东西里面
在脚踝上剪裁也会是同样的效果
当我们有选择的时候 这个区域是最不宽容的地方 应合理地避免在此处剪裁
选择镜头景别的依据取决于 我们对角色的认同度 和要与角色建立什么样的亲密度
如果她是非常个人（个性）的并是开放的 （如果是想表现她的个性或是她的个人感受）
景别就不应该这么宽
如果她在谈论一般的事情 就不合适这么接近
除非有关于她非常个人的含义
如果我们和角色并不熟络（因为熟络需要时间） 这样过于接近会感到突兀
在一个故事的叙事过程中 开始观众并不认识角色
所以一开始倾向于全景 然后中景
再到更近一点的景别
随着我们逐渐认识角色
我们愿意更接近角色 而不是感觉受到“强迫”
我们可以省下大特写镜头 用在故事发展到和他们的关系更个人的时候
摄影机后退 我们变得越来越和角色疏远
当她在画框中身体变得更小 周围有更多空间后
她开始显得孤独或微不足道
咱们快速走一便基本的镜头类型 这是单人镜头
这是双人镜头
这是三人镜头 四人 等等…… 插入镜头是在场景中的某局部的特写镜头
POV或者叫主观镜头 是从角色的当时的位置所看到的场景
是角色的视点透视
最基本的（两人）对话镜头设置 是两个匹配的过肩镜头OTS
两个匹配的特写镜头 每个角色两个机位
这些成对的镜头的技术名称 叫“内反拍镜头”和“外反拍镜头”
在二人之间内的机位叫“内反拍”镜头 在外面拍的过肩镜头叫“外反拍”镜头
通常的剪辑模式是开始于外反拍镜头之间切换
在对话深入到某个时候
转为内反拍镜头之间切换
如果我们想再变得不那么个人化 我们可以回到外部的镜头
我们可以很容易地给每个角色不同的景别 （用以控制观众对人物的认同度）
这样是我们更多地认同这个女士 男士次之
如果将景别分配反过来 现在我们更多地认同这个男士
女士次之
另一种方式是通过控制摄影机 距离视线（关系线）的距离 来控制观众对人物的认同度
摄影机放在这里 我们距离视线很远 更加脱离对话
随着相机靠近眼线 我们变得更加参与进对话
我们离视线越远 镜头就越客观，越“非个人的”
当我们靠近视线 我们变得更加参与其中
不要轻易的太靠近视线 将这种机位留给非常“个人的”场景
靠近视线的特写镜头比过肩的特写更优雅
所以从过肩镜头开始 这样就可以离视线远一些
当我们切近时，我们也正在靠近视线
并变得更加个人化
人物周围的几个机位拍摄的镜头 景别要有充分的区别 以避免有跳切的感觉
这两个机位拍出的镜头景别太接近
我们从全景镜头切到近景镜头 视觉上感到颠簸
这是因为两个镜头的景别区别不大
因此我们将全景镜头机位放置更远一点 从全景开始
剪辑是流畅的 因为我们理解这是“剪辑”
景别区别很大的两个镜头相接 也会产生跳动 但不是错误
从大全景开始 切到特写会感到突兀
但是在视觉上是说得通的
当我们需要在人物周边不同的角度上 设置多台摄影机位时
其镜头景别要有足够的区别 角度也是同样的道理
如果我们在两个角度很接近的镜头之间切换 也会得到同样的颠簸感
经验法则规定两个镜头相接 其景别或者角度的差别要大于20%
这是最低的要求
主镜头有几个含义
第一个含义是用全景覆盖整场戏
这场戏我们从主镜头开场 用外反拍镜头拍摄男士
内反拍镜头拍摄红女士 用外反拍镜头拍摄蓝女士 两位女士出画
然后切回主镜头 男士独自留在屋子里
我们可以把主镜头放置在任何地方 只要我们像其他摄影机一样放置在动作的同一侧
但是当我们切回主镜头时 存在潜在的连续性的问题
因为演员一天的表演总是在变
而近景镜头可以很容易掩盖这些问题
如果我们非常清楚 这场戏只是在开头和结尾才需要全景镜头
但是仍然还要拍主镜头的话 是对包括演员精力在内的资源浪费
我们可以只是把头尾部分作为全景镜头拍摄
以取代惯例的主镜头
主镜头的第二个作用是为一组对切镜头建立关系
如果主观镜头表示一个人（第一人称）正在看
而过肩镜头则表示第二个人（第二人称）所看到的 而这个全景主镜头则表示第三人（第三人称）
剪辑所做的最大量的工作是 控制观众如何识别角色
有一个将二者分离的中立的机位是非常有用的
主镜头的第三个含义是场面调度长镜头
精心编排的摄影机运动贯穿整场戏
在这个镜头里摄影机被周围的人群包围其中
像演员一样随着从后面入画的人群被推进场景
这里主镜头是作为主要的 甚至是唯一的覆盖场景的镜头
镜头景别大小取决于人物和摄影机之间的距离 以及镜头的焦距
焦距的缩放改变镜头视角的大小
这张简图表示了光线进入镜头 并投射到35毫米胶片（CCD）上
当我们推镜头的时候 是将镜片逐渐远离胶片缩小了视角
这被称作长（焦）镜头
移动镜片靠近胶片扩大了镜头的视角， 所以这被称为短镜头
如果摄影机非常接近人物并用短镜头拍摄
或者摄影机远离人物但用长焦镜头拍摄
当我们在两个镜头之间切换时 看到的景别是相同的
但是其透视关系是非常不同的 焦距造成了人物或者物体相对尺寸的巨大差异
这是常用的过肩镜头
但随着我们拉远摄影机 再长焦推上去 人物看上去似乎一样大小
但是透视关系发生改变 画面变得更加平坦
这被称为空间的压缩 是镜头景别大小的基本选择的条件
在短焦镜头近距离拍摄的镜头中
人物之间的距离 和红衣男到摄影机的距离一样
但是把摄影机后移改用长镜头远距离拍摄的镜头
人物之间的距离只是人物到摄影机距离的分数
所以相对于摄影机的距离 人物之间的距离几乎是微不足道
焦距所要做的第一件事
是控制人物之间的疏密程度
这是一个滑动的比例
如果我们用短焦近距离拍摄 人物似乎疏远了
如果我们后移摄影机用长焦镜头拍摄 人物似乎更接近了
第二 镜头使我们能够以不同于人眼的方式看世界
如果我们想要一个镜头看起来像现实 我们将使用和人类具有相同视角的镜头
35毫米的胶片的标准镜头是50毫米 （CMOS 36mm*24mm）
但是我们让镜头更有趣 模仿人的眼睛故意远离镜头
这里我们使用一个25毫米的镜头
场景空间有被放大了的幻觉 期间所有东西之间的距离都增加了
这是使用120mm拍摄的镜头
创造了一个紧张的气氛 并用浅景深突出我们感兴趣的人物
长焦和广角镜头比真实表现空间的标准镜头 更容易创造“生产价值”
因为图像变成了解读而不仅仅是记录
第三，长焦距压制了我们对现场布局的理解
这可能是一个有效的故事讲述工具
这个是标准镜头拍摄的 我们很容易辨别出角色之间准确的空间关系
我们后移摄影机使用200mm镜头
长焦压平了透视关系 使场面的布局更难理解
这要么使情况更加混乱
要么在混乱的环境突出单一人物
迷失方向有时是一个目标 因为只要我们知道了整个布局场景就失去了神秘感
为普通对话场景选择合适的镜头焦段
因为不规则的镜头往往会 在人物之间产生太多的尺寸差异
如果我们后移摄影机用长焦镜头拍摄 人物的大小甚至相差更多 气氛变得更加亲密
这是过肩镜头
用不规则的镜头拍摄的特写 令我们不自在地靠近人物
甚至感觉到我们正在拍摄的是她的鼻子 所以我们应该选择焦距长一点的镜头
将摄影机退后 得到的是一个扁平的透视和一个更宽容的镜头
在两个版本之间的前后切换
其透视关系上的差异是非常清楚的
这是由蓝女人的肩膀位置拍的特写 所以我们有时需要借用她的位置
在两台焦距很不同的摄影机之间切换 通常效果不好
当我们从一个普通的镜头切换到一个长焦距镜头时
情绪变化会非常突然 现实实景中的表现比3D环境中更明显
当我们用长焦镜头 构图很紧并跟随人物平摇拍摄时
切到一个规则的镜头似乎很奇怪 因为我们正在从一个压缩和联系紧密的镜头
切到一个普通的镜头
这是一个例外 短的镜头对全景镜头更自然
因为我们想要捕捉场景中更多的东西
而长焦镜头对近景镜头更自然 因为我们的目标是变得更有参与度
所以主镜头可能用可能是30mm焦距的镜头 以获得场景中更多的内容
当切到80mm特写镜头时 并不会感觉到焦距的突然变化
因为它有发生的原因
实在没有必要记住那么多的毫米数字
除了记得50毫米与人眼大致相同以外
数字越大焦距越长，数字越小焦距越短就行了
但是很值得注意的是 在短焦段焦距很小的变化会产生很大的视角效果
20毫米镜头和10毫米镜头之间有巨大的差异
但是190毫米和200毫米几乎没有区别
在本章中 我们将介绍 几种基本的值得养成习惯的构图技术
首先是三分法构图
在这个外反拍镜头中，没有给予任何人物优先权 我们正在用构图最有价值的那部分 拍摄男子的后脑勺
现在我们把这个画框分成三份
三分之二给女人 三分之一给男人
当我们在两个角色的镜头之间来回切换时 焦点成了画框的的主要部分
当特写镜头或内反拍镜头对切时
把框架的三分之二给予有焦点的人物
另外的三分之一空间留白
当我们在四台摄影机之间来回切换时 构图是平衡的
dividing the frame in thirds is a carryover from paintings and is not as much a rule
as 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 more open or available when they
have more space in front of them if we frame her like this instead the frame
cuts off her personal space and we're not being let in
here the frame cuts off the man's space so we're again not being let in
if we frame him like this instead he might be turned away from the other character
but we're being XXled into a space
that's one way to look at it but another way is to see it
is if we're framing either for the shared space between the characters
or 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 own the frame
here the man is very direct and center stagedXX so the most meaningful
place to put him 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 in 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 her eyes 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 angled completely flat on the crates we're 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 that perspective lines guide the eye through the frame
here the lines lead us towards the man
nothing makes this clearer than placing the character dead center in the frame
