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How to make a
FILM
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Learn:

how did the first motion picture look like and

how are movies made today

what is shot

who are the people engaged in movie making?

what is the job of: director, script writer, actors, director

of photography, costume designer, scenographer...
Try:

to make your own animated and documentary film

to write a script

to make shooting script

to gether your friends and to select actors for your movie

to direct your first movie

Ra di v oj e Andr i }
R
a
d
i
v
o
j
e

A
n
d
r
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}
.
.
.
L
EARN
&
TRY
.
.
.
How to make a
FILM
H
O
W

T
O

M
A
K
E

A

F
I
L
M
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L
e
a
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n

&

T
r
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Ra di v oj e Andr i }
Illustrated by
Andrej Vojkovi
Ra di v oj e Andr i
HOW TO
MAKE A FILM
4
CONTENTS
5 . . . Introduction
6 . . . The First Films
6 . . . Photography
8 . . . The first film
12 . . . Classification of Films
16 . . Film time
18 . . . Framing Shots
22 . . Film settings
24 . . Scene plan
26 . . Ramp
28 . . Crossing the Ramp and Camera
Movements
35 . . Composing Your Shots
36 . . More about the Camera
39 . . What is needed form making a film
42 . . The scenario and Shooting Script
for a Short Feature Film
44 . . Continuity
45 . . Editing
46 . . Renik
48 . . Index
5
INTRODUCTION
Hi, future movie-makers!
You watch films almost every day and have
probably asked yourself if you could also make one. Perhaps
you have already tried your hand at making video recordings
with a camera, but it all turned out shaky, incomprehensible,
boring and altogether pretty awful.
I am here to help you.
My name is Radivoje Raa Andri, and so far I have
managed to direct three feature films (Tri palme za dve bitange i
ribicu, Munje! and Kad porastem bicu kengur) and it is my
pleasure to try and show you the basics of movie-making.
A famous director once said that you could learn everything
about making movies by spending four hours learning and ten
years in a cinema. My opinion is a little different: in four
hours reading this book you can learn the basics. Of course
you also need to watch films, but learning is best done by
doing.
Dont let this frighten you making a movie does not mean
that you have to film a complicated story lasting two hours.
In fact you can make a good film story that lasts just two or
three minutes.
Let us begin.
Believe it
or not, the
worlds most
popular film
festival is
one that
shows very
short films,
takes place
in Berlin and
is seen by 20 million people.
How is this possible? Whoever heard of
people going to a cinema to watch short
films? you say. Whoever said that the
festival takes place in a cinema?! The
films are shows on video screens set up
in subway trains, buses and trams and
each lasts exactly 90 seconds the
average time between two stops on the
journey. This means that the films are
seen by the millions of Berliners
travelling on public transport.
Believe it or not, there is now also a
world festival of films shot with mobile
phone cameras, a real festival, with
prizes and all. But
forget festivals the
road to them is a long
one. Let us begin by
making movies that
will be watched by
your family, friends
and schoolmates.
The most popular Serbian festival of
shorts is the so-called March Festival of
Short Films although for some reason
it always takes place in April
6
THE FIRST FILMS
Let us begin with the theory and practice of moving
pictures and their invention.
Throughout human history still images were easy
to record in drawings, paintings and ultimately
photographs, but movement was much more
difficult. The first successful such attempt
was attaching a series of still images in a
booklet, which one then flipped to get an
impression of movement. The human eye is a
bit lazy, so when you run a set of still images
in front of it quickly, it cannot distinguish between
individual images but sees a series of pictures that
seems to move.
Researchers discovered that when you run a series of
24 still images before the human eye in one second, the eye
sees them as a single moving image rather than as a set of
still images.
But what was needed in order to develop films as we know
them now was the invention of photography.
photography
Ask your mother or grandmother if they have any silver
jewellery and whether the silver gradually tarnishes (darkens).
They will tell you that it does, and that they have to wash it
with bicarbonate of soda to bring back its shine. Now ask them
why the silver tarnishes. They will probably tell you that it
simply has to do with the passage of time.
Well, that is not so! In fact silver gets darker because of the
action of the light to which it is exposed. This was noticed in
the 18th century and that was the first step towards the
discovery of photography. Now look at the things around you.
Some are lighter and some are darker, and if we were to place a
plate made of silver in the spot where you are sitting, in time
This book also contains an optical
illusion. Look at the bottom right-
hand-side corner. You will see a series
of stick-man images. They
are quite similar to one
another, but not exactly the
same. Hold the corner of
the book between your
thumb and forefinger, as
shown, and flip the pages
fast.
Its interesting, isnt it?!
You could also make a similar toy
yourself. All you need is an old exercise
book and a bit of patience. Starting
from the last page, draw a simple stick
man in the corner. Now turn back one
page and trace a new figure over the
preceding one, only make it slightly
different for example by raising an
arm slightly. Continue the process. For
example the little man could gradually
lift an arm and bring it down again, and
then a leg, and so on... When you flick
the pages the little man will appear to
be dancing.
7
images of the things that stand in front of it would be formed
on the plate. The objects which are the lightest would appear
the darkest, because the tarnishing of the silver would be
greatest where the most light fell on it.
In this manner we would get the negative of a photograph.
A little later I will explain how we get a positive image
from a negative.
But the silver plate took a very long time to darken it
took hours and hours of exposing to light.
People found it very tedious to sit and to wait for hours
for each photograph especially those who wanted their
portraits taken! For that reason certain chemical
substances were found which when mixed with the silver
made it darken faster. A mixture of silver and those
chemicals was then spread on a transparent base material
(it had to be done in the dark so as not to expose the silver
to light), and that is how light-sensitive film was created.
If you put a piece of such film into a box that is
completely sealed except for a tiny hole opposite the film
and open and close that hole for an instant, you will get a
film negative. Initially people used just such a pin-hole,
but now a set of glasses - a lens - is placed there instead. Its
purpose is the direct the light towards the film as
accurately as possible. If you were to take the film out of
your box to take a look at what you got, the silver would
simply continue to darken and ruin your image. For that
reason you need to take the film out of the box in the dark
and dip it in a chemical solution (so-called fixer) that will
stop the silver from continuing to tarnish.
How do you get a positive image? By passing light
through your negative onto a new piece of film in this
way you create the negative of a negative: a positive an
image identical to what we see with our own eyes.
This process is still used to make photographs.
It might all sound a bit complicated, but dont be dismayed!
You are probably in a hurry to read on and see what happens
later, but when you have finished reading the book you can
return to these pages and everything will be much clearer.
The sealed room where you take
your film out of your camera and
develop and fix it is called a darkroom.
When films are shot away from the city,
say in a desert or forest, a special light-
tight box is used to load and unload
cameras.
People who did not have such a box
even used their jackets for the purpose!
8
tHE FIRST FILM
Believe it or not, such a device was first made because of a
bet! Two friends in America who loved horse racing often
asked themselves if a running horse ever had all four legs in
the air simultaneously. Horses ran so fast that it was
impossible to see it with the naked eye, so the two made a
wager in order to settle their dispute.
So they invited a photographer to help them.
The photographer, a certain Maybridge, set up a row of still
cameras, tied a string to the shutter of each camera and
stretched them across the racing track. The strings were thin
so as not to trip the horse.
A horse in full gallop then passed in front of the cameras.
As soon as the horse touched a string it broke it, but not
before tripping the shutter.
When the negatives were developed they formed a set of
still pictures of a galloping horse.
If you set up the photos in an optical illusion booklet and
flicked it, the horse would appear to be running.
NOW SHAKE YOUR
HANDS, AND WE CAN
SET UP THE CAMERAS!
This was almost a movie as we now know it, but making it
was extremely difficult and took hours and hours. You
would have to set up rows of cameras and tie a lot of strings
where an actor was walking but what would we do if the
actor was, say, sitting down? So this was definitely the
wrong road to motion pictures. However, it did not take
very long before a feasible means of making movie films
was developed.
The inventors responsible for taking that major step were
Louis and Auguste Lumire, two French brothers who
made the first movie camera and projector and gave the
first public demonstration of a motion picture in 1895.
Lest as I forget, the bet was won by the horse-loving friend
who claimed that all four legs of a horse would be up in the air at
the same time.
The Lumire brothers produced a long
transparent foil (film) and coated it with a
mixture of silver and some other chemicals.
They then wound the film on a reel and put
in into a box with a lens a camera. The
film was cranked by hand to pass behind the
lens and a mechanical shutter ensured that
a series of still images was recorded on it.
It was the first-ever movie camera!
Thomas Edison,
the famous American
inventor, developed
motion pictures the
same year as the
Lumires, but his was
an inferior system.
Instead of
projecting the film
onto a large screen
where hundreds of
people could see it, Edisons device was a
large box into which only one person at a
time could peer and watch the film.
That is why the Lumire brothers were
called the fathers of cinematography
the art of making motion pictures.
Interestingly, the word lumire in
French means light and that is
exactly what is needed in order to make
photographs and movies.
After being chemically developed the film was placed in
