Session 2: Film Basic Visual Unit

1. Film Visual UnitsFilm Visual Units
Mass Communication
Humanities Division
Bong S. Eliab

2. Class Websites
Online Readings and Materials
eliab.tripod.com/film
Online Announcements and
Assignments
hum3.blogspot.com
Banyuhay.multiply.com

3. Frame
a single
photographic image
printed on a length
of film
smallest discernible
unit of film

4. Frame
not part of viewers’
perception
seldom has meaning
In text, equivalent to
letters of the
alphabet
Reel of Film

5. ShotShot
 A shot is a single
uninterrupted action
of a camera.
Some shots last only
one or two frames,
although such short
shots appear rarely in
commercial films.

6. Shot
 Although longer
shots are "standard,"
few last over thirty
seconds.
 The average shot
runs from about two
to thirty seconds.

7. TakeTake
A take is also a
single uninterrupted
action of a camera,
but a take is the
unedited footages
Seen from the point
of view of the
filmmaker rather
than of the viewer.

8. Take
 A take will frequently
be shortened at both
ends, and perhaps
another shot or two will
be cut into the middle
creating three, four, five
or more shots out of a
single take.
 Can be cut into several
shots

9. Shot
basic perceivable and
functional unit of film
from 2 sec to 30 sec
frames run at 24 fps
NTSC - 29.97 fps
PAL/SECAM - 25 fps
Categorized according
to apparent closeness
of camera to subject
Sex and Lucia

10. NTSC
 NTSC is a color TV
standard developed in the
US in 1953 by the
National Television
System Committee.
 the first colour tv
broadcast system
 Used in America,
Canada, Asia, including
Japan

11. NTSC or 525/60
 refers to a NTSC analog TV signal.
 Has 486 horizontal lines in its Active
Area, a NTSC video signal also
includes extra vertical sync lines,
which are basically just filler timed to
allow the electron guns in a CRT
television time to reposition
themselves at the top of the screen.
 There are 39 vertical sync lines,
resulting in a total of 525 lines (486 +
39).
 60 is a reference to NTSC's Fieldrate
of approximately 60 Fields per
second, resulting in 29.97 (30 / 1.001)
Interlaced frames per second.

12. PAL
 Used in Western
Europe and Australia
 PAL, or phase
alternating line format
 PAL was developed in
the early 1960's
 the increased
bandwidth allows for
better picture quality

13. PAL or 625/50
 625/50 refers to a PAL or
SECAM analog TV signal
 Has 576 horizontal lines in its
Active Area, a PAL video signal
also includes extra vertical sync
lines, which are basically just
filler timed to allow the electron
guns in a CRT television time to
reposition themselves at the top
of the screen
 There are 49 vertical sync lines,
resulting in a total of 625 lines
(576 + 49).
 50 is a reference to PAL's
Fieldrate of 50 fields per second,
resulting in 25 Interlaced frames
per second.

14. SECAM
 Eastern Europe and
France use SECAM
 Sequential Couleur Avec
Memoire (sequential
color with memory)
 SECAM uses the same
bandwidth as PAL but
transmits the colour
information sequentially

15. Types of Format
Type Lines Horizontal
Freq
Vertical
Freq
NTSC 525/60 15.734 kHz 60Hz
PAL-N 625/50 15.625 kHz 50Hz
PAL-M 525/60 15.750 kHz 60Hz
PAL 625/50 15.625 kHz 50Hz
SECAM 625/50 15.625 kHz 50Hz

17. Shots
ELS - Extreme Long Shot
LS - Long Shot
MLS - Medium Long Shot
MS - Medium Shot/ Mid
Shot
CU - Close Up
MCU - Medium Close Up
BCU - Big Close Up
ECU - Extreme Close Up

18. Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
camera at its
farthest
distance
from subject
emphasize
background
context
establishing
shot
Sex and Lucia

19. Types of Long Shot
 Extreme Long Shot
 Long Shot
 Medium Long Shot
 Medium Shot
Gael Garcia Bernal

20. Long Shot (LS)
showing all or
most of the subject
and much of the
surroundings
emphasis is more
on the size or
height of subject
vis-a-vis
background