with all perspective line 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 are around eye level
placing the camera much lower we understand it is being low
so we don't perceive 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 we're 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 asked for a ceiling it's too late to put one in here one solution is to shoot it 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 we'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 the sky 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 it 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 we're high or low
here we're 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 reference is with foreground
as soon as we put the woman in the foreground our height is ten times as clear
as we move to around eye 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 in 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 on her the horizon line will be lower in the frame
if we're looking down on her the horizon line will be higher
the effect of this is that when the horizon line is above the eye
she appears submersed or suppressed
when the horizon line is below the eye she looks freer and more in command
in choosing a camera height eye 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 eye level
but if we're at eye-level we're also always tilting downwards
here we're at pure eye level but in order to put her eyes higher in the frame
we have to tilt down a little
so seen from the side we're shooting downwards
in order to more naturally place her eyes 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 we're again at eye level angle downwards
the lens again center a little lower placing as beneath eye level
the further we get away from the characters the more we should gravitate
towards waist level
here again eye level produces a very objective framing
being lower relaxes the perspective which creates a more filmake image
and also makes more sense to a theater audience
which is seated lower than the screen
finally it can be effective to adjust for the perspective lines that go from
eye to eye and chin to chin
if we nudge a little lower the perspective leads more elegantly from face to face
staging upwards and downwards is really the same a 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 and 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 and 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 half way
in between eye 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
eye line 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 levelled 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 eye line so she's more directly affected
while he's more detached
most people are familiar with the line or the 180 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 eye line but not necessarily
here one character's facing away so the eyeline doesn't apply
instead we'll 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 scene geography
that's created in the viewer's 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 th 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 hear someone by the door so her attention goes in that direction
putting the line here
we'll then set up another camera on the other side to cover the man walking over
as the woman looks we're expecting the man to be entering from the left
but as we pan with them 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 we're 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 criss-crossing
the scene as well as several characters moving around
first the red man talks to the blue woman so we'll put in two cameras
on this side of the line
then he talks to the red woman so we'll put in two cameras here
XXwe're in this camera as he walks to the red woman so this camera is now
on the wrong side of the line
as the man in the suit joins the conversation the cameras we put in
for that have to be on the side we're already on
where in this camera'sXXX 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's 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 and each line decides which
cameras we can and can't cut too
as we are moving cameras to the equation the scene can potentially
become uncuttable 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 work 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 to cross 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 and the line crosses us
most character movement forces line crosses which XXin turn two sides where
other cameras need to be so unless the scene is extremely simple
this is something we need to deal with
the other way's by camera movement anytime we do a camera move it's very
likely that we cross a 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 happen 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 as the woman walks to a new mark 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 and 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 reverses
