TPM - Camera Choices

The following list is intended as a conversation starter when embarking on this project. Each concept can exist on a spectrum from subtle to overt, and that spectrum can fluctuate throughout the film however you like. Whether you choose to emphasise a concept, make it neutral, or ignore it all together, the important thing is to give it some thought rather than leaving it to chance. Goal is to come up with a philosophy for shooting this project rather than a look.

Viewpoint - Singular, Multiple, Objective, Subjective?

Subjective vs Objective Camera - Where is the Camera = Who is the camera? Eg - Do we want to watchsomeone drowning or experience drowning?

Camera Agency - Passive, Invasive, Tentative, Free Will/Autonomous, Locked/Anchored to someone? What is the camera interested in?

Camera Height - In relation to subject/characters.

Frame balance - Central, side, balanced or not, comfortable or uncomfortable.

Headroom - How much space is above the character’s head.

Coverage Concept - What we do and don’t show in frame. Would the film benefit from a coverage concept or restriction? Eg. Is there something we never/often see? Does the camera follow characters, or let them walk in and out of frame? IE, On Lady Macbeth - Never see the mansion from the outside - like a prisoner wouldn’t see the outside of the prison. Put Katherine center frame where possible. Put camera at her eye height where possible. No tilting or panning when she is stuck in the mansion. Handheld when she is unsupervised. The hope was to help the viewer feel connected/aligned with her early in the story. (In order to create an uneasy feeling for the viewer later, when she starts doing things they might not agree with.)

Multiple Shots per Scene vs Single Shot - How much choice do we want/need later? What are the benefits/downsides of either approach? What would be the viewers experience in each version? How much attention should the coverage draw to itself? If single shot: at what point would a viewer notice, or do we plan for them to not notice?

Lens Length + Camera Distance to Subject - Camera’s Proximity to Action and the lens length you choose (Wide, Long, Tele). How much are we in it vs watching it? For the same frame size, what is the difference visually/emotionally to using a long lens further away vs a wide lens close? Do you or the director have a personal preference/allergy to certain lens-distance combos? IE, allergy to wide lenses. For the locations you are in, what lens-distance combos work best?

Camera Placement/Obscurity - Are we watching through foreground? Is the action Foreground or Background. How obscured or clear is our view to the action? What is the effect on the viewer? If there are foreground elements, can they add to the world-building or storytelling? (Rather than purely being pretty.)

Lens Style - Spherical vs Anamorphic. How ‘real’ or ‘movie’ should this film feel? Are we referencing a genre or era of filmmaking?

Zooms - Long slow zooms, crash zooms, re-frames. Is zooming during the shot something we like for this film or not? How fast/far, what is the effect?

Lens Practicality - What situations will you be in and what type/style of lenses would help or hinder? Do some restrictions rule out some lenses?

Frame Size - When are we tightest, when are we widest? Why? Is this a film where being particularly tight or wide is interesting?

Depth of Field - Optically and Location Wise.

Focus - Who gets to be in focus and when. How much is in focus, for what effect? Would a “pull focus” be in the language for this film?

Image Texture - Grain, Halation, Perceived Sharpness.

Eyeline - How tight to camera, for what effect? Do characters ever look at the camera directly?

Angle to Subject - What angle do we see characters from and for what effect? How clearly do we see them, do they reveal themselves? Are there some characters we only see from certain angles until a certain point? Which angle on which actor brings out the qualities you are trying to emphasise in their character?

Over Shoulder Or Clean - Do we believe there is a different emotional effect of being clean or over shoulder? In over-shoulder shots how much the shoulder takes of the frame. Do we treat all characters equally or does the protagonist get a different treatment?

Matching Shots vs Not Matching - Shot Reverse Shot size, do everyone’s shots ‘match’? Is anyone given different treatment in their shot size, lens or angle?

Camera Movement - When and why, lateral vs in/out. Stillness is a choice too. Is the movement motivated by a character’s movement or purely for dramatic effect? Are we referencing a period or genre of filmmaking tradition? Highly linked to blocking!

Camera Stability - Handheld vs Supported. For what effect/moments. A mix or one. Are the transitions between movement options smooth or noticeable.

Opening Shot - Does it say ‘This is the story you’re about to see.’ (?) Or something else? Does it have special importance? Is it one shot in a sequence or a stand-alone shot? Does it fit chronologically or is it an exception? Do we enter the film gently or with a smash?