another box, called a projector and quite similar to the
camera, which had a bright light bulb to illuminate the film.
The film was then cranked by hand, just like in the camera,
and a series of images was projected onto a white screen.
Rows of people sat and watched the film it was the first
cinema!
10
THE LUMIRES FIRST FILM, ARRIVAL OF TRAIN AT STATION,
SIMPLY SHOWED A TRAIN RUNNING INTO A STATION.
11
It is said that viewers were so surprised and shocked that
they fled from the theatre in panic, fearing that they would be
run over by the train.
The Lumires second film was a little more ambitious. It
was a short comedy in which a trick is played on a gardener
watering flowers. A neighbour creeps up on the gardened and
steps on the hose, cutting off the supply of water. The puzzled
gardened looks into the hose, whereupon the neighbour lifts
his foot and the gardener gets a jet of water straight in the eye.
The first spectators thought it enormously funny.
Why is that so important?
Because the film had a story!
In order to make a movie, besides having a camera you also
need to have a story on which you will base your film.
The camera that you (or your parents) have is certainly not
a film camera, but a video-cassette or CD camera. It works
according to the same basic principle as a standard film
camera, as light still needs to enter the camera through a lens.
Here the story takes a turn, because instead of shining the
light onto a film the lens projects it on an electrical light-
sensitive chip which converts the image into a signal that is
then recorded on tape with tiny magnetic particles in it or on a
CD. Ouch! Help! Its getting complicated
But I promised you that it would not be too complicated.
The way in which a video camera works does not really matter
for our purposes.
Even I am not able to explain it to you fully, and I have
been making films for years. So let us forget electrons, CCDs,
CRTs and electro-magnetic radiation and concentrate on
making movies!
Film development was very
rapid the first movie with sound
was made in 1927, and the first
full-colour firm in 1935.
12
CLASSIFICATION OF FILMS
I know that this might be boring for you, because you keep
learning about all sorts of divisions in school, but stay with me:
we need to mention that films are divided into three categories.
So-called shorts are films that last up to 45 minutes (one
example is an episode of a TV serial). Medium-length films
last up to an hour and a quarter (we usually call them made-
for-TV films, because they are too short for showing in
cinemas and are rarely shot to that length by design usually
a feature-length film is deemed a failure for theatrical release
and is then cut by some minutes and broadcast on TV).
Feature-length films last from one hour and 20 minutes
upwards, and are made for showing in movie theatres.
According to their content, films are features,
documentaries and animated films.
FEATURE FILMS are made according to a story prepared in
advance which is then turned into a succession of movie
scenes. You need actors to play the characters (in your case,
not professional actors your friends can also act). You will
instruct them what to do and what to say you will therefore
film events that you yourself invented.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS are films about events that the
cameraman or film director cannot control. One example is
filming a basketball match in school. You cannot tell anyone
what to do and how to play the game. They simply do what
they do and you film them.
ANIMATED FILMS are films where actors are replaced by
objects or drawings. The most famous animated films are
cartoons, but there are also other kinds.
Let us now make an animated film.
THE LONGEST MOVIE I
EVER SAW LASTED FOUR-AND-
A-HALF HOURS AND WAS VERY
BORING!
Now play the film to friends. What will they say? Big deal
a toy car running from left to right. Nothing happens. Its a boring
film! You know what your friends are right. It really is
boring. In order not to be boring, a film needs to have a story!
And every story needs to have a beginning, a middle and an
end. Your film only has a beginning.
Let us now film something that is not boring.
TAKE A TOY CAR
AND PLACE IT ON
THE LEFT EDGE OF
THE PICTURE IN
THE VIEWFINDER.
PLACE THE CAMERA ON
THE FLOOR. WEDGE IT
TIGHTLY WITH HEAVY
BOOKS SO IT CANNOT
MOVE WHEN YOU
PRESS THE RECORD
BUTTON. MAKE SURE
NOT TO OBSCURE THE
LENS WITH A BOOK.
PRESS RECORD.
COUNT TO ONE AND
PRESS IT AGAIN
(THIS MEANS A VERY
SHORT TIME). MAKE
SURE NOT TO MOVE
THE CAMERA.
MOVE THE CAR TO
THE RIGHT BY ONE
CENTIMETRE.
MOVE THE CAR TO THE
RIGHT BY ANOTHER
CENTIMETRE. REPEAT
THE STEPS UNTIL THE
CAR LEAVES THE
FRAME ON THE RIGHT.
NOW REWIND THE CAMERA
TO THE BEGINNING AND
WATCH THE TAPE. THE CAR
WILL SEEM TO RUN ON ITS
OWN! YOU HAVE JUST SHOT
YOUR FIRST ANIMATED
FILM. IT WASNT VERY
HARD, WAS IT?
NOW REPEAT THE
SHORT RECORDING.
THIS IS AN EXERCISE DONE AT HOME
13
The shot is what
you see through the
viewfinder of a camera
the segment of space
that is recorded by the
camera; it also stands
for the duration of
that recorded between
the start of shooting
(REC) and its end
(PAUSE).
So a shot is a
segment of time and a
segment of space
before a camera.
EXERCISE No. 1
Play your little film to friends and you will see that they
will laugh. The fact that they found it funny is proof that your
film is not boring but entertaining.
You have just shot your first film! A short one, but a film,
nevertheless!
Your film has a beginning (introduction) the car is
running towards the camera, a middle (plot, or action) the
car hits the camera, and an ending (resolution, or
denouement) the camera rises to show you the author.
PLACE THE TOY CAR
IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE FRAME HALF A
METRE FROM THE
LENS AND FACING
IT. RECORD THE
SCENE IN THE SAME
MANNER AS
BEFORE...
ONLY DO NOT COUNT
TO ONE WHEN YOU
BEGIN THE SHOT BUT
PRESS THE BUTTON AGAIN
AS SOON AS YOU SEE
REC IN THE VIEWFINDER.
KEEP MOVING THE CAR
TOWARDS THE CAMERA
ONE CENTIMETRE AT A
TIME.
AFTER ABOUT 50
TAKES THE CAR WILL
ACTUALLY BE
TOUCHING THE LENS.
NOW DRAW AN EXPLOSION
BURST ON A SHEET OF
PAPER. REMOVE THE CAR AND
PLACE THE DRAWING ABOUT
HALF A METRE IN FRONT OF
THE LENS (LEANING
AGAINST SOME BOOKS).
SWITCH RECORDING ON, SAY
BANG IN A LOUD VOICE
AND THEN STOP RECORDING.
PUT THE CAR BACK IN
ITS LAST POSITION
AGAINST THE LENS,
BUT RAISE THE LENS
ON AN EXERCISE
BOOK. MAKE A BRIEF
SHOT.
ADD ANOTHER EXERCISE
BOOK, AND MAKE
ANOTHER BRIEF SHOT.
REPEAT THIS, RAISING
THE CAMERA ON MORE
AND MORE BOOKS
UNTIL IT POINTS AT
THE CEILING.
NOW KNEEL DOWN IN
FRONT OF THE CAMERA,
LEAN FORWARD INTO
THE LENS , BEGIN
RECORDING AND SAY:
SORRY, THIS IS THE
END, BECAUSE MY CAR
HAS COLLIDED WITH THE
LENS!
DO EVERYTHING AS IN EXERCISE NO. 1, BUT
The lens, as we have said,
is the foremost part of a
camera through which passes
the light that forms all the
images that we see and is
then recorded on a film or
tape. The part of the camera
at the rear through which we
compose images is called the
viewfinder. I can see you
being puzzled by the phrase
the light that forms all the
images that we see. Lets
make a little experiment to
see how light forms images.
Draw the curtains shut and
roll down the blinds in your
room, making it completely
dark. Can you see anything
at all? Of course not, because
there is no light, which we
need to form the
images we see and
to see colours.
Without light we
would never even
know that colours
existed!
14
EXERCISE No. 2
This manner of shooting offers you millions of possibilities!
You can shoot animated films about your books jumping by
themselves from the table down to a chair and then walking
to your school bag and entering it. You can shoot fruit slicing
itself and making a fruit salad by itself, you can film a castle
mysteriously building itself from play building blocks but
you must never forget that every story needs to have an
ending, must have a surprise at the end, something
unexpected, something because of which the film is in fact
being shot.
Let us now learn something else that is also VERY important.
You will probably admit that it was a little bit of a drag to do
everything by yourself to move the car and film the shot, and
then move the car and do the shot, and again, and so fifty times.
Now imagine that you had done it with a friend one of
you works the camera and the other moves the car you would
have made the film three times as fast and would
have had fun, as well.
The exercise has taught you this: in order to
shoot a film you need a camera, you need a
story (with a beginning, a plot and an
ending), and you also need friends!
We shall talk about this in a while, but
before we do, let us shoot two more exercises
which will be made of several shots. What we have
done so far is also made of several shots, but when the film is
played they all look like a single one, and most films are made
up of a succession of shots, and that is what we will try now.
We will now try a documentary film.
The simplest type of documentary is recording an activity, a
process of work. Its purpose is to teach the viewer about how
something is done.
The film must not exclude a single segment of the process,
but of course it must last shorter than the actual activity
because otherwise it would be too long and dull. Two examples
we could mention are something simple, like cooking potatoes,
or something much more complicated, like building a house.
Imagine shooting a documentary about the process of
building a house that lasted as long as the actual construction!
It would last three or four months no one is stupid enough
to sit and watch a film for four months! For that reason time
needs to be compressed in films!
15
2. GRANNY WASHES
PEELED POTATOES
3. GRANNY FILLS
POT WITH WATER
4. GRANNY TURNS
ON COOKER
6. GRANNY PUTS PEELED
POTATOES IN WATER
5. GRANNY PLACES
POT ON COOKER
7. WATER IS BOILING 8. GRANNY TURNS
OFF COOKER
9. GRANNY PICKS UP A HOT
POTATO WITH A FORK AND
PLACES IT ON A PLATE
COOKING
POTATOES
FILM TIME
Let us try to film How to Cook Potatoes in about a dozen
shots. Could you do it in a single shot? Of course you could,
but it would be pretty long and boring. It would last about half
an hour and no one would want to watch it. If, however, you
were to divide the process into about a dozen short shots, its
duration would be no more than a minute and a half.
Have me missed anything? Yes and no.
We did not skip the important things the potatoes were peeled
and washed, placed in the pot with water, the water boiled, and the
potatoes were cooked. So what did we skip? For one thing, there was
no need to film granny peeling an entire potato but only the start of
the peeling, because the very next shot shows it completely
peeled, and the viewer of course concludes that granny
peeled all of it. That is very important!
The viewers conclude some things by themselves!
In this case they conclude that granny peeled the
entire potato, just as in a murder mystery they
conclude the identity of the killer. That means that
in the cut between the two shots granny peeled the