21. Long Shot

22. Medium Long Shot (MLS)
Emphasis on the
physique of subject
frame cuts off feet
and ankles
The Road Home

23. Medium Long Shot (MLS)
Emphasis on the physique of subject
frame cuts off feet and ankles

24. Medium Shot (MS)
subject and setting
occupy roughly equal
areas in the frame
Enough space for hand
gestures
viewer's attention
more on the subject
than on the setting
but a clear relationship
between the two.
Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Ambassador

25. Medium Shot (MS)
lower frame passes through
waist of subject
relatively poor at showing
facial expressions but work
well to show body language
used to represent importance
and power
Monicca Bellucci

26. Medium Close Shot (MCS)
 frequently used for the
tight presentation of two
actors
 setting can be seen
 lower frame passes
through chest of subject
Sex and Lucia

27. Types of Close Up Shots
 Medium Close Up
(MCU)
 Close Up (CU)
 Extreme Close Up
(ECU)
Ludivine Sagnier

28. Medium Close Up (MCU)
head and shoulders
Sex and Lucia

29. Medium Close Up (MCU)

30. Close Up (CU)
Shows a character’s face
in great detail
Face fills the screen
Used to distinguish main
characters; major characters
are often given a close-up
when they are introduced as
a way of indicating their
importance
The Road Home

31. Close Up (CU) Shot
 Does not show the
subject in the broad
context of its
surroundings
 If overused, may leave
viewers uncertain as to
what they are seeing

32. Close Up (CU) Shot
 Often used as cutaways
from a more distant shot
to show detail, such as
characters' emotions, or
some intricate activity
with their hands
 Close cuts to characters'
faces are used far more
often in television than in
movies; they are
especially common in
soap operas.

33. Big Close Up (BCU)
forehead to chin

34. Extreme Close Up (ECU)
reveals only a
small part of the
face

35. Extreme Close Up

36. Summary

37. Camera Movement

38. Low-Angle Shot
 A shot from a
camera positioned
low on the vertical
axis, often at knee
height, looking up
 to illustrate which
character holds the
higher position of
power

39. Worm’s Eye Vew
 Audience looking
up at the character
or situation
 Character is made to
seem very powerful
or situation may
seem
insurmountable

40. High Angle Shot
 camera is located
high (often above
head height)and the
shot is angled
downwards
 used sometimes in
scenes of
confrontation and
fights to show which
person has the
higher power

41. High Angle Shot
 subject of a high angle
shot looks vulnerable
or insignificant
 if the shot represents a
character's point of
view, the shot can also
be used to make the
character tall, more
powerful or
threatening
Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee, USA, 1989

42. Bird’s Eye View
 Scene is observed from
the above as the
audience is on top of a
building looking down
 Dramatizes a
threatening situation
by suggesting
characters are at a
disadvantage, at the
mercy of people and
events

43. Straight-on Shot

44. Canted (Oblique) Shot
 Horizon in shot is
tilted to create an
impression that
everything is off-
balance
 Effectively express
psychological
imbalance, instability,
motion, tension, pain
or danger

45. Point-of-View (POV)
Shows a view from the subject's
perspective. This shot is usually
edited in such a way that it is obvious
whose POV it is

46. POV Shots
Wide Shot
POV POVOSS

47. Scene
A scene is a
series of shots
that the viewer
perceives as
taken at the same
location during a
rather brief
period of time
Sex and Lucia

48. Scene

49. Types of Scenes
 Master scenes - which
are the key scenes to the
bulk of the plot.
 Flashback scenes -
where the audience is
taken into the past to
reveal crucial story
points.
Jan Dara (2001)

50. Types of Scenes
 Introduction scenes -
where characters are
introduced for the first
time.
 Static Scenes - where
there is very little
motion of the subject
or camera Jan Dara (2001)

51. Three Unities of A Scene
 The unity of action: a scene
should have one main action that
it follows, with no or few
subplots.
 The unity of place: a scene
should cover a single physical
space and should not attempt to
compress geography, nor should
it represent more than one place.
 The unity of time: the action in
a scene should take place over
no more than 24 hours.
Anna Paquin

52. Sequence
composed of a series
of scenes
scenes related in
location, time,
generating action,
point of view, or cast
set off by strong
punctuation marks
(transition devices)
such as the fade-out
and fade-in