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 camera and we're 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 hinge 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 know-worthyXXX 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 theXXX 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
simplier 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 we'll
basically have to putting cameras for every position have 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 love this is a calmer soap opera blocking were all cameras are
outside the scene in 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
the getting coverage is the processor putting in cameras for everything
we're interested in or might be interested in when editing
the simplest form of coverage is to start a scene in a master to establish
geography
and then putting cameras for everything we know or suspect will need in editing
here we're covering the characters but we can also pick shots for the phone
for body language or for any other part of the scene
starting in the master every subsequent cut is really an insert
on part of the scene
as we cut between the characters were depending more less on the scene
geography we got from the master
if we hadn't done a master their locations in relationships could be hard
to work out
the covering a scene is insert a master can make a scene see more stitched
together in less fluid
still it's a very normal way to get coverage though perhaps not the most
interesting
this step up from this is dad two shots
three shots and reverses to get variety into quickly shift perspective for scale
to the parts 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 100 cameras
at the same time wearing down the actors and shooting Rosa Rosa 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 at the scene
if the scene as long we need more shot sizes to keep it interesting in to tell
a story and editing
if it's short we can get away with only a couple and having lots shot sizes can
actually be distracting
it's a common conception the river shots have to match but this is really an
unnecessary creative limitation so let's take complete liberty in staging is seen
will start by leaving one external rivers intact the place in the other one
much lower
you be the judge what it means perhaps the further distance from the eyeline
gives us more secret an individual angle on him
but it cuts just as well
here were 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 were again in a low angle in this reverse
and behind the man's shoulder in this reverse
the point is the 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 the capture more the action
the coverage is not only more optimized it easier to deal with here we could
easily cover the scene in 10 to 15 cameras
let's just a place four cameras first an internal reverse on the Blue Man
then an external rivers on the red woman a shot that frames the blue man with a
man in the suit
and a shot that frames the two women
this is extremely compact staging the shots are friend 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
for close upon the red woman reusing 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 woman's dialogue were 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 is by grouping characters to emphasize
relationships
by grouping we shows together and who's not which brings meaning to the coverage
in this scene mornin 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 as attorney for the couple
since morning negotiation but first I'll creates two very clear group made above
each team on opposite sides to the negotiating table
so let's start by framing one camera for the businessman and his attorney
and another for the couple in their attorney coming between them
we show the members a beach group together in their group in opposite the
others
every show I can be a different grouping at 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 relationship here which will cover into over the shoulders
the Blue Man is disheartened 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 is your relationships is not a lot because sometimes we just won a
three shot if that's where the action is
but it can be a helpful and quick way to get meaningful coverage in fewer cameras
after the opening will come 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 continue the negotiation
the blue woman comes back with a remark the businessman in 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 had to the businessman as he enjoys his victory
we could go on and create as many relationships is 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 which shows in the