entire potato!
16
A cut is the place
where we go from one shot
to another, from ending
one shot to commencing
another. The name is
derived from the process
of editing classical films,
where the editor actually
cut pieces of film and
cemented them in a
sequence spliced them.
Although there is no
need to do this when
using video tape, the
term CUT has stuck.
EXERCISE No. 3
1. GRANNY PEELS POTATOES
The viewer knows that between the first and second shots you
switched the camera off and waited for granny to finish peeling
the potatoes while the camera was turned off. It seems silly even
to have to point it to any one of us we have been watching
films since early childhood and accept this without thinking.
Watch any film a little more carefully and you will see that time
is skipped over constantly.
In one shot the hero is in his pyjamas, eating breakfast in
the very next shot he is driving a car in a suit. We never saw
him change, leave his house, get into his car, turn on the engine
and drive to the street where he is in the second of the two
shots. Do you see how much time we have skipped?
What have we thrown out of our potato film? The most
boring bit the time it takes for water to boil! Granny put the
potatoes in the water, and in the very next shot the water is
boiling and the potatoes are cooking. Here you have thrown out
five or six dull minutes of waiting for the water to boil. In this
way you exclude unnecessary bits from your film and reduce its
duration from half an hour to just a couple of minutes. This is
called film time! You yourself create film time, which is not
the same as real time. In this way you make your film much
more dynamic for the viewer something new is happening
constantly.
Let us now see how you made the nine shots of your little
film. You could have placed your camera in one spot from which
one can see the table, the cooker and the tap and sink. You could
just have turned the camera on and off. So what would you
have got? A film which does not show what it is supposed to
show. Your point of view would be very wide and would show
the table, cooker, sink and Granny, but not the potato, which is
pretty small. Actually you might see something, but you would
not be sure a potato, a carrot, or even a rock? You would also
not be able to see that the water was boiling, etc.
This means that every shot requires moving the camera to
the best vantage point for the next shot. If you are shooting a
potato, the camera needs to be close to it so that it can be seen
to be a potato. In the next shot the camera needs to be
positioned so that you see both the tap and the potato. In the
next one, move back so the cooker can be seen. What you are
doing is changing the camera angle. Do not let this frighten
you it isnt complicated at all.
You guessed it: very soon artists
appeared who did not want to compress
time. Andy Warhol, the famous
American pop artist, made a six-hour
long film of a sleeping man. Andy just
placed his camera on a tripod, turned it
on and let it run. We usually call such
films experimental.
Few people ever watch experimental
films, because they are usually very
boring. But dont dismiss Andys talents
- he actually made some terrific
paintings.
A tripod is metal or wooden
device with three telescoping legs. Its
uppermost bit, called a head, is
where cameras are screwed on.
Cameras are always
placed on tripods to
avoid shaking the
camera and the image
during shooting. You
have certainly noticed
how the picture
shakes when you
shoot with the
camera in your
hand. Also, imagine
how bored Warhol
would have been if
he had shot the
entire six hours with
a hand-held camera
17
18
The tightest camera
angle is called a
DETAIL SHOT. For
example the eyes of
a basketball player
looking towards the
hoop. Also the ball
in his hands.
The next tightest
shot is a CLOSE-
UP, or CLOSE
SHOT. There is a
little bit of air
above the head
and the top of
the shoulders
can be seen.
MEDIUM
CLOSE-UP.
The lower edge
of the frame is
between the
chest and belly
button.
SEMI
CLOSE-UP.
The lower edge
of the frame is
below the navel.
RUSSIAN
SHOT.
The lower edge
of the frame is
below the hips.
UPPER EDGE OF
THE FRAME
LOWER EDGE OF
THE FRAME
FRAMING SHOTS
The camera angle is calculated according to the size of a human figure in it.
The next tightest
camera angle is called
an EXTREME CLOSE-
UP. For example a
face filling the entire
frame. The upper edge
of the frame goes
across the forehead
and the lower across
the chin.
19
AMERICAN
SHOT.
The lower edge
of the frame is
around the
knees.
MEDIUM SHOT. The
whole human figure is
visible. There is a little
bit of air above the head
and some ground below
the feet. Three or four
actors standing next to
each other can usually
fit in the frame.
SEMI-TOTAL SHOT. Half a
football field is in the shot,
or maybe part of a street,
or a house in a field.
TOTAL SHOT. A whole
football pitch is in the
shot, an entire street or a
house in a large field of
grain.
The American shot was called
so because it first appeared in
Westerns to show cowboys and
their revolvers in holsters hanging
from the belt. The Russian shot
was so named because it is seen a
lot in old Russian movies.
FRAMING IS USED
SO THAT VIEWERS
GET TO SEE ONLY
WHAT THEY ARE
INTENDED TO SEE.
20
If your brother is riding a bicycle and you try to frame him in
an extreme close-up, you will never succeed. He will keep
running out of your shot and the camera will wander aimlessly
looking for him. But as soon as you pull back and widen your
angle of view, things will be much easier. Try it for yourself and
see. Changing points of view in a film is very important, and
not just so that what needs to be seen is actually seen.
We will talk more about this in the next exercise. But before
we proceed to it, let us make a few more shots in our potato film.
IF YOU USE A TOTAL SHOT TO FILM
YOUR BROTHER PEELING AN APPLE,
VIEWERS WILL HARDLY BE ABLE TO SEE
YOUR BROTHER, LET ALONE THE APPLE.
A BETTER CHOICE MIGHT BE
A SEMI CLOSE-UP, WHERE
BOTH THE BROTHER AND
APPLE WILL BE SEEN WELL.
IF YOU WANT TO SHOW
THAT THERE IS A WORM IN
THE APPLE, THEN CHOOSE
A DETAIL SHOT.
NOW FILM
GRANNY PLACING
THE PLATE ON
THE TABLE
(AMERICAN
OR SEMI
CLOSE-UP)
NOW FIX THE CAMERA
ON A TRIPOD, MOVE IT
BACK FORM THE TABLE
(MEDIUM SHOT) TURN
THE CAMERA ON, MOVE
INTO THE SHOT, GRAB
THE PLATE AND RUN
OUT OF THE FRAME.
NOW PLACE THE CAMERA AT
THE SPOT WHERE GRANNY
WAS STANDING IN THE
PREVIOUS SHOT AND FILM
THE TABLE WITHOUT THE
PLATE ON IT. THIS IS A
SUBJECTIVE SHOT, WHICH
MEANS THAT THE CAMERA
IS ACTING OUT
SOMEONES POINT OF
VIEW. SHOTS LIKE THESE
ARE FREQUENT IN HORROR
FILMS.
AND THEN FILM
HER TURNING
TOWARDS THE
SINK AND
WASHING HER
HANDS.
THE LAST THING WE SAW
WAS GRANNY PLACING A
BOILED POTATO ON A
PLATE, WHICH YOU SHOT
AS A DETAIL.
THE FRAMING
OF A SHOT IS
DETERMINED
BY THE ACTION
TAKING PLACE
IN IT.
WHEN YOU PLAY THE
FILM THIS SEQUENCE OF
SHOTS WILL APPEAR AS IF
THE CAMERA HAS BECOME
GRANNYS EYES, HER GAZE
ON THE TABLE.
THE MOVE FROM THE CLOSE-UP OF GRANNYS
SURPRISED FACE TO AN EMPTY TABLE IS CALLED
CUTTING TO A VIEW.
THERE IS ALSO A CUT TO AN ACTION, BUT
MORE ABOUT THAT LATER.
EXERCISE No. 4
NOW FILM GRANNY (CLOSE-
UP) TURNING TOWARDS THE
SPOT WHERE THE PLATE WAS
BEFORE YOU TOOK IT. THE
TABLE CANNOT BE SEEN IN
THE SHOT. GRANNY IS
OBVIOUSLY SURPRISED.
THAT IS WHY WE ARE
SHOOTING HER CLOSE-UP
- TO SEE THE REACTION
ON HER FACE.
21
Why have we done all this?
The reason was to turn the film from one simply showing an activity
to one with an actual story. As long as granny is cooking potatoes, it is
just an ordinary activity. But when you steal a potato that is a film
with a story. This story has a middle (plot) you stealing the potato
but it has no ending. You will get an ending if you fix the camera on
a tripod and make a shot of yourself (medium close-up), not in the
kitchen but in your room, where you have hidden, trying to hold the
potato and chucking it from one hand to another because you cant eat
it as it is too hot to hold. Your film now has an ending, a conclusion.
Also very importantly it has an idea, or a moral! What is the idea
behind the ending? Simply that those who steal get punished burned
because stealing is wrong.
In the next exercise we shall also be making a documentary, but
this time a report. A report differs from the record of a work process
or activity because you are allowed to skip over parts of the process.
Let us try to make it in about a dozen shots and entitle it Dad Repairs
the Car. You can make a report about many different things: a day at the
beach, a school basketball game, an excursion, a picnic
1. DAD PULLS ON
OVERALLS
2. DAD PICKS UP
TOOL BOX
3. DAD LEAVES
OUR FLAT
4. DAD WALKS OUT
OF THE BUILDING
5. DAD LIFTS THE
HOOD OF THE CAR
6. DAD FIDDLES
WITH THE ENGINE
7. DAD STANDING NEXT
TO CAR, SCRATCHING
HIS HEAD
8. DAD LYING UNDER
THE CAR, REPAIRING
SOMETHING
9. DAD ENTERS
CAR AND FIRES
THE ENGINE
In films in which you
play a villain, make sure
that you dont get
smacked at the end.
This could be the end of your film, but nothing interesting
happened at the end, so you could put in a little more work.
EXERCISE No. 5
DAD REPAIRS THE CAR
FILM SETTINGS
From this exercise we will learn something new. We will
learn about film settings.
In this film you create your own settings, which do not have
to correspond to those existing in real life. What does that
mean? Well, you simply did not shoot those settings which you
found dull. For example you skipped dad walking down the stairs
in your building. Why not? Well, because it was not important
for your story, as the topic is dad repairing the car, rather than
dad going down the stairs. You might for example have followed
the shot of dad leaving the flat with one of him walking out of a
completely different building, on the other side of town. Playing
those two in sequence will give the viewer an impression that
dad walked out the building where your flat is located.
The flat is in one building, and the exit in a completely
different one! You tricked viewers and they never knew it. Why
would you do something like that? - For the sake of beauty!
Perhaps your building is dilapidated or neglected, maybe its
colour is ugly, and you want your film to be nice. And so you
film your dad leaving a completely different building.
Movie directors do that all the time!
Usually the flat where the hero lives is in one place, the
hallway in another part of town, and the building in a third
location, perhaps even in a different town! Creating a film
setting which differs from real life to make a film more
attractive was invented by Russian filmmakers very early in
the history of movies.
YOU COULD MAKE A HAPPY ENDING IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE A HAPPY ENDING
IN THAT CASE THE NEXT
SHOTS MIGHT SHOW THE
CAR DRIVING THROUGH A
PLEASANT LANDSCAPE
AND YOUR FAMILY
ENJOYING A PICNIC,
WITH THE CAR VISIBLE
PARKED IN THE BACKGROUND.
YOU HAVE JUST CREATED A FILM SETTING!
22
THESE FOUR SHOTS WERE FILMED
IN THREE DIFFERENT CITIES -
WHEN PUT TOGETHER - THEY GAVE
THE IMPRESSION THAT
EVERYTHING HAPPENED IN THE
SAME CITY.
