Film101 - LESSON ONE - Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY: Writing with Light

We'll begin with light. "PHOTOGRAPHY" means "writing with light"―and a film is essentially a message written in light. What kind of light you see in a film (or anything else) will depend on the quality of your knowledge, your readiness, and your perception. Think about this a bit. What do people mean when they say they're "in the dark" or that they "can't see" what you mean? Have you ever heard people say, "A light just went on"―and they're not talking about electrical power, but about some mental experience, some kind of illumination? Have you ever seen "the light at the end of the tunnel"? "Thrown light" on a problem? "Seen the light"? Have you heard the song, "You Light Up My Life"? Has anyone ever wondered about the "twinkle" in your eyes? How often does a smile "light" up your face?

Physicists tell us that light is really electromagnetic radiation going at a speed of 299,972 kilometers per second (that's 186,282 miles a second). Our eyes are stimulated by and react to different wavelengths, but there is light that we cannot see, radiation just beyond the ends of the visible spectrum. Physicists tell us that our visual perception has physical limitations. They and their colleagues in the other sciences and technology areas have fun dreaming up devices that extend our vision―microscopes, telescopes, etc.

Visual artists are also interested in extending the limits of our physical sight; like their colleagues in the sciences and technology areas, they also have fun dreaming up stuff―convincing us that we can expand our vision by making use of our imagination and by nurturing our our ability to create.

Photography, a particular medium of the visual arts (which include painting, drawing, pastels, printmaking, quilting, sculpting), is the art of arranging light in relation to subjects, objects, or scenes. It's the art of designing the light we are able to perceive to make us feel, sense, know, and understand things about which we might have earlier been only dimly aware. The CINEMATOGRAPHER, also known as the DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, decides how the written script, the instructions of the director, and the insights of the actors and crew members get "written" onto the celluloid or the computer or the videotape. The visual information is revealed in part by the way the cameras capture and interpret or shape the light in any particular shot.

So Giannetti's first chapter is all about photography. And so we begin with the technology of film at the very basic unit of the SHOT. There's a lot of information in this chapter that may be daunting at first--shots, angles, lenses, gauges, speeds, theories of realism and formalism. Don't be worried. There'll be plenty of time to digest it all. I'll be answering your questions to clarify anything that Giannetti does not help you understand, and as we move from lesson to lesson, I'll be reviewing concepts, putting things into perspective, offering interpretations, outlining theories, preparing quiz hints, and in general helping you learn as pleasantly and as productively as possible. (Oh, and remember, the quizzes are all open-book and notes. The idea is to work toward remembering in a way that makes the knowledge you remember useful―by applying it to your experience of film, of life.)

Anyway, if you've ever taken a photograph with a camera (and I'll bet most of you have done so), you already know something about camera shots, angles, lenses, and film speeds. And of course you've seen a gazillion films and television shows--so you probably know on an intuitive level much more than you realize. We're going to bring that intuitive knowledge to a conscious level now--so you can shed light, so to speak, on what may seem only dim awareness now. So that you can manipulate the information. So that you can become an excellent reader of films. So that your love for film is enriched by knowledge and understanding. So that you can tap inner resources and use them in your life.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Calling the Shots, Figuring the Angles
"There is no short cut to photographic skill; to master it requires not only theory but intensive practice. Lenses, light, material, subject, composition, angle, and the pattern of movement provide a thousand and one pitfalls for the unwary. The ablest painter, sensitive as he is to a single canvas, is helpless to control the ever-shifting, mobile canvas of the motion picture." (Josef von Sternberg)

Film director Sidney Lumet says, "If my movie has two stars in it, I always know it really has three. The third star is the camera" (from Lumet's essay, "THE CAMERA: Your Best Friend").

In Giannetti's first chapter, you learned about the technical devices and potentials of the camera itself and how the cinematographer (the director of photography) uses them: shots, angles, lighting, color, lenses and filters, stocks, opticals, and gauges. The concepts are clearly presented, but if you need more review, consider the information contained in the sexmples provided below. top

IntolMod2.gif (56785 bytes)
Recommended: Sample images from Intolerance (photography). Film Director, D. W. Griffith, and Director of Photography (cinematographer) Billy Bitzer formed one of the great director-cinematographer teams of film history.

Recommended: Sample images/shots from Metropolis.