Closing Shot- Does it make us think forward or reflect on what we just saw? What is the thought, feeling or question you want to leave a viewer with and could the last frame help?

Opening Shot in Relation to Closing Shot - Do they talk to each other? What do they say? What was the nature of the journey? Circular? “So much has changed”? Something else? Do you want an audience to be in that moment entirely, or also recalling another part of the film.

Repetition of a Frame - Do we return to a frame? Is there a pattern set up then broken? For a great example see Stranger By The Lake by Alain Guiraudie - specifically the car park wide shots.

Returning to an Action - When a script calls for a character to repeat an action several times throughout the film. What is this script element saying and how can the camera help emphasise? Eg Nothing is changing? Things are changing slowly? Or this happens every day/this is the status quo? Or this person loves/hates what they are doing? What would be the value/effect of repeating previous angles vs new ones each time? How to best show change or lack of.

Transition between Shots/Scenes - Planned, Harsh, Smooth - Pure visual satisfaction and/or symbolic meanings. A juxtaposition of themes, visuals, sounds?

Collage or Consistent - Is the visual language a deliberate collage of different styles? Or very consistent? Could it change and for what effect? If collage - how collage-y? Different formats/cameras?

Single vs 2 or More Cameras - When, if, what does it give us/cost us? Implications for lighting and camera placement. Which of your other choices are compatible/incompatible with multiple cameras? Eg, wide lenses close becomes harder.

Colour Contrast/Colour Range - How colourful or not do we want the film to be? Will we choose adjacent colours on the rainbow or pick contrasting ones to be the colour palette? What about saturation? To what extent do we want colour to be an element of the film? How designed/natural should it feel?

Exterior Locations and Walls - Basically anything that will be behind the actors - it will make up a huge portion of the colours of your frame and therefore your colour palette. If you can change the walls - what would they look like ideally? If you can’t change/for exteriors: How will you integrate these colours into your palette? Don’t ignore them just because you can’t change them. Sky, foliage, roads etc - these will all become part of your palette if you see them in the film. (Side note: on green. Some people have an allergy to green - eg, grass/foliage. Don’t raise the hope that you can make foliage less green in the grade - the result is unlikely to make anyone happy. Can you think of some viable alternatives? Eg shooting in backlight can make colours less vivid…)

Colour Meaning - Do we assign certain colours to certain concepts, emotions, characters? Do we withhold some for a certain moment for a “before and after” concept?

Colour in the Lighting vs Colour in the World- Do we introduce these colours into physical things in the frame (production design, locations, wardrobe, makeup) or into the lighting? Both? How do those thing interact with each other?

Colour Bias/Temp/Tint - Are you planning an overall colour shift or wash? Will you achieve it with filters, colour balance or grade? What effect will this have on skin tones? Or on sky, foliage and other things you cannot alter.

Lighting Style - How lit or naturalistic do you imagine? On the scale of Full Hollywood to Full Documentary, where does the lighting sit for this film? Are you referencing a particular era or genre of filmmaking in the lighting? The same questions could be asked about Camera Movement, Lens Choices, Colour Palette etc and many of the other choices on this list.

Direction of Location Light - For Landscapes, for buildings, for rooms… When does a place look best/how you want it to look? Eg, many buildings/landscapes don’t follow the “backlit is best” idea. Observe light in your day to day life to learn what light creates what effect and why. Many online tools to preview shadows if you can’t see a location in the time of year you will be shooting or want to pre-scout a place for shadows before you visit.

Windows - How much detail do we see out the windows? On the spectrum of full detail to full white, where does this film sit? Are there scenes where characters have to see something out a window and is your choice compatible with that? What about at dusk? What about night? What role does window dressing have? Will you be in control of the light levels outside (eg at night or on a stage) or not (day interior on location) and is your choice compatible with that?

Bright and Dark - How bright is bright in this film, how dark is dark? What does night look like in this movie?

Eye-light - How much and when. Who gets it, who doesn’t.

Filtration - Traditional and Homemade. Anything you can see through can be a filter.

Haze and Atmosphere- Level of it, when.

Flares - What kind, how strong and when? Will we be simply open to them occurring or make an effort to create them?

Frame Rate/Off Speed - Is there a role for slow motion or sped up footage? Will you achieve it in camera or post?

