shots and transitions work

Shots

long shot

This category includes the FULL SHOT showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges: we can tell the coffins on the right are in a Western-style setting, for instance.

medium shot
Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up) and the THREE SHOT (contains 3 figures...). NB. Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interation. Another variation in this category is the OVER-THE-SHOULDER-SHOT, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

close up
This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object (think of how big it looks on a cinema screen) and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get THAT close to our face - mothers, children and lovers, usually - so a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

shot reverse shot
Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

high angle shots
In film, a high angle shot is usually when the camera is located high.
With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject and the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by the setting.
High angle shots also make the figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless.

low angle shots
In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, often at knee height, looking up.

tracking shot
a tracking shot (also known as a dolly shot or trucking shot) is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken. One may dolly in on a stationary subject for emphasis, or dolly out, or dolly beside a moving subject (an action known as "dollying with").

pan
A movement which scans a scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned, often to follow a moving object which is kept in the middle of the frame.

tilt
A movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise similar to a pan.


Editing

continuity
is the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

montage
In motion picture terminology, a montage (from the French for "putting together" or "assembly") is a film editing technique.
There are at least three senses of the term:
1. In French film practice, "montage" has its literal French meaning and simply identifies editing.
2. In Soviet filmmaking of the 1920s, "montage" was a method of juxtaposing shots to derive new meaning that did not exist in either shot alone.
3. In classical Hollywood cinema, a "montage sequence" is a short segment in a film in which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion. This is the most common meaning among laymen.

montage Hollywood
a short segment in a film in which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion.

transitions
Transitions are authoring tools a video editor can insert between two video clips or still images to create an artistic, professional effect. There are a multitude of transitional effects available, the two most common being the crossfade and dissolve.

cross cutting/parallel editing
The most common transition — an instant change from one shot to the next. The raw footage from your camera contains cuts between shots where you stop and start recording (unless of course you use built-in camera transitions).
In film and television production, the vast majority of transitions are cuts.

dissolve
In film editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. In film, this effect is created by controlled double exposure from frame to frame; transiting from the end of one clip to the beginning of another.

wipes
In film editing, a wipe is a gradual spatial transition from one image to another. One image is replaced by another with a distinct edge that forms a shape. A simple edge, an expanding circle, or the turning of a page are all examples.


Film Clip ' Saving Private Ryan'




the use of camera shots in the clip I have chosen to analyse (Saving Private Ryan) are extremely effective, for starters, the clip uses a tilt technique to take in the full effect of the skies and sea to set the scene, which then cross cuts into a tracking shot of the boats with soldiers on them heading for the shore, which is setting the time and place as this is meant to be an old war film, this emphasises the equipment and vehicles the soldiers use in war also the camera moves very freehand, to give the audience the feel that they are on a boat in the vicious sea much like the soldiers, drawing the audience in to connect with the film so they believe they are part of the storyline, the camera then cross cuts to a close up of a hand shaking making the audience feel the fear and tension that is among these soldiers, and as the camera again uses the tilt technique to follow the soldiers hand up to show him take a drink, this connects the audience to one of the main characters introducing him to the scene, with a close up of the face to emphasize who the character is and to show the look of fear in his face, slowly panning out to show the boats full inhabitance of soldiers, waiting nervously for the battle much like the calm before the storm this is shown by the stern faces of soldiers and how some vomit out of pure fear. The camera changes to a low angled mid shot of the soldier driving the oat, emphasizing his position of power as he commands the other soldiers what to do, with a close up of the main character giving orders to the other soldiers, which also emphasizes the position of power to the audience, then cross cuts to another soldier giving commands, with a freehand camera with a low angle shot to show he is a position of power, whilst also keeping the realism aspect to the film to connect the audience. The camera then moves freehand along the boat looking all of the soldiers in the face connecting the audience to the whole unit, and also cross cutting to the most important characters in the film. The silence used is to portray the ‘calm before the storm’ effect that Steven Spielberg has used to emphasise the following battle scene. A close up of the man lowering the bridge is used to show that the wait is over and the battle is going to begin, cross cutting to the first soldier in a low angle shot getting shot dead, then cross cutting to a high angle shot showing the loss of power as the soldiers are mown down by gunfire, the freehand camera emphasises the tragedy as it puts the audience again in the shoes of the soldiers. This cross cuts to another low angle shot which is freehand showing the soldiers getting shot dead, cross cutting again to an over the shoulder freehand shot of an enemy soldier firing the machine gun at the soldiers on the boat, and as the clip is ending, we see a high angle shot to the main character giving commands again, and then a tracking shot that is free hand showing the cameraman who the audience are now connected to as a soldier, jumps in the sea with the rest of the soldiers.