meeting going in
we don't cover everything and we don't need to
the spatial continuity is the technical name for the understanding at the scenes
layout that's created in the viewer's mind when we come between shots
from the various cameras to make up the coverage the viewer depends on being
able to mentally stage the scene together
here the two shots clue together and create the illusion of continuous pace
with the woman to the left and the man to the right
but in this case the choice Bengal's miss construct the wrong mental model at
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 in 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 in a
master has some significant drawbacks which will look at in the next chapter
honoring a line by itself be enough for the spatial orientation to make sense
when we come to 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 why the line works
no matter where we play scammers on this side the red men will always be left in
the blue woman will always be the right
even cutting between tide over the shoulders were angle is changing nearly
180 degrees the man is to the left in the woman is to the right
so the mental model is really made up with knowing what's to the left and
right
the problem is that if we're suddenly on the other side of the line the man is
now to the right and the woman to the left
in a few seconds it takes is to rotate our model and figure out where we are
we're not paying attention to the story and we experience distracting jolt
but in the first example we were honoring the line yet we still miss
understood 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 did no better this leads 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 in
the sea makes perfect sense without any other aids
an effective way to maintain spatial continuity is to create overlapping
groups
here will create one shot the group the man in the red woman
and another the group the red man in the blue woman
when the shots we pick contain elements that are visible in 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 using the plan is a pivot so it's visible both in this shot
and in this shot and again as we cut to the woman in the middle
so the layout at 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 scean will again forgo a master in 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 the word zig-zagging 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 plant but if or large object it could get annoying
here were 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 the character were more inclined to keep them in the same
party the frame
here the Blue Man stays on 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 up
returning to the discussion on hinging a hinge is 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 in the frame
after having travel out the second line we're back in the hinge camera
as we head back on the first line we can pivot around the man
on our way back the line is here so putting into this camera is technically
a line cross
however since we're pitting on the man because 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 trainings
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 are the frame
and we're only seeing a small part of the bigger picture
that immediately makes this ask questions like where are we
what are the paper scattered on the table and whose hand is this
by suppressing that information for a short while we pay more attention
a close framing in a self-contained the entire stories within the frame and we
have everything we need understand it
so often open framing creates questions close framing create answers
as soon as the cat's out of the bag we can go back to an open frame and expect
the same sense of mystery in curiosity
everything is now just unanswered and the long slow reveal from before is now
lost most of its punch because we already know the larger hole its part of
anytime we can make a scene move from open framing towards close remains the
scene as a whole 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 logical opening closed framing is key to
deciding the cutting order shots in a scene
here we're starting on a single character and we don't know that this is
an open frame until we cud to reveal another character also in the scene
a class a comical trick is to play on assumptions is here with a 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 achieved by
honoring the liner by creating overlapping groups
master's 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
within cut to a wide shot to close the scene
but regardless of whether or not we use this to control the hors d'oeuvres
information
open framing stand to simply be more interesting because they create the
feeling of shooting a small part in the world it's much bigger
