Are you interested in shooting videos? Or maybe you are planning to launch your film production house? If so, it’s important to learn a couple of important cinematic techniques first as they are very essential in delivering good results.
Learning cinematography is incredibly important today, it’s basically an art of telling your stories visually by incorporating a lot of amazing video effects. Since the film is mainly a visual medium or a platform and the best shots are definitely the ones in which a viewer can tell everything without listening to any dialogues.
But that perfection requires cinematic techniques handled by the camera and the professional person. Maybe you are familiar with most of these techniques as they are very common in filmmaking. However, if you are not, then this article will help you a lot in understanding each cinematic technique.
Bird’s Eye Shot
It’s a very popular filming technique in which you need to show a very wide area of the place from the highest angle. Objects can be viewed directly from the height. This is mainly an introductory shot that establishes the setting and gives viewers an idea about the location. It also points out the small size of objects that can be seen together.
Long Shot
By implementing this top-level cinematography technique, your viewers can simply get a more detailed idea about the location in a scene. A long shot basically covers the body of a person in the scene from head to toe. As compared to the bird’s-eye shot, your subject will need to stand closer to the camera and the location will be visible in the background.
Medium Shot
This is the most common and popular shot you see in the movies. It is generally used to establish a new scene. In this shot, all the characters share a different kind of information and the professional person just captures the dialogues of one, two, or sometimes three people in a frame.
Close-up Shot
This is the second most popular shot used in movies. This cinematic technique only features the head of your character. It helps demonstrate the emotions of the characters while engaging the audience with the characters so they can feel a little empathy for them. This shot also emphasizes the significant details of the characters. For example, a person touching the ring on his finger.
Extreme Close up Shot
This shot frames the specific parts of the character’s face. For instance, the eyes of the character or lips are based on the scene requirement. It mainly increases the intensity and drama of the scene so that people can be captivated by the emotions of the actor. These types of shots work well with the objects too. For example, someone’s hand cutting a wire for a bomb blast.
Tracking Shot
A tracking shot is another common technique that follows a character or his surroundings. In this shot, you will need to mount the camera on the dolly which is a wheeled cart moved on the rail track. Now, this dolly will follow the subject, until they leave the frame.
For example, two persons jogging on the track. The camera will follow their movements and locations until the next scene or unless they stop.
Panning Shot
Panning defines turning your camera in a horizontal position from a fixed angle. Panning shots should be taken very professionally because the camera has to move smoothly and efficiently in all directions.
Over-the-Shoulder Shot
As the name implies, this shot is always taken from over the shoulder of one person as well as shows viewers the other person. The character’s head and the shoulder in the foreground will get out of focus while the other person is in focus.
This is the most important technique in filmmaking because it shows the connection of the characters with each other, and the viewer can see how they interact.
Zoom Shot
Zoom shot is a technique of changing the focal length of your lens. This will make an illusion that the camera is moving closer or either farther from the character. After zooming in, you will see the objects look bigger in the frame.
But when you zoom out, the objects look smaller in your frame.
Point of View Shot
This angle is very important. In this shot, viewers can see what’s going on in the film through the character’s angle. The viewers will see the same as the actor is seeing. It makes the viewers feel like they are part of the story.
Conclusion
When you complete the shooting, it’s time to edit your video and add all the effects that can give your film a more meaningful story. However, if you think you need more help in this, then you can always consult with the professionals of a film production company in Pakistan who can help you understand the significance of all the cinematic techniques we mentioned above.
