Cinematography or cinematography ( French : cinématographie - derived from Greek κίνημα - sealedēma means movement , and γράφειν - gráphein means recording ) is art or technical science animation. It is a cinematography technique, including recording images and developing the film. The director of the image(cinematographer), which undertakes most of the work related to cinematography, can also be considered as the principal image collaborator of the director.
Elements of cinematic engineering
Cinematographic techniques are influenced by many objective factors ( film , media, equipment) and subjective ( cinematographers , light and sound technicians). In which the main factors are:
Rotating materials
Material filmed in cinematic technique is the roll film ( photographic film ). There are many size ( gauge ) films such as 8 mm (for amateur cameraman), 16 mm (semi-pro), 35 mm (professional) and 65 mm (for particularly large scenes). Besides movie size, cinematographers have to pay attention to: ISO sensitivity ranges from 50 (for slow rotation speed, less light sensitivity) to 800 (for very fast, extremely light-sensitive rotation speeds); Color saturation ( saturation ); Contrast ( contrast , change from smooth black - no exposure to smooth white - full exposure).
Today when the camcorder digital start being applied to making the film, many films have been replaced by cameras with the sensor ( sensor ) with similar features. A modern camcorder can adjust chroma, contrast, light sensitivity equivalent to using many different types of movies. Because of this convenience, although there are many opinions that digital recording quality is not the same as traditional recording quality, digital camcorders are still increasingly used to reduce the complexity of selection. Suitable rotating materials.
Printing technique, coated
With traditional spinning, the printing of the film plays an important role in the processing of negatives to produce the best quality positive films. Dark chamber processing techniques can also help create special visual effects. However, it has the disadvantage that the director has to wait for dailies , usually only after 1 day, to check the quality of the previous filming. With the use of digital cameras, the director can see the results of the scenes directly and the application of more techniques is much easier.
Filter
Filter ( filter ) the device allows the creation of effects like filters light scattering ( diffusion filter ) or color filter ( color-filter effect ). The use of filters creates a different visual effect and helps to emphasize the intent of the scene or the whole movie. One of the most frequently used cinematographers is Christopher Doyle , who is famous for his one-tone footage in Vuong Gia Ve 's films.
Lenses
The focal length helps cinematographers create wide-angle, medium-angle shots, close-up and large zooms ( macro ). Wide-angle angles are available with short focal lengths, while long-focus lenses offer narrower angles but feature objects far away from the camera. Interchangeable focal length with a zoom lens ( zoom length ) attached to the camcorder, this device allows quick focus changes, suitable for scenes or large-area contexts. In contrast to specific scenes, people often use a prime lens ( prime lens) although it does not change the focal length, it offers better image quality than zoom lenses and has a large aperture that allows shooting in low light conditions, this is the most preferred lens of the professional cinema house.
Focal not only helped change the width but also help change the depth of field ( depth-of-field - DOF ) of a scene, which is the clarity of the background ( background ) than objects placed right focus ( focus ) and foreground objects of the machine. The depth of field depends on the aperture ( aperture size ) and the focal length, the larger the image field (deep) when the aperture is narrow and the focal length is far away, while the field is narrower (shallow) with the extension and Short focal length. The depth of field also depends on the film size, the 65 mm film has the least depth and the 16 mm film has the greatest depth. In the classic movie Kane ( Citizen Kane, 1941 ) by Orson Welles , cinematographer Gregg Toland used very small focal lengths to create very wide depth footage that contributes to a detailed description of all objects in the background and close-up, this method is called deep focus is very popular in the 1940s . Today the tendency to use a narrow depth of field, or shallow focus, is preferred.
Frame rate
Frame ratio ( aspect ratio ) of a frame is the ratio between length and width of frames. Since the 1910s , movies often use 4: 3 (4 long 3 wide) or 1.33: 1, called 1.33 for short. When audio is fed directly into the film, the frame rate is reduced before ratio 1.37 standard introduced in 1932 , ie an increase of the thickness of the contiguous segments between two frames ( frame line ). This ratio was widely used until the 1950s when cinema first required changes to make a difference with television.(which also uses a similar frame rate). To create the advantage, wider frame rates were given, such as the 2.35 ratio of CinemaScope movie size , and by 1970 this ratio increased to 2.39: 1. This is a popular rate for many major films, especially epic films and adventure movies . As for regular movies, the standard size in the UK and the US is 1.85. Meanwhile in Europe and Asia, this ratio is 1.66.
Light
An indispensable component in spinning technology is light . Artificial lighting not only enhances the sharpness of the scene but also creates visual effects, especially in scenes that need to highlight the character's emotions. So, how to use light properly, light intensity, color, direction, and source quality is essential in cinematography and technology. In the film Barry Lyndon ( 1975 ), director Stanley Kubrick made a breakthrough when he made some scenes with only the light source of the context to create scenes with new colors. However, this is not common because it is difficult to create enough light sources for scenes just by lighting objects of the context.
Rotating technique
One of the most important elements of filming is the ability to control the camcorder's camcorder. The perspective of the cinematographer is extremely important because it is the audience's perspective later, so controlling the camera so as to reveal the emotions of the scene and the character at the highest level is the top task. cinematographer. To stabilize the frame, the cameras are usually placed on smooth moving brackets to create smooth, uninterrupted movement. With scenes that required cinematographers to carry the camera directly, in the late 1970s, inventor Garrett Brown invented an anti-vibration device directly attached to the camcorder named Steadicam.
Select frame rate
Frame rate or frame rate is one of the basic quantities of cinematography, which is the number of frames that appear before the audience in a time unit with the speed of rotation. stability. In cinemas, the standard speed is 24 frames per second ( 24 fps ). With NTSC television (in the US) this speed is 30 fps, while in Europe using PAL system , the speed is 25 fps. Usually this speed is standardized, however when you want to create visual effects due to rotation speed, people often change the rotation speed (ie change the frame rate). For example, with slow rotation techniques ( time-lapse) used for scenes with little change in the long term like blooming flowers, rotational speed is reduced to 1 image per minute (equivalent to 1/60 fps) so that after 4 hours people have 240 images, ie equivalent Flowers bloom within 4 hours is reduced in 10 seconds. In action films , to characterize battle scenes, people often use fast rotation techniques , increasing the frame rate to prolong the action phase with very short time. The Matrix film ( The Matrix , 1999 ) also takes this technique to a higher level by using different frame rates for different angles of the same shot to create battle scenes Revolution in American action movies. Matrixwon the Best Digital Academy Award in part because of this groundbreaking innovation.
The role of the cinematographer
Cinematographers are responsible for the technical aspects of images such as light, lens selection, color filtering, aperture, ... They must work closely with the director to make choices The most precise artistic aspect of the scene. Therefore, the cinematographers themselves also contribute greatly to the process of creating the film.