close trainings on the other hand give the feeling that the world has a
definite size
in this scene restricted by the size that 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 covering the widest possible shot to capture the whole available scene
but after a while we begin to feel confined is if the world ends just to
the left and the right to 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 in the world that extends infinitely beyond
the boundaries of the frame and we were 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 in the frame
making the scene part of a limitless world
open framings are also useful when we need to make a few characters look like a lot
here we wanna make fifteen 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
fifteen extras are not a crowd
if we tighten a shot this spill over the edge but it still feels like
we're seeing the whole thing
what we should do instead is creating intensely populated shot with enough
spill over the edge is that we believe the environment looks the same
so we'll start by staging the characters deeper in 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 crowds sound effects added this can be quite convincing
finally open and close frames can effectively be mixed
with in 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 crane up we gradually find out
in the next number chapters will run down some simple geometric shapes
to align cameras in characters by
these shapes are not goals by themselves but they can be an aid in structuring
coverage because once we spot a shape in a scene we have set a 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 eachshot is a frontal view
of the character and focus
and a side view of 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 to stage in right angles is a style choice but it can be
effective when characters are also arranged in right angles
this happen surprisingly often here the man is trying to communicate
with the 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 close shot version
of the last camera as well
starting in a single shot on the woman
this layout gives is very expressive coverage to edit from
the main benefit a right angle cameras is that they're very naturally isolate
characters and can make shots more individual
our cameras are placing cameras outwards from a central point
this can be a 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 more 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
we'll 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 make sense at least in theory
practically cutting between 360 degrees have cameras can sometimes feel like
we're twisting our necks
for that reason it can be a good idea to limit the ark and editing
and ever 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 outwards from
a central areas 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've 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 and naturally fall into shapes
that resemble letters of the alphabet
like I A L U and O
it sometimes considered a rule to actually stage characters
according to the shapes but that can sometimes seem staged
our goal here is really to have a library possible camera plots ready for
when we find ourselves in shapes that are close to them which happens often
the I shape is the simplest one has the characters arranged
in a straight line
tow character dialogue is often automatically in I shap
but it easily covered in this election obverse shots and perhaps a master
when more characters are added to the straight line the best approach is to
think in terms of creating various groupings and pivoting on certain
characters to help lead the scene together
so let's create some group with a three-shot here
and three-shot to match let's also create two over the shoulders
here for dialogue between the woman and the red man
at some point the woman turns and we'll set up tow 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 a 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 this election
the less we'll have to shoot
the shape is the same regardless which way the characters are facing
so if we face them out words we should be able to use the same coverage with no change
here were first cutting back and forth between
the reverse in the first group
we pivot on the woman is we go to the second group and the other revers
the I shape appears within most other shape so anytime we want local coverage
we can treat their part to the scene as such
here the three lined up characters are an obvious I shape so we'll go in and
create some subgroups are the parts the conversation that we're interested in
whether or not to deliver early stage in a shape like this is optional
but doing so makes planning shot extremely easy
