Cinematic Ideas

Cinematic concepts and techniques I've considered to include in my film
  • Shallow depth of field- This is basically where, your subject is the sole focus in the foreground, whilst everything else is out of focus. I really like the aesthetic of this, i think its one of the main techniques that separates professionals from amateurs. Not only do I like the way this looks but its an easy way of drawing a very specific focal point for the audience. For example if you have a bed of flowers, but want to show a bee collecting nectar from one of them. you would use shallow depth of field to focus on the bee. This may be potentially hard to achieve as I have little experience with digital film cameras.
  • Zooms and Dollys- Zoom is the process of filming the camera as it transitions from a longshot to a close up or vice versa. A dolly is similar but you move the camera physically. Its very rare in mainstream cinema, that zooms are used. This is because they are potentially quite amateurish as the picture quality is not always maintained, particularly if the zoom is not optical but digital. The use of a dolly is the professional answer to achieving a similar affect, without any potential warping or distortion. There is also the dolly-zoom which is a combination of both, that maintains the foreground image whilst warping the background. I don't think i will use a dolly-zoom as it can often feel cartoonish and unnatural to me, i think they are very few scenarios where this is effective. I will try to not use zooms, though I may have to if I can't do proper dollys.
  •  Dynamic range- This is how well a camera can simultaneously shoot light and dark. I have not yet used the school cameras so I am not sure. If the cameras don't have good dynamic range, hopefully I can amend this to some degree in editing.
  • Lighting- This refers to the level/type of light within a frame. I like the idea of using all natural lighting, as its easier but makes the film have a more grounded look to it. However i also like dream esque sequences with lots of vivid clashing/polarized lighting i think they represent mood and thematic ideas really well. I think lighting can be crucial to tone ans style, like the neon lights of john wick, they are very visually appealing
  • Cinematography- the shots and angles. I want to use lots of close ups to create an intimate setting with my characters.
  • Theme and genre- I want a strong moral theme at the epicentre of my film. Potentially raising a  moral question at the end. As for genre i want to do something serious like a drama or horror.

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About Me

My name is Evan, I am studying film studies, business and sociology  at Hills road. Some of my interests include; rugby, swimming and sport in general. I chose film studies because It's an interesting and diverse subject, that I am passionate about. Some of my favourite films include; John wick and the Cornetto trilogy. I am particularly fond of action and comedy films, because I have a short attention span, therefore I need to be either constantly laughing or in awe of action set pieces. However I often enjoy an intense thriller with a complex plot like Inception. As part of my course work, which is to write a screen play, I have to keep track of my journey with these blogs. I will be looking at pre-existing short films, and developing my own ideas. My previous experiences with short films is very minimal, I've only really seen short films on you tube by independent creators. I don't have much experience with professionally made short films, or at least none memorable en...
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