The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques - by Joseph V. Mascelli
This book by Mascelli teaches not just about the camera, but about film-making. Every animator, story artist, and director should be fully equipped with the techniques and knowledge he offers.
After serving in WW II, Mascelli was hired by the U.S Air force to work primarily as a civilian cinematographer and director, where he became the first cameraman to shoot aerial footage of the first H-Bomb test at Bikini Atoll.
He later came to California to work on rather obscure movies like Wild Guitar and The Thrill Killers.
Mascelli used his experience well, including the amount of studying and experimenting he conducted with the camera, as he went on to write numerous articles on camera work for photography magazines and trade journals. This culminated with his credentials as the editor of the American Cinematographer Manual and ultimately the author of this book, “the Five C’s of Cinematography”.
The final ‘C’ and chapter in this instalment is all about composition. This is something that is very important in animation and film making in general. This needs to be considered and well-thought out in order to make whats happening clear, but also engaging.
Animated spirit on this blog discusses their thoughts on this particular section:
Composition can be greatly underappreciated in film. Due to its fixed proportions film composition, relative to the other arts always seemed limited. However, this writer believes that “it’s because of its limited horizontal frame, that we see some of the most creative and breathtaking compositions in film”.
The advantage of motion and the compounding impact of successive images, film composition can inform, calm, excite and even frighten the viewer.
Mia Farrow in a harrowing moment in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s baby, a film with a host of sensational camera compositions that help make this film highly suspenseful.
To understand composition, it means that one must understand what Mascelli calls compositional language – lines, forms, masses and movements.
Alfred Hitchcock’s, North By Northwest. The use of line and depth here to create the distant space and helps carries the eye deep into the picture.
He also goes on to discuss the importance of balance and gravity in composition.
North By Northwest depicting mass and gravity. The base of the massive heads and the placement of the main characters, give weight and meaning to the environment and the story.
A formally balanced picture suggests peace, quiet and equality, while an informal one features asymmetry, weighting and dominance in one area of the screen. The way a composition can be laid out can have a major effect on the audience’s perception and feelings towards what’s happening - even without them realising it. Informal balance can create great interest and dynamism as seen in many outer-space science fiction epics:
The shot above is from George Lucas’ Return of the Jedi. It shows not only the use of off-kilter balance, but also line, form, mass and movement to create tension and dynamic action. The audience can anticipate what’s about to happen.
The use of gravity also influences balance. The writer suggests that ‘Animators would do well to heed these words’:
“Human senses rebel at compositions that defy the laws of gravity.”
In the remainder of this chapter on composition, Mascelli goes on to discuss the integration of camera angles, image size, perspective and image placement all of which help the artist to get the most effective results.
In the image above, Sergio Leone, employs physical elements (such as the collar, hat and hands) to triangulate your attention into the eyes and soul of Charles Bronson’s character in the 1968 film,Once Upon A Time In The West. This helps direct the audiecne to the place of most interest and importance and encourages them to predict the character’s thoughts and emotions (using a close up shot, which can be a very personal and intimate one).
To conclude the chapter on composition and ultimately the whole book, Mascelli says:
“… the viewer must be affected both pictorially and psychologically, to convey the script’s intent to arouse his emotions. Never allow more than one centre of interest on the screen at one time unless a disturbed or scattered effect is desired.
Consider the viewer’s eye scan from shot to shot. Work for visual variety, by changing compositional elements often. Eliminate grills, gimmicks and complex arrangements. Make ‘keep it simple’ the working slogan for interesting compositions.”
A shot from Akira Kurasawa’s 1961 comedy-action samurai flick,Yojimbo. The sideways cross composition makes for a very interesting and powerful image. There’s a clear focus despite having lots of people in the shot.
