Cinematic Storytelling: A Comprehensive Guide for Directors and Cinematographers
- Length: 252 pages
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- Publisher: Focal Press
- Publication Date: 2021-08-26
- ISBN-10: 0367531437
- ISBN-13: 9780367531430
- Sales Rank: #1543372 (See Top 100 Books)
This book presents a new, story-based approach to cinematic coverage and storytelling in film and video. It breaks from the conventional idea that shots are the fundamental unit of filmmaking, instead exploring the specifics of determining coverage. Keyframes in patterns are introduced, delivering scripted material in a context-rich presentation that supports the storytelling.
All the analysis, interpretation, and creative decision making is done first, with shots derived as the very last step. Scripted material is divided into six categories with associated patterns. Like cinematic building blocks, these can freely stack up and interconnect, supporting creativity and avoiding rigid formulas. This approach enables filmmakers to tap into the film “language” that audiences already understand and put it to practical use, helping the audience to feel the storytelling deeply. Dozens of film examples are provided throughout, plus conceptual and camera diagrams to contextualize the methods presented, and exercises are provided to reinforce concepts. Emphasis is placed on supporting performance and story meaning through a cinematic context. With all the concepts and decision-making options described and shown in examples, a scripted scene is analyzed and developed through an eight-step process, illustrated with storyboard, camera diagrams, and ultimately shot list descriptions.
The book is ideal for filmmaking students interested in directing and cinematography, as well as aspiring and early-career filmmakers, cinematographers, and directors.
Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Acknowledgements Table of illustrations 1 What is cinematic storytelling? The pictures help us feel the story A cinematic approach through keyframes – not shots Cinematic storytelling exists for every form, length, and budget Going beyond formulas or easy solutions Clear presentation that informs and orients Including us in a character’s subjective attention Shifting perspective and physicality Dynamism in dialogue Summary Common shot list abbreviations What you can do . . . 2 Foundations in the script The life cycle of the story Script to screen is a kind of metamorphosis Scripted versus movie storytelling Symbolic versus sensory presentation Fluid and elastic reading versus fixed-duration viewing What is common in all three examples Summary What you can do . . . 3 Coverage defines attention Coverage delivers story information in context Storytelling before mechanics Framing = story attention Envisioning framing Framing patterns underlie cinematic coverage Plainly visible scripted elements link to framing patterns 1) Character actions 2) Character looks 3) Character dialogue 4) Settings 5) Objects 6) Evocative imagery All patterns come equipped with contextual cues Coverage patterns function through time, like music Recombination of patterns allows flexible context shifting Summary What you can do . . . 4 Cinematic thinking Breaking free from shot-first thinking Presenting the scripted story through keyframes Subject matter in terms of singular, compound, and plural Energy and flow How shots can emerge from contextual choices Building up contextual cues leads to final shot selection Moving forward to patterns of keyframes Summary What you can do . . . 5 Patterns for character actions Character actions Action patterns tie camera angles to storytelling functions Observation Participation Connection How actions function in the storytelling Action patterns don’t always fit conventions of coverage Action patterns are particularly flexible Vicarious engagement and audience judgment Physical action is fast and easy to understand Social interactions are complicated Summary What you can do . . . 6 Patterns for character looks Character looks Subjective attention is not always true POV Why Look/See and not simply POV Look/See forward and reverse Look/See and inner vision Look/See patterns are the gateway to subjectivity Avoiding looks for creative reasons Look/See becomes dialogue Summary What you can do . . . 7 Patterns for dialogue – structure Character dialogue multiplies complexity Interaction and reciprocal pairs Staging and the 180° Line of Continuity Resetting the Line of Continuity Staging across offers a big range in intensity and intimacy Staging on a diagonal offers front or back angles Staging side-by-side offers a shared view Staging in depth offers the masking of emotions Staging offset provides a diagonal that isn’t shared Staging and “the situation” to help feel the options Setting up context and changing the context Summary What you can do . . . 8 Patterns for dialogue – examples Examples of the variety in dialogue pattern usage Observing interaction may be all that’s needed Connection and disconnection through proximity Simple choices support rising and falling action Action leads to Dialogue, with intimate subtext Offset staging provides meaningful imbalances Conventional coverage, staging across, relying on proximity Staging in depth and withholding of mutual connection Side-by-side with a burst of misleading context Across, diagonal, symmetrical, and asymmetrical Dramatic perspectives, only possible with staging across Crossing the 180° Line for dramatic intent Moving beyond two-character dialogue Multiple-character dialogue scenes Three-person dialogue = 2 + 1 Grand tour from a central pivot Summary What you can do . . . 9 Patterns for settings Taking us into the storyworld Settings as background with functional significance Establishing a setting as a chapter marker Settings with intrinsic story significance Settings coverage in slideshows and tours Characters as features of the setting We find characters or they emerge from settings Settings through character perspective Settings for pacing the audience experience Settings to visually compress time Settings can provide time for emotional reverberation Summary What you can do . . . 10 Patterns for objects Objects have either functional or intrinsic significance Functional objects are within the scope of character agency Establishing functional objects before critical action Objects can have their own story agency Forces can be objectified Objectifying characters Objects with intrinsic significance as symbols Summary What you can do . . . 11 Patterns for evocative imagery Evocative imagery puts emotions in the foreground Mood and tone in the compression of time Characterization through evocative imagery Providing time for processing strong emotions Evocative imagery in relation to montage Separating experience from consensus reality Signaling departure from conventional narrative Summary What you can do . . . 12 Patterns and movement Movement is the last piece of the puzzle Movement within the frame Characters move through the frame Character movement alters proximity and frame size Character altering angle and perspective Movement within the frame doesn’t require stationary camera Movement of the frame – independent of character Tour and survey of settings Observation beyond characters Hand-off brings us to the next character Movement of the frame – dependent on character Frame instability with subject fixation Subject fixation and following Simultaneous reset for staging change Injection of dynamism Summary What you can do . . . 13 Scene shaping and interconnections Scene shaping through cinematic means Consistency, modulation, and change shape our experience Scene shaping depends on only three patterns Cinematic shaping across multiple scenes Scene interconnection through sustained action pattern Shaping the first phase of a big dialogue scene The second phase brings pattern and movement change Witnessing gives us distance and judgment Handling settings in our three-scene example Moving from example to general usage The next step will be process oriented Summary What you can do . . . 14 Developing the coverage plan The process of coverage plan development Breakdowns identify story structure at three levels A cinematic approach divides the visible from all else The coverage plan is central to principal photography Working through the process at the scene level Step 1: Segmenting the scene into phases Step 2: What the audience needs to know Step 3: What is actually seen Step 4: Keyframe qualities to align declarative and inferential Step 5: Decide qualities of movement Step 6: Scene-to-scene interconnections Step 7: Mapping out camera positions for keyframes Step 8: From overhead diagram to the shot list Scene by scene, you design the coverage plan in keyframes The resilient shot list comes from a coverage plan Summary What you can do . . . Reference materials Overview Reference: Conversion and cross-application of patterns Action pattern conversions . . . Action cross-application . . . Dialogue pattern conversion . . . Dialogue cross-application . . . Settings pattern conversion . . . Settings cross-applications . . . Reference: Scene-to-scene considerations Beginnings and endings Major story points and act breaks The life-changing moment for the main character Production considerations in planning for sequences Coverage for planned intercutting between scenes Use of chapter markers Soft interconnections between scenes Implications of scripted transitions Reference: Pitfalls for new filmmakers to avoid Index
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