here two characters are together and 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 kinda triangle
and as a shape that appears in one form
or another in the vast majority of scenes
so it's extremely useful to have cameraplots to hand for it
the easiest way to cover this is a series revers shots in various sizes
starting with an external revers covering all three
and a matching reverse here let's also do an internal reverse on the woman
an internal rivers tow shot on the men
and a closer for each of the men
for 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 the don't go well together the close-ups on the men
because they're nearly identical
we're trying to detract attention from this by having the background
be different in each shot but it's still a fairly jerky cud
simply bridging the cut 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 we'll put in reverse pair for that
which creates another line here
this camera is easy to get too because it 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 choices to hinge through
the reverse that's already on our side to 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 to the new line
but since we still remember the previous line it's better to hinge back as well
to starting in the Far camera we go back to the hints 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 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 revers 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 is little trickier
we'll first put on a pair for the red man and the woman
we're placing a pair on this side of their lines so the internal cameras can work
is close ups but also because it keeps is inside the action
if we put the cameras out here with 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 play some other reverse for the two men also inside the action
the easiest way to connect all the cameras in the scene is to use
the red mens close 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 red man 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 both lines
we can also go directly between them
cutting between them the red man switches sides in the frame
but since we understand it is two overlapping groups that make sense
going between the two other external reverses naturally won't work
starting the first one, the jump across two lines is very distracting
let's go ahead and look at what happens if we place one other rivers pairs
outside the dialogue
here we have almost no way to get into these reverses
so this camera is the only choice for hinge
from the hinge let's look at the two only
cutting options starting with this one
will then be pivoting on the red man 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
pivoting back to cut makes more sense began still be a little on the edge
because the shots are so similar
hinging to the other reverses a smoother cut because as to leave around more
which can sometimes be startling as well
as we go from one reverse to one of 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 building hinge
if we want to master coverage to the a shape I think the world's greatest place
one line straight down the center in 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 the other which can be interesting coverage by itself
but the beauty is the just as with the close up on the man
we can get to and from any camera in the scene from these masters
the L-shape is a variation of the A shape or two characters
along 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 we'll put into reverses
there on the sideline to be near any conversation with the man
this camera will probably be our hinge so we'll put in an internal shot
on the man on the sideline
but 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
we'll put in a close up on her to mirror 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 rivers here
an external revers here
to starting in the external reverses between the women were cutting back
in force since this is main dialog
out in the hinge we suddenly cut to the close up on the man
as he makes a comment
in the tow 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 come between his close up again and her close-up
back in this external reverse the women stand for a bit
then again turned 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 silent reaction
with the L-shape let's introduce unique way of cutting across the line
since the L shap 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 we'll put a third camera
for the Blue Man out here still on our sideline
and a close up on him as well obviously will be able to cut
between these three cameras bringing in the blue man with his camera
using that as a hinge we can cut to the close-up
back into the hinge and now to the reverse dialogue
that's doing it by the book but the unique thing about this setup is that