A RUSSIAN
DIRECTOR SHOT A
YOUNG MAN
STANDING IN A
STREET IN St.
Petersburg AND
GAZING IN THE
DIRECTION OF
CUT A GIRL
STANDING ON A
STAIRCASE IN
Moscow. SHE
BEGINS TO RUN
TOWARDS THE
YOUNG MAN
CUT THE
YOUNG MAN
(FROM St.
Petersburg)
RUNS TOWARDS
THE GIRL
CUT THEY
MEET IN THE
MIDDLE OF A
ROAD (IN
Kiev).
IN THAT CASE INSTEAD
OF STARTING THE CAR IN
SHOT No. 9, THE NEXT
SHOTS WILL SHOW THE
CAR BEING REPAIRED IN
A MECHANICS SHOP
WITH DAD STANDING BY
AND WATCHING.
23
Let us return to the exercise with dad and the car. The third
and fourth shots show dad leaving the flat and the building. If
you choose Russian framing for both, it will look as if the image
made a jump as if dad is the same, and his surroundings just
changed. Try it and you will see. Now for the first do a medium
shot, and the second a semi-close-up, and you will see that it will
be much more pleasing for the eye.
You must remember this!
If you have a single hero in your film (in this case your dad),
never frame him in the same manner in two successive shots!
You must treat this as law!
The difference in framing must be at least two categories: go
back and look at the chapter on camera angles and framing you
will not achieve anything if for example you follow a medium
shot with an American shot again it will just be the picture
that will make a jump. But if you go from medium to Russian
that will be much more pleasant to look at.
And it will be even better if you cut to a medium close-up.
What have we learnt?
We have learnt that the purpose of proper framing is not just
to make sure that only that which needs to be seen is actually
seen, but also to help that the compression of time (dad leaves
flat, cut to dad exiting from building) is as easy as possble on the
viewer.
In many films you can see shots edited so that they are
framed exactly the same. For example, two friends sitting at a
table and talking, both in close-up. Wait a minute havent you
just told us to keep changing the framing
constantly? you ask. But in this case theres
a major difference in the content of the
shots one close-up contains one friend and
the next the other friend. These two are
different people, and therefore the editing
will not appear jumpy.
THE BIGGER THE DIFFERENCE IN FRAMING
BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT SHOTS, THE BETTER
WILL BE THE CUT FROM ONE TO THE OTHER.
CHANGING FRAMING HELPS YOU
TO COMPRESS TIME!
Arranging the sequence of
shots in a film which we call
editing can produce not just
impressions of space, as we saw
in our example, but also of
emotions, that do not really
exist.
In the following experiment,
the first shot was a close-up of
a man looking at something
without showing any emotions.
The next shot showed a plate of
soup
and then the same close-
up shot of the man was
followed by another close-up of
a pretty girl.
They played the two
sequences to viewers and asked
them to say what they thought
the man felt.
Every single viewer said that
the man was first hungry, and
then was in love!
Mind you, two completely
identical shots of the same man!
So editing the film produced
impressions of emotions that
never really existed.
24
SCENE PLAN
The film about dad repairing the car (its happy-end version)
is divided into three scenes.
Scene No. 1 is indoors,
in the flat - preparing
for the job.
Scene No. 2 is outdoors,
in a garage or street -
repairing the car.
Scene No. 3 is outdoors,
in nature - the picnic.
Why is the division into scenes so important?
Because in every scene by selecting shots and framing you
need to answer three questions:
Where is the scene taking place?
Who is participating in the scene?
What are the characters in the scene doing?
This may appear simple, but in fact it isnt. For example if
your sister is preparing to go to sleep, it is dark in the room
and if you try to film it neither the room nor your sister can
be seen very well. So you will have to invent some action that
will help viewers to see it for example, your sister (Russian
shot) gets into bed and then switches off her bedside lamp. But
this shot must be preceded by the widest possible shot of the
room to show that your sister is in fact in her own room rather
than for example in your parents room.
So far we have talked only about compressing film time, but
there are situations where film time has to be longer than real
time. Things that happen very quickly in life can in fact be
extended in film time. Let us do another exercise.
Every major change of location
represents a new scene.
Every major jump in time,
although the action may be taking
place in the same spot, also results
in a new scene.
For example, in the evening you
film your sister getting into bed,
and the next morning you shoot her
getting up. Although shot in the
same room, these are in fact two
different scenes because there is a
big time difference between them.
25
1. A SEMI-TOTAL SHOT
TAKEN FROM THE SIDE.
ON THE LEFT SIDE IS THE
GOAL AND GOALIE, AND
ON THE RIGHT THE KICKER
STARTING HIS RUN
TOWARDS THE BALL.
PLACE THE CAMERA
BEHIND THE GOAL SO THE
GOAL AND GOALKEEPER
ARE IN FRONT OF YOU
AND THE BOY TAKING THE
KICK IS IN THE DISTANCE
BOY TAKING A PENALTY KICK AND HIS PAL IS ON THE GOAL.
THIS MAY BE TAKEN AS A SINGLE SHOT, IN REAL TIME.
ONE BOY KICKS THE
BALL AND THE OTHER
CATCHES IT. YOU MADE
A SINGLE SHOT
LASTING PERHAPS
THREE SECONDS.
2. CLOSE-UP OF THE
GOALIE CONCENTRATING
ON THE SHOT.
3. DETAIL SHOT OF
A FOOT KICKING
THE BALL.
4. PLAYER KICKING THE
BALL - MEDIUM SHOT.
5. GOALIE LEAPING
TOWARDS ONE SIDE -
AMERICAN SHOT.
6. BALL FLYING
THROUGH THE AIR -
DETAIL.
7. KICKER WATCHING
ANXIOUSLY WHETHER
THE BALL WILL FIND
ITS TARGET - CLOSE-UP.
8. GOALIE CATCHING
THE BALL IN MID-AIR
- MEDIUM SHOT.
BUT LOOK HOW
WE CAN
EXTEND THIS
YOU HAVE NOW
CREATED FILM TIME,
WHICH LASTS
LONGER THAN REAL
TIME!
You may also place your camera
behind the kicker and the goal will
be in the distance. These are camera
angles every action can be shot
from several different angles. Your
task as the author of the film is
to choose that angle or those angles
from which an action can best be
viewed.
The cut from shot No. 3 to shot
No. 4 is an action cut. When you are
cutting in the middle of an action to
a different shot in which that action
continues (of course, you also have to
change the framing, but you already
know that) - you will get a proper cut.
EXERCISE No. 6
THIS EXERCISE IS A KIND
OF REPORT, BECAUSE IT
DOESNT HAVE A TURN AT
THE END. IF YOU STOLE
YOUR MUMS APPLE AT
THE END, IT WOULD BE
THE TURN. BUT YOU WILL
SURELY BE PUNISHED
THEN.
1. MUM TAKES THE BAGS. 2. SHE IS GOING OUT 3. SHE IS WALKING
DOWN THE STREET
4. SHE IS BUYING
AT THE MARKET
5. SHE IS COMING
BACK
6. SHE IS ENTERING
THE BUILDING
7. SHE IS ENTERING
THE FLAT
RAMP
Let us now talk about something that is a little more
difficult to do. It is called the problem of the ramp.
A ramp is an imaginary line which in our case extends
from the kicker to the goalkeeper. In shot No. 1 of our exercise
the goalie was on the left and the kicker on the right.
These relative positions must be maintained until the end
of the scene! This means that the boy running to kick the ball
must run from right to left, and that the ball entering the shot
with the goalie must come in from the right. The best way to
film this properly is never to cross the imaginary line with
your camera. To begin with, you might actually draw the line
with some chalk and never cross it film all your shots from
the same side of the line! If you make any shots from the other
side of the line, you will only confuse your viewers they will
not know who is left, who is right, from which side the ball
will fly, etc. Does a ramp also exist if there is only one
character in a scene? Of course! Here is another exercise
once again a report.
26
IF WE HAVE A
SINGLE CHARACTER
IN OUR SHOT, THE
RAMP IS THE LINE
ALONG WHICH
THAT CHARACTER
IS MOVING.
EXERCISE No. 7
27
In this exercise your mother should walk towards the market
from left to right and return to your home walking from right to
left. What would happen if you made a mistake if mum were to
walk back home in the same direction as she walked on her way to
the market? Our viewers would think that she was not going back
home, but on her way further, for example to grannys home. And
when all of a sudden she does arrive at home, the viewers would
be confused. And it is not our aim to confuse our audience!
When you say a film should be clear, what that means is that
you must not confuse the viewer. Being short means filming only
what needs to be shown (obviously, mother does not need to be
shown descending all the way down from the 6th floor), and being
interesting means that it must have an ending something
interesting to end with. That means that you must tell the
viewers something unexpected. In this case we skipped that part
to prevent you being punished.
Remember granny looking at the table after you had stolen the
potato?
We had a close-up (of granny looking at the empty table), and
then we cut to the empty table. In this case the ramp is the
imaginary line between grandma and the table.
Look at the picture below of two friends sitting and talking.
The ramp is the line between their eyes. The one on the left is
looking towards the right, and the other is looking towards the
left. If you were to film them in successive shots as shown in the
pictures marked WRONG! it would look as if they were sitting
one behind the other
rather than facing each
other.
IS THERE A RAMP IF
THERE IS NO ONE
MOVING IN THE SHOT?
YES! THE RAMP IS
THE LINE OF SIGHT.
WRONG!
RIGHT!
RAMP
YOU HAVE NOW LEARNT
ANOTHER RULE OF
MAKING FILMS -
FILMS MUST ALWAYS
BE CLEAR, SHORT AND
INTERESTING.
RAMP
CROSSING THE RAMP AND CAMERA
MOVEMENTS
There are several ways to cross over the ramp.
But why would we ever do that?
The main reason is that it is necessary to change our point
of view in order to show new space behind our actors. When
you were filming the two boys playing football, you showed
just 180 degrees of a full circle, just one side of the pitch.
And in a film changes are important!
Changes bring in something new and when you have new
elements it helps you to maintain the attention of the viewers.
The most important way to change something is
movement! Every movement is a change. So before we look at
crossing over the ramp, let us first talk about camera
movements.
28
When the camera is static in
your hand or fixed on a tripod,
that is a STATIC SHOT.
When you swing a camera to the left
or to the right while fixed on a tripod,
or standing in one spot and just turning
your shoulders, that is called PANNING.
When you are in
one spot and swinging
the camera up or down,
that is called TILTING.
When you hold a camera
and squat or straighten your
knees, that is a LIFT.
When you walk forward,
backwards or sideways while filming,
that is called a TRACKING SHOT.
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
TRACKING SHOTS can
also be made by tying your
camera securely on a
skateboard and rolling it.
Other tracking shots can be
made from a bicycle, or out of
the window of a moving car.
PAN
RIGHT
PAN
LEFT
T
I
L
T