Shutter Angle - Are there sequences that would benefit from a staccato or streaky feeling? (Requiresmovement in the frame or of the frame to be visible.)

Aspect Ratio - A technical and creative consideration. Are you bound by any requirements or free? Choose an existing one or invent you own? Does our choice align with the locations and framing style choice? Ordeliberately clash?

Abstraction of Images - Do we, to what level?

Symbolism and Motifs - Subtle or overt.

Introduction of Characters, Spaces, Props - The first time we see something or someone. How can we use the camera to create a first impression. What do we want the audience to make of it/them? Do we plan to subvert this first impression later? How completely do we allow them to see the person/place? Is some element slowly revealed? Also take into account what a viewer already knows about a person/thing/place before we see it on screen the first time. Expectations.

Cumulative Effect - Eyes and brain adjust, we don’t notice very incremental change. Can we harness this? Frog in Hot Water. What could change that we only notice on a subconscious level. For an example see:True History of The Kelly Gang by Justin Kurzel - slowly changing aspect ratio.

Physical Intensity for Audience - Do we ever want the audience to be forced into a physical engagement with the image? Eg, super glarey, strobe effect, struggling to see in the dark.

Information - What is the essential information for an audience to understand - for everyone, for sure, by when? What is bonus info, only for those watching closely? What can we assume people know at each moment and what is the new info for each new shot, scene, sequence. Visually, is existing information treated differently to new information?

Telling of Information - Being told something clearly/directly vs joining the dots. Having a full understanding in the moment vs retrospectively. What is the camera’s role in this?

Misdirection/Burying Information - Can the camera be used to direct the audience’s attention towards something in the deliberate effort to have them miss something else? Can the camera be used to soften the blow of necessary exposition?

Pace of Things Taking Place - How fast or slow are things moving in frame? How does the shot influence how movement is perceived? Is the shot matching the pace of the movement? Does the feeling created align or contrast with Pace of Edit?

Pace of Edit - The anticipated pace of the cut and the role of the shots within it. How long is a shot designed to hold in the edit? How much time will the audience have to see/understand the information in the shot? How long do you anticipate a sequence will last on screen? How many shots will it need to tell it? And therefore how long should each go for? For an exercise, close your eyes and try to imagine a sequence in real time, count the beats of how long each shot might last.

Shots Designed to be Held - Designing a shot to hold for long enough that the audience notices. Will this be comfortable or uncomfortable for a viewer. What is the intended effect on them? Will a lot be happeningor very little? What thoughts might arise as they watch? What emotion will be heightened for an audience if the scene is covered in a shot that holds vs more traditional coverage? Is this the style of the film as a whole or would it be used for emphasis. For an example see Lady Macbeth by William Oldroyd. Specifically the shots/editing of the murders, one of which is covered has a shot designed to hold for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Sound and Score - In the storytelling, for both emotion and information. Where might it make sense for sound to do the heavy lifting? At these points should the visuals elevate in unison with the sound? Are there points where the sound will provide a counterpoint for the images. What are the intense moments for sound and what are the right visuals to accompany? If there is old info repeated verbally or a scene were what is said can be correctly assumed, is there a way to do without sync sound/blatant exposition? Eg music over, looking from a vantage where we don’t see the words?

Sound Only/Complete Lack of Visuals - Are there moments where the story is told through sound only? Are there still visual accompaniments or just black/something else. For an interesting example see the short film Pitch Black Heist by John Maclean.

Visuals After - After a big moment, plot or emotional, what do we see next? Whatever comes after an importance scene will affect how the audiences processes/feels about the important scene. How much they remember, what importance or weight they give to it, how much they think the film cares about it. Can also be used honestly or as a rouse. What is the camera’s role in this?

Title Sequence - Is there one? Eg will some shots be planned to have titles over? When does the story ‘start’? Does a title come along further into the film? If so what is that image, or the images surrounding it.

Homage - Are there filmmaking or other heroes we would like to acknowledge visually. How subtle or overt would we like that to be?

Iconic Image - Is there one/a few images we feel visually sums up what the film is about?

Screening Scale - What scale screen might this be seen on and have we taken that into account? Eg, the detail in a wide shot on a large vs very small screen. Will the viewer get the important information?

Camera In The Story - Do the characters acknowledge the camera, move the camera themselves, have feelings towards the camera? Does the project explore the role of the camera/being watched/recorded/observed - as a theme?

Anything missing?