Giannetti begins his book by defining realist, classical, and formalist filmmaking―and he uses this theory to organize the materials throughout his book. It is a useful system of organizing facts and knowledge about film, but it’s not the only one. I think of the theory as a mnemonic (a memory aid); sorting 50 bits of information into three bins helps me to keep track of the 50 bits that otherwise I may entirely mislay. I hope Giannetti’s system works similarly for you. Do not worry if his classification system seems confusing at first. By week four (or before), everything will become quite clear. Here's a recipe for successful understanding: (1) Study the chart below. (2) Think about about the realist-classical-formalist distinctions when you watch films and television. (3) Talk with your friends and classmates about what you are learning. (4) Add an ample amount of your love of learning.

EARLY EXAMPLES: STORY AND TECHNIQUE
REALIST	CLASSICAL	FORMALIST
*The Arrival of a Train* (1895, Lumiere Brothers) Recommended sites: Lumiere Website \|\| Lumiere Institute-with Still	*The Great Train Robbery* (1903, Edwin Porter/Thomas Alva Edison) Recommended sites: See Tim Dirk's review. \|\| Images and Film	*A Trip to the Moon* (1902, George Melies) Recommended sites: See Tim Dirk's review. \|\| Avant Garde Film Catalogue Essay
One of the first public performances of the new art form, cinema, was given 28 December 1895, in Paris, with a series of short films produced by the Lumiere Brothers. Primary value = Authenticity (focus on fact)	Contains realist and formalist. Tends toward conventional. Most fictional films/stars here. Primary value = Entertainment Value (focus on story, commercial value, popularity).	Formalist in both style and substance. An early science-fiction film, with camera tricks galore. Primary value = Style or expression (focus on filmmaker's "vision")
IN TERMS OF THE STORY
REALIST realistic stories	CLASSICAL classical stories	FORMALIST formalist stories
Everyday occurrences, regardless of plot or excitement. Minimum distortion of surface-random, aleatory Depiction of outer world, with the illusion of an unaltered world. Truth to externals. Film is a record of objective reality. Filmmaker is self-effacing	Story is most important element. HIGH PREMIUM ON STORY AND ON ENTERTAINMENT VALUE- COMMERCIAL VALUE Tends toward conventional, what the audience will expect of the story, underlying values: an entertainment medium Filmmaker may submerge self in the commercial aspect of the film	Imagined events, fantasies. Deliberate stylization and distortion of world out there Depiction of inner world. Inner truth counts most. Film is an expression of the artist's inner world. Filmmaker is flamboyant, expressive
IN TERMS OF THE CINEMATOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE: Photography, Mise-en-Scene, Movement
REALIST realistic cinematography	CLASSICAL classical cinematography	FORMALIST formalistic cinematography
Recorder, reproducer of surface reality. Camera as witness to events. Visuals not prettified: images correspond with everyday. Tends toward documentary Focus on content. Realistic shooting, as if a person were the camera. Long takes, long shots, eye-level angles. Available light, sources of light are realistic (e.g., window, lamp, candle). Diffuse, colors subdued, aim for minimal distortion Lenses: standard―minimal distortion	Images chosen for relevance to the story and character, for entertainment value, rather than merely for authenticity, or formal expressiveness or beauty Shots? Focus on whatever technique works for story value and entertainment qualities of film, whatever will entertain and "sell" Lighting/Color: Whatever works to further story and entertainment (commercial) value of the film Lenses, filters, etc.? Main Question: Will they buy it in Peoria?	Camera as commentator on events: manipulator, shaper. Author intrusions common. Abstracts the everyday Focus on technique, on form, on camera tricks. Tends toward avant-garde. Stylized shooting, extreme angles Light used for symbolic value, normal patterns distorted, severe contrasts. Shadows, colors used symbolically, to convey mood Lenses and filters intensify formal qualities and suppress others: telephoto, wide angle, double or multiple exposure top of page

LIGHT - LOVE - PEACE

Love is an attitude, an orientation, that says "I embrace life. I look outward with respect and inward with a sense of responsiveness/responsibility. I am fully here, aware, mindful." Such love is a radiance like the dawn, giving a spark to life, igniting and illuminating our spirits, turning us on, brightening our days and nights, animating us with joy, and throwing light on our path as we journey through the darkness, the mystery at the heart of existence. Such inner light enables us to really "SEE" and to reach others with a deep "I see you." In a way we are all like filmmakers, writing with light the story of our lives. We are the stars in and directors of our own films. How they will end, we do not know--but we can find joy in learning about and designing the quantity and quality of light and love we put or will allow into them. In that illumination we find our peace. I look forward to being enlightened by you this semester. I look forward to learning with you this semester. Peace. top of page

"If my movie has two stars in it, I always know it really has three. The third star is the camera"
(from an essay by film director Sidney Lumet's, "THE CAMERA: Your Best Friend").