U
P
T
I
L
T

D
O
W
N
29
Why does the camera move at all?
The first and most important reason is to follow people,
animals and objects (cars, trains, planes) which are moving in
the shot. A second reason is to present space to the viewer. For
example, do a close-up of you sister entering her room. Then
put the camera in the place where she stood (subjective shot)
and pan across the room: it will look as if she is turning her
head and gazing at the room.
Panning can also be used to show where people are. In
many thrillers you have certainly seen scenes of someone
hiding behind a car, and then the camera pans and shows us
the person from whom he or she is hiding.
Panning can also be used to heighten tension. For
example, you film a goalkeeper standing at his goal and
preparing to save a penalty kick, and then you pan onto the
kicker. In thrillers you often see scenes of one person pointing
a gun at another, and the camera then swings and shows the
second person to be concealing a gun under the table.
So if you have a choice, always move your camera from
a less interesting thing to something more interesting.
If the camera is at the same level as
your sisters head, or eyes, we call this a
normal point of view (a normal camera
angle, a horizontal shot).
If you squat and point upwards
towards your sister, you have a low point
of view, and if you climb on a ladder and
look down on your sister, you have a high
point of view.
Climbing to a sixth floor balcony and
shooting down on your sister is a birds-
eye view (make sure someone is holding
on to you, heights are dangerous), while
lying on the ground and filming upwards
represents a frogs-eye view.
IN ANY CASE, WHEN MAKING A CAMERA
MOVEMENT MAKE SURE THAT THE ENDING
OF THE SHOT IS MORE INTERESTING
THAN ITS BEGINNING.
horizontal shot
low point of view
high point of view
frogs-eye view
birds-eye view
When you do a tracking, panning or any
other shot, make sure that your camera is
static at the beginning of the shot, then
perform the movement, and then the camera must be still
again at the end. This makes for a good cut from the
preceding shot and a good cut to the next shot. Cutting
off the shot in the middle of a movement looks jittery and
nervy. But there are times when this serves a dynamic
purpose: in a brawl in any action film the camera moves all
the time, and cuts in the middle of a camera movement are
very frequent.
There is another camera action where neither you
nor the camera move, but the image moves.
Is that some sort of magic? you ask.
This action is called a zooming shot and is done by an
internal lens movement.
If you pick up a camera you will see a button which brings
things closer or makes them more distant as you press its
opposite ends. That is the zoom button.
Zooming in is used to emphasize something
that is already in the frame but cannot be seen too
well.
For example, you film a medium shot of your
brother peeling an apple, and then you zoom in on
the apple.
Zooming out is used to reveal what is around
the person or object that you are filming.
For example, you start filming a penalty kick
with a detail shot of the ball, and then you zoom out
and show the kicker, goalkeeper, goal and pitch.
BRINGING THINGS CLOSER
TO YOU IS CALLED
ZOOMING IN, AND TAKING
THEM FARTHER AWAY IS
CALLED ZOOMING OUT.
30
Hey! Stop moving!
What sort of
camera angle
is that?!
zooming in
zooming out
Points of view are very interesting!
We spend most of our lives watching the
world from a normal point of view, so
that a birds-eye view or a frogs-eye eye
view are interesting and unusual.
Remember when determining the
point of view, it is the level of what you
are filming rather than the level of the
camera that is important.
If you are standing and filming a frog
on the ground, that is a high point of
view, and if you are standing in the same
spot and filming a basketball player,
then it is a low point of view. Youre
always at the same level, but the things
you are filming are at a different level.
31
In films it is not only the actions of the camera that are
important. In fact every action is important! How come? Well, a
film is made up of a series of actions. If there is no action in the
film, then you should not have made it at all! You might as well
have made a series of still photographs. Films are also called
motion pictures. So whenever you can film something moving,
always film it moving and never film it standing still! It is much
more interesting to see you friend riding a bicycle than just
standing next to a bicycle.
If your character has to stand still, then make sure there is
something moving behind him. If he is for example on a sidewalk,
it is better to position the camera so the street with moving cars
can be seen behind him, rather than filming him against a dull wall.
Of course this does not mean that you should constantly be
zooming in and out, running with the camera, forcing people
to jump up and down Do not do it without any reason, as you
will not get a film but just a bunch of shaky images that will
annoy your viewers.
So dont overdo it.
It is now time to cross over the ramp. We shall try different
ways in one exercise.
MAKING FILMS IS ALL
ABOUT MOVEMENT -
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS
REMEMBER THAT.
1. THE FIRST WAY
YOU CAN CROSS OVER THE RAMP BY MAKING A LONG
TRACKING SHOT. START WITH A SEMI-TOTAL SHOT OF
YOUR SISTER WALKING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. START TO
WALK TOWARDS THE RIGHT WHILE TRACKING YOUR
SISTER. AT ONE MOMENT SHE WILL BE WALKING
DIRECTLY TOWARDS YOU. AS YOU CONTINUE, YOU WILL
PASS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RAMP AND WILL STILL
BE TRACKING YOUR SISTER, BUT SHE IS NOW WALKING
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. DOES THIS SOUND COMPLICATED?
WELL, TAKE THE CAMERA AND TRY IT - AS WE HAVE
ALREADY SAID, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!
2.
3.
1.
YOUR SISTER IS HOLDING A DOLL IN HER
HAND AND WALKING TOWARDS THE CAR IN
WHICH DAD IS WAITING FOR HER. SHE
DROPS THE DOLL, BENDS DOWN AND PICKS
IT UP AND CONTINUES WALKING TO THE CAR.
EXERCISE No. 8
2. THE SECOND WAY
YOU NEED NOT DO A TRACKING SHOT, BUT CAN ACHIEVE THE
SAME THING WITH THREE SEPARATE SHOTS. THE FIRST CAMERA
POSITION IS THE SAME AS AT THE START OF THE LONG
TRACKING SHOT, ONLY NOW YOU ARE NOT MOVING (YOUR
SISTER IS MOVING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT). THE NEXT SHOT IS
TAKEN WITH A STATIC CAMERA, WITH YOUR SISTER MOVING
STRAIGHT INTO THE CAMERA (AS WHEN YOU WERE ON THE RAMP
IN THE PRECEDING EXAMPLE). FINALLY, YOU ARE ON THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE RAMP, JUST LIKE IN THE CONCLUDING PART OF THE
TRACKING SHOT (SISTER MOVING FROM RIGHT TO LEFT). ONE
MORE THING: DID YOU FRAME ALL THREE SHOTS THE SAME WAY?
PROBABLY NOT, BECAUSE WE TAUGHT YOU THAT TWO
SUCCESSIVE SHOTS MUST NEVER BE FRAMED THE SAME WAY. IN
THIS CASE THE FIRST SHOT MIGHT BE A MEDIUM SHOT, THE
SECOND A CLOSE-UP, AND THE THIRD AN AMERICAN SHOT.
32
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
1.
3. THE THIRD WAY
YOU CAN CROSS OVER THE RAMP BY USING DETAILS. IF YOU
FILM YOUR SISTER WALKING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND THEN
MAKE A DETAIL SHOT OF THE DOLL IN HER HAND (WHICH IS, OF
COURSE, MOVING TOGETHER WITH YOUR SISTER), YOU CAN
FILM THIS DETAIL FROM ANY SIDE IN THE NEXT AND WIDER
SHOT, USING IT TO CROSS THE RAMP. IN THE DETAIL SHOT
VIEWERS LOSE THEIR SENSE OF DIRECTION BECAUSE THE SHOT
IS TOO TIGHT TO ALLOW DIRECTION TO BE SEEN, AND THEN YOU
CAN CROSS THE RAMP WITHOUT ANY WORRY.
4. THE FOURTH WAY
IF YOU MAKE A CUT WHEN YOUR SISTER DROPS THE DOLL, AND
THEN FILM HER BEND DOWN TO PICK IT UP FROM THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE RAMP, YOU WILL NOT CONFUSE YOUR VIEWERS -
YOU WILL MAKE AN EASY CROSSOVER. WHY? BECAUSE YOUR
SISTER IS NO LONGER MOVING ACROSS THE FRAME, BUT UP AND
DOWN. THAT MEANS THAT ANY VERTICAL MOVEMENT ALLOWS
YOU TO CROSS THE RAMP. IF YOU EVER HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
TO FILM A ROCKET BEING LAUNCHED, YOU CAN FILM IT FROM
ANY SIDE WITHOUT CROSSING THE RAMP, BECAUSE THE ROCKET
IS MOVING IN A VERTICAL DIRECTION. YOU CAN ALSO MAKE
YOUR CROSSING CUT WHEN YOUR SISTER IS STRAIGHTENING AS
SHE PICKS UP THE DOLL. I HOPE YOU WILL NEVER HAVE AN
OPPORTUNITY TO FILM A ROCKET FALLING TO EARTH.
33
A RAMP ANGLE IS THE
ANGLE BETWEEN THE
RAMP AND THE LINE
CONNECTING THE CAMERA
AND THE OBJECT IT IS
FILMING.
Once you have crossed a ramp, the following shots in that
scene must be filmed from that side of the ramp! Once you have
begun a new scene, the ramp that existed in the preceding scene
no longer applies. In the exercise where dad was fixing the car,
he can leave the flat from left to right and exit from the building
from right to left. There is another thing about the ramp that has
nothing to do with crossing it the ramp angle.
Between the penalty kicker and the goalkeeper is the ramp
line, and when filming the two the angles between the camera
and the ramp should be the same, because if you use a bigger
2.
3.
1.
RAMP
6. THE SIXTH WAY
YOU CAN CROSS OVER THE RAMP BY FILMING FROM A VERY
HIGH POINT OF VIEW. WHY CAN THIS BE DONE? WELL, THE
ANSWER IS THE SAME AS IN THE CASE OF VERTICAL
MOVEMENT, ONLY IN THIS CASE IT IS THE CAMERA RATHER
THAN THE ROCKET THAT IS GOING UP.
5. THE FIFTH WAY
A TOTAL SHOT IS ANOTHER WAY OF CROSSING THE RAMP.
MAKE AN AMERICAN SHOT OF YOUR SISTER WALKING FROM
RIGHT TO LEFT, THEN ANOTHER AMERICAN SHOT OF YOUR DAD
WAITING FOR HER IN THE CAR (HE IS NOT MOVING, BUT HE IS
LOOKING AT HER FROM RIGHT TO LEFT), AND THEN MAKE A
TOTAL SHOT SHOWING THE CAR, YOUR DAD AND YOUR SISTER,
AND CROSS OVER THE RAMP IN THAT SHOT. THE VIEWERS WILL
NOT BE CONFUSED. WHY? BECAUSE IN THE TOTAL YOU SHOWED
BOTH YOUR SISTER AND THE CAR TOWARDS WHICH SHE IS
MOVING. SO YOU ARE NOT CONFUSING ANYONE. THE WIDER
THE TOTAL SHOT, THE EASIER WILL IT BE FOR THE VIEWERS.
34
angle when filming the kicker it will look as if he is kicking
the ball beside the goal. Whenever there are two characters in
a scene there is a ramp between them, and you must film both
of them Str. 41 using the same angle off the ramp.
Let us look again at the scene where two men are talking. If
you film one from an acute angle (say, 5 degrees), and the
other from a much bigger angle (say, 30 degrees), it will look
as if the second man is not looking at his friend at all but
somewhere off to the side.
This is a plan view. A plan view is a drawing to scale of a
scene seen from above. The actors are drawn as circles,
representing their heads as seen from above. We also draw in