we don't need to hinge
starting a reverse dialogue between the red man and woman we'll be skipping the
hinging 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
coming back in 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 main line we don't necessarily know it
this is useful because it allows us to do close-ups on all the characters
on the other sideline
here we are again cutting back and forth in reverse dialogue between
the red man and the woman
but the closer 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 sideline
even if it isn't it's close to being illegal
and if we previously established geography with a master
we'ill 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 we'll look at the U II and O shapes
which are very similar and can be handled using identical techniques
the U shape as two rows of any number of characters add one center character
to complete the U
if we remove the center character we're left with two II shapes across from each other
if we bring him back and add a character at the other end of the table we have a
full circle of O shape
the main difficulty hears that we're dealing with a lot of characters
in with dialogue criss-crossing the scene we need a way to manage
what is easily a very complex scene
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
in 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 the master the scene getting coverage a
managing lines becomes much more forgiving because the geography
is fresh in our minds
and if we later find ourselves entangled lines are 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
a third thing to notice is the doing groupings that include more than one
character is much better than doing single shot 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 1174 01:08:53, 000 --> 01:08:56,139 the last thing to notice is that the dialogue is usually between
very few characters and the rest function as extras
so free remove the others we can easily cover the scene using techniques
we've already looked at
here the dialogue centers around the man in the suit in the blue woman
with occasional comments from the others
so let's try the line crossing l-shape we looked at the last chapter
we'll simply put into reverse is for them
a master an insert on the blue man and the red woman
an insert on the red man in the surrounding extras
starting in the master we'll cut to one reverse on the main dialog
and the other then sneak across the line to this shot
and to the 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 they can handle any scene regardless
of how complex it is
when the dialog is all over the place and no simple technique will solve it
the trick is to draw every conceivable line of this scene and then place cameras
the works for as many lines as possible
this will temporarily make the diagram look overwhelming
the obvious lines come from dialogue here the CEO at the end of the table
talks with the blue woman
he also talks with the red man and with the red woman
who also talk with each other at some point the blue woman
comments on something the red woman is saying
in 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 are from anywhere
there's a tension 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
will start with a wide over the shoulder on the woman
a close-up on her 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 dialog between the CEO and the red man and red woman
which happens within this triangle will add two more outwardt cameras
and all three will cut smoothly as long as we're inside the triangle
for the dialogue between the red man and red 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 CEO's comments
which follow immediately after
again back in the dialogue between the red man and red woman
the blue woman makes a comment
and with these two active lines the camera will need to be
some where 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
we'll put a camera here on ourside 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 a dialogue between the CEO and the blue woman
the CEO talks to the red man
after which he 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 as 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 to them in response
the extra shot from before sends a secret signal to the blue man
the red man makes another comment
the extra 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 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 the II shape
another typical shape the method is the same
or if we occupy both ends at the table in an O shape
when the characters are very close together we have no choice
but to cover them from outside the action
what we'll look at here applies equally well to any shape
but we'll work with the O shape 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 start