their feet to show where they are facing. In the circle we
inscribe the actors initial. The camera is a rectangle with a
small triangle representing the lens (to show where it is
pointing). Now we draw arrows showing where the actors and
the camera will be moving. We can also add whatever else is
important in a shot a table, chairs, a bed, a river, a street, a
door, windows
Making a plan view will be very important when you make a
shooting script for your film, but more about this later.
Two other important cuts are axis
cuts and angled cuts.
The axis is the
line between the
camera and the
actor who is being
filmed. We
mentioned this
line when we
spoke about the
ramp angle.
When you are
doing a medium
shot of an actor and he moves
towards the camera along the axis
until he reaches a close-up position,
this is then an axis cut.
This cut is a shock for viewers, but
it appears much nicer than when you
do a rapid zoom in on the actor. That
procedure is used when you want to
emphasize that at that very moment
the actor realized or saw something
important.
The angled cut
is not so shocking,
and is employed
much more often.
In fact, almost
every cut in films
is an angled cut.
For example, your
dad gets into the
car. You film him
from an angle, and
cut. Dad is in the
drivers seat, and you now film him
through the windshield.
That is a 45-degree angled cut.
A B
1
2
1
2
B
A
35
COMPOSING YOUR SHOTS
Another very important prerequisite of every shot is good
composition. Composing well means arranging everything in
the frame as well as you can.
Divide every frame into nine equal imaginary rectangles,
three by three, and then arrange actors and objects within
those rectangles.
Which side of the frame needs to have more room (two-
thirds, in fact) and which less (one-third) depends on the
direction in which the actor is looking or moving. If he or she
is looking or moving towards the left, then leave more free
room on that side of the frame. If the frame contains no people
doing any of the above things, then the composition is up to
your own taste.
Place a vase with flowers on the table and try filming it
while framing it in various ways. You will see that certain
compositions will please your eye more than others.
A good composition B. poor composition
MORE ABOUT THE CAMERA
We have already talked about the camera and I admitted not
really knowing how it works. We do not need to know this in
order to shoot a film, but we do have to know its functions
how to begin and end shooting, view filmed material, zoom the
lens, and many other things.
Ask your parents to explain the purpose of all the buttons
and functions on the camera. You can also find out in the
manual that came with the camera when you bought it.
When you read an instruction in the manual, you should
immediately try it out.
That is the best way to learn and remember it.
The manual is in English, you say. So what?! Grab a
dictionary, and get a little language exercise as well. Take very
good care of the camera, avoid dropping it and spilling water
on it, but most of all try not to scratch the lens. And always
keep the batteries topped up.
THE LENS is an important part of the camera.
A WIDE-ANGLE LENS is ideal for shooting in confined
spaces, for example indoors. The framing is always wide, and
useful when actors move towards the camera and away from it,
as such movement appears very dynamic with a wide-angle lens.
Wide-angles are not good for close-ups because they distort
actors faces, making them appear fat and funny (which is not
so bad if your film is a comedy). These lenses have great
depth-of-field, which means that if we place a ball in front of
the lens both it and the kicker who is several metres away will
be in good focus.
36
T
T T
At its widest setting, the
zoom lens is a wide-angle.
as you zoom in even more,
you get a telephoto lens.
At its middle setting, it
is a standard-angle lens.
TELEPHOTO LENSES are not good for filming in confined
spaces. Proper framing requires placing the camera far from
the objects being filmed and usually you run up against a wall.
On the other hand, telephoto lenses are excellent for
shooting outdoors, because they compress space and the
shots look fuller.
Position an actor in the street with lamp-posts and traffic
lights behind him. First do an American shot with a wide-
angle, from close by. Now move the camera back some distance
and again do an American shot, only this time at a telephoto
lens setting. This will appear much better the row of poles
will be more prominent and everything will look more
compressed.
When an actor walks left or right - across the frame and
not towards the camera or away from it with a telephoto
lens the shot will look much more dynamic.
Telephoto lenses have shallow depth-of-field. If you film a
medium close-up shot of your mother in a green market with a
telephoto lens, only your mother will be clear, and everything
beyond her or in front of her will be fuzzy. But this is a good
thing if you want to separate her from the mass of people and
things around her. The bad side is that as soon as she starts
walking towards you, she will go out of focus.
The automatic exposure facility built into your camera will
give you a major headache, for example when filming an actor in a
room with windows behind him. If you do a close-up, the actors
face will be OK, but the windows will be washed out completely
you will not be able to see trees, buildings or anything else. If you
do an American framing of the actor against a window, suddenly
the things seen through the window will be OK, but he will be
completely dark.
Why does this happen?
We need to explain what a lens aperture is. The aperture is the
opening in the lens through which ight enters the camera. The
little hole which we mentioned at the start of the book.
37
Wide-angle lens
Telephoto lens
Sharpness. Most cameras focus the
image automatically. This is usually a
good thing because you then dont
have to bother about focus as you film,
but it is not always good, because
sometimes the camera focuses not on
what you want but on something else.
Say you want to film an actor hiding
behind some reeds, but the camera
keeps focusing on the reeds and not on
the actor, who is the important thing
in your shot. That is when you have to
switch off the automatic focus and
turn the camera to manual focus. Read
the instructions in your camera manual
to find out how this is done.
EXPERIMENT WITH LENSES AND YOU
WILL LEARN VERY QUICKLY WHICH ONE
SHOULD BE USED FOR WHAT PURPOSE.
On a bright sunny day, the aperture in the lens is closed
(the little hole is small), because there is a lot of light and the
camera needs very little to expose the tape well.
In twilight or on a cloudy day, the aperture opens up and
the little hole becomes bigger, to let more light into the camera.
On most cameras the aperture opens and closes
automatically.
You can see this if you film while walking from a dark corridor
out into bright daylight. In the corridor the aperture will be open,
because it is dark, but as you leave the building, the aperture will
close automatically. When you play back the tape, you will see
that it will be OK until you walk out into the street, when for a
moment the image will be burnt out, but then the camera will
close the aperture and everything will be normal again.
But this burning will bother the viewer.
The reverse will happen when you walk from a bright
street into a dark corridor. The picture will be completely
dark for a moment and then the aperture will open and
everything will be fine again.
Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid this.
The picture will burn out or be completely dark for a
moment every time you change your lighting
conditions drastically.
When we film our big movies we can even out lighting
conditions with huge spotlights it is like turning on,
say, 180 ordinary light bulbs - but the only thing you
can do is to make a cut.
That means filming one shot in the corridor, and then
cutting to an outdoor shot.
As for the problem with the actor and the window
which we mentioned, you can solve it only if your
camera has a manual exposure setting.
If you have such an option in your camera, switch it on,
and if the actor is more important in your shot, then open
up the lens aperture, and if the things outside the window
are more important, then close down the aperture.
Where exactly is this function located on my camera, you
ask. That you will have to find out by yourself, by reading the
instruction manual, because it is different on every camera.
38
It is allowed to change image
sharpness in a single shot!
For example, you have an
actor in the foreground hiding
behind a tree, and far behind
him a man from whom he is
hiding. Your focus is on the first
man, while the second is fuzzy
and hard to see.
Now turn the focus manually
onto the second man, thereby
transferring the attention of the
viewers to the second person,
without having to make a cut.
You can only do this with a
telephoto lens.
The clapper boy places the
clapboard in front of the camera, the
director shouts Camera! - the
cameraman starts the camera and
shouts Rolling! the director shouts
Sound! the sound-man starts the
recorder and shouts Rolling! The
clapboard is still in front of the lens.
The clapper boy then reads out the
numbers on the board in a loud voice:
Forty-two slash twelve, take thirteen!
(His voice is recorded by the
soundman). He claps the board and
moves out of the shot. (Sometimes that
can also be one of the things that ruin
a shot the clapper boy does not move
far enough and his nose remains in the
frame, or he trips and breaks a prop, or
moves a spotlight) Then the director
shouts Action! and only then to the
actors start their part of the job.
The clapboard is a small wooden
board with a hinged stick attached
that is clapped down at the beginning
of the filming of each shot. On it we
write with chalk the title of the shot,
which is designated by a number. For
example: SCENE No. 42, SHOT No. 12,
Take No. 13 (this means that the same
shot has already been filmed 12 times,
but there was always a problem that
interfered: either the actor forgot his
lines, or the camera shook, or a bulb
exploded in a spotlight, or a noisy
plane flew overhead). You cannot
imagine how many things can happen
to ruin a shot a million different
things!
WHAT IS NEEDED FOR
MAKING A FILM
Let us repeat once again what is needed for making a film:
a camera
a story and an idea
friends
The following are important for the story: it should have a
beginning, a middle and ending, it should be interesting and
clear, and as short as possible. This does not mean that the
story itself must be short, but that you must tell it in the
shortest possible manner, because long usually equals boring.
However, you must never skip over important segments of
the story.
The person who decides which part of the story is important
and which is not, where the camera will be placed, will there
be action and what sort of action, and what will the actors be
doing is called the director. This is the most important person
in the film crew. The second most important member of the
crew is the person holding the camera and filming the
cameraman or director of photography. But decisions cannot
be taken by two persons, because each sees things in a
different way. So it must be clear to all who is the director.
The director makes the decisions and the others are there to
assist and advise the director. But the ultimate decider is the
director. If you re filming with friends, in order to avoid
disputes you should agree who will be the director before you
start, and then there can be no quarrels. For your next film the
person who handled the camera in the first film can now
become the director.
Shooting films is like playing a game.
Even we adults, when we film, are to some extent playing a
game. Whenever a row breaks out, the game comes to a halt.
And no enterprise is possible where people are quarrelling. To
avoid this, make sure that no quarrel can ever arise: one
person is the boss and the others must do as the boss says. In
your next film change roles, so that someone else can be the
director. Let us now list the members of a film crew.
39
40
DIRECTOR -
MAKES ALL
DECISIONS
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - HELPS THE DIRECTORS
AND MAKES SURE EVERYTHING IN THE SCRIPT IS
PLACED IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA
CONTINUITY GIRL - RECORDS
WHICH TAKES ARE GOOD AND WHICH
TAKE IS ON WHICH FILM ROLL,
HELPING THE EDITING PROCESS
FILM LOADER
- LOADS ROLLS
OF FILM IN THE
CAMERA
LIGHTING CREW -
HANDLE THE SPOTLIGHTS
SET DESIGNER -
FINDS LOCATIONS
WHERE THE FILM
WILL BE SHOT OR
BUILDS FILM SETS
SET DECORATORS - PAINT
AND DECORATE THE FILM SET
HEAD PROPMAN
dACQUIRES ALL PROPS
NEEDED FOR THE FILM
There are set props and
action props:
a glass standing on
a table is a set prop and
becomes an action prop if
an actor picks it up and
drinks from it. Props are
all big and small objects
in the shot (pieces
of furniture, cutlery,
eyeglasses).
SET PROPMAN -
ARRANGES PROPS BROUGHT
IN BY THE HEAD PROPMAN
EDITOR - EDITS
THE FILM
CLAPPER BOY -
OPERATES THE
CLAPBOARD
ACTORS - ACT OUT
LOVE, HATE, DYING
MAKE-UP ARTIST
- APPLIES MAKE-UP
STUNTPERSONS
AND DOUBLES -
PERFORM VARIOUS
DANGEROUS
ACTIONS AS
STAND-INS FOR
THE ACTORS (RACE
THROUGH FLAMES,
CRASH CARS)
SOUND RECORDIST -
RECORDS THE FILM SOUND
BOOM OPERATOR -
HOLDS THE BOOM
WITH A MICROPHONE
AT ITS END
40
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
- THE CAMERA OPERATOR
CAMERA
ASSISTANT -
ASSISTANT TO
THE CAMERA
OPERATOR
FOCUS PULLER
- KEEPS THE
IMAGE SHARP
SET WORKERS
- SET UP AND
PUSH THE
CAMERA CRANE
PATINA ARTISTS
- AGE FRESHLY DECORATED
AND PAINTED OBJECTS
ANIMAL TRAINER
- TRAINS AND
HANDLES ANIMALS
EXTRAS LEADER
- BRINGS IN
EXTRAS AND
DIRECTS THEM
EXTRAS - PEOPLE IN
THE FILM WHO ARE NOT
ACTORS AND PERFORM
SIMPLE TASKS
MASK MAKER -
MAKES MASKS, FOR
EXAMPLE CONVINCING
WOUNDS
COSTUME
DESIGNER -
PURCHASES,
DESIGNS AND
OVERSEES FILM
COSTUME MAKING
DRESSMAKER
- SEWS FILM
COSTUMES
DRESSER - LOOKS AFTER
FILM COSTUMES AND
HELPS ACTORS TO DRESS
PYROTECHNICIAN
- PREPARES SAFE
EXPLOSIONS
ARMOURER - MAINTAINS
STAGE FIREARMS WHICH
LOOK REAL AND SHOOT
BUT HAVE NO BULLETS
A film crew, without actors and
extras, is made up of between 50 and
70 people! In Hollywood, a crew of 120
is regarded as small!
Star Wars was filmed by a small
army. The next time you watch it, try
to count all the names on the end
credits - I didnt manage it.
For your own film two, three or four
of you are enough (to begin with). As
your films get longer and more
complicated, you will automatically
increase your crew.
The clapboard helps the editor to
find on the sound tape (by listening to
the data read out by the clapper boy)
the segment which corresponds to a
shot on film (at the beginning of each
shot can be seen the board with those
same data written on it). The sound of
the boards hitting each other on the
tape is synchronised by the editor with
the picture of that event.
The sound and picture of all shots
are joined in this manner, and then the
recordings of the clapboard are cut out.
This explanation is valid for the big
movies, where picture and sound are
recorded separately - in your case both
picture and sound are on the same tape,
so you do not really have to worry about
picture and sound synchronisation.
41
THE SCENARIO AND
SHOOTING SCRIPT
FOR A SHORT FEATURE FILM
How do you make your way from a story to a film?
That is a very important part of the job. The story first
needs to be written. It should then be divided into scenes.
When you have divided a story into scenes, then you have
created a SCENARIO; when you have divided a scenario into
shots, then you have a SHOOTING SCRIPT. It is not a good
thing to begin filming without a shooting script, because
outdoors you depend on the sun, and the sun wont wait for
you to work out how to do a scene - it will set in its own time,
and you will lose a day of shooting. So you must always be
prepared before you begin shooting.
The following things need to be done before you begin
filming. When you have completed your scenario, you must
choose who will act in your film. This selection is called
casting - selecting actors means dividing roles. Then you need
to pick your shooting locations.
If a scene takes place in a park, you must choose a park that
best suits you, and this requires visiting several parks. This is
called TOURING LOCATIONS, and is usually done by the
director, set designer and cameraman.
It is a good idea to take along a still camera and shoot the
potential locations from as many angles as possible. Large film
crews go by car, and you could get somebodys dad to drive
you, or you could cycle, only be careful of the traffic! At home
you can carefully inspect the photographs you took in four or
five parks and select the most appropriate one.
My suggestions for
documentary films:
A day on holiday, On
skiing, On fishing, At my
grandmothers house
My suggestions for short
feature films:
The most simple thing is to
shoot the film based on some
well known story. Later you
will write your own stories.
I recommend you to start
with jokes.
They are short and they
have very funny main point
at the end.
42
43
Once you have chosen your locations, you are
ready to begin work on the SHOOTING SCRIPT. By
this time you know everything about your locations
and can divide the action in those scenes into
individuals shots.
The shooting script must specify the desired camera
framing of each shot, the movements of the camera
and the actions of the actors.
Why is that important?
Because in this way you reduce the possibility of
making mistakes during the filming. Once you have
completed your shooting script, read it and try to
imagine every scene. Close your eyes and think. In this
way you will be able to see your film in your mind even
before you shoot it!
In this way you will be able to detect whether an
unwanted crossing of a ramp will take place, whether the
framing you have chosen will show the action properly, etc.
When you have completed this, take the set designer and
cameraman with you to the locations again and carefully go
through each scene shot by shot without a camera. You will
probably spot a number of potential mistakes - for example a
tree stands in the way of an actors planned action.
Now correct those defects in the shooting script. Now you
should draw scene plan views on the basis of the shooting
script. Then you should hold a meeting with the actors and
explain what they should do, or let them read the shooting
script.
This called a reading rehearsal. Tell the actors what
they should wear at the shoot, and if you have a costume
designer, than that job should be done by the costume
designer (that is called a dress rehearsal). Together with the
set designer make a list of the props that must be take to the
film locations and assemble those things together (for example
a bicycle, a school bag, a ball, a skateboard, a pencil). Now
you need a sunny day. Get the actors and crew together, pack
the camera, video tapes, props and shooting script, and then go
on location and shoot!
But there is one more thing before you begin:
Main role
The scenario and
supporting role
Costume
designer
Mhmm,
its said that
we have to kiss
each other
44
CONTINUITY
Imagine that you are filming a scene on Wednesday.
Suddenly it begins to rain, so you stop shooting and tell
everyone to come back the next day. On Thursday an actor
comes dressed differently. You do not notice this and continue
filming. You end the shooting, go back home to view your tape,
and all of a sudden you see that in one shot he is wearing a
yellow tee-shirt, and in the next a blue one!
That is a continuity error!
You will confuse your viewers, who will ask themselves when
the actor changed, why he changed and why no one around him
seems to notice. And that is not good, because while the
viewers are trying to figure it out they will not be watching
carefully and might miss an important point in the film.
Always avoid continuity errors!
Be very careful - such mistakes can be relatively tiny and
still confusing for viewers. For example in one shot a girl has a
doll in one hand and in the next in her other hand. When you
play the film everyone can see that she changed hands, but no
one knows either when or how. At major film shoots the
continuity girl is responsible for this problem, but in your
film you and your actors should take care of it. Continuity can
also be broken in respect of lighting. Say you begin filming in
sunlight, and then a cloud comes and you continue shooting -
that should not be done.
But if you do an entire scene in on a cloudy day (say your
dad repairing the car) and the next scene on a sunny day
(your family on a picnic), that will not bother your viewers.
Breaks in continuity can be used to show the passage of
time. For example, you film your sister going to school in one
dress. Then change your camera angle and framing and shoot
her walking in a different dress. Now change the angle and
framing again and film her in a third dress. In this way it will
look as if you had filmed on three different days.
Ups!
45
EDITING
Now that we are close to the end of the book, I should
mention another important thing - editing the film.
\
Simple editing programmes can be obtained for use in home
computers. You film with a digital camera, download the
recording into your computer and then shorten excessively
long shots, rearrange their order and in fact only then put
together the final version of your film.
If you have the possibility of editing, then there is no
need to shoot scenes in the order foreseen in the scenario,
but in any order you like, after which you simply edit them in
the computer.
Imagine that you made many individual takes of a single
shot - then you simply go home and insert in your final film
the take that you like the most.
Cutting to a view and action cuts are much better done in
the editing process than in the shooting itself.
Editing makes things much easier. However, it is possible to
make a film without editing, as we have been describing all
along, but then you have to shoot in chronological sequence.
This takes a bit more time: if you shoot a scene you dont
like, you have to switch the camera from recording to viewing,
then rewind the tape to the start of the scene (making sure
you dont erase the end of the preceding scene!), and then film
again. Some more expensive cameras can automatically return
the tape to the previous cut - this makes things easier for you,
but again you have to read the instruction manual to find out
how this is done.
Enough talking - I have told you almost everything that I
know.
EDITING IS A PROCESS DONE AFTER THE
SHOOTING IS COMPLETE. IN IT YOU CHOOSE THE
BEST TAKES OF ALL SHOTS AND PUT THEM TOGETHER
TO MAKE THE FINAL VERSION OF THE FILM.
NOW PICK UP YOUR CAMERA
AND GO TO WORK!
Shots repeated several times
because you just cant get
everything right are called takes.
I once attended a film shoot
where 47 takes were needed to
get just one scene right. The most
I have ever had to do in one of my
films is 19!
Why dont we have to film all scenes
in their proper sequence? Well, say the
3
rd
and 5
th
scenes are in a park, and
the 2
nd
and 4
th
indoors. It will certainly
be easier to film all the outdoors
scenes first, and then the indoors
ones, instead of having to run back
and forth all the time.
46
GLOSSARY
bioskop sala u kojoj se prikazuju filmovi, kino
blenda ovor u objektivu kroz koji u kameru ulazi svetlo
direktor fotografije onaj koji name{ta svetlo i odlu ~uje o
svim bojama u filmu (scenografije i kostima); onaj koji sa
re`iserom pravi knjigu snimanja, tj. re~i pretvara u slike
ekranizacija snimanje filma po knji`evnom delu
ekspozicija postupak osvetljavanja filmske trake
i deli} sekunde tokom kojeg je traka izlo`ena svetlosti koja
dopire kroz objektiv
zvu~ni efekat zvuci koji privla~e pa`nju, nagla{eni zvuci
uskla|eni s onim {to se de{ava na filmu; to mogu biti
posebno snimljeni zvuci iz prirode ili oni ve{ta~ki
proizvedeni
zvu~ni film filmsko delo koje uz sliku ima i zvu~ni zapis;
tako|e i naziv za sada{nje razdoblje filmske umetnosti u
kojem se snimaju isklju~ivo zvu~ni filmovi
kadar prizor koji se vidi kroz kameru; deo prostora koji
snima kamera i vreme od reza do reza ili od uklju~ivanja do
isklju~ivanja kamere
kamera opti~ki ure|aj za snimanje filma; radi na istom
principu kao i fotoaparat, ali se od njega razlikuje
po tome {to pojedina~ne slike snima jednu za drugom
u pravilnim vremenskim razmacima
klapa tabla sa udarnom da{~icom na koju se upisuje naziv
kadra koji se snima
knjiga snimanja detaljan popis kadrova redosledom
po kojem }e se snimati
kontinuitet podudaranje pojedinosti, kao {to su kostimi,
osvetljenje, smer kretanja i sl., u uzastopnim kadrovima
kopija za prikazivanje kopija filma koja slu`i
za projekciju
kostimograf kreator scenske ode}e koji mora da poznaje
na~ine obla~enja i stilove razli~itih epoha; izra|uje crte`e po
kojima se prave kostimi za glumce
kran dizalica kojom se kamera vertikalno di`e
i spu{ta
lift pokret kamere odozgo nadole i obratno, po vertikalnoj
osi
louder osoba koja puni kameru filmom
mikroman pomo}nik snimatelja zvuka; vodi ra~una
o ispravnosti tonske tehnike, priprema je za snimanje, dr`i
mikrofon na pecaljki i lovi glumce koji govore
monta`a postupak kojim se snimljeni film sastavlja
u celinu, spajanje razli~itih kadrova
monta`ni sto tehni~ki ure|aj kojim se monta`er slu`i da bi
od snimljenog materijala stvorio zvu~nu i slikovnu celinu
nemi film naziv za neozvu~eni film; razdoblje
u istoriji filma od prvih radova bra}e Limijer
do pojave zvu~nog filma 1927. godine
objektiv deo kamere, so~ivo
osa zami{ljena linija izme|u kamere i glumca koji
se snima
Oskar godi{nja nagrada ameri~ke Akademije filmskih
umetnosti i nauke koja se dodeljuje od 1928. godine;
pozla}ena statueta na postolju, visoka 34 cm i te{ka
oko 3 kg
producent osoba ili ustanova koja zapo~inje proizvodnju
nekog filma, nabavlja finansijska sredstva i brine
o svemu {to je u vezi s tim filmom: bira re`isera, glavne
glumce, scenaristu, nadgleda pisanje scenarija i uti~e
na kona~nu verziju filma
radna kopija kopija originalnog filma za upotrebu
u monta`i
rakord ugao koji se stvara izme|u rampe i zami{ljene linije
povu~ene izme|u kamere i onoga {to kamera snima
47
rakurs ugao iz kojeg se snima kamerom
rampa zami{ljena linija koju ~ine pogledi ili kretanje
glumaca i objekata (na primer automobila) u kadru, koja slu`i
za odre|ivanje pravilnog polo`aja kamere
re`iser onaj koji se bavi re`ijom, re`iranjem filma
rez mesto na kojem se iz jednog kadra prelazi na drugi
rekviziter onaj koji nabavlja rekvizitu potrebnu
za snimanje filma
svetlomer ure|aj za merenje svetlosti koja se odbija
od nekog objekta
sinopsis sa`et nacrt budu}eg filma, podloga za izradu
scenarija
snimatelj onaj koji snima film kamerom
specijalni efekti snimci koji se ne mogu posti}i uobi~ajenim
snimanjem nego se stvaraju slo`enim
i specijalnim metodama snimanja, u novije vreme
kompjuterskom animacijom
statista sporedan u~esnik u filmu, obi~no sa ulogom
bez re~i u masovnim scenama
stati~an kadar kadar snimljen kamerom koja stoji na stativu
ili se mirno dr`i u ruci
scena prostor s odgovaraju}im dekorom na kojem se snima
film, mesto za nastup glumaca
scenario prozni tekst u dijalozima na kojem se zasniva film;
detaljan opis sadr`aja filma, svih radnji, mesta
i vremena de{avanja, likova i njihovog pona{anja
scenarist(a) osoba koja se profesionalno bavi pisanjem
scenarija
scenograf osoba koja brine o scenografiji, izradi ili
pronala`enju objekata koji su neophodni za snimanje filma
scenografija oprema i dekor scene u pozori{nim komadima ili
filmovima
tilt pokret kamere (pri~vr{}ene na stativ ili dr`ane
u ruci) odozgo nadole ili odozdo nagore, bez podizanja
tlocrt crte` scene izveden odozgo
triler vrsta igranog filma; vrlo uzbudljiv
kriminalisti~ki film koji gledaoca ispunjava
napeto{}u i neizvesno{}u
far snimanje kamerom koja se kre}e po zemlji
film traka za fotografsko ili kinematografsko snimanje;
tako|e i dokumentarno ili igrano delo
snimljeno na takvoj traci ili drugom tehnikom
filmski `anrovi (vrste igranih filmova) komedija, akcioni film,
avanturisti~ki film, melodrama, ratni film, vestern,
kriminalisti~ki film, nau~nofantasti~ni
film, film strave i u`asa i sl.
{venk okretanje kamere koja se dr`i u ruci ili je pri~vr{}ena
na stativ, kojim se s jednog mesta, bez pomeranja kamere u
prostoru, skre}e pogled ulevo ili udesno
INDEX
48
asistent re`isera / 40
bioskop / 10
blenda / 37, 38
bra}a Limijer / 9
vo|a statista / 41
Vorhol, Endi / 17
garderober / 41
glumac / 40, 43
gorenje (zatamnjivanje) slike / 38
dekorater / 40
direktor fotografije / 39
dokumentarac / 42
dreser / 41
dubl / 45
dubler / 40
dunkl zak / 7
Edison, Tomas / 9
`ablja perspektiva / 29
zum / 30
zum minus / 30
zum plus / 30
zuher / 14
kadar / 13, 15, 16, 18, 25, 32, 35, 39, 43
kompozicija / 35
stati~an / 28
subjektivni / 29
kamera / 9, 11, 36, 39
kaskader / 40
klapa / 39, 41
klaper / 39, 40
knjiga snimanja / 34, 42, 43
kontinuitet / 44
kostimograf / 41, 43
kostimska proba / 43
kran / 41
kratki igrani film / 42
lift / 28
louder / 40
masker / 41
Mejbrix, fotograf / 8
mikroman / 40
monta`a / 16, 23, 45
monta`er / 16, 40, 41
mra~na komora / 7
nabavni rekviziter / 40
negativ / 7
obila`enje objekata / 42
objektiv / 7, 37
normalni / 36, 37, 38
teleobjektiv / 36, 37, 38
{irokougaoni / 36, 37
okular / 13, 14
opti~ka igra~ka / 6
oru`ar / 41
osa / 34
o{trina / 37
patiner / 41
pirotehni~ar / 41
plan / 18, 19, 20
ameri~ki, ameriken / 19, 20, 25
vrlo krupni / 18
detalj / 18, 20, 25, 32
krupni / 18, 20, 25
polukrupni / 18, 20
polutotal / 19, 25
ruski / 18, 19
srednje krupni / 18
srednji / 19, 20, 25
subjektivni / 20
total / 19, 20, 33
podela / 42
pozitiv / 7
pokreti kamere / 28
pokretne slike / 31
Poliveni poliva~ / 11
pri~a / 13, 15
zaplet / 14
rasplet / 14
uvod / 14
projektor / 9, 10
promena planova / 17
pti~ja perspektiva / 29
radni proces / 15
rakord / 33
rakurs / 29, 30
gornji / 29
donji / 29
normalan / 29
o{tri gornji / 33
rampa / 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 43
rasvetljiva~ / 40
Ratovi zvezda / 41
re`iser / 39, 40, 42
rez / 16, 17, 20, 23, 34
na pogled / 20, 34, 45
na pokret / 20, 25, 34, 45
pod uglom / 34
po osi / 34
rekvizita / 40, 43
igraju}a / 40
scenska / 40
reporta`a / 21, 26
svetlost / 11, 14
Svetski festival filmova snimljenih
kamerama mobilnih telefona / 5
sekretarica re`ije / 40, 44
snimatelj / 39, 41, 42, 43
snimatelj zvuka / 40
stativ / 17
statisti / 41
scenario / 42, 43
scene / 24, 39, 42
scenograf / 40, 42, 43
scenski radnici / 41
scenski rekviziter / 40
tilt / 28
tlocrt / 34, 43
ugao snimanja / 25
far / 28, 30, 31, 32, 41
farbar / 40
Festival kratkih filmova u Berlinu / 5
festival kratkog metra / 5
film / 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 39
animirani / 12, 15
dokumentarni / 12, 15
dugometra`ni / 12
eksperimentalni / 17
zvu~ni / 11
igrani / 12
kratkometra`ni / 12
srednjemetra`ni / 12
u boji / 11
crtani / 12
filmski prostor / 22
filmsko vreme / 16, 17, 25
fotografija / 6
Holivud / 41
~ita}a proba / 43
{arf / 37, 38
{arfer / 41
{venk / 28, 29, 30
{venker / 41
{minker / 40
{najder / 41
R
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How to make a
FILM
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Learn:

how did the first motion picture look like and

how are movies made today

what is shot

who are the people engaged in movie making?

what is the job of: director, script writer, actors, director

of photography, costume designer, scenographer...
Try:

to make your own animated and documentary film

to write a script

to make shooting script

to gether your friends and to select actors for your movie

to direct your first movie

Ra di v oj e Andr i }